And  we survived week 1, and though we may have had to deal with scorching heat waves followed swiftly by huge thunder storms, we are still here and working hard! We gained a few more trainees over the weekend, some new faces and some old! Great to see returnees coming back for more, they must be gluttons for punishment J

So with the new week what news is there? Well In Trench N they have uncovered a lovely mortar step in the eastern end of the chapel. The stones have been robbed out from the step but you can still see the impressions in the mortar where they once would have sat. In front of the step you can also still see the impressions of floor tiles. These tile impressions seems to be at the same level as those tiles found in Trench P. Sadly, none of the tiles seem to be left, but a piece of marble has been uncovered which may have been a part of a larger group to create the step.

                                                      (marble fragment from Trench N)

                       

                                                               (steps from Trench N)

They have also finally got the last of the backfill out of the north and south ends of the trench and started cleaning back. This clean back revealed some more nice finds including a iron ox shoe.

                                                              (Ox shoe from trench N)

Over in Trench P there has been a lot of planning in this trench over the last 2 days, and then some levelling in the northeast corner and cleaning back. During the trowelling some lovely window glass has come out of these areas. In the west end of the trench the cobble path way also has now been cleaned (see below for photo).

(Cobbled path in Trench P and a piece of painted glass window from Trench P’s North East corner)

Over in the naughty corner (Trench U) they have now dug out the construction cuts next to where the structure was built (as spoken about previously) and they are beginning to take down the layer inside the structure to see if they can find the floor surface.

                                                              (Structure in Trench U)

Down at the eastern end of the trench there is a very large wall which has just started to be uncovered, this wall may link up with Trench L which was in this area a couple of years ago.

                                                                 (Wall in Trench U)

Finds wise a lovely copper band fragment has come out of the western end of Trench U that holds a lovely flower design on it.

                                                       (Copper floral band fragment)

So in all a fantastic start to the new week and continue for the rest of it. However presently a great week looks like it may be thwarted by rain and thunderstorms, lets hope this passes over us quickly!