Latest Finds by Level

This photo gives some idea of what has been found in the latest dig so far. I've kept more than I normally would in order to show others what to look out for. Sometimes what looks like a piece of rock turns out to be pottery and vice versa.

The oldest, most interesting pottery sherds are on the far left. Later medieval and modern pieces are further over to the right in the pottery column.

I have been keeping natural geological specimens other than white chalk and smaller pieces of flint. Some of these are distinctive and not like anything I've found before. Which is why I need a geologist as well as a pottery expert to consult! In layer 5 I have just started to find pieces of what look like broken pot-boilers (see a previous post).

In the bottom left corner I have encircled 5 pieces of the late Iron Age pottery which started to emerge at level 4.

A Post Hole

I've got a post hole to excavate in this dig. This shows it carrying on down from the 40 cm level. It seems to be about 72 cms deep from the current ground surface. What I have removed seems to reveal just the hole created by the post. The hole to take the post was dug wider I think. Finds in the hole suggest a relatively recent date. Since this photo was taken and the hole has been widened I have found a piece of clear glass that looks fairly modern.

Removing the top surface of level 5 has revealed a change in soil type. I have come to a fairly poor soil, lacking in humus with a higher chalk content. At a guess I'd say that I am just going below the medieval cultivated surface. It is after this that things should get more interesting. We will see!

It always surprises me ...

I have just cleared level 4. I've said before that I always find at least one piece of Iron Age pottery at level 4. I was beginning to wonder whether I was right about that. I was washing my last tray of finds and amazingly the very last piece of pottery I washed turned out to be the same as the "local coarse ware" I've seen so many times before - an indication that I am travelling back in time and getting closer to the levels that contain evidence of the late Iron Age.