Linda with fellow volunteers. © National Museums Liverpool
“What! Me do an archaeological dig, you must be joking.” “ Oh come on “ said my son “You know you’ll enjoy it”. Enjoyment is not a word I would associate with grovelling in the dirt, in wet and muddy conditions resulting in back ache and sores wrists and knees, but that is exactly what I did.
I found myself on a dull morning at a house in Rainford, wondering just what I let myself in for. After being introduced to everyone, we were told what we were going to be doing, that a new trench would be opened to see if it would follow along the lines of the trench that was already being worked.
So we got down and dug or to use the technical term "troweling”. At first it was just dirt upon dirt but then suddenly your trowel would hit something hard; was it a stone or could it be a piece of discarded pot, thrown away because of a defect in the making?
Slowly but surely the trench revealed its treasures; a highly decorated pot lid, a squashed drinking pot, and my own find- the half of a pot with a handle nearby and the base of another pot- all at least 400 years old.
So...
Was it hard work? Yes
Was it cold, wet, and windy? At times
Was it enjoyable? Most definitely. The staff couldn’t have been more friendly and helpful and they never made you think that you were wrong.
Would I do it again? where’s my trowel!
Linda
I found myself on a dull morning at a house in Rainford, wondering just what I let myself in for. After being introduced to everyone, we were told what we were going to be doing, that a new trench would be opened to see if it would follow along the lines of the trench that was already being worked.
So we got down and dug or to use the technical term "troweling”. At first it was just dirt upon dirt but then suddenly your trowel would hit something hard; was it a stone or could it be a piece of discarded pot, thrown away because of a defect in the making?
Slowly but surely the trench revealed its treasures; a highly decorated pot lid, a squashed drinking pot, and my own find- the half of a pot with a handle nearby and the base of another pot- all at least 400 years old.
So...
Was it hard work? Yes
Was it cold, wet, and windy? At times
Was it enjoyable? Most definitely. The staff couldn’t have been more friendly and helpful and they never made you think that you were wrong.
Would I do it again? where’s my trowel!
Linda