On Thursday 22nd May 2014, Wessex Archaeology and the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) took a group of teenagers onto Salisbury Plain to excavate Iron Age archaeology.
These teenagers are part of the Jon Egging Trust’s Blue Skies Programme, which aims to inspire young people to help them reach their full potential. This group of participants were introduced to archaeology through a visit to the WA office in Salisbury last week. Read more about the visit here.
The excavation took place at Chisenbury Midden, a known mound of Iron Age feasting waste monitored by DIO on behalf of the MoD. The JET participants were trained in excavation techniques by WA staff and worked alongside injured service personnel from Operation Nightingale. Finds from the day were plentiful and included several different styles of Iron Age pottery, some with beautiful decoration, and large amounts of animal bone. These artefacts will now be processed in the finds lab back at the office by our team of dedicated volunteers.
The students thoroughly enjoyed the experience and are looking forward to enjoying some more archaeology next year when they begin level two of the Blue Skies Programme.