Monday 2 July:

Upon my arrival to the Sheffield office of Wessex Archaeology I was given a whistle-stop tour of the building: kitchen, main offices, heritage area and the basement’s finds (processing), analysis and office spaces, meeting team members along the way.

For the remaining time I was in the processing room washing a collection of mixed finds (bone, pottery, masonry and a few pieces of painted glass) from a recent-ish excavation at Pontefract Castle, which was quite therapeutic and satisfying upon (partial) completion of the day’s task.

Tuesday 3 July:

Tuesday brought more finds washing from the Pontefract Castle excavation which allowed me to finish washing all the remaining finds that were my task from the Monday’s work. However, unlike the previous day, I was joined in the processing room by a trio of enthusiastic community volunteers who were processing a small collection of finds from their excavation in Harthill, near Killamarsh.

Wednesday 4 July:

Today I went out to experience an excavation at the Nestle Waters bottling plant in Buxton. The excavation was drawing to a close although there was still work for me to complete. My day on site was spent cleaning the area surrounding a suspected ditch in preparation for pre-excavation photographing, then excavating a section of the suspected ditch to not only create a section, but to also provide a soil sample for the bottom layers of fill which could then be analysed by the environmental team.

Thursday 5 July:

I started Thursday by getting a basic talk of the importance of environmental archaeology and then I was given the opportunity to sort out some samples of residue and perform a bucket filtration, yet again in the processing room, with the assistance of one of the environmental team.

In the early afternoon I visited the heritage area and was given a short lecture in what it is that they do, mainly having their input in planning permission requests and consultancy before construction, and more detail in historic building surveying which I found really quite interesting, especially the historic mapping and overlaying them with modern parts.

Friday 6 July:

On my final day of my placement with Wessex Archaeology’s Sheffield office, I went back out to the Buxton site helping them with finishing their excavation, and getting the appropriate sections of my BAJR Archaeology Skills Passport signed off.

By Dominic Heslam