This morning Andy and Ollie spent some time establishing a temporary bench mark (TBM) by traversing across the landscape from a datum which tells us height above see level. A TBM is used to work out the height above sea level of features and artefacts when using a level and is a really important part of the recording process.

The work in trench A began with Lucy, Flora and Hayley drawing a section. Later Pete and Bill scraped back exposing an interesting feature in the south eastern corner. In Trench B Chris and Kimberly used the magnetic susceptibility meter.

After lunch the team continued to straighten the trench edge, expose the interesting stone feature and excavate a slot across one of our features, this produced a number of medieval sherds. Another find was a seal matrix found by Ski, our local metal detector, near one of our trenches. More on this exciting find to follow!

In the western end of trench A Jess, Pete and James cleaned up to prove that it contained no archaeology.

However in the eastern side of Trench A, James and the digger driver carried on machining to uncover an interesting linear stone feature of unknown date and function – it could be a drain or a wall.

In trench B Andy and James continued to open the trench to discover it was full of archaeological features. These seem to fit the geophysics. Finds so far include medieval pottery and a stone hone.

We came home to a delightful tea of fajitas and potato salad from locally grown potatoes.

Today we spent our first full day on site. This started by setting up the site office (including some improvised carpentry to support our finds table) and laying out Trench B.

Today’s major event however was the opening of trench A. This gave the team the chance to watch a digger take up top soil and look for archaeological features in the clay – archaeological machine watching.

After trench A was opened a section was cut and cleaned up to show different stratigraphic layers; After lunch, trench B was opened as well.

Hayley found a few sherds of medieval pottery which was encouraging and gives us a bit of hope as to possible medieval remains.

We returned back to base camp after a trip to the supermarket and around Yeovil, to a delicious bolognese made by Kimberley and Bill.

Having traveled from the north-east, the midlands and south-east, we have finally arrived at camp, Maggie and Collin’s garden.

Part of the team managed to set up base (including a rather dubious camp shower) and gathered our first lot of provisions from Yeovil.

Another part of our team spent today collecting tools from our friends at South Somerset Archaeological Research Group (SSARG) and setting up a site grid as well as laying out trenches for tomorrow.

Just walking over the surface of the site we found some medieval pottery sherds and a key.

Tonight we are having a BBQ.

We set off for Somerset tomorrow.

The portaloos have been delivered.

We have a van.

We’re nearly packed.

Here’s hoping for a safe and swift journey to the SW!

We’re now 10 days from the start of this season’s excavation. Yesterday Andy and James met to discuss final preparations and trench locations. We have a plan, although whether it will survive first contact with the archaeology or not is another matter!

In other news Ollie was added to the blog today as an ‘author’. Ollie is a second year student (soon to be a third year) studying Single Honours Archaeology and will be responsible for updating the blog during the excavation. We hope the updates will be daily (more or less) and they’ll be a good way for you to keep up to date with out progress.

Ollie also has previous experience of archaeological blogging. Last year he dug on one of our other projects at Derwentcote and wrote a few interesting posts.

We really couldn’t work without the help and assistance of the locals in and around Lufton and we’re really grateful for everyone’s efforts on our behalf.   In particular our friends Maggie and Colin are kindly hosting the excavation team on their farm this year and have gone to extraordinary lengths to prepare for our arrival.

The marquee (complete with wifi access!) will make life on camp much more comfortable!

Indiana Jones (The Last Crusade) once said:

“X” never, ever, marks the spot. Seventy percent of all archaeology is done in the library

and in many ways Indy was right. We’re most visible when we’re in Somerset digging for three weeks every Summer, but the truth is that excavations are complex projects. Organising a dig is not as simple as flinging some tools and students in a minibus and heading South West!

We’ve been reading up on what is known about the deserted medieval settlement and thought this’d make a good opportunity to share our knowledge.

In 1976 archaeological attention was drawn to a ‘bumpy’ field near Lufton (but actually in Odcombe Parish) that was reputed locally to be the site of an old quarry. Investigation of the site showed it to be the earthworks of a well-preserved Medieval settlement with remains of crofts, holloways, low platforms and boundaries surviving.

A plan of these earthworks was made by the late Mick Aston (county archaeologist at the time).

Plan of the earthworks at Barrow by Mick Aston (from PSANHS 121)

and some aerial photographs were taken that show the site.

Earthworks of the site 1976 (from Somerset HER)

The site was bulldozed shortly after this work was undertaken and some tenth- to fourteenth-century pottery was recovered.

Some further archaeological work was carried out in the early 1990s when the Odcombe-Ilchester waterpipe was laid. This identified a single medieval ditch associated with the settlement and some ridge and furrow.

Documentary records indicate that the site was known as Barrow Orchard in the nineteenth century. In the Lay Subsidy of 1327 a ‘Richardo de Barrow’ is recorded in Odcombe and this might suggest that the settlement was called ‘Barrow’, although we don’t know this for certain.

For further information please take a look at the Somerset HER, or the following papers in Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society.

Aston, M. 1977 ‘Barrow(?) deserted medieval village, Odcombe’, Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society 121, 115-116

Pearson, T. 1978 ‘Late Saxon and early Medieval pottery from the deseerted village of Barrow(?) in Odcombe’, Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society 122, 79-82.

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Just a month to go until the team heads down to Somerset.

Yesterday James and Andy spent some time thinking about the geophysics and aerial photos of the DMV site. This left them with lots of questions and pondering how many trenches we should dig and how big they should be…

Meanwhile most of the team have finished their exams and headed home for a few weeks’ rest before the dig starts.