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Day 4: The stage is set

Team 2014 reflects on a tough first week of work, but the stage is now set to reveal the Roman road and what lies beneath the floor deposits of last year's stone structure.

Troweling party in a rare moment of sunshine

Eugen
Although today started off windy with a bit of rain, I fortunately had the morning in a classroom looking at the impact archaeology has on the public and how that has made archaeology into a trend. The second half of the day was spent removing any remaining backfill and then using the trowels to reach the Roman remains. The highlight of the day would have to be Nathaniel and Freya finding a large amount of animal bone remains.

Adam
The site is really beginning to take form. With more of the Roman road uncovered earlier in the week it is becoming easier to see. We also had a refresher course on the use of the Dumpy level, which is used to take height readings across the site. There is a real feeling of camaraderie among the whole team and everyone is excited, if tired, and looking forward to getting to some proper archaeology next week.

Beth
Our arrival to the Grosvenor Park dig on day 4 was met by a quick shower of rain, so armed with sponges, hand shovels and buckets we were tasked to removing as much of the water on the site as possible. All was going well as Team C continued to trowel the top layer from the ditch until the rain started again! We decided to take an early tea break and to enjoy the downpour from a more...comfortable distance. Even at this stage, many finds were being discovered from the top layer of the pit, such as small fragments of bone and small shards of pottery.

After our tea break, I managed to uncover bricks within the area of the ditch that have been placed on top of a drain pipe. As lunch approached, it was clear to see that everyone was in need of a rest! Needless to say, the first week of digging has been hard work, enjoyable as well as successful. And as the week drew to a close, we packed up our tools and slowly made our way home, welcoming the coming weekend as we went.

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