This past week of digging which starts on Sunday and ends on Thursday saw a lot of dirt moved by the "human JCB's". The first picture is what the trench looked like on Sunday morning. The second picture is what the trench looked like on Thursday afternoon (the small green basket full of dirt behind Bryan is where the trench edge was to start Sunday). We have been able to show up about ten feet of the earliest stone fort wall and are ready to show another six feet by the end of this coming Sunday. Yesterday the sandstone and cobble foundation layer was discovered which means we have found the base of the wall. The turf rampart lies right on top of this and I am beginning to have questions about the development of the wall and rampart. It seems the rampart overlays a bit of the eastern side of the wall. The rampart is made of turfs cut rectangular by the workers and laid in a pattern one on top of the other. The rampart is the black soil in the right of the trench in each picture. There doesn't seem to be a mason's trench cut into the rampart for workers to be able to face the inner side (eastern/right side of picture) of the wall. The rampart is mashed right into what remains of the wall as if it was a later date. The western side of the wall is where the outer facing stones and wall core is falling away and it is loose rubble when excavating into it. I hope to run a small side trench off the opened area, in effect cutting through the rampart, and see what its full shape is. Time and manpower will tell as to how much is done next week. There may be eight people working in the area which means a very big section of the wall could be opened up for viewing by Thursday next week.
I'm off to Corbridge today. Corbridge is the eastern most point of the Stanegate and was the site of a Roman fort and town which acted as a service and supply depot for the Roman army. It is another Bank Holiday weekend in the UK which means lots of walkers and tourists and rain. The theory in the UK is that a bank holiday weekend will always bring rain. And of course rain is expected on Sunday and Monday. But today is great-sunny and blue.
2 comments:
I gotta tell you, Matt, I always look forward to reading a new post on your blog. Who thought playing in the dirt could be this much fun at our age?
This is living, Kristie. A shovel, spade, trowel, and wheelbarrow. And of course lots of dirt. You never know what will be found and that is what makes excavating so much fun. It keeps getting better and better.
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