Post excavation news – I have started the conservation of the bones from the dig.
The first stage of the work was to remove the soil carefully from the bone. This was a slow painstaking process and somewhat frustrating as the bone is very soft & fragmentary.
The next stage is to allow the bone to dry slowly, brushing off any remaining soil as it dries and loosens. This will take a few months. When that is finished the bone will be given a stable coating to preserve it.
While removing the soil from one skull’s cranial cavity I found a fragment of leg bone from what was once a sheep (probably). It has been artificially split and is in much better condition than the dog bone – probably due to having been heated. The interior face of this bone is very smooth suggesting that it have been the handle of something. It is so smooth that initially I thought the fragment was from a pipe bowl.
Remember to keep an eye on the events calendar – we have a field walk in the Hidden Valley coming up, and also a session with the finds from the dig (more post ex).
Tata ’til then.
Museum, Tea Room, 18th Century Walled Garden
