The final day

No I am not closing the blog down, but I have been very busy at Chester Farm this week before the contractors move in. 

I had a day pot washing and was so excited when I discovered this amongst a bag of pot pieces -

Only about an inch long

 It is metal and has corroded and normally we do not wash metal, but I didn't realise what it was in time.  My first thought was that it was a loop of a belt but it is probably a ferrule from a walking stick and therefore not of great value.  Oh well, another time.
 
However the following day I was back again at the Farm in a group with some first timers and low and behold they found a Roman coin -

Beginners luck?  Within the same area we found -

Drilled base of a Nene Valley colour coated ware beaker - Roman

and as we were working I told them to stop because this was becoming evident -

An animal of some sort, partially covered with a piece of a Roman 'dog' dish

I am still not sure which part of the skeleton this was as it broke when we got it out of the ground.

Yesterday was the final day of the dig and so there was a lot going on.  All the 'finds' were being bagged and the archaeologists were measuring, plotting on their plans and drawing. 

 

I was given my own hole to excavate -

View from my hole

  

My hole

 

and me in the hole and nearly finished!!!

Note the four round holes in front of me - they are the remains of Medieval  post holes which would have had wooden poles sunk into them.  I did find some pieces of Roman pot but on this occasion the hole was dug just to see what was there or not there.   Some good 'finds' were unearthed elsewhere yesterday -

A 2nd century Roman pot -

 

the other side

  

and another

 Some general photos around the farm -

The threshing barn where we had our breaks

 

The coach house

and this lady kept us company in the threshing barn and never said a word

'Diana' the huntress

We had these little fellas twittering all around us all day -

Swallows

and my hole got bigger and tidier, with nice straight sides, sharp corners and the bottom was stony, and it was passed as OK.

Hole number 259/260

I was exhausted but happy!!

I promised a photo of my finished shawl

Thanks to L for modelling it for me

and the reveal of our Mini Mania for July -

Seminole

In August we will be making Dresden Plate - at least three blocks of it.  Ideas are forming!!!