We spent Saturday having something of a lazy day. Lucy, Georgia and Danni headed off to Salisbury to take a look at the museum and everyone else spent the day washing their socks.

On Sunday we headed down to Dorchester in Dorset to look at Maumbury Rings, the Roman townhouse, Maiden Castle. We ended the day heading back into Somerset to have a drink at the Prince of Wales on Ham Hill. A henge, two hillforts, a Roman temple and a Roman house all in one day was enough and we sat down in the evening to an excellent risotto cooked by Dave. The cooking wasn’t this good last year!

Roman Temple on Maiden Castle © The Lufton Project

The Team at Maumbury Rings © The Lufton Project

It’s been a busy week with lots to think about.

We spent the first part of our week laying out and opening Trenches B and C. Trench B has a lot of archaeological features in it, but also many modern features too. Most of the work in Trench B this week has been digging and recording these modern features.

In Trench C (40m long x 2m wide) it was soon obvious that the enclosure visible on the geophysical survey was full of ancient activity. Early indications are that the enclosure and the features on its interior date from the Late Iron Age (the period just before the Roman Conquest). This week we hope to get a better understanding of the date and function of the features in Trench C.

Watch this space!

It’s taken a little while to get our internet access sorted. Now we’re online we’ll try and post every day during the excavations.

We had a long and hot journey down to Somerset in the minibus and a nice meal in the Camelot (South Cadbury) after arrival.

We spent Saturday and Sunday setting up camp and getting organised for the the excavation. There was lots of digging gear being moved to site (the tent, shovels, and all the sundry items needed to run a dig)  and a visit for a very big shop to a local supermarket. We bought plenty of food including the world’s supply of chickpeas.

Home Sweet Home © The Lufton Project

We also went to the top of Cadbury Castle and explored the hillfort. It’s an amazing site and would have been an important local centre during the Iron Age. The view across to Glastonbury always looks lovely.

Glastonbury Tor from Cadbury Castle © The Lufton Project

There was a bit of drama on Sunday night when Adam was taken ill. Unfortunately he’s had to head back to Blyth. Possibly Sunderland supporters are allergic to Yeovil…

The team all looked forward to getting on site and starting work on Monday morning.

In a week’s time we’ll be heading south. There are lots of preparations going on in Newcastle:

James is worrying about the open day

Andy has acquired the world’s supply of 6 inch nails

Adam has packed his kit already

Lucy’s moving house

Johanna’s busy laminating

Georgia needs to read her email

Danni is buying sweets

Dave’s bringing his riot control boots

Cubby’s fire eating

El’s wondering what the food’s going to be like.

Meanwhile in Somerset, Nigel’s suffered an industrial accident (not related to the project). Get better soon!

James and Andy are busy finishing the report on the 2012 excavations. When completed this report will be submitted to the Historic Environment Record.

Andy has spent some time turning the site drawings into a plan of the excavation. The Bronze Age ring ditch is [010] and [030] and is cut by Iron Age ditch [005]/[036].

Further information about the Bronze Age and Iron Age in Somerset can be found in the South Western Archaeological Research Framework.

Plan of the 2012 trench showing prehistoric features © Andrew Agate and The Lufton Project.