Finds Processing

One of the key tasks during the post-excavation process is the basic washing, marking and recording of the artefacts. This season we recovered roughly 7500 fragments of pottery, 2000 fragments of Ceramic Building Material (both of mixed Roman and medieval date), as well as around 3000 fragments of animal bones. This is on top of all the metal objects and small finds which were found during the ten weeks of the dig. All this pottery and bone needs to be washed clean and then marked with the site code and context number, so we know where it came from. This is, not surprisingly, a labour intensive process. Until now the bulk of this work has been taken up by Durham students. However, today saw a new workforce coming on line- members of the Durham and Northumberland Archaeological and Architectural Society, one of our key project partners. Many of them spent time digging with us during the summer and are now taking the chance to see what goes on out of season. Later this year some of them will also have the chance to become involved in exploring the environmental archaeological aspects of Binchester.