Monument record 726/0/159 - Early Romano-British Ditches

{1} Within Trench 1 the late Roman ditch cut three further shallow linear ditches.
One was aligned roughly east-north-east to west-south-west, and had a shallow concave profile. It was c.0.6m wide x 0.23m deep and extended beyond the limits of the trench.
The second ditch was aligned north-west to south-east, at right angles to the late Roman ditch, and extended beyond the limit of the trench. It was c.1m wide x 0.14m deep, and had a shallow, concave profile.
A third ditch ran parallel to the second, had a rounded terminal to the south-east, but extended beyond the north-west edge of the trench. The ditch was 1.7m wide x 0.15m deep and had a shallow concave profile.
The fills of all three ditches were similar and it seems likely that all three were roughly contemporary. The two parallel ditches contained animal bone fragments and Roman pottery dating from the C1st to the early C3rd AD.
The ditches appear to represent marginal domestic 'backyard' activity, probably associated with buildings fronting onto Watling Street.
The Roman deposits are sealed by a buried soil horizon which extends over the whole site. This deposit appears to be similar to the 'dark earth' deposits found on many Roman urban/suburban sites, including other sites in Towcester. This layer appears to be late Roman in date or later, and its formation is probably associated with a change from suburban to agricultural or marginal land use at this time.

<1> Carlyle S.; McAree D.; Leigh D., 2003, Archaeological Evaluation & Watching Brief on Land Off Islington Road, Towcester, Northamptonshire, p.5+9-10 (checked) (Report). SNN102437.

<2> CBA South Midlands Group, 2003, South Midlands Archaeology: CBA Group 9 Newsletter (33), p.56 (unchecked) (Journal). SNN103380.

Record last edited

Feb 23 2015 6:52PM