| Entry: | Hooray - I have moved to the south-west corner.
Boo - it is more complex that I thought.
I have excavated the uppermost oven F.472 which was a nicely preserved north-south rectangular domed oven. Unfortunately there is also an earlier oven F.499, which is very similar to F.472, and possibly an even earlier one as well. This is more than I expected as F.499 was completely invisible. I think that my overall phasing still works but that between the central ovens F.495 and F.477 there are two ovens in the south west F.472 and F.499. I’m still not sure where the possible earlier one fits in.
Two points about the ovens.
The ovens in the same location seem to be phyiscally very similar and recognisbly different from others in the same space. For example those in the south-west corner, F.472 and F.499, and the south-central group F.473 and F.477 are distinct in form from each other and recognisably different. This was also noticeable in building 2.
Over time I think that there is incresed pressure on space in a building and the abandonmment of some buildings may represent the point where the pressure becomes too great. This is shown by the ovens being moved southwards. For example F.472 and F.499 seem to be almost identical but the later oven F.472 has been moved south and west and actually cut into the walls of the room. The same applies to F.473 and F.477. I’m sure that the cutting of the walls is deliberate and not something undertaken lightly. It would have saved c.0.1m of space within the room which must have been considered worthwhile during the later stages of the building but not during the earlier ones. This suggests increased pressure, perhaps because of more inhabitants due to birth or individuals growin up and requiring more space. Do the phases/life-span of a building mirror those of a family/kin group?Entered By: Craig Cessford |
