Discovery Programme, Week 5

So here we are on week five of the dig.

The discovery programme guys are up in Dublin presenting papers at the world archaeology conference and the mound is breathing a sigh of relief (but not for long) as next week sees the commencement of the second session.

Session one has uncovered yet more areas of interest including a grain drying kiln, an area covered with slag from metalworking, a potential boundary from an early christian ring fort and portions of a large decorated rotary quern stone.

If you are interested in seeing the dig in action you are most welcome to call into the Cruachan Ai visitors centre. If you would like a full run down on the dig then call over on the 24th of July.

This is the open day when tours will be taking place from 2pm. It is a great opportunity to get a full explanation of the work being carried out and the further aims of the Discovery Programme.

To all the volunteers from session one, thanks a million for your help and dedication. A sense of humour is essential when the rain is spilling from the heavens and you guys certainly made me laugh (keep singing the song Sydney).

I will endeavour to get some photos uploaded in the next few days so keep tuning in for updates.

Mike Croghan

Discovery Programme 2008 Week 3

What an educating week, after watching the guys getting back down to last years levels I finally got the chance to spend a week on site trowelling. The first thing I learned is that life is not always fair.

I was helping a guy called Duggan in a slot trench for a couple of days. Various layer changes were coming to light as well as a possible early christian boundary but there were no artifacts showing up in the material.

Wouldn't you know it, Duggan flew back to the States and the next day I uncovered a possible copper fastener and Jenny who was also in the trench found a really nice flint thumb scraper; hard luck Duggan, still if you had not sweated to create the trench we would not have found the artifacts.

There are a wide variety of pieces coming to light including a myriad of animal bones that were used as fill, antlers, lots of slag from an area probably used for metalworking, bone needles and buttons, coins and much much more.
Along with the artifacts building boundaries continue to be exposed, so the Discovery Programme are starting to get a really comprehensive picture of the way the building morphed over its lifetime.

Lets hope that the weather is kind to us next week and further progress is made otherwise I will be using the flooded slot trench to improve my front crawl.

Cheers for now.

Mike Croghan

Discovery Programme Week 1 Day 1

So this is it. The discovery team are now removing the back fill with loving care and attention.

They are still at the stage of shovels, mattocks and wheel barrows, but the tarp that was draped over the site at the end of last season is now in view.

The weather is perfect for the job (unless you happen to be the one digger who is currently sweating Guinness), and looks set to hold for the next few days.

Stay tuned for the next update and hopefully towards the end of the week there will be photos to browse.

Enjoy the bank holiday.

Mike Croghan