Season 16 of the Silchester Town Life Project!

Here I go again! In a blink of an eye, a flick of a trowel – and I am back in a field in Hampshire. Groundhog day, archaeology style! This year, I decided to set up the excavation 2 weeks early….we have so much to do, especially if we plan to complete the excavation in 2015 (yes, you heard it here first folks! We have an END date for the Silchester Town Life project…..August 2015…..and I plan not to leave a speck of archaeology behind!).

So….2 weeks early on site….and what happens? It rains. And rains. And rains. The site IS a swimming pool and a veritable nature reserve: we have ducks! We have dragon flies! We have midge larvae! A kite! Rabbits (drowned, sadly)!

The Deep End

Now, I have never tried underwater archaeology…..and I have always wanted to. This could be my season for flippers.

A swallow dive perhaps?

What did we achieve with our early set-up weeks? Well, we spent a small fortune on super duper tracking to prevent our portakabin delivery lorries from sinking – and then, when my back was turned, the lorry driver headed off piste, abandoned the tracking and got himself stuck in the neighbouring field. A posse of portakabin lorries then trundled after him in an attempt to pull him out – and got stuck too. How silly did that look? Shiny shiny tracking several feet away – unmarked by muddy wheels – and piles of stuck lorries a stone’s throw away. At times like this, everyone looks at me. So, I did what every self-respecting girl does – I rang for a farmer! Thank you Jonathon Stacey – you and your tractor saved my day.

Shiny shiny tracking

Clean, shiny shiny tracking - and not a portakabin lorry in sight

A portakabin lorry! Actually ON the tracking! (Don't look at those clouds)

That first week tested my resolve…..have a look:

The Deeper End

The Shallow End?

Buried polythene landscapes

I considered running away to join the circus. But then the sun came out. We hired pumps to drain the site, bought suncream and ate cheese sandwiches for lunch in the pub garden. Suddenly it all looked brighter. By the end of the first set up week we had all portakabins in place, a marquee, 56 toilets, 123 chairs and 45 tables. The dig was about to begin in earnest.

The first of our portakabins in place

And – best of all! Our spoilheap had been lovingly massaged, reduced and beautifully transformed into a thing of beauty….a craftsman of a digger driver – Brian – indulged in a week of spoilheap topiary. We can now see over the top….and out to the town walls….and beyond to St. Mary’s church tower. Brian let the outside world back in!