Dig Diary - Day Two
Again today I woke up to a wet day, As I crawled out of bed I realised I had ache's and pains in places I didn't realise I had! as they say hair of the dog is the best cure so off i trotted to Staveley hall. As i arrived there it was lightly raining, but volunteers were already on site , we had our familiar faces as well as a few fresh ones, Dave was vigorously digging in trench 8, in the exact same position that he was in when i left yesterday and I wondered if he had really been there all night. We also had some diggers from ARTEAMUS that came down to the dig last year so it was nice to catch up with them.
Today was pretty much the same format as yesterday - everyone was to line up along trench 8 and clean backwards.
I looked for a good spot and I cleverly decided to position myself between Dominic and Paul Wilson - the chairman of the history society, who also happens to be a strapping six foot four. I soon filled my spoil bucket and made a feeble attempt to lift it, and before i could even flutter my eyelashes it was swiftly lifted away by Paul, and so for the rest of the day between Paul and Dominic I didn’t have to empty my spoil once!
Everyone set about digging and finds were again abundant. We had some youngsters on site which was really nice and they soon set the pace, and no I couldn’t keep up!
Dominic and I didn't find anything particularly interesting, in fact we didn’t really find anything at all. I think we must have been digging in the wrong place as everyone else's find trays seemed to be filling up and spilling over. Paul had found a piece of millstone, and lots and lots of teeth and bones, he also uncovered a burnt area, a hearth maybe? Someone found a really nice bead and a musket ball, but perhaps the most exciting find was a bronze hammered coin. Now I don't know much about coins (some would say I don't know much about anything) but I had a quick chat with Steve from ARCUS who said that it was 'old' probably before the 1600's. Hopefully more will be known on that soon.
As it warmed up slightly and the sun struggled to appear a few more volunteers joined in. We had a few visitors to the site including a town councilor and the local vicar. Everyone worked incredibly hard, so much in fact we were suitably impressed when Catherine from ARCUS's trowel snapped! (I won't be making any comments about her being at breaking point.)
I think we had a really good second day, and I learnt quite a lot today , especially about trench tidiness, Duncan did have to tell me a few times not to sit with my muddy boots in front of me dirtying the area that I had just spent ages cleaning, I did eventually listen, and yes it did make my life a lot easier, and yes the trench did look much tidier. That's the good thing about the ARCUS archaeologists – Catherine, Steve and Duncan, they always have time to answer questions and give advice and they really are approachable. Which is why I think so many volunteers have returned this year and why we have learnt - and are continuing to learn - so much.
As I sign off I would just like to say thank you to Frank for the pink nail brush - the smallest details count. I am off site for 2 days now, then back Friday. ....I am missing it already, I wonder if there is a self help group called archaeologists anonymous?......
Rachael Siddle
