UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRAINING EXCAVATION 2011 THE VALE AND RIDGEWAY PROJECT EXCAVATIONS AT MARCHAM/FRILFORD Directed by Professor Gary Lock and Professor Chris Gosden The Site This excavation follows on from the Hillforts of the Ridgeway Project which investigated continuity and change during the later prehistoric and Romano-British periods across an area of the Berkshire Downs, Oxfordshire, England. The temporal focus of the project ranges from the late Bronze Age period (c1,000 BC), through the Iron Age (starting c 7th century BC) and into the Romano-British period (from the Roman Invasion in AD 43 until the 5th century). For an introduction to British archaeological periods see the Channel 4 website at http://www.channel4.com/history/timeteam/prehistoric.html Our hillfort excavations were conducted at Uffington White Horse Hill (in 1994 and 1995), Segsbury Camp, an Iron Age hillfort near Letcombe Regis (1996 and 1997) and Alfred’s Castle (1998, 1999 and 2000) another Iron Age site but with a Romano-British building inside it. See http://www.arch.ox.ac.uk/HOR1.html for details of the publications: final reports for Uffington and Segsbury, interim reports for Alfred’s Castle plus some other papers. The archaeological site of Marcham/Frilford is situated on the A338 between Oxford and Wantage (grid reference SU438962, see the Ordnance Survey Explorer Map 174 or Landranger 164, web map search on post code OX13 5NY). This site has been chosen to provide comparative material to that from the Ridgeway hillforts. It spans the same chronological periods of interest, the later Bronze Age, Iron Age and Romano-British, and is a very interesting and informative excavation. 2011 will be our eleventh (and final!) season of work here and in the years 2001-10 various Romano-British structures have been excavated including a temple and a possible amphitheatre, together with Iron Age and Bronze Age deposits. The location of Marcham, near Oxford Interim reports for each year are in the Council for British Archaeology journal South Midlands Archaeology and Britannia (2010): or, alternatively, can be downloaded from the Project’s website at http://www.arch.ox.ac.uk/VRP1.html This is a famous site and we are not the first to excavate here, small-scale excavations in the 1930s, 1960s and 1980s revealed an extensive Iron Age settlement overlain by the Romano-British religious complex which we are exploring further. The main references for the past work are: Bradford, J.S.P. and Goodchild, R.G. 1939. Excavations at Frilford, Berks, 1937-8. Oxoniensia, 4, 1- 80. Harding, D.W. 1987. Excavations in Oxfordshire 1964-66. Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh Department of Archaeology Occasional Paper No. 15. Hingley, R. 1985. Location, Function and Status: a Romano-British ‘religious complex’ at the Noah’s Ark Inn, Frilford (Oxfordshire). Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 4 (2), 201-14. The 2011 season of excavation will probably concentrate on the following areas of the site: 1. The exploration of an area of Iron Age occupation recently discovered through geophysical survey. This will involve the excavation of roundhouses, pits and ditches dating to somewhere between the 7th and 1st centuries BC. The excavation of Iron Age pits at Marcham/Frilford 2. The large circular structure, an amphitheatre/theatre has now been extensively excavated but we still need to explore the large stone drain which extends from its centre southwards across the field. In 2010 we established the end of the drain with the suggestion of interesting finds there. 2 Excavations in the interior of the amphitheatre/theatre Excavation dates We work a six day week, 8.30am to 5.30pm, from Sunday to Friday inclusive throughout July. You will need to arrive on the Saturday to attend an induction meeting at 4.00pm (details to follow). The dates are: Week 1: Sunday 3rd July to Friday 8th July Week 2: Sunday 10th July to Friday 15th July Week 3: Sunday 17th July to Friday 22nd July Week 4: Sunday 24th July to Friday 29th July You can sign-up for one to four full weeks. We may need to contact you about dates if your preferred week is not available so please provide an email address if you can as this is our favoured means of communication. Training given The excavation is the formal training excavation for part-time adult students studying for accredited courses in Oxford University’s Department for Continuing Education. You will work alongside these students and receive the same level of training as they do. You will not be expected to do the assessed written work that they have to submit. Within the constraints of the archaeology (it is difficult to predict what will be found!), we endeavour to give each participant a range of training in excavation methods and recording. This will include excavating and recording contexts, drawing sections and plans and plotting finds, taught through group sessions and individually in the trench by experienced supervisors. There is also the possibility of on- site seminars on other aspects of excavation such as stratigraphy, photography, computing, finds 3 analysis and environmental processing. An excavation recording manual will be provided as a useful background to the teaching. Excavation of the ‘Royal Box’ at the southern point of the arena The working week The week starts on Saturday afternoon at 4pm with an induction session which introduces the site and the facilities (for your first Saturday only). Excavation takes place Sunday through Friday inclusive from 8.30 am - 5.30 pm with morning, afternoon and lunch breaks. What to bring English summer weather can be very variable and as far as is possible we dig in all weathers. Bring warm and waterproof all weather clothing as well as being prepared for hot conditions. A hat, sunglasses, suntan lotion and insect repellent are all essential. For footwear bring both trainer-type soft shoes and sturdy shoes/boots if you can - you may be involved in a variety of jobs on site. All excavation equipment will be provided although you will need your own trowel – a 4-inch WHS (this is the make) welded tang trowel is the ‘industry standard’, costing about £15 from a good UK builder’s merchant or hardware shop. Don’t panic if you can’t find one of these before you arrive as you can buy one through us. You may also want to bring a kneeling pad (available from Garden Centres) and gloves as trowelling can be hard on the knees and hands. If you are on medication, or likely to need any medication during your stay, you must bring it with you. This applies to basics such as pain relief tablets – we are not allowed to provide these for you according to Health and Safety regulations. 4 If you are camping you will need to bring all of your own equipment – tent, sleeping arrangements, and eating utensils. There will be some basic communal cooking facilities provided although you may prefer to use your own. Basic hot showers will be available. Health and Safety Excavation can be hard physical work and you are expected to be in a reasonable state of fitness. It is important that you inform us of any health problems before hand (see the application form), if problems occur during the week it may be possible to arrange different types of work for you. You will be given a Health and Safety briefing at the beginning of your week and it is crucial that you comply with the site’s Health and Safety policy. Breach of Health and Safety rules can result in you not being allowed to excavate. Important. You must have an up to date Tetanus inoculation as this is a tetanus risk area. Accommodation The site is a 30 minute bus ride from the historic city of Oxford (c 20 minutes if you have a car). The smaller towns of Abingdon and Wantage are closer. You can make your own accommodation arrangements with local B&B and hotels in the area, contact the Vale of the White Horse District Council (01235) 522711, or visit: http://www.visitvale.co.uk/ Alternatively you can camp on the excavation’s campsite at Manor Farm, Marcham (campsite grid ref SU454964, web map search on postcode OX13 6NZ). A lift to and from the excavation is available each day on a tractor and trailer. You will need to provide all of your own camping equipment. The campsite is basic and has a kitchen with cooking facilities, portable toilets and portable hot showers. Car parking is possible at the campsite. Food Lunch each working day is included in the cost of excavation. This will consist of sandwiches on site. Also included are tea, coffee or squash and biscuits at the morning and afternoon breaks. Breakfast and evening meals are not provided. If you are camping, the Crown Inn (five minutes walk from the campsite in the village of Marcham) serves food. There are other pubs and restaurants nearby although a car will probably be needed (there are usually plenty of people with cars so sharing may be possible). Basic cooking facilities are available on the campsite comprising a port-a-cabin kitchen with cookers, fridge and freezer. There is also a BBQ which you can use. Alternatively you could bring your own cooking facilities. There is a Post Office in Marcham, and at a nearby petrol station there is a small supermarket which sells fresh fruit and vegetables, some hot take-away food as well as general groceries. Summary To recap, your fee (for a week) includes: Six days of excavation and/or related fieldwork activities within a leading research project University of Oxford tuition in all aspects of excavation and recording including personal supervision, on-site seminars and handouts Camping facilities (if required) 5 Lunches and tea/coffee and biscuits on working days You need to arrange your own accommodation and, if camping, your own breakfasts and evening meals, and all meals on saturdays.