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THE thought of archaeology rarely evokes the smell of exhaust fumes, the sound of smashing concrete or the spark and screech of steel cables being sawn to pieces. But this is the reality of a dig in the heart of the city. 鈥淪ometimes we鈥檙e digging while a building is being demolished directly above our heads,鈥� says Sadie Watson, a project director for Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA). 鈥淪afely, I should add.鈥�

Thankfully, Landmark Place 鈥� the site on the bank of the River Thames where I meet Watson 鈥� is open to the air. As her black hard hat indicates, she is the senior archaeologist on site, responsible for the entire dig and the safety of the team. The people in red hats, dotted throughout trenches and pits reinforced with steel piles, are archaeologists digging into London鈥檚 past. The white hats, far outnumbered by reds, belong to construction workers, there to facilitate the dig by removing excavated earth or clearing modern debris before excavation by hand begins.

Since 1990, developers in the UK have been , so in London the process of demolishing an old structure to build a shiny new one offers a window on the city鈥檚 nearly 2000-year history.

Watson鈥檚 team has about five months to find, record and remove the artefacts and remains that would otherwise be obliterated. 鈥淎rchaeology is destructive, too, but we鈥檙e preserving it by recording it,鈥� she says.

From the scaffold walkway that runs around the site鈥檚 perimeter, she points down at a section of ancient stone wall, 3 metres thick. 鈥淭his wall is a major monument of Roman London,鈥� she says. It was built along the Thames around AD 270. 鈥淚t must be preserved in situ.鈥� Structures too important to remove stay in the ground. That can mean, as it has here, that foundations need to be redesigned around them.

London鈥檚 past leaves its mark in a host of different ways. 鈥淲e see huge deposits from the Great Fire of London in 1666,鈥� Watson says. Long before that, in AD 60-61, the queen of the Iceni people of East Anglia led a rebellion that razed the city. 鈥淎s you dig down past AD 100, towards Boudica, there鈥檚 a frisson,鈥� says Watson. 鈥淲ill we find evidence of her?鈥�

Each dig has the potential to reveal new insights about our history. Here, the team has found thick oak timbers that once formed a dockside. By analysing the rings on these timbers, they can pinpoint the year the trees were felled. To Watson鈥檚 delight, some timbers also have stamps burned into them, showing they are Roman in origin. 鈥淚t鈥檚 incredibly rare to find Roman, branded stamps. There are parallels on bricks in Ostia, the harbour city of ancient Rome. Discoveries like this help us connect what we鈥檙e doing with the wider picture of the empire.鈥�

The ever found in London was unearthed in the financial district a few years ago. Watson and her colleagues found items from right across the Roman period 鈥� remnants of temples, industry, domestic life, and possible armour production. 鈥淚t was the most spectacular archaeology I鈥檝e ever seen,鈥� she says.

For Watson, the most memorable finds are those that highlight something unexpected 鈥� like intimate details about how people lived or even what amused them. In a dig near St Paul鈥檚 Cathedral, beneath the remains of 17th-century inns, she found a porcelain drinking vessel, beautifully hand-painted, in the shape of a phallus. 鈥淓ver tried to Google 鈥榩orcelain penis鈥�?鈥� she asks. 鈥淒on鈥檛, because it doesn鈥檛 end well.鈥� The cup was probably used for a drinking game in a high-end Restoration-style boozer. 鈥淔rom that one object, you can conjure the entire London of Charles II and his mistress Nell Gwyn.鈥�

Every feature Watson鈥檚 team finds is given a unique number, drawn to scale, photographed, written up and digitally scanned. 鈥淲e know exactly what was there, the date, its pinpoint GPS location, how it relates to the other things on the site and in the city鈥� This context is the most important thing for archaeology.鈥� That is especially true in urban settings, where everything is built over what came before.

When the construction workers go on their lunch break, peace suddenly descends and we can actually hear trowels scraping. 鈥淥h, that鈥檚 nice,鈥� says Watson. 鈥淲e only get one peaceful hour a day, but such is life 鈥� that鈥檚 London.鈥�

This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淟ondinium calling鈥�