Roman circus remains: recent excavation plan completed

Today (3rd January), Trust archaeologist Mark Baister completed the scale plan of our recent excavation on the site of the Roman circus, in front of our building Roman Circus House. Trust archaeologist Emma Holloway drew the plan by hand, on site, when we had finished the excavation. Mark then took on the job of tracing the plan in black ink, which he finished a few days ago. Then the plan was left for the ink to dry… Today, Mark carefully cut the five-foot-long plan in half ready to be scanned at the printers.

The plan is a highly detailed graphic record of the Roman circus remains which we recently excavated and which are now exposed in front of Roman Circus House (though protected from the elements). We use several recording techniques, such as site notes, data sheets with sketches, digital photography, TotalStation, CAD, drawn sections, and – for detailed stone-for-stone recording – hand-drawn plans, usually at a scale of 1:20.

The plan is so highly detailed that all but the smallest fragments of Roman building material have been recorded, using graphic coding for the flint, greensand, mortar and brick. An annotated version of the plan will be published in the Trust’s report on the excavation and also displayed in the circus centre.

The images show Mark tracing the plan and the plan of the western half of the excavation site, including the modern services and the remains of the circus, ie part of the arena surface, the robber-trench which defines the line of the cavea (seating-stand) inner wall, and the robber-trench and surviving foundation which defines the line of the cavea outer wall with the foundations of some of its external buttresses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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