Trench 1

Day 1 found us digging the features brought up by the machine stripping last weekend. None of the features had any depth to them and very little in the way of finds. So we will record them and then do some more geophiz in the adjoining fields hoping to find the priory and some more features. This field has been impacted by modern intrusions and dumping of materials, but we had to check the first geophiz results (which did look promising) and record any features, which we are doing. Thanks to all who came this week and David will be on hand this coming Saturday to help people record what we have dug.

Durotriges Big Dig 2017

10 members took the Durotriges Big Dig 2017 tour last Thursday at Winterbourne Kingston with BU. Lookout for more pics in the Newsletter.

Swash & Buckle

Here are the first finds which came from the spoil during stripping. Well done Caroline for having a sharp eye. I'm not a pot expert, but I suggest that one piece is probably Bronze Age, one or two Iron Age and one or two Roman. The buckle was found by Colin in the natural silty clay, which is very rocky. How that got there is anyone's guess. [update: the buckle was there because it was in a fill created by quarrying! Mystery solved.]

This buckle has diamond decoration all around with fleur de lyse in the corners.

Yenston - machine stripping

Adam the digger driver, despite a bad back - what a hero.

The large pit - may be Iron Age

Linear features

Visiting locals

We opened up the trench yesterday looking for the priory,  but found prehistoric! Several linear features, a couple of postholes and a large pit. That's just how it goes sometimes. Hopefully we can find some dating evidence next week. Photos and films to follow, so keep looking in.

Human posts

Diggers mark the spot of our proposed trench. Luckily we don't have to stand there until the digger turns up!

A post about posts

Trench 1 was set out on Saturday morning and posts put in place ready for topsoil stripping next Saturday. We have positioned the trench over an area that will hopefully pick up a series of features in a 10m x 10m square. We also established a TBM (Temporary Bench Mark) and the site is 101m AOD (Above Ordinance Datum). Next week is make or break.