Wednesday 19th June 2013
Day 16- The “Well” Strikes Again
Today, spirits were high as the sun was shining and progress was being made with many features reaching completion. If the features weren’t being fully finished, more feature sections were beginning! It is very important to consider the entirety of a feature, its shape and the various back-fills apparent, in addition to the finds recovered before interpretation of the archaeology can be made. Even more meticulous work can be undertaken in order to interpret the archaeological features, such as the sequence of the back-fills. PhD researchers Rebecca Cannell and Daniella Vos were doing such work within a section of the Banjo Enclosure ditch, using a portable X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) device. XRF is a technique used to determine element composition of samples and the creation of the portable technology means this can now be undertaken in the field and not just in the lab. Many context samples were targeted in the ditch stratigraphy, as pictured below, and a comparison between the field results and future lab results will be taken.
PhD research being undertaken using portable X-ray Fluorescence within a section of the Banjo Enclosure Ditch. Courtesy of Bournemouth University.
In the “well or not a well” feature, as discussed in Day 15- Ever Changing Interpretations, another beautiful and intriguing find as been recovered by second year Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology student Lewis Busby. This Roman intaglio ring, as pictured below, is particularly rare as both the ring and gemstone area are intact!
Roman intaglio ring, recovered by Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology student Lewis Busby. Courtesy of Bournemouth University.
Not only a beautiful find, it is indicative archaeological evidence of the status of the Roman population living in and around the Villa at the time. Only Roman males of a particular status were allowed to wear such a ring but this rule relaxed in the later Romano-British period. Only further datable evidence from the feature will be able to help the period of this find thus the level of status it may have belonged to.