Contrary to the heat of the last two days, in particular yesterday, the heavens decided to display a glimpse of what was expected later as torrential downpour halted excavations at many points throughout the day, and many discovered that their waterproof clothes were not as waterproof as they would have hoped.
Most of the day was spent surveying, to enable us to accurately record our findings on the site. A simple task you might think, however the rain and the difficulty of getting the right height on the tripod ensured our volunteer Colin was stuck for over 25 minutes holding the measuring stick on a public path as the tripod was moved to at least five different locations, where it would then have to be made level, only to find out it was too high or leaves from a tree were in the way. You could almost see him calculating his revenge in an elaborate way. We used a nearby church as a benchmark and then as a means to steady the tripod we attempted to find marks on the ground, the most interesting one was chewing gum.
Later our maths skills were put to the test as we had to calculate the measurements from our findings, which resulted in many blank faces and a desperate wish that we had paid more attention in school. These measurements were to determine how far above sea level the site was and would help give a 3D reference number to the small finds indicating their exact position within the trench.
As well as our maths and logic skills our creative and artistic abilities are now in demand as the trenches are being drawn - a task people are fighting over (as you can imagine). Each layer has to be drawn as accurately as possible to be digitised at a later date.
All in all a very productive day. J
By Rebecca Kelly and Hannah Brown. Student volunteers.
Most of the day was spent surveying, to enable us to accurately record our findings on the site. A simple task you might think, however the rain and the difficulty of getting the right height on the tripod ensured our volunteer Colin was stuck for over 25 minutes holding the measuring stick on a public path as the tripod was moved to at least five different locations, where it would then have to be made level, only to find out it was too high or leaves from a tree were in the way. You could almost see him calculating his revenge in an elaborate way. We used a nearby church as a benchmark and then as a means to steady the tripod we attempted to find marks on the ground, the most interesting one was chewing gum.
Later our maths skills were put to the test as we had to calculate the measurements from our findings, which resulted in many blank faces and a desperate wish that we had paid more attention in school. These measurements were to determine how far above sea level the site was and would help give a 3D reference number to the small finds indicating their exact position within the trench.
As well as our maths and logic skills our creative and artistic abilities are now in demand as the trenches are being drawn - a task people are fighting over (as you can imagine). Each layer has to be drawn as accurately as possible to be digitised at a later date.
All in all a very productive day. J
By Rebecca Kelly and Hannah Brown. Student volunteers.
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