Over the Hump

This will be my sixth week digging and I am now half way through my digging vacation. I've had a great time experiencing again the thrill of archaeology. And the soreness and the unpredictable weather. But also the great finds by everyone and listening in to the stories of why people come to dig at Vindolanda and the ideas of the archaeologists about how each season of excavation helps further the story of the area. Archaeology should be a changing, ever evolving story, not something that lays stagnant, giving up nothing new to further the understanding of the past. Unfortunately that is what is happening in England. The governing body that oversees the heritage of England, i.e., all the castles, monuments, ruins and remains of past groups of people, has decided that the heritage is best preserved and maintained by not learning anything new. Vindolanda is a rarity as it is most similar to an academic dig in the States. Very few places have excavation seasons as long as Vindolanda, the facilities to conserve and show what is discovered, and the skilled and unskilled labor dedicated to doing positive beneficial archaeology. I think more places in England should review their goals in the coming years and maybe seek to have some archaeology done, where applicable, to give new life to a heritage that is losing visitors in droves every year. To have the heritage "protected" is not enough. To have the heritage and display it to the best benefit of the public should be the rule and not the exception. Vindolanda is an exception and I am glad that I have been a part of this year's excavation season for as long as I have.

Thanks to last week's crew for a great excavation week. Andy believes we have possibly found the Antonine era stone fort- one wall acting as the foundation to the later IV Gaul fort which would help to explain just how big was the first stone fort at Vindolanda. Four of us were given that task. Richard, Lydia, and Vicky lent their labor as did I and it is good to feel like an archaeological question has been answered. Of course I may be back in that trench next week and a new revelation could throw a wrench into what we have found but until then the question has been answered! The rest of the crew continued work in one of the vicus buildings excavating down looking for the Severan era floor level. Some great pottery finds continued to come out of the building as did a large, square brick oven platform. By the end of next week the entire oven should be excavated which should be exciting to see. Stay tuned for the pictures.

Here's last week's crew in all our glory. Beth, Andy's assistant (and fellow American!) is on the far left, in the front is Michael and Andy. The back row is (from the left): Vicky, Lydia, Marilyn, Catherine, Lawrence, Richard, and Liz.