Rocky Clump, Stanmer, East Sussex (2013)

Rocky Clump, Oct. 2013

It is quite a difference digging here at Rocky Clump than at the Isfield site in July/August. I was first made aware of this project, managed by the Brighton and Hove Archaeological Society, whilst I was enjoying my time at the Bentley Woodfair at the end of September. Rocky Clump is a Late Iron Age to 4th century AD Romano-British enclosure and farmstead, with numerous post holes and pits, and a series of very large ditches forming an earlier enclosure. In the past, an area discovered strewn with animal bones over a flint cobbled surface was believed to be the site of a butchery location. Finds have included a complete cow and dog burial, and last season a baby burial was found in one of the ditches.

In my little Stonehenge.

Excavation conditions are not redeposited clay and extremely hard to trowel through, but rather lovely loose, chalky soil. I have not stumbled upon any special finds yet, but plenty of bits of what looks to be IA pot, animal fragmented bones, fire-cracked flint and other bits of flint with the bulb and platform. Last Saturday I was back working on the barn structure area, removing the last traces of fill. Director John Funnell observed, in his biweekly e-report of Rocky Clump, that I "did have a nice collection of large flint nodules, some in a circle, but is it a feature or creative archaeology, we will find out..." Have I created my very own Stonehenge in my slot? With me, I should think it very possible. There is definitely something going on there it looks like, whether of my own creation or of something else.

Lesley's Roman coin, Oct. 2013

 





At this point in the autumn, each clear Saturday and
Wednesday are a blessing to dig in. Hold off, ye snow, frost and rain! As soon as conditions become unrealistic to continue working in, I believe this site will be back-filled and come March 2014, a new section of the field will be opened to for us to excavate. Therefore leaving me to discover a new hobby to tide me over during this upcoming English winter!