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Samples and seaweed

Started off a bit wet today but cleared up fairly soon, enabling Alex and Michal to start taking samples from yet more of our many hearths for archaeomagnetic dating. Alex had to wear his non-metallic boots so that the compass readings which are carefully marked on the top of each little tub wouldn't be adversely affected by his steel toe caps:

Elsewhere on site we were busy opening up another metre or so of the lower level so that we can put a section across some of the walls, which meant removing a load of small shingles and rotting seaweed which the sea had very kindly dumped over the rocks we had put there in a previous season to protect the site.

It was a bit of a messy job, but at least we were only opening up a smallish section not the whole lot, although I think Elvire might have been wondering why she'd come all the way from France to volunteer for us again as she had a particularly deep section filled with exceptionally rotten seaweed to deal with:

Our archaeometallurgist Dr Gerry McDonnell was on site for the first time this year and lost no time in getting stuck in to the excavation of the iron smelting furnace, he's going to take back all the contents for further analysis.

in addition to Alan's running section numerous record shots of the furnace being dismantled had to be taken, and we're carefully saving all the stone blocks forming the furnace lining, which will be cleaned, recorded and photographed in their turn.

We also had a large group of visitors from the Birsay Bay Reunion, it's 50 years since the Birsay Bay excavations and some of the group had also dug at the Westness cemetery so were very keen to see our site, before heading off to visit our friends at the Skaill Farm excavation.

Its now our weekend so a few days off, but this weekend is the Rousay Regatta as well as the Skaill open day on Saturday, so likely everyone will be totally exhasuted on Sunday and glad to get back to work for a bit of a rest.


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