Preparation for the 2008 Excavation
Each year the decision has to be taken about which areas to open up and excavate in order to follow a logical pattern and give the most information about previous activity on the hilltop. This year the trenches are all to be positioned in the garden, to give Peter as much information as possible about the occupation inside the Deep Defensive Ditch.
We are fortunate to have two experienced operators in John and Rob, who can carefully and skillfully remove the first few inches of topsoil with the heavy machinery whilst avoiding Ann and Johns lovely trees and flowerbeds. However, this work must also be carefully monitored to ensure that no Features or Finds which might be directly below the surface could be damaged.
In an area like Ann and Johns garden many small finds are buried in the topsoil itself. These are interesting in their own right, but because the top 12 inches of the garden have been disturbed so many times over the last few centuries they are rarely in the context where they were originally left or discarded and are likely to be much more recent, such as the lost keys which can be seen in the photograph.
and of course all that soil has to be moved somewhere else for six weeks whilst the excavation takes place, safe pathways have to be maintained throughout the garden so that the delicate archaeology is not walked across and spoilt and the the whole lot has to be replaced in September after the Open Weekend and the garden restored to its original lovely condition!
Areas of the garden opened in 2008
