York Historic Environment Record

EXCAVATION AT 52 BOOTH AM, YORK, 1964 By Laurence Keen (YAJ) As a result of excavations by the Archaeological Society of Bootham School in 1953 and 1954 which gave indications of a second century occupation to the north of the Eburacum — Cataractonium road as well as late first century pottery from the disturbed sandy soil above the river terrace it was decided to put a trial trench down in the garden of St. Olave’s Vicarage, 52, Bootham, to see whether any evidence for an occupation south of Roman Road 6 or for an eastern continuation of the St. Mary’s Road cemetery could be found. A 6 ft. X 6 ft. trench was opened and dug to a depth of ten feet. At this stage excavation had to be concluded as heavy rain and snow caused flooding to a depth of three feet. The top soil was a uniform rich black earth which produced assorted modern and late medieval material for the first three feet and earlier mediaeval material with occasional sherds of Roman pottery for a further three feet. Beneath this was found in a ' slightly lighter coloured soil with pebbles a deposit of a more or less consistent Antonine-Hadrianic date (Deposit A). At six and a half feet below the surface on the north-west side of the trench large cobbles were found. There was no indication that they formed any part of a structure or that they were metalling. The cobbles rested on clay which was about two feet in width running the length of the trench and which fell sharply towards the south-east side. It was from between the sloping edge of the clay and the south-east side of the trench that the majority of the pottery came. It was a homogeneous deposit of a Flavian- Trajanic date (Deposit B). In association with the pottery were nine pieces of iron slag. Owing to the bad weather conditions it was not possible to find the bottom of this feature, but the sharpness of the slope of the clay side gave an indication of great depth. THE POTTERY (B. R. Hartley) Deposit A Samian 1 A small group of thirty-one sherds in a fine state of preservation; six decorated and twenty-five plain. Of the decorated, one alone calls for special mention (A small bowl 6£ ins. in diameter of Drag, form 37). ‘This bowl is unusually interesting because, although clearly Central Gaulish, it cannot be matched in style with any signed or stamped pieces and has uncommon figure-types. The fabric suggests manufacture at Lezoux rather than Les Martres de Veyre. The ovolo recalls, though is not identical with, one used at both the centres mentioned on bowls usually assigned to ranto and his associates. The two panels, presumably repeated, have: (i) a warrior (0.201 A) and dancer (not in Dechelette or Oswald, though a larger version of the same basic type as 0.669) facing each other across a conventional plant and (ii) a small double medallion containing a squirrel (similar to 0.2142, recorded only at Blickweiler). None of these figures is known on a stamped or signed bowl, though the plant occurs on Lezoux fragments by a potter working under Trajan and in the early years of Hadrian whose work was not exported. This bowl is almost certainly Hadrianic and is evidently the work of one of the many anonymous Central Gaulish potters of the period. The group as a whole belongs to the Hadrianic - Antonine period, c. A.D. 125- 170. However, one small piece of rim, Drag, form 27 is of a late first century date. Deposit B * Legionary ’ red ware: This ware, represented by fifty-four sherds, constituted the largest group. Made up of fragments of flagons, bowls, both of imitation Drag, form 37 and flat and reeded rimmed carinated, and lids, the group is a typical one for the ware except for one nearly complete flagon (fig. 2). This is seven and a half inches high and five and a quarter inches across the belly. The rim is plain outside and is slightly flattened internally. The body is undecorated except for two grooves at the bottom of the neck. Grey ware: Twenty-seven sherds, mostly body and base with the exception of pieces of three lids and one fragment of a flat rimmed carinated bowl. Red ware with white/cream slip: Twenty-one sherds many of which have affinities to ‘legionary’ red ware in the slightly sandy texture of the fabric. The group included one fragment of a small ring-necked flagon with cupped mouth. White ware: Three sherds, one ‘eggshell’. Orange-red burnished ware: Four fragments highly burnished inside and out. One piece of imitation Drag, form 38, and one piece of a wide necked jar. Painted ware: Four rim sherds and five other sherds, one burnt grey were found. The fabric is orange to buff-red, sometimes with a grey core and very often burnished. Owing to the rarity of this ware, which at present seems confined to Yorkshire, and the absence of well stratified pieces it is impossible to date closely although a tentative date of c. A.D. 80-100 is the one put forward by Philip Corder. Unstratified: Colour-coated ware: Nine sherds including two fragments of hunt-cup. Black-burnished ware: Six fragments including two sherds of bowls and one of a beaker. YAJ refs: 1 Roman York , R.C.H.M. (Eng.), 65b. 2 Excavations at Bootham School, 1953, 54, MS., W. B. Clark. 3 N.G. SE. 59905233. 4 Roman York, 72a. NMR sources: The Yorkshire archaeological journal CLXIII/1965/360-363