A day of beginnings and near endings. Most of the volunteers were starting on extensions to Trenches T and X. The spoil heap for T is now mountainous. I recorded detailed sounds of mattocks, shovels and wheelbarrows to go with some distinctly sketchy drawings of spoil heap activity.
In Trench X they were lifting turf for an extension to pursue some wooden post holes. There is no guarantee they will find them, like the non existent wall sought in Trench Y.
It is the last couple of days in Trench Y so photographs are being taken. Ranging Poles are used to show the scale, to ensure as much scientific evidence as possible – in a discipline that is ultimately interpretive.
Archaeology has a fluidity through the absence of absolute concrete evidence. There are always hints but no certainty. For some archaeologists it is the persistent ‘why’ that compels them to continue. There is a parallel for me in drawing, where I try to ‘touch’ the physical world in a effort to understand it, but always find it beyond my grasp.
