Tuesday, 11 April 2017

The Archaeological Dig



Behind the Fence was a blog I wrote last year on an archaeological dig that was happening in Cholsey. I show some of the finds found there. From time to time I revisited after to see what was happening. This was the information boar placed by the site on one occasion.


The Whole site was cleared back to the layer underneath the topsoil
 

Looking at the level it was about 18" down or nearly 500mm

This is a panoramic view of the site

The archaeologists working on site 

The place at times was quite busy

A new board was put up which made interesting reading
 
Pits were all around the site

This was the last shot I took of the site
 
So what did I learn from reading about it. Well there was an iron age settlement here which was extensively used but a previous family of small group of people could have even been a small village. When the Romans came they built a more substantial building or it may well have been a Briton who became wealthy enough with the Romans to afford the  luxury of a Roman type villa as they found hyper course tiles here. After the Romans left the place was left and deteriorated. The Saxons built the Village in another part of the area further down. Eventually the are became farmland and all trace disappeared until the housing was due to be build and the excavation found what you see here. The local archaeological society and schools have been on site helping at times though I still have to go back for some last photos.   The findings will be published and made public at a later date

8 comments:

The Greenockian said...

Fascinating! Wanted to be an archaeologist when I was young and am still so interested in the work they do. How amazing to find a Roman villa!
Liz

Sharon said...

I love things like this.

Anonymous said...

That is so cool. I would love to watch this kind of excavation unfold. There are treasures of all kinds everywhere.

William Kendall said...

I wonder what becomes of the discovered body.

LindyLouMac said...

Calling by from Our World Tuesday, fascinating virtual visit, thankyou.

Billy Blue Eyes said...

Seems there is quite a lot in the area

Billy Blue Eyes said...

You knowI don't know. They will do some research on it and maybe carbon dateing or try to find out what they eat or died from. I know some of the bodies they found in a churchyard they found in Wallingford were reburied in the cemetery a couple of years ago

Stevenson Q said...

Amazing shots of this Archaeological Site! I hope they find amazing history in there

Steve