Last day on site at Arbeia

With the winter steadily approaching we've decided to wrap up the excavations for this year at Arbeia. We've had a really productive few weeks back here though; the fort ditch is now looking like a ditch, we've had loads of great finds including samian and black burnished ware ceramics and some really nice window glass, modelled below by Terry. The ditch fills are by no means straightforward, and it's taken a bit of thinking to work out what went in where, and when (not why though). We've battled on through the rain and wind (thanks Terry), and at the end of the season I'm delighted with the progress made. The site will now be covered over until spring when we'll be back to digging again. Until then it's indoor work such as finds processing.

Thanks to all the WallQuesters who've battled through the elements- you've been brilliant!

Terry modelling Roman window glass

The Arbeia crew in the ditch

The ditch at the close of play

WallQuest versus the weather

As winter closes in, the weather is now playing an influential role in our excavations. Take last Thursday for instance. We arrived on site to find submerged archaeology. The pump didn't work. It was wet and slippery underfoot. But that didn't stop the superb Wallquest volunteers. Buckets and sponges in hand, they trooped down into the trench and within half and hour the site was back to looking like it did before the rain. Within an hour trowels were scraping and pottery was being placed into find trays. Hats off to the Wallquest volunteers!

Phil gets stuck into the bailing!

 

Normal service is resumed!