Following on from the fantastic success of the Operation Nightingale excavation at Barrow Clump last summer, the soldiers have returned for a second year. The 2013 excavations will explore new areas of this Bronze Age burial mound and aim to identify the extent of the Saxon cemetery.
Site Director, Phil Andrews has agreed to produce his popular weekly round-ups for the blog again this year, starting with week one below:
Here we go again!
A year passes very quickly and we started again at Barrow Clump last week, this time for five weeks until the end of July. Site camp was established, nettles cleared and trees trimmed, whilst the badgers appear to have temporarily vacated the site.
Within a couple of days, and with the aid of a mechanical excavator, five new areas were open and ready for excavation; four in the southern part of the Early Bronze Age barrow to complete investigations in this area and one trench to the north-west in an area not previously investigated.
By the end of the week 14 Anglo-Saxon graves had been identified in the southern areas, whilst well-preserved Bronze Age and earlier deposits survive to the north-west. Excavations are now well underway in all areas with around 25 people taking part - soldiers, ex-soldiers and a whole range of other enthusiastic volunteers. In contrast to last year the weather has been excellent, and we look forward exciting discoveries in the next couple of weeks.
Find out more about Operation Nightingale by clicking here.