Day 14: Thursday 8th July.

Weather: Warm and sunny.


Word of the day: Worms


Quote of the day: In reply to a comment about Nat's slow pace of shovelling soil into a wheelbarrow.
Nat: I'm slow because I was built to play piano and push pens.


Find of the Day: We haven't got one specific find of the day. Instead we are going to talk you through a number of interesting finds.


Today students also had a lecture led by Rachel Askew, a PhD Archaeology student, titled 'The Consumption of Material Culture in Castles during the English Civil Wars, 1642-49'.

Over the course of the last few weeks we have found a relatively high number of these fragments of 19th century jam jars.

This strange shape is actually a fish bone.

As previously said in past blogs, we have found more pieces of clay pipe than we have worms. However this piece found today differs from the others. This one has an addition on the end which we assume would be the end used to actually smoke through. It is the kind of shape which means it could be clamped between the teeth. Due to the fact that we have only found one end of a clay pipe has raised suspicion that there was just one really really long clay pipe.

This is a picture of worked bone, cut into an almost perfect square.

We have found lots and lots of animal teeth. This is the largest found and measures at about 2 inches long.

Above is some moulded plaster cornice found. It is used as decoration and for coving.

This section of trench 16 is being prepared for section drawing after some levelling took place yesterday.

At the osteology field school today, students were learning about Palaeopathology. This is the study of ancient diseases. After a lecture students were invited to look at bones which had suffered disease, trauma and illness and identify what had happened to the person by looking at the bones.

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

We have found a Charles and Diana memorabilia plastic bag with the date of their wedding on in 1981.

Alvaro having a look at site.

Charlie's Beard. Charlie's beard has changed some what. He has shaved his neck.

Day 13: Wednesday 7th July

Weather: Grim and rainy.

Word of the day: Waterproofs and bad jokes.

Find of the Day: A small fragment of 16-17th century pottery. (Pictured below).

Today the student taking part in the osteology field school were looking at adult skeletons and with the help of a hefty handout were determining the biological sex of the skeletons and assigning the age of death. Above is a male skeleton.

The skull on the right is male and the skull on the right is female. There are several differences with male and female skulls which helps to determine the sex of the skeleton. To name just a few: A male's skull is robust and heavier than a females. There are differences above the eye sockets. A female's will be much smoother than a males.

This is a picture from the hand out that accompanies the task. If you look at the diagram of the male's pelvis next to the female's you will be able to spot a number of differences.

The newest entry for the Best Hat competiton comes from BA Archaeology student, Sam. Today on site he was sporting a knitted number with a peak.

Trench 17 were busy mattocking the next layer of soil.

Samantha is trowelling along a linear feature which has been half sectioned to show the profile of the feature. At the moment it is looking like it could potentially be vegetation.

A packet of 1970's Chip Sticks found.

Charlie was off doing research today but luckily he left us a drawing of his beard for Charlie's Beard.

Introducing...

Name: Alyssa. BSc Arcaheology student.
Likes: Shopping, ice cream and sunshine.
Dislikes: Mushrooms.
Greatest Moment: Living in Cypress for 4 years.
Can't Live Without: Friends, family and chocolate.
If I could be involved in any archaeological excavation, I'd like to excavate: Pompeii

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

Name: Alvaro. Archaeological Research Services LTD project manager.
Likes: Real ale and travelling in the sun.
Dislikes: lies and injustice.
Sports: climbing, surfing, mountain biking and ski-ing.
Greatest Moment: Climbing Mattehorn mountain which borders Switzerland and Italy with his brother.
If I could be involved in any archaeological excavation, I'd like to excavate: South American early civilizations.

http://archaeology.about.com/od/incatiwanakumoche/South_American_Civilizations_and_Cultures.htm

Day 12: Tuesday 6th July

Weather: Chilly

Word of the Day: Bedrock

Find of the Day: A deer's antler.

In other news...Alvaro is going to be in the Sheffield Star!

Here is the antler found today in trench 16. In the past Manor Lodge was a deer park. This antler could be dated to the 16th Century.
A number of students who have been involved in the excavations at Manor Lodge are currently taking part in an osteology field school. Osteology is the study of human bones. On monday they were looking at adult bones and today student were given a box of juevenille bones to put into an anatomical position in labs. The task was to help the students identify the similarities and differences between adult and juevenille skeletons and with the help of supporting literature the students were able to identify the age of the skeleton. In the photograph above, Cherubin and Rebecca are looking at the skeleton aged between 4 and 6 years of age.

This is the skeleton of a 2-3 year old. The field school is being run by Dr Lizzy Craig and has 22 students attending.

A few weeks ago we found this. A Royal Marines button. We have since been trying to date this brilliant find and thanks to some research from the resident tea lady Charlotte, we can tell you this:

In 1855 his majesties marine forces were renamed the Royal Marines Light Infantry, then in 1862 they were renamed the Royal Marine Light Infantry. On the button, the s in Marines exists so this potentially dates the button between 1855-1892.

Nat and Tom have been collecting soil samples from trench 17 for flotation. This process will enable us to know more about the environmental archaeology of the site.




Here is a ceramic bead found.

This is a very interesting find. It is a bone washer. You will not be able to see this on the photograph but the small washer contains both ridges on the inside and the outside. This suggests that not only can things be screwed into the washer, but also the washer itself would be screwed into things.

Introducing...

We would like to now introduce you to the man behind Charlie's Beard, Charlie.

Name: Charlie. MA Archaeology student.
Likes: Delirium Tremens Beer, The Big Lebowski and Biffy Clyro.
Dislikes: being punched in the face, BMW drivers and wasps.
Would Like to Meet: a fully functioning woman with a GSOH. Enjoys long walks in the park and is preferably Scarlett Johanson.

If I could be anyone for a day, I'd be: Godzilla.

Best Holiday: Crete 2000
If I could be involved in any archaeological excavation, I'd like to excavate: Stonehenge to find the Underhenge. (Dr Who Reference).

http://www.stonehenge.co.uk/

Name: Liz. BSc Archaeology Student.
Likes: The pub, rock climbing and films.
Dislikes: Spiders and Nicholas Cage.
Favourite Films: Pan's Labyrinth, Chocolat and Clockwork Orange.
If I was a simpsons character and could only wear one outfit I'd wear: A checked shirt and jeans.
If I could be involved in any archaeological excavation, I'd like to excavate: Olduvai Gorge

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

Name: Samantha. BA Archaeology Student.
Likes: Swimming, ice cream and animals.
Dislikes: Spicy food.
Favourite place in the world: Home in London.
Ideal Holiday: Caribbean cruise with lots of water sports.
If I could be involved in any archaeological excavation, I'd like to excavate: Pompeii

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