Digging into Mosque Foundations
Sometimes, a site in the middle of a city, where you might expect plenty of layers of history... reveals absolutely nothing!
It was supposed to be a full day of sitework. I had arrived slightly early and was eating a breakfast bar when a man knocked on my window and let me know that he was going to unlock the Mosque. The hi-vis must have given me away… or my eager face looking at a very closed Mosque.
The man told me he hadn’t been back since Covid, and when we walked in, it really was quite eerie… electronics had been pulled at the last moment, anything on walls had been taken down, and there was even a random key on the ground, as if people had left in a hurry. I took a photo of the room for my site report, but looking at it again, I could see the man’s face on the right side of the photo and I think it sums up the sense of ‘memories’ in the air.
The Dig Site: I was there to watch a few holes be dug to make sure nothing historical was disturbed by incoming works. There had been a cemetery nearby so I was on the lookout for bones… though, didn’t come across any. Some carpenters came in, tore up the flooring and concrete, and dug to a specific depth laid out in the parameters of the approved city permissions. It felt weird actually, to not dig and just watch them do it, but I jumped in when I could and was able to properly observe each layer they removed. And maybe give a pointer or two… Plus they enjoyed the archaeology talk! Or at least did a very good job sounding interested!…
Top Finds: Now I hope you’re sitting down, dear reader, because this is a showstopper of a find. DRUMROLL PLEASE (for those of you who haven’t peeped ahead)!
A Golden Wonder Crisps pack from the 1960s!!
See the 5d at the bottom? Actually, it makes this pack of crisps pretty interesting.
5d stands for 5 old pence, a term used before the UK ‘decimalised’ currency and there became one primary unit of currency with subunits as decimals. Nerdy but also very cool to find an actually interesting crisp packet!
Dig Grub: Well, you’d like it to be crisps, wouldn’t you? Unfortunately I had planned poorly and had to settle with a takeaway (Sorry wallet!) so I popped into Costa Coffee for a Mac and Cheese. Now, if you haven’t had it, please go try it. It quickly became a hyperfixation meal for about a month. Whoops!
Trowels Down: After a few hours, the work was done and I was on my way home! But that doesn’t mean everything is finished. Getting home early meant time to sort out the folder, make sure all the paperwork was in order and all my photographs were ready to be digitally sent to whomever would do the final report write-up. Then, and only then, could the working day finish.
Maybe medieval burials will be at the next city site!