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Stroud update - 27 Aug 2019

As you may have seen from Facebook, by far the majority of finds to date have been CBM - so much so that it is being delivered to the Finds Tents in wheelbarrows rather than finds trays or buckets.  Amongst all this CBM have been some really interesting pieces including what we think are bits of:

  • Curved tegula

  • Pentagonal tiles

  • Tegula mammata (the studs from them)

  • Tiles with animal paw prints

  • Tegula with decorative patterns (like a Union Jack pattern)

  • Possible kiln spacers

We are therefore considering the possibility that what we are excavating is a tile kiln.

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This is a link to our latest 3D virtual model of Trench A:

Since this model was made much of the CBM in the foreground has been lifted, more of the walls have been exposed and the area down the 'step' in the doorway has been excavated.  This is this today's latest drone photo:

DQ_20190827_0002.jpg

Carl has now finished in Trench B.  Once all the CBM had been lifted there remained a gulley, which has been sectioned and is quite shallow.  It seems to lead downslope from the direction of Trench A.

DQ_20190827_0013.jpg

Also finished now are the two test pits on the other side of the hedgerow from Trench A.  There is no indication of there having been a road or trackway running parallel to the hedge.

Over in the paddock next to the Seven Stars, which has been partially mowed, Keith's team dug one test pit on the feature that showed up on previous drone photos as a bright green stripe of taller grass, seen on the right:

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We now think this is a buried power cable, and not a buried conduit diverting water from the stream.  The water supply to the villa's bathhouse must have come from another direction.

DQ_20170311_0016.jpg

Interesting dating evidence has come from Trench A by way of a coin - a silver denarius:

Vespasian AR denarius 71AD -1.jpg
Vespasian AR denarius 71AD -2.jpg

This coin appears to be identical in design and size to a silver Vespasian AR denarius, an example of which is shown below, and therefore dates from 71 or 72 AD - very early in the Romano-British era.

Denarius example.jpg

Finally, for fun, this is a timelapse I have made from my drone images of Trench A over the last 2 weeks, showing how the excavation of this trench has progressed: 

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