A package arrived at site last night. We opened it expecting to find essential site kit from Wessex HQ and were delighted to find instead a gift of sweets from Keith who came on the course last week. Keith, you are a star and we thank you!
Buoyed by the sugar we spent the whole morning on site. Most people have now completed their first posthole and some are storming ahead and are working on their second, third and even fourth features. This is fantastic progress, especially since we lost nearly two hours dig time due to Tuesday's wet weather.
The information that we have gathered this year will help us to further understand the prehistory of Down Farm. By linking postholes with similar fills and dimensions we can infer which form structures with those around them. The site is complicated as it seems that Iron Age settlers built and renewed many structures on the site over hundreds of years. This has left complicated patterns of overlaid postholes dotted across the chalk and only the careful excavation conducted by our participants can unravel them.
Matt Leivers joined us in the afternoon to teach our team about prehistoric pottery. This is a popular workshop using real examples - both wonderful and nerve-racking to handle - which was captured on camera by Wessex Archaeology's top photographer Elaine Wakefield.