A very hot one on site today!!!

We did our best under the very hot conditions today, thankfully with a little breeze across the hills. It was the second day we were joined by our team of apprentices who in trench number 13 excavated a slot through the bank of the enclosure that they started working on yesterday, revealing that the bank is constructed atop the natural limestone pavement, augmenting the natural landscape to create useful structures. They also spent time with our resident drone pilot Debbie learning how we undertake drone surveys to discover and map archaeology across vast landscapes and learnt how we use the dGPS to attach the 3D models we make to the wider landscape and record what we have been digging.

In trench 12, the first trench opened across the enclosure, Carol and Ian finished drawing the section showing how the bank was constructed and a plan drawing, as well as learning how to undertake photogrammetry to create a full and detailed record of what they excavated. They also took an environmental sample of a deposit below the bank material in the hopes of recovering some dating evidence for when the bank was constructed. We then carefully (and gently given the heat!) backfilled the trench and moved south to mark out another trench just before we ended the day.

Meanwhile the team in trench 10 expertly and neatly exposed another section of bank or wall remnants sat atop the natural bedrock and under the supervision of Andy and Debbie recorded and photographed the trench as well as undertook photogrammetry before removing the top layer of deposited rock.

Thank you and good luck to the team of apprentices and thanks to Debbie for visiting with the drone! It is set to be another scorcher tomorrow, hats and sun cream will be the order of the day.