Archaeology in Mind

From Wednesday 13th to Friday 15th September, 2023, St Joseph's had a spectacular visit from the volunteers at Archaeology in Mind. All the children got to experience life as an archaeologist and discovered some very interesting finds in the test pit on our school field.

Here's what the volunteers from Archaeology in Mind had to say about their dig:

WEDNESDAY

Today AiM began the test pit dig at St Josephs School and immediately found large quantities of industrial waste and pieces of furnace lining.  The other finds were quite sparse in comparison and consisted  of pieces of iron, glass, white glaze pot sherds etc.

Research prior to the dig had established that there was nothing built on this part of the field and as the finds were just below the turf this indicated that this was most likely material that had been ‘dumped’ from somewhere else.

Work will continue tomorrow to try and establish the depth of this material and what lies beneath

FRIDAY

Today AiM members completed the test pit dig at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School.  The conclusion is that the site consists of waste material, much of which is industrial waste.  The contexts also prove this as the artefacts are a mix of old and modern with much of the modern below some of the older eg pipe stem dated 1720-1750 found above an old crisp packet and a vending machine cup.