Day -2: we're ready to dig!!

Thanks to the tireless efforts of digger driver Adam and dumper driver Kevin, we now have a site ready to dig! The cabins arrived and we set up the finds tent, so this is going to be the focus of a lot of activity in the next 4 weeks. 

We have already had lots of supportive passers-by at the trench - people are very keen to learn more about Dorchester's past!

 

Day -3: almost there

Well, we didn't quite make it today. Almost all the backfill is out. And the site cabins have arrived! By tomorrow midday we'll be all prepped for the Sunday start!

It was really rainy at the end of today, making the spoil heap very slippery. So today's end of work pic comes from the opposite side of the trench (looking northeast)

Day -4: more site exposed

More backfill has come out- only a small strip left. Will we finish by tomorrow night?

Day -5 view from the spoil heap

With five days to go until the dig properly begins, here is the first in what I hope will be nearly 30 consecutive end-of-day shots from the heap. Early days...

We're really diggin it...

Over 750 cubic metres of backfill need to come out before we can resume our archaeological investigation of the Roman town. We've set ourselves three days to do it!

Tomorrow is the start!!

At 0800 tomorrow morning, the machines will be on site, to turn 600 square metres of grass into an excavation trench. I'll be posting pictures live from the machining as we kick off the seventh season of the Dorchester project. Follow for updates during our setup week and be sure to join us from June 30th through July 26, for daily info on what we find in our excavations!

DORCHESTER EXCAVATION SEASON 2013

This upcoming season the project will continue in the Village Allotments, led by Paul Booth. We will be pursuing the story of Late Roman life within the town walls and unravelling the complex of ditches and pits that likely date from that period. We will try to put our fragmentary structures in context, explore the construction of the Roman road, and begin to peek at the earlier phases of Roman activity on this site. Additionally, a series of test pits will be dug in village gardens, adding even more data – threads to be woven into the story of Dorchester. If you would like to learn more about how you can join the excavation at Dorchester, please email wendy.morrison@arch.ox.ac.uk.

Please visit our Open Day (July 20^st, 1200-1700) in the Village Allotments. Bring artefacts you may have found in your own garden to be identified and see the objects we have excavated. Take a site tour with the Director and see what we have been digging. There will also be hands-on learning activities for children of all ages.