September 2006
The corridor and north wall of the villa in the extension to trench 7 have now become clearer after a great deal of hard work by SOAG members throughout September. A particularly exciting find has been an area of tessellated floor, in situ, positioned in the corner of the central room. This was found after removing the deposit of broken tile found earlier in the season - see June diary. This is only the second, and the largest such area found within the villa and more excavating in October will reveal the full extent of the floor.
Tessellated floor
One of the pieces of roof tile(tegula) removed from above the floor is of particular interest and rare for the site. It still has parts of both it's flanges - the raised edges where tiles butt together and are connected by a curved tile known as an imbrex. For a brief explanation of Roman roof construction see - http://www.newarchaeology.com/articles/romanrooftile.php
Tegula
Work has also continued in the fill of the north side of the stokeroom, producing a variety of pottery sherds including part of a kitchen strainer, animal bones, a coin (as yet unidentified) and fragments of bronze jewellery.
Kitchen strainer
Further digging in the area north of the ditch (trench 9) has revealed a second deposit of large pieces of chalk, similar to that found on the edge of ditch and thought to be a drainage channel. In October more digging will determine the nature of these chalk deposits.
The excavation is open every Sunday until the end of October and is run by experienced archaeologists. Diggers of all levels of experience and ages are welcome, so if you would like to get involved please contact us.