Day Five: Friday 25th June

Weather: Cool with bursts of hot hot heat.

Word of the Day: Fish and Chips

Find of the Day: The skeleton of a small dog. The bones found yesterday belonged to this skeleton.

Today was Chip Friday. At lunch we all enjoyed fish and chips. After lunch a few members of the dig were a little sad because it was a whole week until the next Chip Friday.

We would also like to congratulate Charlotte who just found out that she got a First Degree in BA Archaeology.


Here is BA Archaeology student Tom Keyworth carefully excavating the dog skeleton. To ensure that minimum damage is done to the skeleton, he brushes away dirt with a paint brush.

Site planning is still taking place. Here is Charlie Hay modelling a Staff so his group can make 3D plans of trench 15. Jonathon Buttery site planning.

The Finds Process

Archaeological excavations aren't all just about digging in the dirt. Finds are placed in a finds tray and then taken to the basement for the finds process.

Here is a piece of 17th Century pottery that was found in Trench 18.


Finds are then cleaned. We clean pottery with toothbrushes and paintbrushes. Metal is dry brushed and we also use skewers to remove dirt. In the photograph above Craig is washing ceramics.

The finds are then left to dry in the sun. They are then sorted and put into bags.

This is a photograph of a wooden button found.

It has been a tiring first week. The weather has been lovely and we are all looking forward to what might be found next week.