8th
A change of scene!
Wednesday 5th October 2011
Today we headed towards the site of Sersenna! The site contains material of Ptolemaic and Roman date and gave the students a chance to look at another site in the province that was excavated by an SCA mission. With the trenches left open it was possible for the students to look at the stratigraphy in light of their tuition over the past weeks and to get a better understanding of stratigraphy and relative chronology. Although the sections were rather dry and dusty and hard to see, just a little spray of water helped to clarify the contexts for the students and much discussion took place.
With plenty of ceramic sherds scattered around, it was also very useful for them to discuss with Mandy the date and types of ceramics that would have been in use at the site - so they really put into practice the knowledge that had been gained in the preceding weeks!
It was also a chance for the students to practice laying out new excavation squares using Pythagorus’ Theorem and the 3, 4, 5 method! The students had remembered the basics of this method, so armed with some wooden sticks, a tape measure and a compass, two teams set to work - completing the squares sucessfully at just about the same time!
There was also the opportunity to theoretically look at the working of the burrima - the drill corer - since this is another piece of equipment that is fairly freely available and which can get excellent results both in terms of chronology and geology - it is very cost effective!
On the way home a few of us were lucky enough to stop by the local hotel in Shuhada where the manager wanted to show us around. We were treated to ice cold fizzy drinks and a tour - which included a precious half an hour in the games room - where much uses of the pool and table-tennis tables was made!
Laying out the grid - check the bearings!
Getting the right angle….
and finally, balancing the level!
