Well, the weather this week gave us a glimpse of the encroaching winter. Strong winds and rain buffeted the volunteers as they continued the labour intensive tasks of timber processing.
The project has been delayed by some of its essential modern aspects. The ground works continue with the machine levelling of the site, the excavation of four pits that will house concrete pads to support the four main structural posts. The decision to install the main structural posts into modern footings has been taken to extend the lifespan of the building.
Although this modern aspect is not usually a part of my projects, it is an understandable concern on the part of any client (English Heritage) that their investment in the construction of an educational space is worthwhile.
Modern aspects aside, the rest of this project will be carried out using more traditional methods, including stone tools. The realities persist however, that this project, like all projects, is a compromise between what experimental archaeology would like to achieve and what the paying client requires of the finished building. I am happy with the compromises on this project, and I know that there is still a significant opportunity to conduct a range of experiments that have the potential to provide an insight into the structural sophistication of our Neolithic ancestors.
This week, the volunteers have worked hard again to process a range of structural timbers while conducting a range of experiments with polished stone axes.
What became apparent to all of us as the weather swept in, bringing wind and rain, was that the sky above our heads was in constant flux. The natural features of the weather became points of interest to each volunteer as they worked or rested tired arms and backs. Several rainbows arched the scudding skies and each one was heralded by a call from the volunteers. All of us stopped and stared – marvelling at the sheer beauty of our surroundings and the multicoloured brush strokes that rewarded our endurance of the conditions.
This project is forcing us to consider the landscape and our environment, and our relationship with it. For modern humans who endure the majority of our time beneath roofs with electric light and heat, this project is teaching us our real place in the world. It s amazing to think that although the landscape has changed dramatically since the Neolithic, the sky has remained unaltered. It is the same sky our Neolithic ancestors gazed at, the same sky they built beneath.