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I love detective stories. That combined with having been a longtime
armchair archaeologist (I remember Sir Mortimer Wheeler on TV) makes a
dig is the best mystery story ever. Every time you think you have
discovered the complete pictureof what happened on the site yet another
discovery makes you think again. On top of this, you add finding things
that someone else touched possibly 1800 years and its magic. All this
plus fresh air, lovely surroundings and good company what more could I
ask for.
Carol
Spending
long sunny days discovering 1700 years of history is my perfect way to
spend a Sunday. You never know what you will find and I am always
learning. No matter what your expertise you are made to feel welcome!
Jon
I enjoy going to the dig and
being a member of the I.A.R.S. because I am part of a team of people
who are discovering how our ancestors lived and died.
We work, we talk, we laugh and we puzzle at some of our findings while trying to work out what was really going on at that time.
Time Team it isn't, Time Enjoyed it is.
Pat
There are few opportunities to
take part in an ongoing excavation. With the goodwill and patience of
the Palmer family we are able to carry out our excavation whenever the
weather permits, sharing the field with the sheep and an occasional
rabbit.
We do have the luxury of time and we all work at our own pace. Of
course it can be hard work and you aren't rewarded with fabulous finds
of pottery and coins, but we do have the satisfaction of seeing the
story of the site revealed week by week.
Occasionally we do have the chance to do something extra special. For me
this was excavating the burial in a small stone lined pit. I took great
care in slowly excavatingthe fill, scared I would miss something and I
was beginning to despair that nothing had survived. And then there was
the realisation that I had uncovered a small piece of bone which was
part of the burial. It was the skull of a young child, which I had
believed had just fallen into the grave. There was also a piece of
pottery. As I cleaned around the piece the piece to try to find the
edges it appeared to continue, there were no edges, the pot was
complete. I not only had a burial but also a wonderful complete bowl
that had been placed into the grave next to the child's head.
I was a bag of nerves as I carefully cleared the soil from around the
pot and carefully lifted it free. I had to relinquish the lovely object
which I had cared for over the last few hours as it was taken away to
be cleaned.
A few weeks later it was brought back to the site all cleaned and somehow not looking as small and fragile as I remembered.
We all have our special moments but it is really best to be able to
just be involved and add your own knowledge to the general discussion
which we have about the story of the site as we try to understane how
it has become what it is.
Kerry
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