We've now reached the Time Team stage of the excavation...just three days to go...In Trench 1, lots of activity in the main barrack block, with new stretches of cross wall appearing, as well as at least one internal hearth. Lots of planning and recording to be done to tie up loose ends! Most excitement today in this trench was in the latrine(!), where Rachael has been caught up in a one woman struggle with the loo trench. She was rewarded today, with the discovery of yet another stone trough and what can only be described as a bloody-big-stone-with-a-hole-in-it, both reused to line the culvert. She also revealed the beautiful arched top of the culvert at the point where it exited the fort wall - just like the arch found by Hooppell when he excavated in the north corner in the late 19th century...very pleasing. We've also come to the conclusion that the area immediately adjacent to the latrine is not in fact the corner tower and that what we thought was the right wall of the tower is in fact the left wall of the tower. We've found what appears to be a wall foundation or line of fragments heading in the opposite direction to that which we were expecting suggesting the tower is a little further along the wall.
In Trench 2, the main news is that we've more or less bottomed the slot we'd knocked through the deposits in the big room, and come down onto a flagstone floor. It is also now clear that the stone bench is on both sounds of the room and presumably ran round the south wall as well. IN the southern corridor room, we've seen the levels come down slowly but surely too, with hints of red plaster appearing in the area of wall below the arch springers. We've also had a nice fragment of coloured wall plaster from a non-descript pile of stones from near the road. Otherwise it's planning and recording!
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