Day 26: Monday 26th July

Weather: Grim and Grey.

Word of the day: Sure

Find of the day: 3 pieces of a pottery, 2 of which fit together. (Pictured Below)

These three fragments of pottery boast the names of two characters from the novel 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' by Harriet Beecher Stowe. This anti-slavery novel was written in 1852 and was so popular that a series of ceramics were created to capture the story. The two characters featured on this particular ceramic are Miss Ophelia, Augustine St.Clare's pious cousin who argues against the institution of slavery but is repulsed by the slaves themselves, and Topsy who is a young slave girl.

So what is the context and significance of finding this? Well, firstly it shows that there was literacy in the the 19th century houses at the Manor Lodge. Also, Hull is near by and Hull was a focal point in the anti-slavery movement.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_Tom's_Cabin

http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/interpret/exhibits/stevenson/stevenson.html

Lily has been removing dirt from the stone wall in trench 16. When the dirt is removed we will be able to see the stones to record them and also we will know when they come from. This wall could be post medieval but with repatching and fixing there are a number of other bricks from other times.


Cherubin taking a quick break from shovelling.

We had a number of school children at Manor Lodge today on a school trip. They were quite interested by this rubbish disposal pot in trench 15.

Philippa and Hutch mattocking back the next layer in trench 18.

Blake and Shannon were busy trowelling back in trench 17 today.

Lily spent the first two weeks of the excavation on site then was involved in a number of field schools. She looks happy to be back.

Lauren spent some time this afternoon checking context sheets.

Charlie's Beard. To the untrained eye this will look no different to any other Charlie's Beard but it is. Charlie has had a slight trim and has left himself with a number of beard bald patches.