4. Wednesday 5th September 2012

Jennifer writes:

Another glorious day of sunshine, seems we picked the best weeks of the year to do our dig, or possibly the weather knows that we don’t want to be working in rain and mud!

Unsurprisingly we carried on finding more stones - and more stones, as we carried on digging down. The upper trench got expanded across another wall and today finds actually appeared; bits of bone, teeth and the mysterious - not stone, not pottery - artefacts.

Photo by Alan Williams

The smaller trench that was added yesterday, today uncovered more flat stones creating a conundrum of an uneven floor, perhaps.

In the large trench beside it we also found some charcoal, enough to carbon date, so there’s some hope there. But otherwise very little has happened today.

Yet again, today we received some excellent almond slices and cherry sponge cake, which weren’t enjoyed by the sheep that decided to join us today and leave their own trails on the trenches.

Hopefully the sun will keep on shining, and digging down deeper we might get to the ‘pottery layer’, or at least some stones of interest.

Jennifer Stearn  

3. Tuesday 4th September 2012

Jennifer reports on Day Two of the dig:

The weather started off as rain but as soon as we reached the site it was clear and dry, and continued to get hotter through the day. Sitting enjoying the sunshine we could understand why our ancestors chose to live and work up in that sheltered spot.

The entertainment of the day came when the ‘bog van’ got ‘bogged down’, after the driver decided to turn around in the wet field. Tractors and land rovers and straw later and he finally got free, cheered on by a whole team of archaeologists stood on the hill above him. The collective thought at the end was whether we could hire him to do some backfilling!

With the preliminaries done,  planning and photographing could take place today. Also with the addition of another small trench to explore some anomalies. Part of the upper trench was also relieved of excess and ‘loose’ stones, which uncovered yet more stones and a fresh ant’s nest. The only finds were a few pieces of bone in the upper trench, but some last minute trench walking led to a piece of chert being discovered, David had said that anyone who had the audacity to find a piece of chert would be whipped, so we know who won’t be coming on site tomorrow!

Another good day of digging and hopefully we might actually find something more than rocks tomorrow!

Jennifer Stearn

2. Monday 3rd September 2012

Jennifer has sent in today's post:

Day one on the farm! (In theory…)

First things first, the best find of the day had to be the Sunshine!

From our start at 9.15 to when we left, the whole day was glorious sunshine. David’s comment was that we were going back to the 14^th century with regards to the current weather situation, but today and the forecast is unusually optimistic and seemingly with good cause.

The day started fairly promptly with all 23 of us walking around the site being guided by David. After picking our teams, we set to work on our two trenches, with Phillip and Peter supervising us. De-turfing at some times felt more like moss collecting than anything as the amount and volume of moss far exceeded the ratio of actual turf, as did the number of roots which had to be ceremoniously cut with scissors.

Deturfing Structure 2 - Photo by Alan Williams

The upper trench was finished and ready to be photographed by the tea-break - and with ‘no takers’ to take a trip the other trench we wandered around the site and watched the other trench toiling away. But excellent homemade cakes waited for us in our tea break.

Structure 2  - Photo by Alan Williams

We finished in good time and without incident. The walk back down the hill was somehow much easier than the walk up in the morning and also with much brighter and clearer skies than the low clouds of the morning.

In all, a good day's digging and an excellent start to the next two weeks of soil and stones!

Jennifer Stearn

1. Ready and raring to start digging!

On 3rd September 2012, excavations will begin on the remains of two farmstead complexes near Ingleton in the Yorkshire Dales. Volunteers will be digging for two weeks under the supervision of site director Dr David Johnson, who is currently investigating the landscape history of the Ribblesdale area. They will include members from the Upper Wharfedale Heritage Group and Ingleborough Archaeology group, as well as other individual volunteers. 

A detailed field survey has already been carried out to investigate and record wall construction and other visible archaeological features in the area. A geophysical survey and archive research has also been carried out. 

The complexes are likely to be medieval in date, and may be associated with field systems, but their exact nature and function is not yet known. 

Please note: This excavation is taking place on private farmland and is not accessible to the general public.