Please find the archaeological investigation interim report available for download as compiled by the Landscape Research Centre. For more information on the work of the Landscape Research Centre you can visit their website at www.landscaperesearchcentre.org
It was a hectic day at the hillfort yesterday. First to arrive were the wonderful children of Gillamoor Primary School. They took a flying visit of the site, guided by our very own Dominic Powlesland. They peered into trenches, stood on top of the barrow, marvelled at crop marks, mimicked the line of the rampart and shivered as the wind blew and the clouds swirled above. I do hope their lovely Headteacher lets them out again this year! It was a pleasure to have them.
The fabulous children of Gillamoor School showing the line of the rampart
Well, the remainder of the open weekend seemed to go without a hitch. More than 100 people visited the excavation site across the weekend to hear about the area’s rich history but more prominently to find out about its history over the last two weeks! Many thanks to Dominic, James, Gigi and the volunteers who kindly took the time out to take the punters around and inspire them about the fantastic world of archaeology.
And finally, a huge thank you to the crew from Murton Park who did a fabulous job of making our visitors to Sutton Bank National Park Centre welcome and telling them all about life in Iron Age Britain. They were brilliant. http://www.murtonpark.co.uk/
The first day of the open weekend took place today. Our fantastic Iron Age re-enactors invaded the grounds of Sutton Bank National Park Centre and told visitors about food and cooking in Iron Age Britain. We all waited in anticipated whilst the pork roasted on the spit and Dave (not an iron age name!) made delicious honey flavoured oatcakes. In addition there were displays of clothing and weaponry and fun activities for children including thumb pot making, jewellery making and face painting.
Tourers took the trip up to the hillfort on foot and shuttle bus and were taken on guided tours of the excavati0n site to hear about the area’s past as well as the current happenings. Fun was had by all (I hope?!) and we’ll do it all again tomorrow. Places are still remaining on the tours so come along, book on and do something different this weekend! The Centre is open from 10am – 5pm (see www.visitthemoors.co.uk for more information) and activities in the grounds will be on throughout this time.
Well, it’s been a week since the last post on the blog and I’m hoping that Dominic will find some time soon to update you all on the last week of activity. The weather has turned in our favour and progress is been made.
Here’s a photo to keep you going….which I hope will be joined by an explanation soon!
The entrance trench at the end of the 4th day: all that effort washed away
I was unable to go to site on Friday but the team, James Lyall, Gigi Signorelli and the volunteers, battled with the wet again, work on cleaning the entrance trench AC began only to be abandoned when more rain fell. Signs of possible ruts through the entrance were rapidly made invisible by the rain but if they survive then the level of damage done by the bulldozer when the site was levelled in the 1960’s might be less that we thought at first (Figure 5). The driving rain lasted most of the day meaning that once again work on the augering had to be resumed. Let’s hope that the weather in week 2 will improve, as the site clearly has an important story to tell.
The rain the previous afternoon had heralded more of the same overnight and it was difficult to negotiate the 1.5km. track that gives vehicular access to the site, even in low gear in a Landrover. As we approached the site we saw that two of the volunteers had made it to site on time despite the conditions; we viewed the partially underwater trenches with some element of irritation. With rain continuing we sheltered from the worst of weather and started the day with a cuppa. The rain gave way to lighter rain and gusty showers, which served to replace any water in the trenches that evaporated due to the high winds. Rather than damage the fragile and clay rich deposits in the trenches it was decided to start the auger survey designed to try and characterise the nature of the fort ditch and see whether we could see any evidence of the construction of the rampart and any buried land-surfaces (Figure 4). The augering went slowly but by the end of the day we had run two auger transects across the upstanding section of the rampart and the ditch; in some locations stone prevented the auger from reaching the probable full depth and the very wet conditions meant that the samples frequently slipped out of the auger as it was removed from the ground. The auger survey indicates that we might expect the ditch to be between 1.6m and 1.8m deep.
Augering in the rain, So just how deep is the ditch?
The second day started well although rain overnight had left the area first cleaned too wet to work. We were joined by the first volunteers and work resumed cleaning the base of the trench work progressed well and by early afternoon the area was cleaned, the ditch well defined with an area of dirty sandy clay holding some larger stones possibly representing the very base of the rampart (Figure 3).
Once trench 417AA was clean our attention was focussed upon cutting back and straightening the remaining two trenches, 417AB and 417AC situated over the entrance. In both of these trenches the ploughsoil was even thinner and in trench 417AB lines of clay in the ploughsoil appeared to derive from a surviving fragment of what appears to be a turf rampart. Almost as soon as we had completed the tidying up of the trenches a massive downpour flooded the trenches and made it impossible to work. We ended the day excited about the results, but aware of the difficulty we face if the weather remains as wet.
Gigi Signorelli, with John Hinchliffe and Geoffrey Rowson in the background
It rained over the bank holiday and when we arrived at Boltby Scar to start the excavation it was damp and grey, too damp it seemed for the man with the loo who could not negotiate the 1.5km track to the spectacular hilltop location of the Boltby Scar Promontory Fort. The JCB had no problem negotiating the track and, thank goodness, neither did the Landover pulling the site hut, somewhere to shelter from the most aggressive weather.
The view from the top of Boltby Scar is spectacular (Figure 1), and although it had rained earlier in the morning the wind was brisk and there was a clear view over the Vale of Mowbray.
Looking to the North-East from the extant barrow within the fort defences as James Lyall sets up the GPS to set out the trenches.
The first cut into the soil on a new site is always approached with some apprehension; the nature of the subsoil has such a vast influence on the visibility of the features and the ease or difficulty with which they can be excavated and whether environmental and other evidence such as ceramics and faunal remains are likely to survive (Figure 2).
The first cut, the JCB starts to strip the soil from trench 417AA
The topsoil on Boltby fort is very thin and it was immediately clear that the monument had been damaged by ploughing, however the ditch was clearly visible in the first trench of the three. By the end of the day we had straightened the baulks or edges of the trench and had started cleaning, before the heavens opened and a huge downpour swamped the trenches.
Composite plan of Boltby Scar Promontory Fort combining the 2009 English Heritage Topographic Survey with an best-fit of the sketch plan showing Willmot’s Trench locations and the observed ditch-line from the 2009 geophysical survey. The location of the present excavation trenches, marked in blue are numbered AA, AB and AC
