AN OCCASIONAL PROGRESS REPORT
of the 2010 Excavation
by Jeremy Cooper

The views expressed are Jeremy's own and the information is his own understanding - he has been known to get things wrong!

Day 16 of 20: Monday 5 July

A late afternoon visit to be there for the CLASP Organising Committee meeting at 1715. Caught some end-of-afternoon action. A hot, humid day, and almost everyone seemed glad the working day was almost over.

Nothing has changed much since Friday. But here, anyway, are a few photos.

That strip of pebbles has come up - no great revelations so far...



I reckon it looked nicer with them down. Never mind.

Margaret and her team continue working on the main BH2 stoke hole...


One change is that the action is moving slowly northwards, onto that enigmatic area East of BH1, where there is a lot of charcoal (ash from the BH1 praefurnium?), and a wet patch in the middle...





Over in AB the field boundary ditch is getting deeper...



... and the continuation of the estate boundary ditch/bank is being clarified...



Later, Dave took time out from contexting to show some of the CLASP OrgCom members the latest state of affairs...



Probably not going up tomorrow, but I'll be on site for the rest of the week to capture the closing hours of WF10.

By the way, we had a good meeting, thanks, and admitted two more groups to the CLASP family: the History of Tiffield Society (HOTS), and the Northamptonshire Artefact Recovery Club (NARC - is it addictive, I wonder?).

Day 17 of 20: Tuesday 6 July

This today from Tony Kesten in the USA:

All

I donated a copy of each of Ruth's three books to the Public Library in Monticello NY and a Whitehall T-shirt to the Librarian who is an old friend of mine from Woodstock days. I thought you might like to see the picture and even, perhaps Jeremy, put it in the blog? Alan the Librarian is also interested in archaeology and goes to a dig in Israel.

I also drafted a Press Release marking the event which may or may not follow me here.

See you on Weds by when I hope to have got over my jet lag.

Tony

Re yesterday's blog:Tony claims (rightly I'm sure) the record for Whitehall-T-shirt-photographed-furthest-away-from-Whitehall. Now there's a challenge! If people send me their photos from New Zealand or Antarctica, the moon, or anywhere distant, I'll create a new feature on the website to host them. Please include your exact location (to the nearest town, crater or rill) and I will estimate the crow-flying distance from Whitehall using Google Earth. Tony's record on that basis is 3,400.80 miles. Well done Tony.

(NB: if photographed on the moon, the T-shirt must be clearly visible: "I've got it on under the space suite" will not be accepted.)

In today's blog: big bits of wood, a tiny bit of wood bone (see tomorrow's blog) and some glass, plus all your usual favourties - except for AB where digging has finished and the day was spent planning.

First the wood (big bits):

The roof truss, seen from the north, and...



... from the south. This is a major feature! It will be left covered in situ and kept well hydrated with a flow of spring water to wash out impurities. Then it will be lifted in September and put into storage.

Here's a close-up of the joint at the southern end (under water in the photo just above)...

Each division on the scale is 5cm.

And next, the small bit of wood bone...



... part, possibly, of a hair pin, found in the baulk to the north of the mosaic, while it was being taken down with picks at the end of the afternoon (see right). Exquisite!

Next, the glass...



found, I think, under the pebble strip to the north of the mosaic in the charcoaly bit of the lower slope...



Yes, that's something embedded in it - a flake of flint perhaps? Why?

Barbara says: After a quick look, it appears to be the side of a Roman glass bottle. These were very roughly and cheaply made by blowing the glass into a mould, so there might have been something stuck on or in the molten glass as it went into the mould. I think we would class this one as a "second".

An image of one is at this url
http://gallery.e2bn.org/image69594.html

If it was found under the pebble strip, maybe the workers laying the strip
were trying to get rid of the evidence of their lunchtime drinking session.

Thanks Barbara.

And finally, the north facing section of the praefurnium in all its burnt glory, as revealed by Margaret's team...



Tomorrow I'll be shooting the site record of AB (and the A-Team official photograph!).

We were getting a bit silly here!
Canon vs Olympus.






Sectioning the praefurnium


This is where the glass was found




The activity furthest north so far this year, exploring a feature running W-E across the lower slope.



Mr Jet-Lag, saying I should be filming the people who are working.


Hacking out the baulk north of the mosaic. This is where the carved bone was found - well spotted!!






Jenny's trench

The A-Team enjoying a bit of R&R (but still busy) in the finds area.

Day 20 of 20: Friday 9 July

So there we were driving home, and I turns to Barbara (without taking my eyes off the A5 - no you don't want to go that way) and I says, "We've missed the site tour. Oh lummy!" She sympathised. Now, for all I know, there may not have been a site tour, even though it is Friday. Anyway, I'll find out at the BBQ tonight and let you know what was said - if there was a site tour. There will also be photos of the BBQ, so you can really mind missing it (or not). Yes, it has been VERY HOT today...

Anyway, some last day of the dig photos:


Looking south

Here's the end of that sneekily turning wall. The end for the moment anyway. Steve reckons it may go on a bit more at a lower level. Or it may even turn westwards (left in the photo). As you can see, some diggers have already declared it to be ritual wall, and paying due obeisance. I fear it may become our own Blarney Stone.

Here's Fred using his Stanley knife, while Sandra dunks in the cistern...



Fred is cutting off a strip of very special fabric that will keep the wooden roof truss from drying out.. It's white on the other side to reflect the sunlight...



Of course, he took it all off again when I shot the final site record photos.

While Steve and I were up aloft, the gang started dismanting Camp Whitehall...



... so that by the end of the afternoon there was almost nothing left beyond the straw bales except for the BBQ bits and pieces.

Here are a few of the high-level shots to be going on with:











The colours came up beautifully - really worth the effort of all that watering.

I'll post a gallery of more high-level site shots in due course - accessible from the Excavations page on this website.

This is a low-level shot of the praefurnium flue (stoke hole throat as Dave has it)...



Then everyone got a go in the Matbro. Some squealed quite a lot...



Finally (for now)...


Click on the photo for a larger one

A big thanks to all!!

And... just come in from Ruth...

Thanks Ruth.

PS Fred sent a similar photo, suggesting that the men aloft might be Russian spies. I've modified is slightly to match the efforts of that shower in the USA.




Potted site tour: summarising thoughts from Steve - extracted after he'd had a couple of beers at the BBQ:

1. He's surprised at the degree of survival in BH2 (of the archaeology that is, not the diggers), especially given that it was systematically robbed out. In particular, the tessellated pavement (mosaic) is the only substantially undamaged one to be found in this area (headwaters of the Nene, Central Norhants) for over 100 years.

2. The "corridor" with the sneaky wall by it (the reddish bit below) is a drain - it runs all the way from the West side of the site - but it may be more than just an irrigation device. Steve reckons that the room shown in blue below may have been the plunge pool, and the drain may have been part of the way it worked.



3. How BH2 worked is still not clear. There seem to be two separate and unconnected wings, and the exact functions of the different rooms are not known.

4. This year's revelations and finds confirm that BH2 was definitely bigger and better appointed that BH1 of beloved memory.

5. So no major breakthoughs this year, and, as ever, more questions raised than answered. But that augers well for the future...

6. Next year the aim will be to:

• take out the "plunge pool" room;
• extend the dig to the North (beyond the metalled surface), and to the East. I guess the straw bales may have to move again, and possibly even Steve's caravan;
• examine the "industrial zone" at the northern end of the site. We have plenty of evidence suggestive of local glass-making, and, now, of metal working.

The BBQ





A big thanks from us to Steve and Nick for all their work in preparing the excellent food.

After lots to eat and drink, Nick made a speech thanking everyone for their hard work.



He said that he and Steve needed to assess very carefully just how much work there would be to do next year and how many people would be needed to do it.

******************************

And here endeth, really, the 2010 blog. Any further developments will appear in the listings on the Excavations page.

Thanks for letting me have so much fun again this year.

See you, I hope with Barbara, at Harpole in September.

Jeremy.