Data Structure Report, 2006
Excavation Season Summary
Excavation during 2005 continued in Sector 2 (north) within a large area measuring 33m x 24m(widest), being twenty modules measuring 8.0m x 4.0m (Modules A1 to A7, B0 to B7 inclusive, and the northern 6m of Modules C2 to C4 and D1 to D3 inclusive). This area was much larger than the preceding season, and was known to contain those features under examination during 2003 and 2004, namely almost the full extent of the remains of a stone-built road serving the craft-working zone, associated structures and features including several large stone-built features belonging principally to the terrace walls defining the millpond and craft-working zone.
The size of the 2005 excavation area was aimed at wide-scale recording and overhead photography of what is now understood to represent a massive phase of investment and design with stone and turf building within the craft-working zone. The photograph was achieved and represents a picture of an 8th to 9th century monastic workshop zone, so far unique in Britain.
A long-anticipated structure was identified to the west of the road during 2005 (Structure 9), that may represent a workshop building dedicated to leather- or vellum-working with associated tanning tanks and yard to the north and south respectively. Identification of this structure has contributed significantly to the understanding and interpretation of individual features to the northwest of the road. Preliminary investigation of the possible building, most particularly its structural elements present in the form of postholes and wall lines was undertaken, in addition to the part excavation of a focal hearth structure. Examination of deposits and features elsewhere in the craft-working zone continued and significantly yielded a small bone stylus, another important indicator of literacy at the site.
A reappraisal and final recording of Structure 4 situated to the north of Structure 9 was also undertaken. Associated work on this structure late in the season resulted in the discovery of a group of three cist burials. One of these was excavated and proved to be very well-preserved. The burial consisted of a deep, vertical-sided bath-shaped grave containing a lidded cist inside which were the well-preserved remains of an individual identified provisionally as that of an adult male. The burials appear initially to respect the limits of Structure 4 and the projected route of the road, and may belong to a contemporary phase, but nonetheless demonstrate that the monastic burial ground extended much further to the west than had been understood previously.
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Last updated 3 April, 2006.
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