The team assembled on site today to begin work on the training excavation at Lord of the Manor. Our first morning was spent reviewing the site of the training excavation and its place among other features and past excavations in the surrounding landscape. Discussion focused on the aim of the project followed a closer look at the excavation area.

The excavation is designed  to test the interpretation of an investigation carried out in 1981 and 1982 by re-examining  a sample of the archaeological features on the ground. Initial review suggests that we may have a lot to learn from this process. The earlier sample of the site appears to have been quite small and there is a great deal of scope to refine the plan.

Later in the day we concentrated on cleaning and defining the features in the excavation area, photographing the area and identifying the location of earlier interventions. We also spent time discussing the potential location of sample sections to dig in the following days. On the surface of the undisturbed fill of the wide ring ditch we recovered a sherd of  flint tempered Middle Bronze Age pottery.

A promising start with more important discoveries to come…