I spent the day down at the Boffy today doing my first actual excavation. I decided to start the excavation with a 10m x 10m area covering the entrance. I recall Keith mentioning that entrances can bring up some interesting finds, so it seemed a good place to start. So the apparently simple task of marking the 10m by 10m square actually turned out to not be quite so simple. 10m is surprisingly big when the area you’re working on is partly covered in thick and thorny undergrowth! However, I persisted on and within an hour had the square marked out using my bright yellow cord. It covered an area of the main entrance pathway and also a small clearing to the right that showed some evidence of activity. Then to the job of marking and collecting the finds. Working my way systematically, scanning metre by metre, I marked each find with a pink flag then plotted its position on a map.
I found 27 artefacts in total within the 10m square, most concentrated within the clearing area. They ranged from a pair of pants (yet unidentified as to whether these are men’s or women’s), a tin of corned beef and a bottle of sun cream. Once bagged and plotted I collected them up and put them into my bag to take away. (I instantly felt extremely uncomfortable at the thought of these things going home with me.) It is interesting, handling and looking at these objects in that space seems fairly normal but taking them into my domestic space – utterly disgusting! They can stay bagged and shut in the cupboard for the night but tomorrow they are off to the studio – first thing.
Other observations made at this particular area (context 1) is that it has a flat topography, with a deciduous introduced woodland with an area of thorny scrub to the NE side. There are many branches on the floor but there appear to be a deliberate accumulation of twigs at the entrance of pathway 2.
I’m back off tomorrow to start my next area (context 3) which is the main area where the branch structure and bonfire area are located. I visited it today to make some plans and found that things have changed and shifted a little since my last visit. Large branches have appeared, arranged in the trees like mysterious land sculptures – quite puzzling and it left me feeling rather uneasy after a day in which I had felt I managed to stay adequately in charge of my nerve. Now I have real apprehension in my belly and a dread to what might surface tomorrow.
