Mantle Walls Dig Diary 25

Monday 1st September

HARP members were on site this afternoon to mark out the trench which will be getting opened up tomorrow.  Archaeologists along with 17 students from around the world will be with us for the next two weeks. They are following up on marks recorded by Geophysics which were done in 2019. 

This trench is within the scheduled area and is at the western half of the site which, has never been excavated yet. Test pits will also go in around the edges  of the site where pottery was found during field walking on the last dig.

They will be joined by ADHS members and volunteers each day and the local school will visit to do their own digging and field walking later in the dig.

Tuesday 2nd September

So far it is looking like a nice day, the students are on site along with our volunteers and the top is slowly being removed from the trench within the scheduled area. This trench will be 10 metres by 1metre but with the proviso that if needed it will be extended to 2 metres wide. Fingers crossed we hit something good.

Wednesday 3rd September

Before I begin I want to know who posted last night with a song about the sun!! he is banned

Today has been a really wet overcast day. The mist finally lifted a bit and rain eased  this afternoon before a deluge arrived at the time everyone was trying to record and photograph the trenches.

However the students, our volunteer diggers along  with two volunteers from Glasgow University  have been out in the weather all day and have reached down to the hard layer of the first level. This has been cleared recorded and photographed. The finds are all catalogued under that level and they are ready to go down through the second level tomorrow. Among the finds are a few animal bones and teeth along with small pieces of pottery and mortar.

Thursday 4th September

The weather has cleared and everyone is looking forward to a drier day.

The big trench in the scheduled area is being taken down another level and the students are being very meticulous with every scoop they clear. Each of them wanting to to be the first for that special find.

There were some students who had the task of clearing the stones which have been gathered over the years after the plough has brought them up. We had forgotten just how many that was until the foilage had been cleared from them again.

Friday 5th September

The sun is not only out but it is pleasantly warm. Students working hard down over the hill most of these test pits have reached the natural level now.  They are all amazed just how stony the field is, it wasn't nicknamed the rocky field for nothing.

The recording of the stones from the ploughing is also going well, they are sorting all the natural stone from the others and the farmer is going to clear them away from the area.

The big trench cutting across the top of the hill, well!! I am not sure what is happening there yet. There is a change of colour and some burnt deposits coming up. A few pieces of flint, bone and pottery from here.

As the saying goes tomorrow is another day 

Saturday 6th September 

Our dig @25 open day. The morning started off dry but slightly cloudy, it wasn't cold though. The students started by setting up the finds tables, these were from older digs, our fieldwalking over the years and this digs finds so far.  It was good to see some of our finds from over the years been shown again. The students were surprised with some of the pieces. 

There was a steady flow of visitors throughout the day and we had a great time showing people around the site and telling them the story of the site. The student were very good at engaging with the visitors  and explaining what the finds were.

The small trenches are all almost at the natural level now, and the big trench has had a section cleared along its length today, and samples of the soil have been taken from along it.

Tuesday 9th September

It seems like a while since we were here. The students had a couple of days where they could explore the area, travel further or just chill out and rest. A few of them went to the open day at the Monteath Mausoleum on Sunday. They also popped into the Cross Keys in the village  where some of the locals showed them the local sites.

However back to work today, the test pits seem to still be going down. A section is being excavated in the main trench to test the stony deposit.

We have a new test pit at the bottom of the eastern slope. The students have also started washing and sorting the finds. There was also an small visitors to the site today. We didn't ask them to sign in!!

Wednesday 10th September

Another dry day although it is a bit chillier, students and archaeologists all hard scraping and digging this morning. One of the test pits of the scheduled site has been closed and filled today. The new one started yesterday is going down just possibly beginning to see a few stone scatters, need to follow these up tomorrow.

Some of the students managed to have a little divining lesson this afternoon as well. The main trench is still not playing ball, nothing significant can been seen yet.

Thursday 11th September

Today our write up has to belong to the children from Ancrum primary School. They have been waiting on their visit to the dig all week.                                               They all had their own idea of what they could or would find. They were met by Ian from HARP at the marquee and then split into two groups, one was fieldwalking and the other went over the hill for a spot of digging and sieving. The children were great at the fieldwalking  they found some pottery and glass along with slate. While digging there was more pottery and green glass.

When the children were asked back at school what they thought of their morning we had one who wanted to be an  archaeologist, and one who couldn't wait for his flexi time to look up what he had found. It was surprising though that the majority liked the field walking part best. maybe it had something to do with the wet soil which was hard to move.

Friday 12th September

Here goes the last full day of digging, still nothing major coming up just the usual pottery and bits and pieces. The students are all weary and looking forward to a bit rest and the flights home.

We did have a special celebration today though, Jimmy Steele an ADHS member has been at our marquee before anyone this past two weeks he has taken people round and looked after the students taking them places if needed. We all have certainly appreciated his help and his stories have kept us all entertained. So when a little birdy said Jimmy was going to be 90 next week we all decided to celebrate today.  Cake and a balloon banner along with a card signed by all was given to him after lunch.