Day 4: Extensions and Interviews

It's been a fairly quiet day on site, with most trenches in the process of being extended or being planned. As a result, it's an ideal time to introduce a regular feature in which we interview some of the students who are helping us on site. Today international archaeologists Emma, Jonathan and Victoria provide some insight into the reasons why they are here, their experiences and what they have disliked most!

From left to right: Emma, Jonathan and Victoria

Emma Le Pouesard

Home Town: Senlis, France

Why did you want to come to Thornton? I am studying medieval art and I want to get near medieval things. I can’t do that in Montreal, Canada where I study, and my professor said that I should do a dig in England. 

What are you enjoying most about being here? Finding stuff! I get really excited about finding anything, even if it is something small and insignificant like tiles.

What are you enjoying least? The rain!

What have you learnt? I never realised how many hypotheses archaeologists considered before selecting the correct one, and it’s fascinating to follow their deliberations.

What are your future plans? I’m currently finishing my undergraduate course and will start applying for PhD programmes in the Autumn.

Jonathan Rose

Home Town: Highland, Illinois

Why did you want to come to Thornton? I wanted to study medieval archaeology and see how things are different from the states. I feel a lot more care is taken in English academic digs compared to American commercial archaeology; you take a lot more care about their history.

What are you enjoying most about being here? Meeting people from students from all around the world. It’s a great experience to meet people from a global environment which I wouldn’t get to do normally. I’ve also enjoyed the different approaches used here as it demonstrates how there is more than one way to excavate the same feature.

What are you enjoying least? I’m not a big fan of camping, but as a boy scout that’s something I’ve got used to!

What have you learnt? The English have a different terminology for things, such as “sections” rather “walls”, although the measuring system is fortunately the same! Using the mini mattocks was also a fun new experience.

What are your future plans? Continue working with archaeology and maybe pursue a Masters in Medieval Archaeology at Sheffield.

Victoria Yuskaitis

Home Town: Sparta, New Jersey

Why did you want to come to Thornton? I’ve got a University of Sheffield Faculty Studentship for the MA in Medieval Archaeology in Autumn an, in correspondence Hugh [Willmott] mentioned the dig and said I should come, so I did!

What are you enjoying most about being here? It’s great to actually be here, although I’ve studied medieval archaeology for the past few years this is the first time I’ve seen it, so it’s the fulfilment of everything I’ve been looking for. I also didn’t realise the dig has such an international mix of students and that’s fantastic too! I’ve also done research on medieval hospitals in the past, so this also fits in well with my interests.

What are you enjoying least? The cold! I expected the rain, but I think the New Jersey definition of cold varies somewhat from the English version!

What have you learnt? I do have dig experience, but from Israel, so some of the methodology is very different and some of the technology here is more advanced. It’s a very different way of doing things, and that’s been something that’s been really interesting to find out about.

What are your future plans? In the past my research has focused on medieval mysticism, so investigating religion and church archaeology is something I’d like to explore further.

Extending Trench P

Now that most of our trenches are a lot bigger than on Day 1, there will certainly be plenty to keep our students occupied! We are already exploring the possibility of undercrofts, drains and even more walls, and will bring you further updates soon.

Planning Trench R