Wednesday 10th June
Day 9
Another rain affected day both braving the elements were Chris, Patrick, Jen, Alison, Jon and first time out this year Francesca Usher.

Patrick and Alison marked out a new slot on the western side of the collection of stones (F22) in the centre of the circular feature to explore that side. At the west end of the slot a dark patch (not burning) appeared.

Jen and Francesca continued to work on the new slot along the NW edge of the extended Trench 1b. They were trying to find out if the red/black line that we find all over the centre of the site ran above, or below the layers of stone they had exposed (as had been detected in Trench 1c when it was first exposed in 2023 – Day41). It seems to run above the stones, but more work is required to check this.

Chris and Jon headed to higher ground away from the waterlogged areas to the feature we discovered in 2024 just to the east of the site of Urn2 (which was removed last year and now in Bolton Museum Stores). This is an area of stones seemingly embedded in the rising sandy clay mound the urn was buried in. Jon carefully removed the material between the stones to show cavities lower down beneath them. Several layers of stone were revealed suggesting this feature could be a cairn. As these layers overlie the large stone block under the pit containing the burial (B9) and also under the position of Urn2, we should be able to determine a sequence of events here. Also if we can demonstrate that this feature is cairn, then the lower level must be sitting on a lower ground surface, which we may be able to project across the rest of the site (the original ground surface is something we have always been struggling to identify in the central area).

Over lunch, in addition to the usual drone survey of the site, Chris also undertook a drone survey of the field as crop marks from an old field boundary were visible on the ground.

Tuesday 9th June
Day 8
Another dodgy week weather-wise and with Bill away, Chris was in charge. Joining him were Patrick, Jen and Isabel.

Jen and Issy were asked to cut a slot in front of the partially exposed section on the NW of the extended Trench 1b. As mentioned last week this section needs to be recorded as there is a significant change from one side to the other. After measuring and marking out the area they started in the centre, which was an area clear of stones. By the end of a rain affected day, they had found an edge of a patch of stones that were at angles rather than lying flat.

Chris and Patrick continued to work on the eastern and southern edge of the collection of stones (F22) in the centre of the circular feature to try to find both the sides of the stones and if they are in a pit. As it rained very heavily over lunch and the area was flooded, Chris and Patrick removed some of the top smaller stones on the eastern side. The exercise was recorded on video so that the position of each stone could be recorded. This exposed the large block (see last week) which looked as if it had at some point moved away from the side of the collection of stones.

Thursday 4th June
Day 7
Not a great day weather-wise today with a constant drizzle all morning – just thankful that we had the tent which was just about surviving the gusting wind (although needing some maintenance from time to time). Braving the elements today with Bill, Chris and Patrick were Andrew, Susan and Paul Langin – and also new starter Emma Porter.

After giving Emma the obligatory site tour, Bill gave her the task of cleaning up the northwest end of Trench 1b. At some point this will be extended to find out the extent of the stony layer on this side of the central area. Before that though, the section needs to be recorded as there is a significant change from one side to the other. On the northeast side there is no sign of the mottled clay layer and only sparse indications of the burning layer. Whereas on the southwest side, the mottled layer is clearly evident – in fact gets to be quite a thick layer by the time it reaches Trench 1e. In the area around Trench 1d however the story become complicated as we have the issue of the ‘soft brown sandy clay layer embedded with stones’ layer. As mentioned last time out, the high level of the stones here might mean the burning layer is running underneath it. As cut therefore along this section should hopefully help us to understand what’s going on here.

Bill carried on digging out the sondage in Trench 1c looking for the base of the soft sandy clay layer. When Paul arrived, he took over and was able to reach a harder, stonier layer. However, as has been the case in other sondages looking for the base, it didn’t prove to be particularly definitive.

Andrew continued with his work in Trench 1e. His first task was to cut a sondage on the southwest side to see how deep the underlying soft sandy clay was. This revealed it to be very similar in depth and nature to the sondage Bill and Paul had dug in Trench 1c. It also showed that the brown sandy clay in the corner, although cutting through the burning layer, did not extend into the soft sandy clay below. To understand what was going on in the opposite corner, it was decided to extend the trench in the northwest direction by another half metre. The mottled and brown sandy clay was recorded and various levels. Reaching the burning layer, revealed it to be an isolated patch.

Chris continued his work on Sondage 1d.S4 next to feature F22, extending it this time towards the northwest. This revealed a compacted stony area on the edge of the feature and a large stone angling down into it. Patrick joined Chris working on the southeast side of the feature. This revealed a thin brown patch running away from it.

Susan carried on working on our clay-lined feature, eventually reaching the stony base. It’s difficult to determine the nature of the base at the moment, whether it’s one solid stone or a collection of stones. There is definitely a stone poking through on the west side. The base also seems to be rising on the south side, also most bowl shaped (could it be ceramic? surely not). Once the rest of the bone is remove, a proper examination of the base can be carried out.

Tuesday 2nd June
Day 6
Excavations were rapidly reorganised for today due to the ever changing forecast, still though we had a decent turnout. Joining Bill and Chris were Andrew, Susan, Jon and Jen Harrison (making her first appearance this year).

There was still a lot to do on the original Trench 1c section before Bill could get it properly recorded. One of the issues was the depth of the underlying soft sandy clay and with this in mind, Bill started a sondage (where Phil had been working last week) to check this out.

Jen meanwhile worked at the northwest end of it (where Isabel and John N had been working last week) to see if she could clarify what was going on. Bill had previously recorded a layer of stones embedded in soft brown sandy clay, which overlay the mottled and burning layers that disappeared below it. After a good cleaning it still wasn’t clear if this was true. Confusing the issue was that the original Trench 1c had been backfilled and it wasn’t clear if the stones exposed were in situ or in fact part of backfill. Also the stony layer recently uncovered next to this trench where noticeably higher and it was thought that they may actually be the embedded stones previously recorded (the only way to check this out would be a section along the northwest edge of this trench.

Andrew continued with his work in the adjacent trench (Trench 1e) – showing his ability to multitask. It is pretty clear now that we have the edge of the stony layer but the mottled clay and burning layers continue. However there are unexplained gaps in these layers in both corners of the trench where brown sandy clay replaced the usual lighter mottled clay. In fact the is also a gap in the northeast section which (gratifyingly for Bill) corresponds with the gap he had recorded on the other side in Trench 1c (which he’d not been able to detect this time) showing it to be some sort of linear feature.

Jon was tasked with cleaning up the trench where Urn1 had been so that the section previously recorded could be brought up to date now that the Urn had been removed. He was urged to be particularly careful where the vessel had been to check if there was evidence of the pit dug for it. After careful cleaning, only a shadow of where the pot had been could be detected.

Chris continued his work on the sondage (1d.S4) next to F22 (our possible cist or stone box feature Ben Dyson has recommended we call it). Chris was detecting a possible pit cut for the feature so he extended the trench further to the southeast, showing that it continued in that direction.

Susan meanwhile continued with her work on our clay-lined feature (F4). She had reached the point where a decision had to be made about the internal partition. The cremated bone spread a long way under it reaching almost to the side wall on the northwest side. Even if all the bone could be removed without touching the partition, the partition would be so weak it is likely it would survive for very long. It was decided therefore to remove it, or at least part of it to see it if as much of it as possible could be retained.

Thursday 28th May
Day 5
This day was added to compensate for the short day on Tuesday. Despite the short notice however, there was a decent turnout. Joining Chris and Patrick were Susan, Alison, Paul Kenyon, Paul Langin and for his first visit of the season Steve Parry.

Susan continued with her work on the clay-lined pit feature (F4), extracting the final layer of bones (spit 4) from the westside chamber. However, it has now become clear that this last collection of bones is running under the partition that splits the feature. This is useful in that it strongly suggests that the partition was added later than the burial, but does pose problems as to how we extract the final collection of bones without disturbing it.

Patrick continued cleaning up the section of embedded stones created when the sondage (3a.S5 Ext.) was dug 2 years ago (adjacent to the location of Urn 2 lifted last year). We can now see that there are several stacked layers of stone built up from the large rock slab at the bottom. Patrick also took advantage of the hot weather, which has at last dried out the bottom of the section, to remove the plastic sheeting exposing the lowest layer. This seemed to be a stone-free darker sandy clay with possibly some flecks of charcoal.

Chris continued with the work on the slot (Sondage 1d.S4) to the east of the stone box feature (F22). So far there is no view of the east side of the box, but at the end of the day finally a possible edge of a stone filled pit came into view. It now looks that a pit has been dug, filled with small stones around the outside which support the larger upright stone that make up the stone box shape. Now the edge of the pit is visible, it can be followed to learn more about the construction of this feature.

Paul K continued the work he began on Wednesday cleaning the section of Trench 1c (originally dug in 2023) taking the floor down a further couple of centimetres. There were indications of dark material that looked like charcoal but more likely shale.

Alison, Paul L and Steve cleaned up the stony layer in the area that had been de-turfed on previous sessions on the NW side of Trench 1b. Steve worked on the section next to Trench 1d while Paul and Alison worked on the other side next to Trench 1c. This allowed Chris to do a drone survey over lunch so that in the afternoon they could start removing the stony layer covering to see if there were any significant features underneath.

Ideal light conditions persuaded Chris to attempt two drone surveys. However the very strong wind blowing from the east meant the 5m height survey failed but the second survey at 14m height was successful.

Wednesday 27th May
Day 4
Great turnout today with 13 eager volunteers on site. Joining Bill, Chris and Patrick were Andrew, Isabel, Paul Kenyon, Paul Langin, Gerald Conn – and some familiar faces from last year including Phil Livesey, John Needle, Jon Shelley, Gaby Bamford and Susan Rimmer.

First job was to clear up the mess the strong wind had wreaked over night (which wasn’t predicted) on the tent and gazebo. Perhaps a mistake to leave the gazebo up (although it was on its last legs) but surprised the tent had once again suffered a fractured pole section. Phil and Andrew though, gratefully were able to fashion a temporary repair.

It was great to see so many on site – it enabled us to open up more areas for us to investigate, particularly in our pursuit of the extent of the stony layer on the NW side.

Jon and Paul L set about extending a section away from Trench 1d further towards the datum Peg 10c, in and attempt to chase the edge of the consolidated stony layer. Early days but it seems the stony layer keeps going in the NW direction.

Isabel meanwhile was tasked with cleaning the newly opened area next to Trench 1c while John N continues clearing out the backfill from Trench 1c. Confusingly undisturbed stones started to appear on the SW side but then we realised the trench has grown slightly since last opened. As he neared to bottom, areas of burning began to emerge which corresponded the same thing we’d seen when this trench was first opened i.e. the burning and mottled clay layers dipping down below a layer of stones embedded in a soft brown sand clay.

To confirm this, Trench 1c would need to be extended towards the SW which would mean loosing the section. Bill had previously recorded this however when the trench was first opened but his drawing needed to be updated. With this in mind, he asked Phil and Paul K to clean the section up, Phil starting at the end next to the crossing Trench 1b (SW side) while Paul worked on the section from the large stone to where John was working (including the cut for going towards Trench 1e).
When finish Bill was able to record the depth of the stony layer along its full length.

Meanwhile Andrew and Gerald worked on expanding Trench 1e in a NW direction (using the newly cut turfs to block up the original Trench 1e which was devoid of stones). When the got down below the mottled clay layer, which is quite substantial here, stones began to appear but early days to say if an edge had been reached.

One of Ben’s suggestions was that we should investigate the stones on the east side of the central sandy clay mound. Unlike the stones on the west side which seem to be acting as a revetment on top of the mound, these stones are deeply embedded in it. Patrick therefore started by cleaning up the section created when the sondage (3a.S5 Ext.) was cut into it (revealing a large stone at its base just SE of the burial found under Urn2). Meanwhile Susan and Gaby where given the task of micro-excavating the contents of our clay-lined pit feature (F4).
Susan and Gaby made good progress with a package of cremated bone exposed right next to the mysterious central partition.

Tuesday 26th May
Day 3
Heatwave this week – mid-day temps reaching 35⁰ so we decided to have just a morning session. Braving the conditions today were Bill, Peter, Patrick and Isabel Vaudrey (we were tempted to cancelled the whole day but Peter was going to be off on his hols – so he needed to catch up with Bill and Patrick on our bid for NLHF grant we has been working on before he went).

Despite the heat, we did managed to make some progress on the areas started last week. Bill’s first job though was to set up the gazebo to provided a bit shade – the tent proving no use for this as it was like an oven inside. Isabel worked on the area next to Trench 1d that Paul L and Gerald had started last Thursday. By cleaning the stones she was able to reveal a clear edge to the consolidated stony layer wandering into Trench 1d.

Peter continued with the work of trowelling down the sondage (now labelled 1d.S4) on the NE side of F22. This revealed more of the mottling in the soft sandy clay but most striking was the development of a patch of brown soft sandy clay on the NE side of it.

Patrick had a quick look at the condition of the burial under where our second urn had been and assessed how we were going to tackle the embedded stones to the south of it. Bill had brought his drone and before leaving was able to take some aerial shots to record the current condition of the site.

Thursday 21th May
Day 2
Good turn out today with Chris and Peter joining Bill and Andrew and also two new starters Paul Langin and Gerald Conn. Alison also came later, as did Paul Kenyon with Derek Winstanley (former chair of Wigan Local History and Heritage Society) – Derek came just to have a look around and Bill was able to give them all a tour of the site.

Paul K had to leave early and when Derek left, Paul Langin and Gerald were keen to start digging, so they were give the task of extending Trench 1b on the NW side. The area selected for them was next to the previously excavated Trench 1d that had previously been backfilled. The task was made easier with the area having had its top soil partially removed by Nick the farmer when moving the spoil heap back for us. This particular area would hopefully reveal more of the edge between consolidated stony layer and stony scatter laying beyond it. There is very little mottled layer if any here, so they quite quickly came down onto the stony layer. More cleaning needed though if an edge is to be discerned.

Meanwhile Alison and Andrew continued with the task of extending Trench 1b on the side next to the previously backfilled Trench 1c (started yesterday). There is a depth on mottled clay here which Chris recorded before trowelling through it to expose the stony layer below. Bill also joined them to remove the backfill from Trench 1c. The drawings that records this trench show a gap in the stony layer but the mottled clay and burnt layers continue before diving under a brown soft sandy clay that had stones embedded in it. These stones Bill thinks are the ones that have a greenish tinge to them, found also in Trench 3b on the extreme SE side and Trench 10 on the east side. As he dug, some of these stones turned up in the backfill from the trench. It will be interesting to see how the stony layer continues on the SW side of this trench.

One of Ben Dyson’s suggestions from the previous day was how to tackle F22 (our possible cist or stone box as perhaps it should be called). This was to open up a trench to the side of it, starting from the inner edge of the perceived stone kerb and working our way towards the feature. This would allow the feature’s depth to be understood without removing any of the stones from it (thus retaining the structure). It would also inform the nature of the soft sandy clay that the stony layer and large stones are sat on.

With this in mind Chris and Peter laid out a sondage on the NE side of the feature on the line of the datum points Bill had put in the previous day. Trowelling down the few centimetres revealed a mottling in the soft sandy clay which suggests it not to be natural.

Wednesday 20th May
Day 1
Late start this season due to various commitments our leaders have had this year. On site today raring to get going we’re Bill, Chris and Andrew with joining later in the morning Patrick and Paul Kenyon. We were also joined by Ben Dyson from GMAAS who we had invited to help us with how to tackle the two potentially sensitive areas i.e. the possible cist features in both the central sandy clay mound (F11) and the newly discovered ring kerb (F22). For location of these features see our plan drawing here.

Chris and Patrick had been on site the previous day to remove the covers and check out how it had survived the winter. Bill’s first job was to set up the tent as showers were predicted but find a spot on our newly reduced area wasn’t easy (spoil heap location was also going to be a problem and we may have to ask Nick to enlarge our fenced off area.

At our committee meeting earlier this month we set out our aims and priorities for the coming season, one of which was to investigate these features and agreed we would need professional advice as they may contain the primary burials of the monument.

Ben spent some time talking us through how he would approach the task and after he left Chris made a start on the F22. His first task was to remove the loose stones to see if the feature had a solid floor. This revealed more stones going down but still wasn’t clear if he’d reached the bottom.

One of the aims mentioned at the meeting was to establish the extent of the stony layer on the north and northwest side. Not necessarily the highest priority but certainly something that could be started straight away. Andrew and Paul were given the task of extending Trench 1b on its NW side on the side next to the previously excavated Trench 1c (which had previously been backfilled).

Despite our late start on site, work has been continuing at the Bolton Archive facility. As mentioned last year all our cremated bone material, urns and pit fill has been sent to the facility. It has been worked on (employing a process of cleaning, washing and drying) and a batch was sent over to Dr Sam Walsh at the University of Lancashire (B10 from the F13 pit). As reported in our Newsletter No.284, the result back from Sam were quite spectacular with almost 70% of the bone fragments being identified. Included in the assemblage were teeth and pieces of petrous (sections of the skull) which enabled the person to be identified as a young adult (but not enough to estimate the sex). As reported in our Newsletter No.287 a second batch from the contents of Urn1 is also ready to go. This could potentially be even more interesting, as the the process of micro-excavation enabled us to record in detail the distribution of the bone and pyre material in the Urn. Hopefully this will give us an insight into the ancient’s burial practices.