The sun broke through the threatening clouds to make a warm sunny start and spirits were high. Three new diggers arrived eager for the challenge of mosaic finding in room 28.
Andy, Jo and Gabe behind Amy in the white hat
Rob carried on in his trench behind the wall to see if the couple of firmly embedded stones he found the day before had turned into a wall or pathway, as the old archaeology saying goes ‘one stone’s a stone, two stones are a coincidence, three stones are a wall’
Rob’s couple of white stones poking through the soil just in front of him
After a mornings work this is what turned up!
The small stones turned into this! It looks like a drain rather than a wall
Meanwhile in room 28 a couple of metal finds popped out of the ground, the first found by Gabe is made of copper alloy, which always looks green after being buried in the ground. It does not look roman, could it be part of a medieval buckle clasp or horse harness fitting? there is some decoration but its hard to see what it is. The jury is out on this one until we can get it cleaned and check other similar finds from other sites.
Gabe very pleased with is find and rightly so, well spotted
Close-up of the decoration
With good keen diggers on site we were able to take the next section of turf off in room 28. It was while doing this that Andy found our other metal find – a large heavy pin.
Andy and his pin
The pin also does not immediately seem roman, but it could be, it was in the disturbed top soil which has Victorian finds in it, could it be a hat/cloak pin from that period? The surface ‘patination’ is odd, but the design and shape fits with some roman pins. It’s another curious find that will have to wait for cleaning and the specialist to ponder.
What will today bring – hopefully more curious finds 🙂
Archaeology National Trust SW 