Back on site after our much needed days off, over on the beach we started by removing the last of the stone and sandbags from Structure 6, then the grand reveal as the covers were taken off, followed by giving it all a good clean up. Not too much damage although the flies seemed to have used the nice dark, moist soil under the protective membrane as a breeding ground so we had to remove loads of leftover pupal cases, which wasn't easy as they were blowing everywhere in the brisk wind.
We have a specialist from the University of Bradford, Dr Cathy Batt, arriving soon to do some archaeomagnetic dating on the kilns we have in this area, all of which seem to have survived quite well.
At least it stayed dry all day which meant that the team cleaning up in Trench F over the flagged area could get it looking pristine for its photograph.
All the hard work is worthwhile when you see the final result, you could eat your dinner off that:
And last but not least, introducing Daisy, our new dig dog, a Welsh (failed) working sheepdog and a complete sweetie, her first day on site and she's very quickly sussed out who can be approached for extra food at lunchtime and a quick cuddle at any other time:
She belongs to Keith, a long time member of the team and one of our Living History re-enactors, who was in a pub in South Wales and saw a notice saying basically 'free collie dog, useless with sheep' and since he'd wanted a dog for a while and also has no sheep she was the perfect fit. She's also keeping up the best traditions of the dig dog by going for a paddle in the bog and coming back covered in smelly gloop, just like old times.