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Week ending 2nd December 2005
An interesting, if slightly depressing week. Although we were all aware that the landowner would have to subsoil the trenches prior to cultivating the effected areas, I think most of us had assumed that this would be done once the topsoil had been replaced. This has proved to be incorrect, and this week has seen the subsoiling of the natural before topsoil was replaced, much to the dismay of the diggers who had so carefully seeded the features last week.
Apart from that, the fieldwork component of the work has now officially finished, and efforts are being directed towards the post-excavation programme. Dick has prepared a short site narrative for distribution to the various specialists who will be analysing the flint, pottery and samples etc. I'm busy processing survey data and office staff are well on the way digitising the site drawings.
At this point we would like to thank all the diggers, who worked in some pretty lousy conditions, and all the visitors to the site whether members of the general public or in an official capacity. So thanks to everyone.
On completion of the fieldwork, Steve Timms (Mike Griffiths & Associates) issued the following statement:
The fieldwork has finished on Ladybridge Farm. As part of the agreed methodology between English Heritage, North Yorkshire County Council and Mike Griffiths and Associates;
"...following the fieldwork an assessment of the significance of the archaeological deposits will be made. This assessment will be based on the criteria set out in PPG16 and will use an accepted methodology which will include the English Heritage Monument Evaluation Process (MPP) which serves as guide to professional judgement." (Agreed Brief 14/10/05)
On 23rd November the group were invited to the site to start this process.
North Yorkshire County Council responded by stating that they had seen enough on site and would continue discussions regarding the significance of the deposits in accordance with the agreed methodology on an ongoing basis.
On behalf of English Heritage John Hinchliffe stated:
"With regard to the significance of this archaeology, you asked me for EH's view on site and I gave it - it is of national importance because of its association with the henges and the fact that it represents a surviving fragment of a zone of early prehistoric activity largely destroyed by quarrying at Nosterfield."
Consequently the meeting was cancelled. Mike Griffiths and Associates and North Yorkshire County Council will continue this process of assessment. The report for the additional investigation is currently in preparation. Specialist reports will be put online when they become available.
Friday 25th November 2005
With backfilling and reinstatement of the trenches now imminent, today has been spent carefully filling the excavated features with 'marker artefacts'. This will ensure that any ongoing damage caused by agricultural practices can be monitored in the future.
Although after discussions with the landowner we have learned that the depth of ploughing is carefully controlled through the plough hydraulics, and monitored by a trailing wheel that adjusts the plough height continually, the marker artefacts were in this case mixed with excavated material in order that the fills could be compacted. This was necessary as the action of backfilling the trenches using wheeled and tracked vehicles would otherwise have caused too much disturbance.
The features were also seeded with metal washers so that monitoring of any movement could also be done using a metal detector. The sequence of images below (this time not in chronological order) illustrate today's activities.
Thursday 24th November 2005
Today has seen the excavation of all potential features in Trench C completed, along with the recording of these features. The site is now ready to be backfilled, and marker artefacts that can be used to monitor any further plough damage will be placed in all the fully excavated and half-sectioned features tomorrow morning.
Wednesday 23rd November 2005
Another cold foggy day. Work has continued in Trench C, with the half-sectioning of possible features almost completed by the end of the day. Off site, we have started digitising the excavation drawings (plans and sections) and these will be posted shortly.
Tuesday 22nd November 2005
The excavation staff, on a particularly cold and foggy day, have continued cleaning and half-sectioning features in Trench C. I don't think I'd have even bothered driving up the A1 on a morning like today's...
Dick (Antony Dickson, Project Officer) currently estimates that the excavation of features will be completed by Friday afternoon.
Monday 21st November 2005
Today has seen the completion of the half-sectioning of features assumed to be natural in Trench B. After this the team moved into Trench C, and have now begun half-sectioning features there. This trench is currently thought to contain no prehistoric features, those evident appearing to be natural with a scatter of truncated post medieval features.
Thanks to everyone who let me know they are still reading, and for various constructive (and even destructive) comments.
Friday 18th November 2005
Sorry for the delay, but Dick went straight to the pub without giving me the photos. Today, as with Wednesday and Thursday, the team has continued the excavation of possible features in Trench B. Apart from the one prehistoric feature previously excavated, the majority of these have proved to be natural and a few (field boundaries etc.) have been dated as post-medieval.
Thursday 17th November 2005
Work has continued in Trench B today, with the half sectioning of various features assumed to be of natural origin. The single possible prehistoric feature in this trench has already been completely excavated, and it is unlikely that there will be much excitement (in archaeological terms) before the dig finishes next week.
Wednesday 16th November 2005
Work has continued in Trench B today, though there is little to report. In addition the final feature photographs were taken in Trench A. Antony Dickson has been off site again, and images from today will therefore be uploaded tomorrow.
Tuesday 15th November 2005
Apart from the surveying of a few planning points, Trench A has now been finished (again). Throughout the day possible features have been half-sectioned in Trenches A and B, and work will continue in Trench B tomorrow.
Monday 14th November 2005
Today has seen the last of the prehistoric features in Trenches A & B fully excavated, and work has continued half-sectioning those features thought not to be prehistoric.
Antony Dickson, the Project Officer running the excavations, has been off site today preparing for the post-excavation analysis of the findings. As a result photographs taken on site today have not yet been provided, but will be uploaded tomorrow evening.
Friday 11th November 2005
As mentioned yesterday, by agreement between all parties involved in the monitoring of the current work, the scheduled meeting today has been cancelled. In addition all parties agreed to the 100% excavation of the prehistoric features. This is a direct result of an acknowledgement that preservation in situ could not be achieved at the moment, and features and artefacts left in the ground would soon be destroyed by plough action. Therefore preservation by record is the only viable alternative.
The proposed model of the extent of peat/marshy ground during prehistory has also been revised, based on evidence from the current investigation and comments made by Dr. Stephen Carter after a site visit. This revised model is now shown in the interactive image on the Ladybridge page.
Comments from members of the monitoring group regarding cancellation of today's meeting have been posted on the minutes page, as have further notes on the revised model for marshy ground.
The site team have continued excavating in Trench A, removing the other half of features already half-sectioned under the previously agreed methodology.
Thursday 10th November 2005
The main developments today have been taking place off-site. It has been decided between those monitoring the excavations that a scheduled meeting on site tomorrow will not be held. After a request from Neil Campling (NYCC) it has also been agreed that all potential prehistoric features will be totally excavated. It will therefore be necessary for the excavation team, who until this evening thought that Trench A had been completed, to return to Trench A and excavate the remaining half of all the possibly prehistoric features. Despite mild annoyance that this will result in some features being planned for the third or fourth time, the digging team have welcomed the decision, and are glad that all potential artefacts will now be retrieved from these features.
Meanwhile on site, Trench A was thought to have been finished, and while most excavators remained in Trench A to finish the recording of features, Duncan was dispatched to Trench B to excavate the possible archaeological feature identified there. He was joined later in the day as and when staff finished recording features in Trench A. As a result most of today's photos from Trench B show nothing happening (the camera's timer delay not being long enough for Duncan to press the shutter release and then run back into the frame to start excavating, even though he does sometimes move quite quickly (see Tuesday's photo at 15:29)).
Wednesday 9th November 2005
Trench A is now almost finished, with the last few potential features currently being excavated. Excavation of the isolated feature in Trench B started late this afternoon, and has so far produced a retouched flint blade, possibly a Neolithic or Bronze Age knife.
This morning a number of the local parish councilors also visited the site, and were given a tour of the archaeological features.
Tuesday 8th November 2005
Despite a fairly wet day, work has continued in Trench A with more features being half-sectioned. Seven cut features are now presumed prehistoric, though only five have been dated through pottery and the other two have been tentatively dated because of the presence of flint or chert. A further four may be prehistoric, but have produced no dating evidence. 12 features have been excavated and appear to be of natural origin, and six cut features are thought to be post-medieval.
The minutes of last Friday's meeting have now been approved by all parties, and are available on line via this web site or through the CBA.
Monday 7th November 2005
Work has concentrated in Trench A, with the continued excavation of potential features. Following an agreed change in the methodology as a result of discussions during last Friday's monitoring meeting, we have also been returning to features that had produced dating evidence but had not been completely half-sectioned. A number of these have been half-sectioned today to preserve them by record and retrieve any artefacts.
Saturday 5th November 2005
Although no excavation work occurred today, the site was opened during the morning for any interested members of the public to come and view the findings and ask questions of those involved in the project. While the open day had been widely publicised in the local area, in the event only a handful of people arrived. Steve Timms gave a guided tour of the site, and a display was provided in the quarry visitor centre giving details of the discoveries to date. Read comments made by one visitor, published in the Ripon Gazette.
Friday 4th November 2005
Work has continued in Trench A, which has the most promising archaeology. To date five of these potential features have been dated as prehistoric through the presence of pottery. They are all, however, severely truncated by decades of ploughing. In Trench C hand cleaning of potential features continued though almost all features, including a large 'swallow hole', appear to be natural.
The afternoon saw the third weekly monitoring meeting with representatives of NYCC, EH, On-Site Archaeology, Tarmac, Mike Griffiths & Associates and the landowners being present. After a tour of the three trenches currently open, there was a general consensus of opinion that Trenches B and C had extremely limited potential. The archaeology of Trench A, however, provoked a lively debate on the significance of the five dated features; representatives of NYCC stated that the remains did not warrant preservation in situ, while EH argued that they were of national significance and should therefore be preserved.
Because all the features are likely to be destroyed by the process of reinstating the land for cultivation (because dumper trucks and mechanical excavators have compacted the ground, the farmer will have no option but to 'subsoil' the areas impacted) there was also a discussion concerning what should be done with the currently un-excavated features dated by pottery at the surface. In a slight departure from the original methodology, it was agreed that these should also be half-sectioned.
Thursday 3rd November 2005
Very wet weather has hampered progress today, but some further potential features have been excavated in Trench A, while the hand cleaning of Trench C was also started. Of those features excavated today in Trench A, at least one appears to be post-medieval in date with a wooden post still surviving in the fill (see photograph taken at 13:27).
The extent of the plough scars in Trench C is clearly visible in the photo taken at 16:02.
Wednesday 2nd November 2005
Today has seen a concerted effort to clean the remaining potential features in Trench A and half-section any which do not have dating evidence visible at the surface. The site director, Antony Dickson, is also in the process of marking up the pre-excavation survey of features in order that the plan on the Ladybridge page of this site can be updated to show those features that seem to be of prehistoric date. All being well the plan will be updated tomorrow evening.
Tuesday 1st November 2005
While excavation of potential features has continued in Trench A, the topsoil strip in Trench C was resumed, and completed by 4:00pm this afternoon. Few archaeological features are apparent at the moment, but the view of potential features is somewhat obscured by the predominance of plough scars across the natural, this area having previously been used for potato cultivation and therefore ploughed more deeply than the others. These plough scars are highly visible in the photos posted today, for example that taken at 8:27, in this photograph the plough scars are clearly visible in the upper portion of the image, forming a corduroy pattern aligned with the camera view.
One of the features half-sectioned in Trench A has produced a very small fragment of prehistoric pottery, and may date to the neolithic. Otherwise there is little to report from Trench A. Steve Carter, of Headland Archaeology, visited the site today to give advice on a number of environmental and dating issues. His notes are available on-line.
Monday 31st October 2005
Today the majority of work has focused on Trench A, with four further potential features being half-sectioned. Two of these have produced prehistoric pottery and worked flint. This brings the total number of potential prehistoric features in Trench A to 11, three dated through pottery, two with worked flint, two have produced no dating evidence, and four remain to be excavated. In order to preserve as much as possible in situ, excavation of features is being stopped once datable artefacts are recovered, and the features recorded at that point without further intrusion.
The hand cleaning of Trench B has now been completed, and this afternoon the topsoil strip of Trench C began, though few possible features are currently visible.
Friday 28th October 2005
With all potential features in Trench A now cleaned, excavation of those that appear to be archaeological but cannot be dated through artefacts recovered from the cleaning process has begun. So far five features have been half-sectioned, though none have produced dating evidence, and one appears to be natural.
Meanwhile hand cleaning continued in Trench B, and should be completed early next week. Apart from the cluster of features in the northwest corner, one or two possible isolated archaeological features have been identified, along with a north-south aligned narrow linear feature some 16 metres in length. A pre-excavation survey of these features has been undertaken, but the area around the clustered features requires more intensive cleaning before this can be finished.
Trench C, which had to be moved slightly to the east to avoid a water pipe, has been set out, and (weather permitting) will be stripped next week.
Today also saw the second of the weekly monitoring meetings, the minutes of which will be available via this and the CBA web sites once they have been approved. The general consensus of this meeting was that to date the further investigation results support the interpretations based on the evaluation carried out by Field Archaeology Specialists Ltd.
Thursday 27th October 2005
Hand cleaning of features in Trenches A & B continued today, and two of those in Trench A proved to contain flint artefacts, and may therefore be of Neolithic date. Excavation of possible features in the northwest corner of Trench A also commenced, though at least one of these seems to be a natural feature.
Wednesday 26th October 2005
Weather conditions were much better today, and hand cleaning of potential features in trenches A & B continued until around three in the afternoon, when the rain kicked in again. Many of these potential features may prove to be of natural origin, such as animal disturbance or discoloration caused by tree roots etc, but a few would appear to be archaeological.
In addition to hand cleaning, the pre-excavation survey of possible features apparent in Trench A was completed. The results of this survey have been incorporated in the site plan available on the Ladybridge page of this web site, though none have yet been dated, and many may prove to be natural.
Tuesday 25th October 2005
Weather conditions have again not been ideal, with intermittent heavy showers throughout the day. Despite this, work has continued in Trench A with the hand cleaning of a number of potential archaeological features, and some that appear to be of natural origin.
The majority of these potential features have also been surveyed today, and the remainder will be surveyed tomorrow, when the plan on the Ladybridge page of this web site will be updated. Until excavation of these features has begun and dating evidence retrieved, however, these will be displayed as undated on the plan.
Monday 24th October 2005
Heavy rain and waterlogged ground conditions have made work on site impossible today, and all that has been achieved is the photographing of Trench D, which has revealed no archaeological features.
Friday 21st October 2005
Despite a day of heavy rain, the remainder of Trench B was stripped, a task completed by 12:30 this afternoon. Again, very few features have so far been identified, but a small cluster of features is evident towards the northwest corner of the trench. Until these are hand cleaned next week their nature and date is uncertain. Hand cleaning of Trench D continued until early afternoon, but no archaeological features have been identified in this trench.
This afternoon saw the first of the regular monitoring meetings, with representatives of On-Site Archaeology (who are undertaking the fieldwork), North Yorkshire County Council, English Heritage, Mike Griffiths & Associates, Tarmac and the landowner being present.
Thursday 20th October 2005
The topsoil strip of Trench A was completed by around 10:30am, and work began in Trench B. Removal of ploughsoil in this trench will continue tomorrow, but very few features are currently visible. Hand cleaning to identify any possible features began in Trench D.
As the topsoil strip progresses, record photographs are being taken of every feature encountered, regardless of date or whether they are thought to be of natural origin.
Wednesday 19th October 2005
Due to poor weather conditions early in the day, topsoil stripping could not commence in trenches A, B or C, as this would have caused too much rutting of the ground. Trench D, however, is located in pasture and rutting was less of a problem. Topsoil stripping under archaeological supervision therefore began in Trench D, though few features are evident at this stage, and those that are appear to be of natural origin.
On completion of the topsoil strip, and as the weather improved, the machinery was moved to Trench A and the topsoil strip of that trench started. By the end of the day most of Trench A had been stripped. A handful of features were evident by this stage, one of which appears to be of Neolithic date as it contained a worked flint protruding from its fill.