A couple of very rough sketches to explain the Iron Age roundhouse:
On the left a typical roundhouse, the thatch may have extended further out sheltering the wall. To the right a plan of the Lismore roundhouse showing how the trench cut across the building. Dots for notional position of posts supporting the roof.
Three weeks can be a long time in archaeology. Here is the east end of the trench on 4 May and on 24th May
The trench on the 4th May
The trench on the 24th May
With very careful trowel work by the team, expanded by the arrival of Carly today, the east end has started to yield a range of finds, including fragments of crucibles, and one almost complete crucible; various pottery sherds; flint; shaped wood; and hazelnuts.
Elsewhere on the glebe, in previous years, we found a great deal of slag, indicating working with iron, but these fine crucibles would have been used to melt lead, copper or tin.
