Prescot Dig

Today I am going off on holiday for 8 days. At the same time, we are finishing in Zone 1 of the site and moving into Zone 2. That means it’s time to make a final round of the site, attempt to leave my desk in order, post my last photos to the galleries and write a final entry for the journal.

Under watchful eyes the machine returns to Zone 1 for the final time. Careful use of the machine will allow us to finish digging the last few deep features and complete the archaeological record in Zone 1.

Over the last couple of weeks we have had such hot weather the site has seemed heavy and slow moving as if the team had wilted. Now all of a sudden we are all working away in a frenzy of activity to complete the zone. We have been gradually completing feature after feature; you may have followed the gradual reduction of the site piece by piece from the photo diaries. So how do I feel about moving on? Professionally I feel proud. I am pleased that we will complete the zone on timetable and on budget. I am really proud of the team who have put in so much hard work to get us this far. Personally, I am sad that such a big piece of the project is now over. The project that we planned for so long is now one third complete. Time seems to be flashing past at such a rate now and I want to enjoy every second of being here and working on this site.

After the frantic work of preparing the site for the machine, the diggers take a well earned rest before they move in again.

It is also tough going away because so much is going on on site today. We have the machine back in the trench to help us dig out some of the big quarry pit. This is essential as we have now completed almost all of the other features in the zone and we need to finish off the last few massive features with the help of the machine. In particular this is a deep feature that may be a well and also the big quarry pit which will be carefully excavated out by context with sampling and careful finds collection. Preparation for this big event has caused manic work over the last couple of days and the team look exhausted. I was just down on site and they are all resting now after the hard work as the machine comes in to complete the task. To tell the truth I don’t really want to be going away now at such an exciting and crucial time but I expect I’ll forget all about that…

The final days of Zone 1. Note that most of the features have been reduced to natural gravels now. The big black feature to the left will be tackled last.

Greg has just come up to the site office to collect some recording materials and he told me that he thinks he has another inhumation, possibly even better preserved than the last one he excavated. That will make a nice excavation job for one of the team, we will keep you posted. What is exciting is that as we move on into Zone 2 we expect less post medieval quarrying and better preservation of the Roman remains.

Who knows what awaits me when I return… or maybe I will keep up with events on site via the website along with you dear reader.