Gaile's journey continues...
I moved into cutting four which was our test trench to find the returning wall of the eastern building. The team consisted of Danni, David, and me; they had already cut down through the sod and uncovered a layer of rubble but had yet to find anything.
Opening a new cutting consists of recording, including digital, written, and drawn. Due to archaeology’s destructive process it is important for others to know exactly what you uncovered. Therefore, this week as we were troweling down cutting four we were taking written notes on all the different layers of soil and drew up plans of what the cutting looked like during different stages. We also took levels using the dumpy in order to compare the rubble layer that we exposed to the rubble in cutting three to see if they were at the same level. We eventually exposed what we thought was a robber’s trench from the quarry of stone in the previous centuries.
"We eventually exposed what we thought was a robber’s trench from the quarry of stone in the previous centuries."
Despite the slow week, Danni found some interesting red clay pottery shards. We will have to wait until next week for any answer as to what kind it is. Typically, on a site like this you can find saintonge, a fine French pottery used for wine and oils; Leinster cooking ware, a coarse local ware; and English ware such as Ham Green.
During the weekend were a bunch of local festivals, including the Kilmore Seafood Festival which we ended up going to on Saturday. The small town was filled with locals and visitors alike. The chipper was splitting at its seams because who doesn’t want some fish and chips with a refreshing glass of cider on a hot summer evening. While its wonderful being able to dig every day and be in my element it’s also important to experience local culture and have a bit of fun!
-Gaile Juknevicius, UMKC
