OK we did have a few light showers and it went a bit cloudy, but we definitely had some sun and thankfully it was pretty much dry all day, so we've been cracking on all over the site. The trench extension on the NE edge over several large probably Iron age walls is coming on nicely ...
... as is the one over on the NW edge of the site, aiming to get the other side of our Iron Age roundhouse, although there's an awful lot of beach material dumped on top of it by the sea - you can (almost!) forgive the Atlantic for the damage it's doing to the site just for the bonny view we get:
Elsewhere on site we welcomed back a couple of old hands, Keith Prosser who's up to do a spot of Viking re-enacting alongside the digging ...
... and fellow Viking, archaeologist and archaeological illustrator Alan Braby:
Having a professional illustrator on site is just brilliant - he can draw anything, anywhere ten times faster & better than anyone else, which is a huge advantage when you're as pressed for time as we are, what with the whole site being on its way seaward at a fairly frightening rate.
Some of the lower down the beach Iron Age bits of the site had finally dried our enough that they could be given a good clean up for a photo, so I managed to leap in to take a quick shot with the ranging poles in position, my photo isn't up to Steve's high standards but for a quick snap it's OK, shows the nice hearth (red stuff) and behind it the probable oven:
What's more telling is the pic below, taken from the right hand side showing the seaweed and detritus at the bottom of the site, and a nice line where the sea has taken off the rest of the archaeology:
That's how close the sea is to the site, and why there's such an urgency about the excavation at Swandro. We rely heavily on support from members of the public, and if anyone feels moved towards making a donation in support of our work that would be very much appreciated.
Hopefully tomorrow will continue dry at least if not sunny, it's been great to see the site such a hive of activity with all areas finally dried out enough to work on and everyone so busy, with even the soggy midden deposits of the Iron Age roundhouse workable:
Right, got to leave off now and go and load the Landy with three wheelbarrows and a folding bed - we're a bit short of accommodation so there's a lot of ad hoc sleeping going on, already sent out my folding bed and now borrowed one off my mum - had my fingers firmly crossed behind my back as I assured her she'd get it back in good condition and no, it wouldn't be covered in mud ... she never asked if it wouldn't be covered in sand and midden deposits so that doesn't count as a fib, right??
コメント