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NEW
TRENCH EXCAVATION (summer seasons 2001-2004) |
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2001 In order to better understand and place in context the evidence from the 1957-8 excavations and the trial “Link Trench” of 2000, a new open area trench was started in 2001. This has become known as the New Trench, despite initial attempts to call it Boneyard West. The baulk between the two Boneyard trenches is fairly narrow – about 1.5m – and will be removed eventually. The 2001 season saw the stripping of the majority of the overburden of soil of a 20m by 30m area, using JCBs. For the rest of the season, we continued to excavate the remaining overburden (the post-Saxon ploughsoils and hill wash) in order to reveal the archaeological features beneath. One of the main objectives of the initial work on the New Trench was to locate Jewell's Trenches in order to identify the undisturbed areas. Although Jewell’s trenches were excavated fairly recently, in some places their edges were difficult to see. We believe this was because the site was not backfilled to the top of the trenches, and some sections would have collapsed when the field was ploughed the following year. The trench edges therefore became visible at varying depths. The area showed signs of having been divided by at least two east-west running terraces with what seems to two or three plots on the lower terrace. Cut into the upper terrace towards the eastern side of the trench, it became clear that a skeleton discovered during the excavation of the Link Trench in 2000 was the westernmost burial on the Boneyard site. This burial must fall late in the overall sequence of the site, post-dating the creation of this terrace and perhaps also the boundary features excavated in the south-western part of Old Trench, which also have burials cut into them. In the north-east corner of the trench the deposits were a dark grey colour, representing the southern extent of the medieval Reeddam. Beyond the limits of Jewell’s trenches the continuations of features which had been partially excavated in the 1950s started to become visible. |
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2002 During the 2001 season, the depth of the archaeological deposits in the upper (southern) part of New Trench was found to be very shallow. The ploughsoil and colluvium down slope had not been entirely removed, so in 2002, the southern part of the trench was left under backfill in order to reach the same stratigraphic level. Work continued to remove the ploughsoil and colluvium which lay above the Anglo-Saxon deposits. In the north-eastern part of the trench, the moist dark grey deposit was thought likely to represent the southernmost extent of flooding in the Reeddam. Twelve small stake holes, some of which are arranged in a line, may represent part of a fence or fences associated with the flooding of the marsh. In other parts of the trench, further archaeological features were being revealed as the last remnants of overburden were removed. In the centre of the northern part of a trench, an irregular layer of light yellow-grey clay was thought to represent a single episode of dumping, possibly of the lining from an oven, similar to a features discovered on Old Trench in 2000. In the eastern part of the open area, the overburden was removed to reveal a large spread of flints set into a layer of possible early colluvium. Several shallow (presumably truncated) and ephemeral circular post holes were located within the flint spread. Four of these were arranged in a linear alignment. About a metre to the east of these was a concentration of oyster shells, probably another representing another deliberate dumping event. Regularities in the distribution of flints and post holes may indicate the presence of one or more small structures. Slightly further to the north, another possible building was evidenced by post holes and a flint concentration which may represent the base of a former rammed clay surface. The floor of this possible building was not excavated so we were not sure whether the posts were erected before the floor was laid or vice versa. The excavated remains were very small, but Jewell’s excavation trenches may have removed evidence of the rest of the structure if it was larger.
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Work on New Trench in 2002 |
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2003 The 2003 season proved to be very productive. The precise location of all the 1950’s trenches was established and some of the 1950s backfill was removed. In these areas we were now able to examine the excavated features from the 1958 dig. We also had various ready-made sections to examine and consider when excavation strategy was under discussion. One of Jewell’s trenches still contained in its corner a 1950s wooden site peg, confirming that the areas we had been excavating were indeed backfill. A sequence of ditches was identified, running north to south, with complicated phasing. Excavation showed that each ditch varied along its length, suggesting sporadic dredging and filling, and it appeared that the edges of the ditches might have collapsed in while in use. The sequence may therefore be quite difficult to establish with certainty. One fill of one of the ditches was particularly interesting and consisted of a large number of cockle shells in a very charcoal-rich matrix. Cockle shells, unlike oyster shells, are a rare find on Boneyard. Possible interpretations for these ditches range from boundary markers, drainage ditches or rubbish dumps. A large compacted area was excavated in the central area of the trench. This contained many animals bones, sherds of pottery and shells and may represent an occupation surface, possibly the interior of a structure. A band of flints ran east to west across the site, separating the excavated compacted area from the excavated compacted area from a similar unexcavated area to the south of the flints. This could be an accumulation against the side of the possible structure or, more probably, a form of terracing on the slope. To test the occupation surface hypothesis, a strategy was employed to record on a plan the distribution of every common artefact (bone, pot and oyster shell) in the compacted area. Clusters of artefacts could suggest specific activities in different areas within the possible structure, whilst variations in size of fragments could suggest boundaries of the structure (small fragments are more likely to be found inside due to more frequent trampling). The results did not show any significant patterning, so the finds did not support the structure hypothesis. This is technique we may employ in the future on other possible occupation surfaces. A high concentration of chalk in a circular shape with small rectangular absences of chalk was tentatively identified as a possible post-pad. It may be that this feature is all that survives of part of a truncated footing trench for a building, representing the point at the base of a footing trench where the post met the ground, the trench then being backfilled with a layer of chalk at the base. This method of construction, using square posts in a trench, is known from another Anglo-Saxon site, Cowdery’s Down in Hampshire. Pottery analysis from New Trench reveals that we have both Ipswich and Thetford ware pottery in abundance, as well as a smaller number of residual Roman and Iron Age sherds in certain contexts. The Thetford ware (late Saxon) is associated with the later stratigraphic layers. Other finds from New Trench this year included a larger than average quantity of lava quern fragments and a lot of slag. A Middle Saxon dress pin and brooch were also discovered.
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New Trench in 2003 |
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2004 In 2004 the New Trench was opened in its full glory for the first time since work began in 2001. After three years of excavation we were finally in phase across the whole of the trench, having excavated the deeper colluvial layers and ploughsoil lower down the slope. During this time the excavation of the upper slope had been put on hold, as erosion had resulted in the archaeology being much closer to the surface. The New Trench team also visited Norwich Castle Museum during the 2004 season, to look at the 1958 excavation archive. They are confident that they will be able to link much of the information kept there with the current excavation. During 2004, we finally succeeded in determining the full extent of Jewell’s excavations and rediscovered the features which he found in his investigations in the late 1950s. One such feature was a sizeable right-angled ditch, about 40 cm wide with vertical sides, which Jewell had hypothesised was the foundation or footing trench for some kind of structure. An entrance appeared to be visible part of the way along the southern side, although he did not uncover the entire plan. Although previously sceptical, having seen only plans and not photographs of this feature, our investigations to the east of his trenches uncovered what can only be described as a corner, which aligned beautifully with this trench. We then realised that a short and previously unexplained length of ditch in another of Jewell’s trenches was in line between the corners. So, it appeared to be the footing trench of a structure, but the corners were 17 metres apart! We recognised that we were dealing with a very sizeable structure which could have been of considerable importance, perhaps indicating that the settlement was of a higher status than previously thought. Several suggestions have been made as to the nature of this structure. Was it an Anglo-Saxon hall? A sheep pen? Or perhaps a church? The long axis is aligned east to west, but this fits with the slope of the hill so the choice of orientation may have been purely functional rather than religious. Neil even speculated on the nature of the building’s decoration, hypothesising that it would have been heavily decorated and very ornate, perhaps featuring dragons and other mythical beasts! Previously it was unclear if Jewell had his many trenches open at once, in which case some of the narrow baulks between the trenches are likely to have collapsed. It appeared from the trip to the Norfolk Museum archive that many of the trenches were open at the same time and the archaeological evidence suggests that some of the 1950s excavation baulks collapsed into the trenches. Much of the infill of Jewell’s trenches contained sherds of pottery, pieces of shell and animal bones, missed or not considered important enough to retain for the archive. Some more impressive finds were certainly went unnoticed, including a stunning Anglo-Saxon copper alloy dress fastener with ring and dot decoration, found this season in the backfill of one of Jewell’s trenches. Other unusual finds this year included a piece of bone comb handle, complete with one of the rivets that would have kept the teeth in place, which was found in one of the possible occupation areas on the lower slope during the initial trowel cleaning of the site. Nearby, a beautiful Anglo-Saxon copper alloy double spiral-headed pin was discovered, in near perfect condition. We also found an Anglo-Saxon copper alloy brooch and a whetstone, both from in a fill of the southern east-west ditch, a possible lead fishing or net weight, discovered within the same ditch but much further to the west, and half of a Saxon turquoise glass bead. We believe that we have now defined the western extent of the cemetery, with a small number of burials in the south-eastern corner of New Trench. Nine of these were excavated this year. In this area there is only one layer of burials and they are not densely packed, in contrast to the six or seven phases of burials which have been discovered downslope in the Reeddam. Was this upslope area more marginal, or was it perhaps in use at a different date? This should become clear when we carry out some selective radiocarbon dating after we have excavated the complete cemetery sequence. As the archaeology is so close to the ground surface in this area, several of the burials had been disturbed by ploughing and also by the cutting of a large east-west ditch. This ditch appears to be one of the latest pre-modern features in the New Trench. The box sections which have been removed along its length show that it had a number of fills and at least one major recut. The relationships between the large number of intercutting ditches which have been noted on New Trench this season will become clearer as excavation progresses. A particularly interesting environmental sample was taken from a charcoal rich fill of the southern east-west running ditch. The sample was found to contain burnt grains including barley, rye and wheat, chaff from the threshing of grain, burnt clay and a possible piece of burnt bread. It is likely to represent the sweepings from an oven which was probably very close by. This sample has provided us with the first environmental evidence that people were living nearby and producing/processing their food. It is unusual to find environmental evidence of this type from Anglo-Saxon rural settlement sites.
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2004 working shots of New Trench |
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