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!

Today the team really got in to the archaeology on site: most of the modern features in trench B were excavated and recorded, and we got started on trench C.

El happily digging © The Lufton Project

The press joined us in the morning to interview James and take photos of what we’ve been up to for the local paper.

An article will be appearing in next Thursday’s Western Gazette so keep an eye out!

Over in trench C Lucy found a big piece of burnt clay in her feature while Danni uncovered a load of Late Iron Age or very early Roman pottery (Black Burnished Ware) on the south side which made James, our site director and Roman pottery specialist, very happy.

In the evening we all headed over to Seavington St Mary to listen to James’ sold out talk about ‘Somerset and the End of the Roman Empire’ which helped to raise funds for the village shop .We were all very proud of him!

Sold Out! © The Lufton Project

James and Andy started by setting out the trenches on site (trenches B and C) after discovering that the alignment of the site grid wasn’t quite the same as last year’s. The rest of the team then started de-turfing trench C (40m x 2m) before the ‘big yellow trowel’ arrived to speed up the process.

Machine watching with James in trench B © The Lufton Project

Unfortunately the digger turned up with a toothed bucket which meant quite a lot of tidying up for the gang- but a chance to get stuck in with their trowels!

The team were also given a run-through of levelling and recording and are now ready to get in to the swing of things despite the heat!

The team hard at work © The Lufton Project

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!

It’s seven weeks until this year’s excavation team lands in Somerset.

In Newcastle all sorts of behind the scenes preparations are happening. The minibus is booked, lists of equipment are being drawn up and we’re all thinking hard about exactly where we should dig this year and why.

Our grant from Brympton Parish council has also arrived (a big thank you to everyone in Brympton for their support).

In week or so the students (Adam, Eleanor, Dave, Georgia, Johanna, Kevin, Lucy and Danni) will have their final briefing and be issued with kit lists. Some of them are currently thinking about exams so I expect the dig seems a long way off.

We’re pleased to announce that the big army tent has arrived and been tested by our friends in SSARG.

The Tent Erectors from SSARG © The Lufton Project

Last year we didn’t have much shelter on site (well, we had a couple of gazebos that couldn’t cope with a light breeze). So the tent is a welcome addition to the project. It’ll be shelter on rainy days (many of those I expect), shade on hot days (not many of those!) and  a place to keep our kit and most importantly do the paperwork.

It’s all a reminder that the excavation is coming soon…