The site is clean of topsoil after today’s hard work from all year groups. The first years cleared the remains of the baulks from last year, revealing more intriguing pits and features to be excavated over the coming days. Some began to trowel into and sectioned a ditch which continues on from one investigated in last year’s excavation.  Others started to excavate an area of a geophysical anomaly and all were eager to get stuck into features.

The second years were trowelling back an area expected to contain part of a Roman building. Several walls gradually appeared, along with roofing tiles and animal bones.

The entrance to the banjo enclosure was cleared by some of the third years, while the rest of them re-exposed last year’s excavated later Roman house platform terraced into the hillside.

Today’s finds included a small piece of painted plaster, which further supports the idea that at some point a building of higher status was at this site. There was also kitchenware and high status tableware.

Wrists and shoulders are in pain after extensive trowelling and doing the wheel barrow runs up the ever growing spoil heap. However, hopes are heightened at the prospect of discovering ancient ‘treasures’ buried in the Dorset chalk as features start to be excavated.

Lauren and Zoe

Day 3: Animal bone on a Roman surface, a sherd from a mortarium, and the site fully up and running

Day 3: The pre-excavation planning of features exposed during trowelling