[Patina] Excavations at Chester

[Frankland T.]

Hi all,

I had an interesting couple of days last week at Chester, so this is just a quick email to let you know what's happening there and help plan a trial of PoN accordingly. The site is probably best described as 'disappointing', many of the things that the archaeologists were hoping to find based on the results of geophysics just haven't emerged. There is still archaeology on the site, but it is mainly modern and relates to a railway line that used to pass through the site. This means they expect to be finished on the site in around two weeks, and when I arrived on site they were discussing shortening the excavators contracts.

This also means that the excavation might never be put into ARK, as L-P only use it on sites where they have filled out 100 or more context sheets. At the time of my visit, they were up to about 40. The lack of interesting things coming out of the ground also means that there was nothing in particular that stood out as being suitable to record using PoN. There was however interest in making audio notes, and the director told me he often uses his iPhone for making audio recordings of his thoughts while working.

I would suggest that the site is probably more relaxed than a normal commercial site, and although not a great deal of exciting archaeology is being found, this might make it a good place to deploy something, as there is more chance the archaeologists would have the time to learn to use it and to engage with it. On the other hand, there is limited recording happening, so if lots of data is required, this might not be the place. Due to the uncertain nature of the dig, the director recommends that I go back this week, possibly Thursday and Friday again, so I am happy to do this and take PoN with me depending upon whether you feel it is worth it.

Cheers,

Tom.

--
Tom Frankland
PhD Researcher
Archaeological Computing Research Group
University of Southampton
tf4e10 at soton.ac.uk<mailto:tf4e10 at soton.ac.uk>
www.tfrankland.co.uk<http://www.tfrankland.co.uk>

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