Rain...rain...rain...Gav's blog

Tuesday 27th October

Another day troweling as the fog closed in.

 

 

Wednesday 28th October

Troweling continued in the rain, but work was abandoned for the day when ground conditions became too difficult.

Thursday 29th October

We arrived in the morning under dark skies and heavy rain to find the site waterlogged. But, after cutting drains and soak-aways to reduce the water level, the final square of cleaning was carefully undertaken. The skies started to clear just as Damien Ronan arrived to record the rock art and trench by photogrammetry. This ubiquitous technique produces a three-dimensional full-colour plan within an amazingly short time. After lunch, the skies cleared and the volunteers started to investigate the small number of possible archaeological features.

 

Day three of Gav's Hawksley blog

Today troweling of the de-turfed area began.

A walkover survey of the wider area in the afternoon sadly revealed that all but three of the possible other marked stones were naturally formed. However, later troweling in the excavation area revealed patches of dark charcoal-rich deposits, possibly soil within cut features or an accumulation within a hollow.

Dark patch of charcoal which could possibly be associated with a cut feature.

We were also visited by the local Press. Martin Paul from the Teesdale mercury came out to the site in the morning and took a great interest in the rock art and the strategy behind the excavation. Keep a look out for the forthcoming article.

Paul Brown discussing his discovery of the rock art panel with Teesdale Mercury report, Martin Paul.

Gavin onsite, answering a query raised by Stephen; one of a core group of volunteers who also took part in Brignall

Hawksley Hill Days 1 and 2 - Gavin's blog

Gavin Robinson is a Snr Project Officer with NAA with over 20 years field experience; he also has a special interest in prehistoric archaeology.

Day 1 Friday 23rd October

The first day after a week of preliminary evaluation of the potential for the site went well with the volunteers clearing a good area of turf around the cup and ring marked panels. The weather was good, spirits were high.

A word from our sponsors... David Mason, with both his AASDN and Principal DCC archaeologists hats on, visits the site on Friday.

Saturday 24th October

On the second day, the weather was foul in the morning and we decided to spend the time searching the headland on which the cup and ring mark panels were located for additional archaeological remains. Further possible cup and ring-marked stones were located as well as evidence of later period of occupation including terracing, boundary banks and quarries. In the afternoon, the skies cleared and we continued de-turfing.

 

Work begins at Hawksley Hill

Work is now underway at Hawksley Hill; our second community archaeology project being run under the aegis of the Archaeological and Architectural Society of Durham and Northumberland.

 

In 2000, local archaeologist, Paul Brown, identified two ‘panels’ of Rock Art at the western edge of Hawkesley Hill, a few miles north-west of Barnard Castle . The motifs consist variously of cups, rings, grooves, isolated peck marks, and other more heavily eroded features, some of which may be of natural origin. A number of earth-fast boulders were also found in the nearby vicinity.

 

Initial fieldwork, carried out on Monday 19th and Tuesday 20th October, has located and cleaned the original panels discovered by Paul. This area now awaits full recording. A small number of test pits were also excavated within the vicinity of the panels, as part of assessment work, this was aimed at evaluating the potential existence and nature of any related archaeology. The test pits have revealed what might be a ring (or semi-circle) of stone and black soil around the panels. This could be just soil collecting in the hollow, although there is every indication that they might be archaeology.

Excavation around rock art sites has been fairly limited until quite recently, but investigations in Scandinavia, Ireland, Scotland and England area now beginning to challenge our previous perceptions of how these sites was used.  There is now considerable evidence of activity associated with carved rocks sites, including pavements of mud and cobbles, often associated with large quantities of quartz. Other identified features include pits containing burnt animal bone and other charred remains.  Stone tools, quartz, and waste material has also been found jammed into surrounding natural rock fissures. While it is unclear if this material dates to the same period as the carving of the stones, it does suggest that rock art was the focus of related activities, perhaps including fire, feasting and offerings. For more information on Rock Art visit  the excellent 'England's Rock Art' website at http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/era/

The Hawksley Hill project will entail the detailed recording of the two known panels, using the latest photogrammetric techniques, as well an open area excavation focusing on the principal panels. The aim of the latter is to expose any related archaeological deposits which might elucidate how the rock art was produced and any activity associated with their use.

Work began on Friday 23rd October with the laborious and back-breaking task of de-turfing which was carried out with surprising speed by our excellent volunteers - well done guys, de-turfing is a job everyone hates! Over the next few days the plan is to trowel back the surface and see what (if anything) is revealed.

The Hawksley Hill project will be running until Tuesday the 3rd of November if you are interested in joining. Contact Penny at pm@naa.gb.com for further details

Final week at Brignall

Fieldwork has now finished at Brignall.

The trenches have been backfilled and the field handed back over to the sheep.

The extra final week proved essential for completing work in the trenches, allowing us to properly explore a number of unanswered questions. It also enabled us to collect further artefactual evidence which should hopefully help with the dating of the various elements of the site.

Before backfilling, a final excavation plan was drawn of each of the trenches, as well as sample sections, creating both a vertical and horizontal record of the site to help identify the sequence of deposition at Brignall. We also had the opportunity to do a little bit more geophysical survey in one of the garths adjoining the site. This may help determine if there are tofts preserved on the north side of the hollow way, as well as provide a further opportunity for our volunteers to get to grips with using the resistivity equipment.

Now the fieldwork has finished, work will begin in earnest on the post excavation processing. First all the records taken on site will be checked and indexed and a brief summary report written. Meanwhile, all of the finds will be washed, dried and, where appropriate, labelled. These will then be sent away, along with the summary report, to our various finds specialists who will analyse the Brignall pottery, bone, ceramic materials and iron. The specialists will aim to date the pottery from the site, possibly providing a date for the foundation and abandonment of the village. We should also be able to secure a broad date for the prehistoric pottery found in trench 1.

 

We will aim to keep you up to date with progress on the post excavation work. Keep checking the blog and the Facebook site for further information, including any opportunities for you to get involved in post-ex.

Brignal Open Day - Saturday 17th October

Thanks to everyone who came along to the Brignall open day last Saturday (17th October). The event was really well attended, with between 30 to 40 people visiting the site over the course of the day.

 

The signs are up and ready to go. 

Thanks especially to our stalwart team of local diggers who gave up their site cabin for the day so we could lay out some of the finds from the excavation. Charlotte, one of our busy post-excavation team, was on hand in the morning to talk through the discoveries, including a fine fragment of Neolithic or Bronze Age pottery from Trench 1. This has been one of the most exciting finds of the season as the discover of such material is very rare. However, the small shred proudly on display was trounced in the afternoon when a large piece of pottery of the same date was found onsite. We will keep you updated as to progress on the significance of these finds. After the dig is complete they will be sent for full analysis and dating.

Displays posted up on the site hut

Alongside the prehistoric material, there was also pottery, bone, glass and ironwork found in association with the medieval occupation being excavated in Trenches 2 and 3. In addition, Charlotte  brought along the NAA finds handling collection, which includes a range of material you might find on a medieval dig like Brignall. This was a particular hit with the younger visitors to the site.

 

Finds on display in the site hut. Thanks to Charlotte (above) for explaining the various finds

Out in the trenches, Penny, Martyn and our director, Richard Fraser, showed people around the site, explaining a little bit about the strategy behind the location of the trenches, the pre-excavation surveys and the progress of the dig itself. They talked to groups of very interested visitors about the various deposits and structures exposed, as well as about the process of digging. Poor Martyn was so busy in Trench 1 that he never got any time for his lunch! Thanks for your help Martyn, you did a great job.

Martyn busy at Trench 1

 

All in all, it was a very successful day and a great opportunity for local people to see what we have been up to over the past 2 week. Although we are really pleased to have secured a third week of digging at Brignall, the trenches will be backfilled on Friday, so there will not be another chance to see the site. Please do keep watching this blog, and our facebook site, for updates on the post-excavation. There should also, hopefully, be further opportunities for volunteers to take part in the finds and environmental sample processing.

 

Thanks everyone who came along and contributed to a great day

While all is coming to a close at Brignall, it is full speed ahead at Hawksley Hill. More of that tomorrow, but excavation will be beginning on the new site on Friday 23rd October and running for ten days until Tuesday 3rd November, including the two Saturdays. Excavations at Hawksley will be concentrated on exposing an area around two known pieces of prehistoric Rock Art. We have already undertaken a few test pits to inform the excavation strategy and it is all looking very promising, with indications of a possible associated prehistoric surface.

 If you would like further information on the Hawksley Hill then please contact penny at pm@naa.gb.com

Florence's Blog - End of Week 2

 

 

Week 2 is coming to a close at the Brignall Community Excavation. It’s been a good one! Over the last couple of days on site, attention has been focused towards preparing for the third week, which is now confirmed and will be going ahead, as well as for the open day TOMORROW (Saturday).

So, finds have been sent back to the office for cleaning, ready for the open day. Plans are being formulated for extensions to Trench 2, and further investigation of Trench 1 for next week. More practically, both trenches have been fenced for the safety of the visitors on the open day (and the safety of sheep thereafter).

The trenches are open to the public, and there will be archaeologists to explain what we’ve found, tomorrow between 10am and 3pm. The dig is then continuing into next week. New volunteers are, as always, welcome. The days run from 9.30am until about 4pm, depending on weather – although you are welcome to fit your volunteering around any other commitments!

Rainbow over the site as week 2 draws to a close

 

Week 2 – Days 7, 8 and 9 - Florence's blog

Florence Spaven, our new Heritage Conservation Project Officer has been out on site at Brignall joining in with our volunteers. Florence has a buildings conservation background and little experience of archaeology but we thought it would be useful for her (and hopefully enjoyable) to get some hands-on experience with what the others in the office do.

She has kindly been writing a blog of her experiences (See Days 2 and 3 for earlier entries). Over to Florence...

Week 2 got off to an excellent start with a few new volunteers joining our group. In Trench 1, the team were able to begin excavation of some of the visible features, having completed the cleaning, photographing and planning. High on the list of features to excavate were the large patches either end of the trench – which had been visible on the geophysics – so volunteers got underway excavating these. They very quickly encountered a number of large rocks, seemingly the infill of a large ditch forming the circular feature observed on the geophysics. A number of other features were excavated, including an area in the central portion of the trench, which revealed a number of post-holes. As I write this today – Wednesday, after my hard slog in my slightly less exciting ditch (see below) – it seems that there is a further circular ditches within the larger one. This, along with a number of excavated post holes, and some further suspected ones, indicates that this may have been domestic rather than funerary. This possibility fits in with some Neolithic/Bronze Age pottery found in the Trench, particularly in a section of smaller stones which may be a path or surface. In fact, there has been very little medieval pottery from this trench. Seemingly, our ‘Shrunken Medieval Village’ could be much, much older. Watch this space for further news on Trench 1 as the team continue to investigate!

Excavating and recording the ring ditch in Trench 1 

Trench 2 is also becoming quite exciting (apart from the ditch I’ve spent this week digging, although I am hopeful something fantastic awaits at the bottom). The row of large flagstones we had crossing the trench at one end have prompted much debate. Are they part of a medieval kitchen floor? Are they covering a culvert? These are particularly interesting because either side of them are further stones. On one side, a section of smaller stones – possibly a surface for a yard or path – has been exposed. To the other side, there is a row of large stones, seemingly forming the foundation to a wall. The first of the large slabs came up today, following thorough recording, and there is no culvert to be seen. However, there is a visible different in the soil underneath, so hopefully by the end of this week, we’ll have a better idea of what this could have been. The other leg of Trench 2 has a number of features, and a few of these have now been excavated. So far, Al (the archaeologist supervising this trench) has concluded that these are largely (wait for it) ditches, from some time, which have been infilled, at some point in time. Although this may sound much less exciting than the discoveries I’ve already talked about, these ditches must still be excavated and recorded. They may also prove to be very useful in understanding the medieval – or possibly earlier – village as a whole. For instance, the large ditch I’ve been excavating along with another volunteer this week appears to be the end of a ditch as it doesn’t cross right over our trench. If this is the case, it may indicate where people historically passed into and out of the property relating to the building we’ve got at the other end of the trench. If we find anything, such as pottery or bone, which can be dated, we can also find out when these ditches were infilled. So, these ditches may be as interesting as the other things we’ve found.

Cobbled surface in Trench 2.

The dig is continuing until the 23rd October, so if you’ve been thinking about coming along, hopefully this news persuades you to do so! We start at 9.30am every day (apart from Sunday). Saturday will be an open day (from 10am until 3pm), and anyone is welcome to come along, either to dig, or to have a look at what has been uncovered. Please come along!

 

Thanks Florence. Sadly we have to bring Florence back into the office next week (we can't do without her) so she will miss out on the last week. Thanks for all your help Florence.

Getting a taste of the muddier side of our work, Florence with Trench 1 supervisor, Martyn Cooper.

What a fiendishly busy second week!

Gosh, it has all been so busy this week we have hardly had time to think!

All the trenches are now well underway and it is proving to be a very exciting and surprising site.

Brignall appears to be a site of two halves. Over on the west side, in Trench 2 and 3, excavation has uncovered extensive medieval remains including a substantial flagstone surface. To the south of the surface was a cobble surface, with the stones laid on their ends, much as you get in a stable yard. However, no clear definition of a building, although lots of tantalising semi-straight edges.

Once the flagstone were drawn and photographed they were removed and it appears that the cobbled surface is now running beneath this, possibly forming a fairly substantial road but it all still need further cleaning and investigation. The southern end of Trench 2 is dominated by a deep waterlogged area, possibly the remains of a dew pond.

In Trench 3 we have a deep pit or terminus of a short ditch. This had shown up on the initial geophysics as a Ferris spike and we thought it might be a hearth or kiln, but excavation has returned little evidence of burning. The pit is nearly bottomed out, so we may know more in a few days. There are no features linking this area to Trench 2 which is quite surprising.

Although the preservation in Trench 2 has surprised us, perhaps the most interesting aspect of the dig has been the activity in Trench 1, on the east side of the site. Quite unexpected it looks as if we have found evidence of Neolithic occupation! It just goes to show how unpredictable archaeology can be. We expected medieval and instead have uncovered something much older.

The geophysics had first sent the alarm bells ringing when a circular feature was identified on the eastern side of the field. Trench 1 was located to investigate this and on Day 1 it looked like we had a prehistoric barrow. After hastily applying for the appropriate licences we started excavation and exposed what we thought was a well preserved cist burial, but on excavation this has instead proved to be a large, stone-packed post hole surrounding by smaller post holes. This would suggest occupation rather than funerary use, although the surrounding ditch appears to be much too deep for a hut gully. All in all the feature is proving enigmatic and each day throws up something new, raising more and more questions.

With all this activity we were panicking about finishing in time and it looked like we were going to have to make some tough decision and compromises in terms of the excavation strategy. Thankfully David Mason, the Principal Durham County Council Archaeologist and former Chair of AASDN, has come to our rescue and secured funding for an additional five days of digging. So it is full speed ahead for next week.

Please come along to the open day tomorrow (Saturday 17th) from 10.am to 3.00pm to find out more. You are also welcome to come join us for what promises to be a VERY interesting final week.

Day 3 - Rain stopped play :(

After a night of heavy rain, the trenches were waterlogged and to dig as planned would have risked damaging the work we'd already done, and losing volunteers in the mud bath.

Everybody (our 5 hardy volunteers) sheltered in their cars while we put our contingency plans into action. Things started to look up as none of the volunteers got lost in convoy to the NAA offices in Barnard Castle.

 

Our volunteers then had a welcome talk from Lynne Gardiner, the Senior Project Officer in Paleoecology, who explained how this part of the process works and what we can learn from sampling trench material. The volunteers then had the opportunity to get their hands dirty, sheltered from the rain. Dani and Hannah from NAA split the group into two. One group donned rubber gloves and washed some sediment samples in preparation for sorting, while the others got stuck into cataloguing the weight and volume of some samples, sieving them and sorting them.

The group had a lunch time talk from Damien Ronan, the Project Manager in CAD, about the LiDAR and geophysics imaging which was used to investigate the site initially. Dr. Hannah Russ, Post-Excavations Manager, then gave a presentation on infant bones and animal bones, demonstrating identification techniques with examples of infant tiger, goat and pig bones from her own collection, as well as adult bones from cats, fish and other animals!

Despite the rain, we hope this was an interesting and enjoyable day for the volunteers! The weather is forecast to improve for tomorrow, so we hope to be back on site. Martyn plans to give a quick demonstration of the geophysics equipment in the morning, while we wait for the trenches to dry out a bit!

New volunteers always welcome - starting 9.30am as usual on site tomorrow.

Day 2 - Things starting to progress nicely

Day 2 was another drizzly day to begin with, but with the second trench opened up, the volunteers were keen to get started. We split off into two groups to work on the separate trenches, and by mid morning, the sun had joined us and people braved the trenches without coats for the first time.

The trench we'd started work on the previous day (Trench 1) was boggy from rain overnight, but needed only a bit of cleaning before it was ready to be photographed. Some of the features are showing up well in this trench now, we have the two ditches which seem to curve round into the circular feature we could see on the geophysics. After the photographs, Martyn (one of the archaeologists leading the dig) then taught some of the volunteers how to start the pre-excavation plans, which involved drawing out where the features (hopefully) are, and what we'll be doing next!

Meanwhile, in Trench 2, there was a lot of work to be done. We started work tidying up the sections and cleaning the surface of one leg of this L-shaped trench. This was done by mid-afternoon, and Al (the other archaeologist working on the site) taught a few of us how to set up for the photographs. This leg of the trench has a dramatic slope at one end, as well as a few other features showing up as dark patches in the otherwise orange-clay soil. These are yet to be investigated, although Al suggested that one of the dark patches may be ridge and furrow. By then, a few of the volunteers from the Trench 1 strolled up to help us out, and we started cleaning the other end, where some paving slabs and a possible medieval road surface are already visible.

In terms of finds, a fair amount of medieval pottery has come out of both trenches already, just in the cleaning phases. Both trenches also have charcoal patches, which will be interesting to investigate further. There is a huge amount of stone in Trench 2, in the areas surrounding the paving slabs.

The volunteer turnout was brilliant. It seems that none were deterred by having to have their cars pushed (by the other volunteers and some muddy archaeologists) from the muddy field after Day 1. They all worked hard to clean up the trenches before the torrential rain predicted for Day 3 (I'm writing from the office on Day 3, which gives a clue as to whether the forecast was accurate). It's a friendly and enthusiastic group, very willing to learn and help each other out - anyone thinking of coming along later this week, or next, is more than welcome.

Day 1 of Excavations (5th October 2015)

Day 1 got off to a wet start...a VERY wet start! However the weather didn't put people off and we had a good turnout of volunteers.

The day started with the obligatory health and safety briefing. Then Penny, Brignall's project manager, gave a brief introduction to the historic background of the site and we discussed the research objectives and aims of the excavation. This was all in the comfort of the newly delivered tool cabin. Just how many archaeologists can you fit in a tool cabin? Still, it kept us out of the rain.

How many archaeologists in a tool store?

The talk was followed by a walk around the village to get a feel for the local topography, and to place the site in its wider landscape context. This included a visit to the ruined church down by the river which was partially demolished in the early 19th century to build the present Brignall Church. The earlier church features as a romantic ruin in a painting by Turner dated c.1822.

There is no indication that the medieval settlement was focused around the church but, instead, it appears to have always been located further north, on the higher ground on each side of the current road.

After visiting the church we navigated back to the site via the projected route of the old hollow way leading to the village. What was surprising was that the church was remarkably close when approached from this route, in contrast to the modern footpath which runs by the gill.

After lunch Trench 1, at the eastern end of the site, was ready for excavation. This was opened to explore the sub-circular feature identified during the geophysical survey; thought to potentially be prehistoric in origin. Following machining, there is obviously a curved ditch of some sort in the area but it is too early to tell yet what date this is. Keep watching this space for further progress updates.

Opening Trench 1

While the volunteers got to work trowelling back Trench 1 and cleaning back the sections, machining continued over at Trench 2 and 3. These two trenches have been located to pick up the remains of the hollow way leading from the church and the remains of one of the village tofts and crofts, clearly visible on the Lidar. There is also a strong magnet anomaly which might be a hearth or kiln, perhaps the village smithy! Both these trenches were open by the end of the day but have not yet been cleaned. Nevertheless there are the remains of what appears to be a silted hollow way and a stone buildings of some form.

Remains of building foundations in Trench 2

All in all a good first day, despite the weather. The only down side (except for the rain) was getting the vehicles stuck at the end of the day :( Luckily we have secured alternative parking for tomorrow, thanks to Mr Watson, the farmer, who has kindly let us use his yard.

I thin everyone is looking forward to the next couple of days when things should really start to shape up. Thanks to all the volunteers for their help so far.

Work underway in Trench 1