The following comes directly from our erstwhile reporter on the scene (aka Casual Museum Assistant – Jo Ann Pomfrett – who helped out on the day):
I was at the dig in Corscadden Park on Wednesday 9 June, the third day of searching for evidence of a brick kiln connected with the first European settlement in the Redcliffe area. It was a great opportunity to watch archaeologists at work in the field, because it is not very often that you get a chance to get a close up view of what they actually do. Some small trenches revealed very sandy soil or very clay soil. There was a round post hole indicating where a post had once been, and a couple of small squarish trenches, one of which contained a length of fairly recent plastic pipe. Another deeper trench which was largely clay, contained a mysterious blackish coloured object that was the subject of some speculation. It may be a piece of old bitumen, or it may turn out to be something much more exciting – another day or two will tell.
Looking for the natural layer
Quite a few people dropped by the site during the day, interested in what was going on and whether anything interesting had been found. Many people commented on the putt-putt or miniature golf course that had once been on the site, and others mentioned the PCYC that once stood adjacent. Several people were interested because they had observed the previous digs around the creek and were curious to see whether anything had been found this time around. Unfortunately no significant artefacts were found on this day. With two more days to go here’s hoping.
Jo Anne Pomfrett
Casual Museum/Gallery Assistant
At the end of the day it was decided that the various pits that had been dug in SU3 had been dug to a depth that suggests that SU3 is, in fact, the ‘natural layer’. The natural layer is considered to be the bottom most layer ie with no land fill on top of it. After three days of digging through land fill, Jon Prangnell, Lead Archaeologist, thinks we are getting somewhere.
The first test pit was dug into Feature 3 (the one that indicated a fire on Day One). Two other pits were dug either side – one on the east side of the main pit, and one on the south - to try and determine the size of the fire. Evidence of fire was found across all three pits. Below the fire level there was sand. What could be more typical of Redcliffe than sand? Apart from red rocks of course! We may have found the natural layer – beneath all the land fill.
The three test pits are located around the south east corner of the current major Dig area. So the end of the day posed several major questions: whether to dig deeper, whether to dig a ditch that would join up the pits and more clearly show what is happening in this level, or whether to extend the current dig area.
Stay tuned!
