As we continue the work to find out more about Truckle Hill and Chiseldon one of the tasks that needs to be done is to clean the finds from the autumn excavation and recent field walking. Members of the South Wiltshire Young Archaeologists’ Club, who came to visit the Truckle Hill excavation in September, were eager to help us start this process during their January meeting.
During the session the young archaeologists started the cleaning process, working to get the dirt and clay off of the pottery, bone and ceramic building material. The young archaeologists worked in groups and while some were working on finds washing another group tried their hands at marking finds. Each find needs to be labelled with the site number and context in the smallest writing possible. It takes a steady hand to keep the writing legible, and some of the young archaeologists were naturals at this task.
We found the first and only coin discovered at the Truckle Hill Roman Bath-House this year. Another group had the opportunity to take a look at a few examples of Roman coins, and learn about all the information these small finds can contain. Then they got creative, and designed coins of their own.
The finds processing session with South Wiltshire Young Archaeologists’ Club was a great start to working on the artefacts from Truckle Hill and Chiseldon. I’m sure the enthusiasm will continue while volunteers from Truckle Hill visit the Wessex Archaeology offices to wash and label the rest of the artefacts. They will also be starting to record all of the decorated wall plaster from Truckle Hill.
Make sure to read this blog in order to keep updated on the progress.