Brilliant shot of the site
Some Roman put his foot in it – you can see the hobnails
Absolute miracle that this ring came to whole considering the mattocking!
Some of the finds processing team
Anthony happy in his work cleaning and deciphering the images on the mosaic
Patiently cleaning back the mosaic
Photos from David and Richard with thanks
Considering it’s only day 5 (week 1) of the dig, it’s really amazing just how much has been accomplished. Thanks to all diggers, sievers, washers and recorders for all they have done over the past week – it has exceeded expectations. By the end of the day, nearly half the mosaic had been exposed – thankfully in pretty good order and the finds processing team has kept up with what has been coming out of the ground. People found themselves stopping work and gazing at what was being revealed but we will have to resist that temptation if we are going to be able display the mosaic in all its glory and to Matt’s satisfaction for the Open Day on Saturday 31st August.
The Boxford contingent
I am sure there was a wall there!
Without the sponsors we would not be here
A Telemon appears with eyes, belly button and all!
Photos today from Mike, Joy and David
Despite a very warm day Matt was well pleased with progress. Everyone headed for shade at lunchtime.
Mortarium pieces?
Rather grisly selection but there have been a lot of bones!
and sadly some of these tesserae – that should be in the mosaic.
Photos from Joy, Helen and Liz
Morning briefing from Matt
Thanks to David for Friday’s photos
Good progress made today, good weather, good company and even some finds.
The very keen return quickly after the tea break.
Jim with some serious help from Joel in trench 1.
That wretched land drain again!
Very nice little Roman brooch – still in working order.
Photos today from Richard
Great progress so early in the dig although trench 1 turned into a serious mattocking day!
Photos kindly supplied by David and Richard
A really successful day with all hands working hard to clean the trenches and some good pottery and glass finds.
It was really great to be able to catch up on lots of news with friends from the previous digs and we welcomed several newcomers too.
A terrific start to the dig! Marquees, Gary’s tent and our Sponsors Board all up on Saturday; loos, tools and equipment delivered today – so we look very posh! To cap it all, Matt spotted that red tesserae border as Scud was excavating the mosaic trench.
But this time it’s in a different place – we can see it clearly up against the party wall to the adjoining room and it looks fine. So here’s hoping the central panels will be as good.
Boxford’s community project to fully excavate the Bellerophon Mosaic in the local Roman villa will be starting soon. Also in the planning is an Open Day for members of the public to see this extraordinary mosaic for themselves. The date has been set as Saturday August 31st and the site will be open from 10am to 4pm.
The mosaic only partially uncovered in 2017 due to time constraints, was considered by experts to be the most important Roman mosaic found in the UK for the last fifty years. It depicts many scenes from Greek myths – almost like a story book or a cartoon strip on the floor. The chief character is the celebrated flying knight of Greek myth – Bellerophon, son of the god Poseidon who is frequently portrayed on the back of the winged horse Pegasus.
Volunteers return this year in the hope that the remainder of the mosaic is undamaged and when fully uncovered will perhaps reveal the owner of this modest villa. From the little we have seen so far, he must have been well educated and probably well travelled. Why did he come to Boxford and what happened to the villa are questions that still hang in the air.
Below: Richard Miller’s photo from 2017
The Boxford History Project submission for registered charity status was approved by the Charity Commission in April.
Charity registration number: 1182817
Charity name: Boxford History Project
First of all, sorry about the break in transmission but WordPress websites were upgraded and the subscription configuration to the blog was lost in the ether! Anyhow now all fixed by our webmaster.
We have had a huge response to the call for volunteers – now over 80! It’s really great but we have to restrict numbers on site each day, so have started a waiting list for any latecomers.
We are all looking forward to August and the great reveal!
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