1st February 2007, 05:46 PM
Recently worked on an eval, found a sort of pondy-type feature the samples from which produced seeds - our enviro bod thought they were raspberry/blackberry, so I suggested to the supervisor in a frivolous moment that it was a jam pit. She went off to work on the report, and a bit later came back and said "You might like to read this."
Other Features â Jam Pit
One large feature was partially uncovered in Trench 4 [406]/[408]. This was a minimum length of 8.5m north-south to a minimum width of 1.50m. It was excavated on the southern edges, and the total extent of this unusual feature, including depth was not uncovered. In section, the featureâs southern edges had shallow, uneven and concave profiles varying from 0.08m to 0.3m deep.
The fills were dissimilar, but each contained 2 distinct fills, chocolate and raspberry/blackberry. The primary fill was composed of a dark brown chocolate (404), 0.29m thick. It contained a large amount of raspberry/blackberry seeds suggesting deposition during a very successful and huge amount of jam making one Autumn after the disuse of (404). The different fills suggest a change of fillings within the doughnuts had occurred, possibly moving from the covered chocolate icing on the top to the jam fillings (403) in the middle much appreciated by archaeologists at tea time throughout the country. Above (403) a fragmented, partially articulated skeleton of a cow was recovered. The in-situ skeleton and seeds provide evidence of greedy bovines who wanted to eat the jam, during production/storage. In this case it was fatal as it slipped in from the side and drowned. Consequently, as a result of this tragic accident, manufacture of jam had to stop and the jam pit was covered with 0.34m of brown, silty clay (400).
Associated with this sugary fabrication are 2 linears to the north, uncovered in Trench 3 and aligned north-south. These contain similar fills, and suggest that the jam pit [408] may actually have been a huge jam jar, the conserve flowing into the pit from production further to the north. The alignment of the jam channels is certainly nothing to do with the setting/rising of the sun and therefore a ritualistic interpretation can be ruled out. However, the shadow of the banks as the sun set may have been linked to an intricate time piece indicating when the consumption of jam/doughnuts was feasible. The large, open area to the east of the site can be interpreted as a communal place to eat the jam/doughnuts. The production site may possibly have been in the medieval village to the west, but as yet no recognisable features or artefacts concerned with jam production have been recovered from the recent excavations.
You can always tell a Brummie... but you can't tell him much
Other Features â Jam Pit
One large feature was partially uncovered in Trench 4 [406]/[408]. This was a minimum length of 8.5m north-south to a minimum width of 1.50m. It was excavated on the southern edges, and the total extent of this unusual feature, including depth was not uncovered. In section, the featureâs southern edges had shallow, uneven and concave profiles varying from 0.08m to 0.3m deep.
The fills were dissimilar, but each contained 2 distinct fills, chocolate and raspberry/blackberry. The primary fill was composed of a dark brown chocolate (404), 0.29m thick. It contained a large amount of raspberry/blackberry seeds suggesting deposition during a very successful and huge amount of jam making one Autumn after the disuse of (404). The different fills suggest a change of fillings within the doughnuts had occurred, possibly moving from the covered chocolate icing on the top to the jam fillings (403) in the middle much appreciated by archaeologists at tea time throughout the country. Above (403) a fragmented, partially articulated skeleton of a cow was recovered. The in-situ skeleton and seeds provide evidence of greedy bovines who wanted to eat the jam, during production/storage. In this case it was fatal as it slipped in from the side and drowned. Consequently, as a result of this tragic accident, manufacture of jam had to stop and the jam pit was covered with 0.34m of brown, silty clay (400).
Associated with this sugary fabrication are 2 linears to the north, uncovered in Trench 3 and aligned north-south. These contain similar fills, and suggest that the jam pit [408] may actually have been a huge jam jar, the conserve flowing into the pit from production further to the north. The alignment of the jam channels is certainly nothing to do with the setting/rising of the sun and therefore a ritualistic interpretation can be ruled out. However, the shadow of the banks as the sun set may have been linked to an intricate time piece indicating when the consumption of jam/doughnuts was feasible. The large, open area to the east of the site can be interpreted as a communal place to eat the jam/doughnuts. The production site may possibly have been in the medieval village to the west, but as yet no recognisable features or artefacts concerned with jam production have been recovered from the recent excavations.
You can always tell a Brummie... but you can't tell him much
You can always tell a Brummie... but you can't tell him much
