Dig Updates
Follow all the archaeology action from onsite at Elmswell Farm as it happens.
A Decade of Archaeological Discovery in East Yorkshire
Nine seasons, hundreds of Venturers and thousands of discoveries!
This summer, we’re celebrating our 10th season digging the Romans of East Yorkshire – and we can’t wait to head back to see what more our site can tell us about life here almost 2,000 years ago…
Farewell to the Romans of East Yorkshire for 2025!
Today we’re wrapping up our time digging the Romans of East Yorkshire for 2025!
While we’re sad to leave, it’s been another incredible few weeks in the field – revealing a remarkable range of finds suggesting domestic, ritual and even production activity, opening up exciting new questions and avenues for future exploration.
All that’ll be left is for Team DV to close the trenches, carefully pack away our finds, and load up the van – after which the rest of the archaeology can begin!
Thank you to everyone who has made this year’s dig possible – we can’t wait to share more of our discoveries and analysis from this year’s dig with you.
Hot on a trail
On our penultimate day of digging, Olivia’s working hard to expose a burned area on top of a stone surface in Trench 20, where we’re investigating a small square enclosure with a mysterious circular feature at its centre.
Could this area have been an oven or hearth for cooking, a workspace for crafts or a ritual space?
It's all coming together
Over on the Finds Team, Sue has cleaned one of the nearly-complete greyware bowls we’ve uncovered – and discovered the missing piece!
Look at how well it fits together – how satisfying!
Potty for pottery
It would be fair to say that today has been a decidedly “pott-y” day, with some brilliant finds including Michaela and Guy’s near-complete greyware bowl from Trench 19, Joel’s impressive pottery fragment in Trench 20, Max’s lovely pot base from Trench 21, and the stunning decoration revealed by Oscar on this washed piece of pot!
Maybe Medieval...?
Amongst all the Roman finds, a considerably-sized surprise!
Here’s Joel showing off a huge handmade pot with a handle – possibly Medieval.
We love the squiggly decoration!
Stirring up the past
We’re pleased to share a couple of the larger fragments that we’ve found and cleaned so far, including this giant pot piece, cleaned beautifully by Keith – and this almost-complete 2nd-3rd century greyware bowl!
Could both items have been discarded after breaking during use?
A colourful Tuesday
Today, we’re excited to show off some of our fantastic earlier finds – now clean, dry and (quite literally) showing their true colours!
- The stunning vibrant red of this 2nd-3rd century Samian ware sherd, decorated with a lion’s head and imported from Gaul (modern France)
- A striking sherd of fine 2nd-3rd century pottery from the Nene Valley in Cambridgeshire, widely distributed across Britain up to the 4th century
- The almost cosmic pattern on this black-slipped bowl or dish base, with its deep black finish from reduced-oxygen firing, and flashes of orange from exposure to oxygen or later weathering
What are our impressions of site so far?
What are some of our impressions of this year’s dig site so far?
Trench 18 has uncovered a large burnt pit filled with ash, crushed clay, burnt bone fragments, and pottery, suggesting ritual burning or structured deposits. Nearby, we identified part of a Roman trackway marked by two ditches: a small drainage ditch with pottery and bone, and a larger one likely used to control animals. Finds include fine Samian tableware, the base of a decorated and high-quality Nene Valley hunt cup, and a Roman dish with what we believe to be the maker’s fingerprint on its base. This trench is now moving into its recording phase – so what else have we uncovered?
Trench 19, close to earlier discoveries of Romano-British ritual objects near a water source, has revealed a preserved Roman wall with a posthole, pottery, animal bones, slag, chalk-infused pottery, and burning evidence. These finds likely date to the 4th-5th century, later than Trench 18.
Trench 20 focuses on a small square enclosure with a central circular feature, identified by magnetometry as later activity (also 4th-5th century). Finds suggest food preparation: quern stones for grinding flour, cheese presses for separating curds from whey, and a burnt pit that may have been an oven. A highlight was an almost complete quern stone, with its central funnel still visible!
Caught in context
Lots of recording is taking place in Trench 18 today, because it’s true – on site, context IS everything!
Archaeologists need to record every find, feature, context and layer in detail – because without this, vital information about where something was found, and how it relates to other features, could be lost. Careful recording ensures the full story of a site can be pieced together, and shared long after the dig ends.
Follow our progress
Follow the latest archaeology action from Elmswell Farm as it happens.
