2026 Day 4 - Ancient trees and don't forget the spoil heap!

By Finch Neville

Another early start today; I was up at quarter to six, and by twenty past a team of us were on the site. The shade and cool conditions were excellent, and the usual combination of fish fragments, small ammonites, and flattened fish heads were soon being discovered. Manual excavations continued across the dig site, with some specimens also being found in the spoil heap - a long mound comprised of removed material and nodules that have already been split. 

After our daily briefing - little to report; keep up the good work, it would seem - we returned to the dig. By now it was already very warm, with the sun's reaches extending further and further under the gazebos that perched stiffly over the flattened bed of clay and partially revealed nodules. Despite the heat, work continued briskly, and fossils continued to be found throughout the late afternoon. I discovered a large fragment of fossilised wood - likely a cycad, a pinnate gymnosperm (similar in appearance to a palm tree) - which proved sufficiently interesting to be recorded. A lot of time was spent clearing and sorting through spoil, which is crucial as it helps ensure fossils are not left undiscovered. 

Fossilised wood, possibly from a cycad tree

 By lunchtime, the dig site was too warm to be excavated, and it was tidied up for tomorrow's activities. The afternoon was spent trying to stay cool and looking through the fossils found so far.  

Another early night tonight - in this heat, the best digging is done at dawn. As ever, who knows what we will discover tomorrow. Progress continues on the trench in the field behind the current dig site; stay tuned...