The penultimate week of the Osgodby Dig began with the whole team spending half an hour putting the turf back onto Trench 1, a reminder that the dig is coming to an end . Two more test pits were then started in residents’ gardens, bringing the total number of up to 8. Two volunteers were assigned to each test pit and the remainder got on with finds washing and sorting, whilst Jon set himself to work on tidying the team’s tent HQ. It was quite a shock for those working on the test pits when they returned to have lunch in a very neat and tidy tent.
At the end of Tuesday Brian & Jan had reached the bottom of Test Pit 8 and discovered what looked like masonry and mortar, perhaps a structure at last! They decided not to fill in the pit, but to get Jon’s expert opinion the following morning. Whilst Phil and Malcolm were still digging through lots of very good horticultural soil in Test Pit 7 with no sign of the bottom. They were both quite jealous that the soil was of much better quality than in their own gardens.
On Wednesday morning Brian & Jan were keen for Jon to have a look at the potential structure they had uncovered the previous day, so after the others had been assigned jobs, the trio trotted off to look at Test Pit 8. The verdict was to investigate further to be certain, but in the end Jon’s initial view that someone had buried demolition rubbish turned out to be correct. Another disappointment for the team. Meanwhile, Alison and Harold had unearthed a drain in Test Pit 9 and thought they may have to abandon the digging there, yet more disappointment and there seemed to be no end to Test Pit 7. To compensate for this and for all the hard work in replacing the turf on Trench 2 before finishing time, they decided a visit to the Wadkin Arms was in order to reflect on the dig to date over a beer (or soft drink).
After looking at Test Pit 9 on Thursday morning, Jon decided that digging could continue around the land drain, and Jan & Ken squeezed themselves in amongst the plants surrounding the pit as best they could. They had been told in no circumstances must they disturb, tread on, or in any way damage precious plants, making maneuvering themselves into comfortable digging positions a challenge. Shortly after lunch another land drain was unearthed in this test pit making things even more challenging, Two more land drains had also been unearthed in Test Pit 7, along with a piece of pottery from a large bowl (pictured). Several rain showers and the difficulties of both test pits prompted an end to digging and backfilling began. Fortunately, Jan and Ken made it back to the tent before the final heavy downpour, unfortunately, Brian and Mark got caught in the rain and returned to the tent rather wet and soggy.
Perhaps the final week will provide something spectacular……..