Sorry for the delay in posting this blog. Once we leave site there is so much cleaning to be done and equipment to put away It took four Landover loads to get everything returned to the office!
Taking a column tin sample
On the final day of excavation at Willingham Mere we had a lot of work to finish off, recording the final section, cleaning for a full photograph to show all the different deposits in their layers, taking column samples (for further sediment and pollen analysis), lifting the final bits of wood and checking that we hadn’t left anything behind. We then had to back fill using the same machine with which we opened up on day one.
No volunteers or samples left in the hole - excavation complete!
The hole is back-filled, and the site is ready to hand back to the farmer
It seems like a long time ago that we opened up, just because of the amount of knowledge that we have gained from a 10x10m excavation.
Over the course of the next few weeks all of the finds will be processed, pulling together the final parts of the jigsaw. So fa, we have a total of 31 bird and fish bones, many environmental samples and two pieces of worked wood. The second piece of worked wood was found right at the last minute before packing up- typical! To round things off nicely, a pair of coots with two young were spotted on the Old West River.
Cleaning our finds in the laboratory
I certainly had a good time digging at Willingham Mere, working with great volunteers and the chaps from the RSPB. I think that everybody enjoyed their experience and learnt a lot about the history of the mere and the surrounding landscape. Thanks to all involved.
Guest blogger: Hayley Roberts