Day 11: Monday 5th July

Weather: Chilly and windy.

Word of the Day: ceramics

Find of the Day: A large piece of waster pottery. (This means it is mis-shapen due to being mis-fired. Pictured below).

Here is the extra long piece of clay pipe found on friday by C.J.

Mauro using a dumpy level to measure the depth of the original 1970s trench that has been excavated from trench 16. By doing this, we can see how precise the 1970s plans of the site are. What we found yesterday was that actually the 70s trench doesn't match the original site plans.

Charlie's Beard looked a bit wind swept today. In other news, Charlie has been involved in the excavation of trench 15. In the 1970s, the layer of soil that we have reached was recorded as natural bedrock. It isn't. It is actually soil with evidence of burnt material in it.

A selection of pottery. If you look closely at the white fragment on the right you may be able to spy a small 's'. This is the makers mark.

Ceramics found over the course of the last few weeks were spread on large tables to be sorted. At the Manor Lodge Site there is a visitors centre which has lots of information on the history of the site. We are going to be putting a display cabinet in the centre, so are selecting artefacts which tell a story to display in the centre.

Charlotte: Finding pieces and fragments of pottery with interesting designs, patterns and pieces that fit together.

Introducing...

We've got an interview for you with young whipper snappers Ben and Nat, but first we thought we'd introduce them.

Name: Ben. BA Archaeology, Sheffield.

Likes: Mountain biking, fish and guitars.

Dislikes: Loud people and being called a geordie. (Ben is from Sunderland)

Favourite Songs: Maybe Tomorrow- The Stereophonics and Venus in Furs- The Velvet

Underground.

Ideal Dinner Party Guests: John Frusciante, Jimmy Page, Kim Jong II, Keith Richards and Roy Keen.

If I could be involved in any archaeological excavation, I'd like to excavate: The burial ground of the Qin Dynasty.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_Dynasty

Name: Nathanael. BA Archaeology Student Sheffield.
Likes: drums, rock climbing and piano.
Dislikes: freshly cut grass due to his hay fever.
If you could be anyone for a day who would you be?: Prince Harry.
Favourite Song: Heart of Gold- Neil Young
If I could be involved in any archaeological excavation, I'd like to excavate: Easter Island.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Island

Victoria: Why did you choose archaeology and what sparked that initial interest?

Ben: I've always liked archaeology, always been interested in finding stuff. I went to Binchester, and Durham university were doing some excavations there and they showed us around. There was part of a road they'd excavated, found some quite cool stuff, but they say it's bigger than stuff they've found at Hadrian's Wall, so if they had excavated that it would be bigger and better.
Nat: I did it at GCSE. Went on a dig in year 10 I think it was in Chirbury and it grew from there really.

Victoria: Indiana Jones or Tony Robinson?

Ben: Tony Robinson

Nat: He's more realistic.

Victoria: So you have both completed your first year of BA Archaeology. What aspect of the course have you most enjoyed?

Ben: European Civilizations with Jane Rempel, good lecturer.

Nat: I really enjoyed Origins. We had a lecturer Phil Pettitt, absolute legend, he's a really good lecturer. So I was kind of interested because of the lecturer. I really liked the pre-history and that aspect of it. And we studied world civilizations this semester which was fantastic.