Reflections on Weeks 1 & 2

Francesca Oppenheimer (MAFS 2026; Student at Bard College)

The hands-on experience of digging in a trench, searching for answers to historical

questions, offers an amazing window into the operation of history. As I have dug down from one layer of history into the next, I have gained new insight into how history builds onto itself – both literally and figuratively. As we all have experienced in our day to day lives, everything that happens builds upon what came before it, whether we are aware of it or not. But, only once you can dig through the past can you see the impact that it had on the present. This is something that has become crystal clear to me in the past two weeks working with the Monastic Archaeology Field School.

Trench 20 - Just after Deturfing

My trench is placed across the road from the visible abbey ruins, where we hope to find

the continuation of the monastery’s drain in order to understand how these medieval monks used water. On the third day of digging we discovered an obviously manmade line of stones with pieces of mortar mingled throughout. At first we thought we may have discovered our hoped-for drain, but the stones were perpendicular to where we would have expected it. As we dug, we discovered that this was likely a Victorian farm drainage line that had been filled in with various rocks. We were all quite disappointed at this revelation, but one confusing thing stood out. The cut of the supposed-drain was not even throughout, half of it was much shallower.

The cut of the Victorian Farm Drain

The Victorian Farm Drain in Trench 20 exposed for planning

As we continued digging we found an explanation, because right below it was what we suspect to be the medieval drain of the monastery. This shallow part of the drain was at first unexplainable but in searching below it we found the history that influenced this construction. Only once we were able to reach back before the Victorian era were we able to understand the influence of the prior history.

The top of what may be a medieval drain feature in Trench 20

I may only be two weeks into my first archaeological experience but I am already

understanding history in tangible ways that I never expected to. Of course history builds upon itself but to actually excavate the layers of experiences, lives, materials, and histories, I have been given a view of history that I will continue to carry as I read and study history and even more so as I live my own life.