2011 draft Interim Report etc

If you’ve a spare moment, or spare hours across this festive period then check out the draft Interim Report for the Boltby 2011 excavation by visiting the Landscape Research Centre website.

http://www.landscaperesearchcentre.org/html/boltby_scar.html

We are still awaiting most of the dating analysis results but news just in from Dominic Powlesland is that the C14 dates are suggesting a date range of 924 to 826BC (at 94% probability) – which is exactly where we would expect the Palisaded enclosure to fit at the interface between the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages.

So, exciting news and probably more to follow in the new year.

For now it’s the end

It’s here. The end for now has come. Here’s a photo of our final moments on site.

More shots from the air

Boltby in the last few days of the excavation

Cleave Dyke from the air with clear crop marks showing the pit alignment

Explanation

So, I should explain the previous post. This was Dominic yesterday trying to use a technique to lift a section using latex and fabric to in effect stick the soil to – effectively, so we’ve got something for keeps! Three test sections are being undertaken before we have a go at something a little bigger….

The latex was left to dry overnight but the results were not looking very promising as I departed yesterday evening. Anyway, watch this space!

 

Alfie and William's parents play nicely

 

The artist at work

Pretty as a picture

Things have just about drawn to a close at Boltby Scar (which I’ll say more about in a post in the coming days) but progress continued well last week. In particular the small area we were excavating at the Cleave Dyke looked incredibly pretty (or ‘sexy’ in Dominic’s words). So, here’s a couple of photos for you to see. Quite awesome really.

 

Sodden

Took a trip up to Boltby this afternoon. Gone is the theory that I only make an appearance on nice days because it poured with rain and hailed for a while. The fantastic National Park’s Apprentice Team lent a hand today. So, a big thanks to them for their efforts. With so much left to do and so few days left I’m not sure I’ll get to finish excavating the post hole I started last week…

Pastures new

So, while work will continue at Boltby for another week, we’ve also started exploring the Cleave Dyke  where it appears to terminate south of Boltby Scar. It’s been a very hot couple of days on site and I think the volunteers may have melted a little today. Many thanks to the efforts of Mary and Charlotte, who travelled far to join us this. Their help and hard work over the last three days has been much appreciated – and I hope altogether they’ve enjoyed their trip to Yorkshire.

Hopefully, we’ll have a more substantial post on the Cleave Dyke happenings next week.

A guided tour

Our explorations up at Boltby wouldn’t be possible without the kind permission and support of Richard Redhead and family who own the land. Here’s Richard on a tour of the site this week and although it looks like he was taken round by Cousin It, I’m assured that Dominic is under there, some where.

 

Boltby from the air on Monday 30 May

What a fantastic photo taken by Ray Rochester on Monday evening.