Not feeling too well, so tonight I'm staying in camp while everyone else heads off to the pub. Which is fine: I'll take it easy and watch some videos or read or sleep. Tomorrow's my day off, and I plan to head up to Berwick-upon-Tweed by 40-minute bus ride at 9:00 am for Internet access and shopping. I intend to buy some amber for Kelley's birthday in August. Shelley and I plan to gift her some each year for her birthday. Some people on the project told me where to find a store selling it in Berwick, and I'll get her a wee necklace if possible.

We lifted our skelly's feet, legs, hands, and right arm today. Although all the bones appear to be in good shape, they broke easily with little pressure, so none of the long ones came out in less than three pieces. We'll leave the rest until Monday, since they don't open the Bowl Hole during the weekend. In today's trench tour we got to see what everyone up at the castle achieved, which is mainly widening and deepening Hope-Taylor's areas, still looking for the extent of his earlier work. Next week they expect to go through it and into untouched areas.

According to consensus, my skelly was a male, probably with a female-ish face/forhead, about 5-foot, 10-inches tall. In general, all the skeletons in the Bowl Hole may have come from aristocratic families and/or clergy, given their apparent robustness and good health. Since no record of a nearby church or monastery exists, the case for aristocrats strengthens. Carbon dating places them in the 6th or 7th century A.D.

Our hot weather's supposed to continue at least the rest of the month. I guess England's not the place to come to escape LA's heat. Sigh.



Pano in Bowl Hole showing various graves and grave-like features in different states of excavation; my skelly appears with the red and white ranging rod


Pano deep in Trench 8 showing its present depth of about eight feet; had to wear a hardhat while taking this one