It is beginning to look a lot like Autumn in the Oxfordshire countryside, with a brisk breeze and striking sunrise. It is also the beginning of a new archaeological project, and a ground-breaking investigation into the historic narrative of the village Aston.

The first few days have been a slow and steady start for our archaeological investigation. The Team have set up welfare, and a compound - so a cup of tea can always be at hand. We have a 13 tonne 360 machine which has started works, with an experienced driver behind the wheel and an archaeologist supervising the removal of the first layers of soil.

At the start of an archaeological investigation, the principle aim is to determine the depth at which the archaeology can be found. This means a machine removes the topsoil, and often subsoil layers until we, as the archaeologist, are confident we are at the right level. The right level being called the archaeological horizon, where we can see the physical remains of the past which we will then investigate further. We have yet to reveal what lays beneath, but we have uncovered ceramic and bone fragments already. It looks to be a promising start! I wonder what the next few days will bring...