The Dig: Day 4 -

Introduction

Today, we resumed work on the ‘floor’ and gap in the wall.

The Work

The Introduction

We continued digging around the ‘floor’, but we now believe it’s just rubble from behind the orthostats. Also, we found a new orthostat in line with the gap.

The Enclosure

Today, we removed moss from the orthostat furthest from the corner and confirmed it is only one. The new orthostat seems to have been pushed by roots until it fell over.

The Finds

One of the new finds is a chunk of red sandstone. Like Find 1, Find 5 has a flat surface on the bottom. This leads us to believe it was a grindstone. Due to the distinctive curve on the edge of this surface, we believe this grindstone belonged to a saddle quern.

Finds 6 and 7 are pieces of a similarly reddish sandstone. Like Find 5, Find 6 has a wrinkly texture, probably caused by the rock forming around something. However, Find 6 does appear to have a blackened appearance, both on the smooth outer surface and the exposed inside of the pebble. Maybe this was used in a prehistoric hearth? Find 7 has little of the smooth outer surface remaining and has been chipped in multiple places. This may be indicative of a knapping tool.

Meanwhile, Find 8, a small piece of sandstone tending towards a lighter orange, doesn’t have any obvious uses. Although there does seem to be a little ‘cut out’ and it tapers to a point, this find may just have broken off something.

Find 9 is a piece of mudstone, a really soft sedimentary rock. Because of the softness, piddocks (a type of clam) were able to make small round holes in the stone with their shells. Also, mudstone leaves a muddy streak when scraped across a surface. At first, we weren’t sure what it was used for, but after some research, we theorised that it was used as a temper for making pots. Clay is used to make pots, and shrink and cracks when dried and fired. A temper is used to prevent this.