Back to Nassington - 2017 - Peterborough Archaeology

It’s not broadcast quality but for those involved in the Nassington excavation I hope this video brings back happy memories – and perhaps the inspiration to return next year…….

Day 1 – Saturday 19th

The Nassington excavation of a Roman barn continues. Members of FRAG joined up again with our friends from MidNAG to delve deeper into the Iron Age and Roman agricultural site close to Nassington.

Last year we revealed a substantial Roman rectangular building:
Nassington Roman Barn

Day 2 – Sunday 20th

Day 2 now over and though we are still only preparing the site there have been plenty of finds including the base of an unusual Iron Age pot, Samian ware and hypocaust tile.

This was how the Nassington excavation looked on Sunday morning. We’ll keep updating this as we continue our exploration over the next two weeks.

First step is to uncover what we found last year.

Day 3 – Monday 21st

All the soil now off last year’s Roman building – but frustratingly the terram remains for one more day.

Much of the extended excavation area now cleaned to natural or initial layer of archaeology. Lot’s of pot sherds, bones and mysteries.

Day 4 – Tuesday 22nd

That’s better! End of day shot shows covers removed and the site in all her beauty.

And if you want to look in more detail at the features we’ve been digging:
Composite Site Photo – 220817

Interpretations of the following features welcome:

Day 5 – Wednesday 23rd

Slow and steady scraping through the layers.

Here’s today’s detailed Composite Site Photo in case you want to check your patch and plan for tomorrow!

And here’s the Same Image in 3D. (Some web browsers cannot handle this; best with Chrome or Firefox.)

Not quite how they did it in Roman times but harvesting has long been an important time of the year.

Day 6 – Thursday 24th

Continued cleaning – and lots of pot and bone in places.

The area in the centre is under cover with the hope of a moist surface tomorrow morning.

Day 7 – Friday 25th

Diggers and excavation surface baking in the sunshine.

Stephen Upex visited site and gave a very helpful explanation of the differing Roman pottery types.

[There’s a general introduction to pottery identification on this website.]

And here’s the site at end of day.

Day 8 – Saturday 26th

A Roman feast was today’s highlight. From imitation dormouse to honey cakes and figs, it was delicious.

A bit more digging achieved too!

Spot the Roman millstone…….

Day 10 – Monday 28th

You noticed! Your correspondent took a sneaky break yesterday but others continued – and over 100 visitors came to the open day on Sunday.

Our main focus today was to dig deeper into the various features previously identified. Some destruction inevitable but also some great finds including a chunk of thick bluish moulded glass.

Overview of the site after lunch:

Temperatures were in the high 20s but still diggers were reluctant to stop for breaks:

And are still smiling:

Andy’s beautifully excavated bone pit:

Day 12 – Wednesday 30th

Temperature of 13° rather than 26° which perhaps helped make this a particularly enjoyable day as we got stuck into the remaining features.

Geoff seems seriously laid back as he soaks up the kudos of making today’s star find.

Site at end of day:

At last we’re starting to get some real clues as to the “burning” features within the building:

After which, off to the Black Horse for a most convivial fish and chips supper.

Day 13 – Thursday 31st

Time pressure building as we aim to “finish” investigation of the main structure by end of week.

At lunch time Stephen Upex put the Nassington site into the broader Roman context explaining what was happening locally, regionally and across the empire.