The Stonehenge dig is over. The trench has been refilled and the sod relayed, while a group of local Druids offered blessings and songs.

For such a tiny excavation area explored over just 11 days of full work, they found all kinds of neat stuff and the analysis of the findings will doubtless turn up much new information. Some of the finds (courtesy of the Smithsonian dispatches):

• a piece of finely patterned pottery from the “Bell-Beaker culture” that existed throughout western Europe around 3,000-2,000 B.C.
• Part of a broach, along with a Roman coin dating from the 4th c.
• Material retrieved from the bluestone sockets, possibly dateable
• Snail shells, definitely dateable
• Bluestone and sarsen fragments indicating pilgrims chiseled off pieces to take home

Now the big job of analyzing the finds begins. Two tons of excavated material will make its way to various universities for in depth analysis. We’ll be hearing about these wee dig for a long time to come, I suspect.

On an unrelated note, how awesome is that Knights Who Say Ni druid?