A morning with Brighton and Hove Archaeological Society
Setting the scene
behind this fence lays the remains of a medieval flint building, however the team believe that below this evidence shows that there are artifacts that may date back a further 600 years to around 410AD
Setting the scene
A stone wall surrounds the site and as far as the eye can see was believed to be owned by one Saxon family, After 1066 and the Norman conquest its believed that the land was divided into smaller sections and the owners now had to pay their taxes to the Normans. The land was divided again and again over the years and the country side is now developed with residential dwellings of many periods through history
Setting the scene
to the left of this photo beyond the hill the ground is of chalk base, its believed that the chalk was excavated and brought over to our site in order to lay a firm foundation to build apon
The Site
Some of the site is covered by plastic sheets, this is to protect areas that have been or are not yet been dug. you can see layers of flint stone this is man made and believed to be part of a wall. we learned today that it may be one side of a grand entrance gate which would have led to the manor house previously discovered and to the left of this photograph.
The Site
the top soil has been removed and what is thought may hide another structure. This pit has been left for now
The Site
each pit is thoroughly checked inch by inch, all the loose soil and deb re is placed into yellow buckets. then moved to this mound and then checked through again, nothing must be missed. Every single find helps build a picture and as I learned the story unfolds before your eyes... its captivating.
The Site
this 15' long pit had been dug and was believed to be part of the structure, the mindset soon changed, they thought they had missed the structure but it would have to join the wall, later in the day the bottom of the pit changed from soil to chalk at both ends. This meant that they had joined up to the building or buildings they were uncovering
The Finds
This is a piece of bone, you or I would have disregarded this, however the knowledge of the team is so good, this was cleaned up and I was advised its an animal bone from around 1000 years old, it could have been part of a meal but evidence seems to point to a pen or barn is being unearthed
Layers
each layer is a period in time, once the top soil is removed below is a chalky stone and unevenly placed structure this is believed to be part of a medieval wall or gate pillar. I was advised that it is not best quality in workmanship so is unlikely to be part of a house but possibly an outhouse or staple or animal pen.
The dig
it was suggested that the area pictured is part of a medieval gate pillar that once would have lead to a lavish garden with a track leading to the manor house. The Middle ages brought status to the Lords and having a grand entrance would have depicted wealth. To know for certain the other pillar would need to be uncovered. John showed me where he thought it may be but that was still to be investigated.
The Dig
The large pieces of flint placed here anything up to 1000 years ago show a loose structure now submerged in soft chalky this is possibly a track . when a track leading to the building becomes to muddy or slippery flints would have been placed to make it passable once more
The Dig
piece by piece, inch by inch a story unfolds before your eyes. each archaeologist has their own interpretation of who, what, when. and why and its fascinating to listen,
The Finds
Less than an hour into this and one of the team had uncovered 9 suspected pieces of history. and that's just 1 member
The Site
its hard to imagine that each stone that's moved is a part of history and maybe 1000 years ago that was placed in a position and today it was held in human hands once again
The Dig
each member had their own little area to work in, a selection of tools a bucket and a tray everything was inspected as they say "no stone was left un turned"
The finds
this is a bent rusty nail. looking closely at it you can tell its not something you would see today. I asked how old it was, I was told that that style of nail was used up till the Victorian era, it was suggested its around one to two hundred years old.
The Finds
looking at this image you can clearly see the layers, the top is small pieces of stone possibly path, road or somewhere horses or people would use, below the larger pieces is most likely a wall of some sort
The Finds
a piece of flint shaped like a finger and about the same size. I jumped on this as the best find of the day so far... no apparently its nothing of importance
The Tools
the Archaeologists tool kit, or what I saw today a sieve, a small and large scraper, a small brush, gloves a big yellow bucket and foam gardening knee pads for kneeling on and one guy had a spoon, I asked him whats it for and he told me he uses the handle to get into difficult places. i would think there is more.
The Tools
it is an archaeologists tradition that when you stop work for tea, lunch or even a heavy shower you put all your tools in a pile and put your bucket over the top of them.
The Dig
it appears that the site managers roll is to allocate the team their dig area, he also measures depths, he logs and records every stone that is moved and every thing that is found, They are bagged and coded,
The Finds
this is possibly a piece could date back to the iron age. The cracks on the surface tell us it has been used under extreme heat. maybe part of a boiling pot
The Site
The 11th century church stands close to where the manor house once was, by the fallen tree in the photo a doorway was unearthed, It would have been a quick access to the church. to the other side of the dig site where the suggested gates are leading to the gardens of the house. all this would tie in quite nicely with the theory of the layout
The Finds
This is a pig or a sheep tooth it could be 1000 years old. again evidence that perhaps this was a barn structure
The Finds
Oyster Shells are everywhere on this site. apparently if you find the side of the shell with a dip in the bottom that is where the shellfish would have been and its a sign that you have found a dining area or a kitchen , if you find the flat top shells then generally you are searching through Medieval rubbish
