Of Gnomes and moulds...

The day started a bit late due to some pretty heavy rain over night and this morning. Once we got to site, we found the archaeology had stood up well. After several days of clearing, the students were happy to finally get stuck into some features. My own slot across the inner ditch had started yesterday. The inner ditch was sampled last year and was found to be mostly full of very sandy fills, all quite difficult to see. Even the (slightly) more moist weather this year could not disguise that this (southern) end of the ditch is quite a different beastie. While not bottomed out yet, the ditch has yielded up one very interesting, if not shiny, small find.

Clay mould found by Gary in the inner ditch.

Evidence of metalworking is a good indicator of the wealth and status of early medieval sites, so finding a small fragment of a clay mould was a bonus. The context within which it was found in was well sampled as it was charcoal rich it should be able to be dated. Both sections of the slot are looking good and we should be able to get a good clear story of this inner ditch.

In general everyone seemed a bit more energised after the late start today, and the weather was perfect for archaeology, with the sun poking out for a few minutes just as we left site.

Tea was courtesy of the best chippy in Huntly - the Huntly Chip Shop! With Ewan the Fire God away this evening Meggen is making a reasonable successful stab at getting the fire going at the garden cottage, the Chester lads are watching the footie and Noble is back from showing the Rhynie Youth group around the site. The digging lurgy is still doing the rounds, but everyone is manning up and getting on with it.

Bravery award of the day goes to Zygamantas who finally tried some of the Oskar’s harthfisk. Stone medal goes to Ryan who turned a possibly exciting feature into a nothing! Gordon wins the best dressed garden gnome after his headwear escapades today!