Today I visited Wordsworth House in Cockermouth, the venue for a major exhibition featuring artefacts from an excavation I co-directed in 2018.

In the midst of a heatwave we backfill the two remaining trenches.

It is our final day of excavation and various tasks have to be completed before the trenches can be filled. Stan Beckensall visits.

Work continues towards the conclusion of the excavation in a couple of days time.

Trenches 1 and 3 take centre stage with new motifs and stone deposits.

Today, the site is visited by a specialist to assess its potential for Optically-Stimulated Luminescence dating. On the theme of light, I also make some observations about the qualities of tree shadows on this sunny day.

On the sixth day day there are significant developments in Trench 1, with more rock art being revealed and the discovery of some very distinctive artefacts which may have been used to carve the motifs.

Trench 1 begins to reveal some exciting features.

On the fourth day of the project we continue work on all the active trenches. 

The plan today is to open three new trenches to investigate the boulders which display carvings.

Day two of the project has dawned overcast but dry. We continue work investigating the mound to see if there is any evidence for it having been constructed.

The first day of excavations to investigate the remarkable Neolithic carvings at Copt Howe, in the Lake District.

Today, I visited a group of intriguing rock features on the Helvellyn range in the central Lake District. This remote plateau is around 880m (2880 feet) above the sea, and was in the grip of winter.

A walk in the central Lake District, featuring a dynamic cloud formation and Neolithic worked stone.