Volunteer Mark Lovett, a member of Pontefarct Archaeology hit the
jackpot when he was asked to excavate a negative feature, probably
a Victorian ditch.
jackpot when he was asked to excavate a negative feature, probably
a Victorian ditch.
The carbonised remains of a small tree - which dates from between 8 - 10,000BC! Having carried out the initial request from Simon Tomson, the Site Director of Archaeology, he was asked to continue until he came to natural geology and discovered an Ice Age tree, which dates from between 8 - 10,000BC which looks a bit like a black spider like item sitting in the bottom of the trench. A beaming and very muddy Mark was told by Simon that what he had discovered were the carbonised remains of a small tree that had been growing on the edge of the Ice Age glacial Lake Humber and had fossilised in an oxygen free environment turning the tree into charcoal.
Project Manager, Ray Newton commented, “Whilst excavating the site we have found 2 Neolithic flint cores, brought from the Wolds dating from around 2500BC; these items gave us an inkling that this waterside area has been used for a long time, but to find something which is clearly identifiable to everyone from the ice age is remarkable. Not everyone recognised the tree; some likened it to a dinosaur claw or a giant spider!”
Visitors admire and wonder at the marvellous rutted medieval road with mortared cobbles “We have a really productive site; we thought that the road was spectacular; then we found the flint cores and then the Ice Age tree which is really special. We just wonder what will be next!”
Richard Cawthorne, Deputy Project Manager
The Community Project, is certainly discovering more about the heritage of Monk Fryston village and it is providing opportunities for people of all ages to get involved. So far over 70 people have trained in excavation, finds handling or site planning. Visitors at the last Open Day commented that the excavation was brilliant. They particularly liked the rutted medieval road found by the hard working volunteer excavators and remarked that it was better than Time Team on TV as you didn’t need the screen graphics to work out what it was!
The medieval road was used for hauling stone from village quarries to a waterside loading area for shipping to Selby to build the Abbey and its numerous churches and monastic buildings in the area. Deputy Project Manager, Richard Cawthorne, added “We have a really productive site; we thought that the road was spectacular; then we found the flint cores and then the Ice Age tree which is really special. We just wonder what will be next!”
The medieval road was used for hauling stone from village quarries to a waterside loading area for shipping to Selby to build the Abbey and its numerous churches and monastic buildings in the area. Deputy Project Manager, Richard Cawthorne, added “We have a really productive site; we thought that the road was spectacular; then we found the flint cores and then the Ice Age tree which is really special. We just wonder what will be next!”
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