York Historic Environment Record

Single trench excavated in advance of proposed development recorded well-stratified medieval dumps and pits. Finds from the deposits were numerous and organic preservation was excellent. This evaluation had demonstrated that significant archaeological deposits were presented in the uncellared parts of the site at a high level, only 0.7m beneath the modem floor. However, perhaps the most significant discovery took place on the very first day when, after breaking through the re-inforced concrete floor, it was noticed that the brick rubble subfloor was only partially in contact with the base of the concrete and was hanging over a void some 0.15-0.20m deep. Subsidence of this sort is fairly common on a limited scale where floor levels have sunk into earlier pits, but the widespread and regular nature of this sinkage and the fact that it was found across the whole trench seemed to preclude this as the cause. With this in mind a totally unscientific approach was made to the Environmental Archaeology Unit at the University of York, who were already assessing the capacity of the samples to answer questions about the site’s past environment. They were asked if the samples displayed any evidence of recent decay. The examination of the samples supported the hypothesis of recent decay of richly organic deposits in situ. Published 2002 https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue11/oxley_index.html