Holyrood Archaeology Day 6
It’s the start of week 2 on the Holyrood Field School, and the students were quick to work, building on the skills they learnt last week. Throughout the day we welcomed lots of visitors to Dunsapie, including the first of our school visits.
School Visits – Emily
As outreach and communications officer for the project, I was keen to invite schools along to our excavation this summer, so that they could learn about Edinburgh’s history, and also have an introduction to archaeology. Over the course of the season, we will have around 120 primary school pupils to visit, and today marked our first class visit. The p6 children were all enthusiastic about the site and archaeology, and many already had a good knowledge of archaeology and the Iron Age. We split the group into two, with half going on a tour of the site and trenches, whilst the other half were given a finds session (and the groups rotated after morning break). It was great to have an engaged group of pupils along to the project, and many gave insightful thoughts about how artefacts were used or made, and what life would have been like at Dunsapie Hillfort. We’re looking forward to welcoming more pupils from local schools along over the season!
Trench 3 – Becky
Today in trench 3 we have continued to excavate in the subsoil, between the Eastern and Western rock piles. Our aim is to uncover more the the soil to figure out what the ditch was used for and whether the two stone piles are connected. We have also been trying to work out if the Eastern rocks are additional rampart or natural. Through excavating today it has started to look more like additional rampart with the stones forming a wall suggesting a connection between the two potential ramparts. It has been a great day for finds including slag, some burnt bone and multiple quartz pieces. These artefacts show there was prehistoric life in this trench. Some of these were found through sieving the soil after it was dug to ensure we don’t miss anything. This technique has been very helpful even though it was hard to place which context the artefacts were found in the trench, since it was already out of the ground – so we now appreciate the importance of communication and strategy in the trench.
Trench 5 – Clair
Today marks the beginning of our second week at Dunsapie Hillfort, where we are continuing to clear the layers of soil to try to uncover and distinguish the archaeological remains discovered in trench 5. We are all gaining skills in recording and surveying the site, and recording finds. All the students are becoming more confident in using each tool and carrying out each task alone. We have now got down to a new stratigraphic layer and aim to find artefacts that we can use to help date the site and possibly give an understanding of the structural remains within trench 5. I have enjoyed learning more about this trench and the stratigraphical deposits, this helps to give us a better understanding of the use of the site.
Trench 6 – Dmytro
It was the 6th day of the excavation, and our team put some efforts in completing aims of the day . Therefore, we defined the following 4th layer of the central bank, which is situated in the middle of the features. We cleaned the loosest part of the tumble in the trench to define the structure of the rampart. Some of the finds of the day included vitrified stone materials of different colours , a chert piece with smooth rounded edges as well as some cow teeth . The more we excavate in the trench – the more finds and information we get . Personally, I discovered two finds today, which may seem to be nothing on a big scale, has given me more confidence and understanding not only about the site , but I have become more motivated in archaeology as well. I have also gained new skills in terms of analysing different varieties of stones or regular minerals, and using instruments such as spade and trowel.
Trench 7 – Carys
Across trench 7 today there have been a few different goals to complete. Many of our members have been working on uncovering the rock faces of the walls to determine where the walls truly start. Meanwhile, others have been working on digging at the bank to find a different firmer layer. In the roundhouse portion of the trench, we have worked to try to determine where the roundhouse wall starts and ends by removing what we believe to to be rubble that has slid from the wall. In the inner part of the roundhouse there has been a focus on digging further down and uncovering what was originally believed to be the face of the roundhouse wall. In working on this section, it has allowed me to better be able to try to identify what could be intentionally placed as a wall and what could just have been rubble that has slid off of the wall. We have had a couple of finds today within the trench, such as some fragments of shale just within the roundhouse and what could possibly be some charcoal just in between the rampart and roundhouse wall. We have also been working slightly in some sections on still getting it back to where it was at the end of last year and believe we have reached that point. At the rampart wall, there has been a focus on further uncovering the wall to also determine it’s edges. We have made a lot of progress in uncovering the walls and determining where they begin.
