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Highlights of the 2005 Season

Click to enlarge Image of 2005 Plan of Trenches
Almost twice the area of excavation was carried out in 2005, which allowed us to take much broader look at the overall picture and also meant that we could accommodate over 60 volunteers, many faithfully returning to the site from previous years. The season produced some fascinating and complex archaeology and it was a tribute to the volunteers that they were able to understand and work with this.

Excavation was carried out in three main areas: (See Site Plan - click to enlarge)
Area 1:The Bedrock area in the east end of the garden - Trench 33, 34 and 35
Click to enlarge Image of Philip Day with Ground Penetrating Radar Before the Digger arrived Philip Day thoroughly investigated the area
with the Ground Penetrating Radar
Click to enlarge Image of Digger in action Then the digger swiftly and efficiently cleared the upper layer of topsoil ready for the excavation.


The exposed area uncovered a series of post pits which brought our first exciting glimpse of the Medieval Period on the site in the form of a deep postpit, which yielded both pottery and a radiocarbon date suggesting between the 12th and 14th Centuries.



Click to enlarge Image of Trench 34 looking NorthClick to enlarge Image of Adam with volunteersClick to enlarge Image of Trench 33 showing pits half excavatedClick to enlarge Image of volunteers at workClick to enlarge Image of Adam and Dawn drawing plansClick to enlarge Image of Overhead view of Trench 35 looking North

Click to enlarge Image of Don Reid examining bedrock areaClick to enlarge Image of Trench 35 postpit cut into rockClick to enlarge Image of small postholeClick to enlarge Image of large postholeClick to enlarge Image of Trench 33 stone packed post hole

Click to enlarge Image of packing around post holes The packing around the double line of postpits (used to secure each post during the construction of a building) was also found to date from between the 11th to the 13th Century. Dates from the rubble which fell into the post holes after the post had gone even tells that building was standing until between the 13th to 15th Centuries. Is it possible that we have found the beginnings of a Medieval Aisled Hall on the site?
Click to enlarge Image of Iron Barbed Arrowhead

Then amazingly A Barbed Iron Arrowhead was found in the very last week of the season in adjoining Trench 35. Experts confirm a 12th to 14th Century date, although we are not certain whether it would have been used for hunting or warfare. It seems that we are finally uncovering another strand of archaeology on the site previously confined to historical record, when a man named Roger de Meleur was the King's Forester of the Peak.

Area 2: Boulder Clay Area in the Triangular Field (Trench 36)


Image of initial cleaning of Trench 26 extension prior to excavation The spectacular Bronze Age Dagger found at the end of the 2004 season inspired us to extend Trench 26 in case there might be other similarly ritually deposited objects in the same area.

Click to enlarge Image of pile of fire cracked pebbles Excavation exposed a further complex series of intercutting pits and large numbers of what we might have thought were again Iron Age Fire Cracked Pebbles Environmental Analysis, however, gave us further unexpected glimpses of the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age periods, detecting hazelnut, burnt bone and cereal type pollen with very early Radiocarbon dates of around BC 2920 to 2650.

It seems there could have been much more Bronze Age Period activity in the area than we had previously realised, the complex pattern of Iron Age gullies so far having masked any earlier features.
Click to enlarge Image of The triangular fieldClick to enlarge Image of volunteers excavatingClick to enlarge Image of volunteers at workClick to enlarge Image of volunteers at workClick to enlarge Image of volunteers Click to enlarge Image of multiple intercutting pits to the north of Trench 36Click to enlarge Image of multiple intercutting pits Trench 36
Click to enlarge Image of the outer ditch in Mr Arundels field

Area 3: Mr Arundels field beyond the Car Park(Trench 39)

Both the Ground Penetrating Radar results and two trial excavation pits confirmed the expected line of the shallow, outer boundary ditch system of the Iron Age Period.


Click to enlarge Image of west facing section of eastern terminal end outer enclosure ditch Trench 40Click to enlarge Image of unexpected western terminal of outer encxlosure ditch

Late Excavation (Trench 40 and 41)

In November there was a very late opportunity to follow up the trial trenches of 2004, confirming the line of the outer ditch but also investigating the first possible entranceway found in the outer ditch system.

Read the full 2005 UMAU Academic Report



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