BIB12: Day Twenty-Four

Back to work after a busy weekend that took in trips to Segedunum and the Great North Museum. Lots of people on site (although a certain Jamie Armstrong was notable by his absence) and lots of work done. In Trench 1, new work commencing in the barrack - a crack team of trowellers managed to reveal a nice new area of flagstone flooring to the south of (and presumably earlier than) the central pit- they also uncovered a nice square cut feature that appeared to cut through a possible internal cross wall. In general there was an increasing amount of planning and other recording going on in the southern half of the trench, although some people were still scraping away at surfaces. On the northern edge of the trench, the cobbled surface appeared to be cut by a row of post-holes that ran parallel with the embankment - no clear date though. In Trench 2, at the western end there was a probably new stone capped drain running close to the oven/flue arrangement uncovered last week. In Building 2, initial exploration of the floor surface seemed to suggest that the flue from the oven carried substantially outside the eastern wall of the structure. Nearby, there was more removal of the dark layers, incidentally revealing more of the possible 'plinth' which appeared to be associated with a line of rubble that might resolve itself into a wall. Inside the main building, there was lots of removal of soil in the western room- there appears to be a long stone at the base of the blocked entrance- a possible lintel perhaps. I also saw a nice piece of worked stone in the wall (possible window head) that I'd not noticed before. In the large pit in the eastern room Steven found a nice group of coins that have been corroded together. It is starting to appear the wall of this area has a pair of small niches opposite each other- this needs to be confirmed though. The removal of the internal fill is also showing the extent of wall plaster- although we've tried to keep this largely covered up at the moment to protect it. At this stage we aren't clear if there are any discernible patterns or decoration on the plaster. Tomorrow, Jamie returns to put the trench back into order!