I attended the Somerset
Archaeological and Natural History Society (SANHS) Annual Archaeology Day at Wells
and Mendip Museum, and was unavailable for the Saturday morning digging session
at Hallowe’en Rift.
The following
report was provided by Jon:
“Five of the team
(Tav, Jon, Duncan, Jake and Paul) met at the appointed hour. Although one
later admitted that it was only because he had nothing better to do on a
Saturday.
With the
attendance a little lower than usual, it was proposed that we should dig in
what is now known as the ‘Soft South’. The motion was carried unanimously,
and the team set off up the hill on what proved to be a fine spring
morning.
The decision to
dig south was influenced by the need to keep all team members involved (a key
factor for a successful dig) and by the wish to ensure that all digging spoil
was removed to the surface (another key factor). Another key factor
is the key.
Digging started a
little later than usual.
There was much
debate about who should work where. Digging took place at two faces
during the previous week and involved three of the team. Under the normal
rules of rotation, Tav, Duncan and Paul could all claim a place on the surface
on a fine sunny morning. Paul and Duncan each tabled motion’s claiming
their own right. Tav, as the sagest of the elders on duty, ruled that any vote
on the matter could only be indicative and that the team had to abide by the
house rules. As a result, Jon was moved up the order from surface duties
the previous week, directly to the dig face, with Paul in support. Tav worked
at the bottom of the entrance. Jake and Duncan worked on their sun tans.
81 bags of spoil
were removed along with 25 loads of stone, mainly from the previous week.
At the end of the
session, three members of the team successfully locked the cave, and all
retired to a local hostelry for liquid refreshment.”
