Excavation Week One

Opus Spicatum floor

Today work started on the main excavations. We have been joined by some additional staff and students from Italy and the UK. Leonie has already cleaned off a large section of Opus Spicatum floor to the west of the large cistern. This seems to be the floor of a complex building running westwards. On the west of the path in the area adjacent to the amphitheatre the walls are becoming clear, perfectly matching the geophysical results in this area. The excavation in this area following extensive geophysics will also help Jess in the calibration of the Ground Penetrating Radar and other geophysical datasets. Geoff is cleaning off the area to the north of the Constantinian wall ready for a set of deeper trenches. Up above Arnau has cleaned the stairs – one of my favourite parts of the site – and Roberta is pushing the trench southwards to discover more about the warehouse fronting onto the Trajanic basin.

Stairs forming part of the 3rd Century AD remodelling of the warehouse complex