Highlights of the 2004 Season

Click to enlarge Image of waterlogged boulder clay Click to enlarge Plan of Trenches in 2004 Five trenches were investigated in 2004:
The main activity was in Trench 26 which was a large triangular open area excavation, where we hoped to find more information about the alignment of the deep inner ditch. Unfortunately the 2004 season was hampered by terribly wet weather. Boulder clay does not drain, so most mornings started with pumping out and mopping up Trench 26. Instead of the deep inner ditch however, we found a great number of pits, gullies and post holes cut into the natural boulder clay, demonstrating that there had been occupation in the area between the inner and outer ditches.



Click to enlarge Image of the excavation of the boulder clay Click to enlarge plan of gullies from Trenches 26 and 36 in the triangular field Click to enlarge Image of Round House gullies in Trench 26 In total there were the partial remains of at least 10 gullies, 7 of which appear to be parts of Round House drainage gullies.



Possibly regular maintenance at the time the gullies were in use, which would have included cleaning out, re-cutting or re-alignment and would account for some of these. However, overlapping areas enabled the stratigraphic relationships to be established and a number of samples of charcoal were taken for radiocarbon dating.

Click to enlarge image of Bronze Age Dagger


Then in true Mellor style A magnificent Bronze Age Flint Dagger was found Trench 26 right at the end of the season. We had to wait until 2005 to extend this trench to try to find out more about how it got there!

Further investigation of the ditch system
Trench 27 was placed in the field to the North of the Old Vicarage. Trench 28 and Trench 29 in the triangular field but very difficult to excavate as they were full of water. Trench 30 was placed in the field to the East of the Church car park.
Click to enlarge Image of Trench 18 showing Ditch and palisade slot
Trenches 31 and 32 were placed near Trench 18, over the wall from the Old Vicarage gate and confirmed the existence of a stone lined palisade slot on the inside of the deep ditch.



Read the full 2004 UMAU Academic Report