This section describes the pits and other miscellaneous features occupying the west end of OA19 (Figure 88) and the interior of its sub-enclosure during the second half of the 1st and early 2nd centuries. Further features of this date, specifically a number of ovens, are described in the next section.
The later 1st to early 2nd century pits (16057, 16070 Group 479, 6818 Group 480, 6853, 6855 Group 492, 16142 Group 493, 6539 Group 518, 6569 Group 520, 6518 Group 523, 6164, 6201, 6544, 6925 Group 530) tend to be very shallow, generally less than 0.3m deep, with only partially excavated pit 6855 deeper, at 0.56m+, and all are round or irregular, small-to-medium in plan, mainly around 1m diameter. These relatively small pits are scattered across the investigated parts of the second OA19 sub-enclosure interior and do not suggest a particularly dense distribution over its area as a whole. Although the artefactual content of these pits is slightly increased over earlier pits, it is still not prolific. Assemblages seem to differ from those in Period 3 pits in other parts of the settlement (e.g. Southern Zone) and a lack of metalwork is noted here.
Small oval pit 6539 (Group 518) contains the truncated remains of a once ?complete black-surfaced ware jar together with a large pair of animal jawbones carefully laid alongside and a fragment of iron strip (SF8262). The 0.08m-deep feature is also recorded as containing a concentration of burnt bone, though none was collected. It is possible that this arrangement of artefacts constitutes the remains of a structured deposit of early 2nd century date.
Another small, but relatively deep, early 2nd century pit, 6201 (Group 530), also contains a possible placed deposit comprising a Colchester BB brooch (SF2331), spindlewhorl (SF2346) and large pottery and lava quern fragments. Significantly, this feature is located more-or-less in the perceived centre of the second OA19 sub-enclosure.
Hearth 6766 is a construction of two complete lydions (an oblong tile) set flat on a bed of clay. The clay is burnt and the tiles scorched and cracked through heating. However, this feature was excavated in isolation and no consideration of its wider context, association and use is possible.
The stratigraphic position of post-holes 6900, 6902, 6945, 6947, 6949 (Group 524) is unclear. Random post-holes at the western end of OA19 (16034, 16036 Group 504), (6637 and 6645 Group 487) and (6752 (Group 485) may also belong to this phase of activity
Internet Archaeology is an open access journal based in the Department of Archaeology, University of York. Except where otherwise noted, content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 (CC BY) Unported licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that attribution to the author(s), the title of the work, the Internet Archaeology journal and the relevant URL/DOI are given.
Terms and Conditions | Legal Statements | Privacy Policy | Cookies Policy | Citing Internet Archaeology
Internet Archaeology content is preserved for the long term with the Archaeology Data Service. Help sustain and support open access publication by donating to our Open Access Archaeology Fund.
