By Hilary Klompenhouwer
Another successful annual community archaeological dig has come and gone. This was our fourth season at this important Iron Age site. It ran from July 19 to August 2 at Drumanagh, followed by 7 days of post-excavation at Swords Castle.
Once again “serial diggers” like myself in the over 65 year-old plus category were delighted to be still able to dig and mattock and do trowelling in the trenches.
These digs attract people from all age groups and different backgrounds. Some of this year’s youngsters are studying archaeology at university or are considering taking a course.
Others had taken annual leave from their jobs to spend time learning about all aspects of a dig from enthusiastic and patient professional archaeologists.
Once again Heritage Officer/Community Archaeologist, Christine Baker, did a sterling job in organising the dig. Ministerial consent was granted; funding was obtained from FCC; geophysical surveys were done, three other professional archaeologists were contracted, and applications from amateur enthusiasts were dealt with.
Christine ensured that the temporary cabin and chemical toilets were in place on time. There is no running water or electricity on site. So all participants dug out their flasks and lunch boxes, and came prepared.
Antiseptic handwashes and sun lotion were provided, as were cakes and biscuits from visiting archaeologists.
The recent rain did make it easier to break up the top layer of grass covering the two trenches. The sods were put aside until the last day of the dig, when all the sieved soil was returned to the trenches. Within months the site will look undisturbed.
On day one aerial shots were taken by a drone.
It’s always amazing to see how quickly team work develops every year. More seasoned volunteers give practical tips to new recruits. The professionals ensure that every volunteer is introduced to every aspect of the work including safe mattocking/digging; how to trowel; the importance of spotting items such as pottery during the sieving process, and putting finds associated with each level of the trench into the appropriate finds tray.
Irish weather being what it is, it’s rare to have two to three weeks of dry, sunny weather. This year we had a couple of particularly challenging days. On one occasion, we had to call a halt and finish by 2 pm, as it was becoming too slippery.
Whatever the weather the laughter and wonderful conversations flowed, and excitement was shared when items were unearthed in a trench or during sieving. This year all of the finds were from the Iron Age, including pottery shards and animal bones from the third century AD.
Post excavation took place as usual in Swords Castle, where there’s running water. Volunteers sat in tents in the grounds of a castle built in 1200, and washed bones from domestic animals that had been buried in Drumanagh for almost two thousand years.
This is certainly a unique experience!
Early next year Christine Baker will invite the volunteers to a talk about this year’s dig. By then she’ll have some feedback from specialists about our findings. They may be able to enlighten us about the strange pits, that were uncovered this season.
Swords Tidy Towns 