Day 12: Schools, Ditches, and Exposed Mounds

Croscrake School in action

Even more budding archaeologists took part in the Dig in the Park today. This time they came from Levens School and Crosscrake School, both near to Sizergh. They were very enthusiastic and David Maron has gone home exhausted! They did, however, make great progress in Trench 3, which contains the building. As yet we have no dating evidence, other than a few iron nails, but fingers crossed for something more conclusive in the remainder of the dig. The school groups also paid a visit the burnt mound and came up with plenty of good ideas about its purpose.

Levens school with David Maron

As for the mysterious ditch, well, it is still puzzling. Both ditch excavations are very close to being bottomed, and there is a continuing lack of artefacts. We are beginning to wonder if these really sterile fills suggest the ditches could be of some antiquity.

The Trench 2 ditch excavated to its surviving depth

The Trench 2 ditch looking towards the castle

Meanwhile, I was steaming on the mound with Jon, Judith, Catherine, Frances and Sue. They cleaned the exposed part of the mound and Jon completed the trough so that he and Paul Dunn could take hundreds of photos. These will be processed in an Agisoft programme so that we can create an accurate, three-dimensional image of the trough.

The trough now revealed with a wooden base and four wooden sides

We were very pleased to be joined by National Trust Head of Archaeology, Ian Barnes, who dug a big hole in the corner of the site. No, I mean he very helpfully investigated what is probably the remains of a silted up-stream which would have flowed past the north-east side of the mound. The layers are intriguing and difficult to interpret and we will take sample columns through them to analyse the soil particles in detail, as well as to examine environmental remains. The cream and chocolate colouring led to a great deal of speculation about its nearest culinary parallel.

The dark organic layer with small wooden roots or branches beneath the mound

We have also been examining a mass of timber which lies beneath the mound. Is it the root system of a tree, or are they branches and twigs. If the latter, have they fallen naturally or have they been thrown down to form a platform? Watch this space…..

Now that’s dedication for you!

Special note should be made to Ian Barnes, who showed and admirable attention to detail, trimming the grass on the edges of the trenches for photography and recording. (Edit Adam: those of us who have to deal with these images at the publication stage thing more Archaeologists should pay attention to Ian’s fine example!)

Gill Hey, Jeremy Bradley and Adam Parsons

Thanks to Stephen Read and Jeremy for the Photographs