Anglian and Anglo-Scandinavian Settlement at Cottam :: Medieval Archaeology Essays

Anglian and Anglo-Scandinavian Settlement at CottamExcavation of the Anglian and Anglo-Scandinavian settlement at Cottam B (NGR 49754667) continued in July 1995, directed by Dr J.D. Richards for the part of Archaeology, University of York. Work focused on a possible 10th-century settlement focus, c.200m NE of the 8th/9th-century site investigated in 1993. Two Norse bells, a 10th-century head and a Jellinge-style brooch had been recovered from this area by metal-detector users, and field-walking had yielded Torksey-type ware sherds. forward pass photographs showed very few clothe-marks in this area, although a magnetometer survey was conducted in Sp sonority 1995 and revealed some(prenominal) vomit uped enclosures either side of droveways.The purpose of the 1995 excavation was to- valuate the survival of evidence in this area and investigate the reasons for the pretermit of crop-marks - sieve the theory that this site represented a localised settlement shift from the S W - characterise the nature of settlement in this area. A ditch 20 x 100m was cut across the entrance, a central trackway, and move of at least two enclosures. This revealed a massive ditched entranceway with an inner(a) hindrance and substantial wooden gate structure. At this point the ditch was at least 1.5m deep by 2.5m wide with a rampart behind it, although elsewhere the trackways and enclosures were defined by sh completelyow ditches, less than 0.5m in depth. It appears that the main purpose of the entrance was for display rather than defensive purposes. Traces of several post-built structures were discovered within the enclosures, although truncation by ploughing had removed all occupation deposits and continues to make it difficult to define coherent building plans. The lack of crop-marks was demonstrated to be the result of the shallow nature of most of the features, numerous less than 0.1m deep, making them visible to magnetometry but not affecting crop growth. Sever al structural features were identified however, including a possible quarry colliery and several industrial features which yielded large quantities of fuel ash slag. The finds recovered include two late strap-ends, one conveniently from a post-hole, as closely as a number of dress pins, and a finger ring decorated with ring and dot ornament. The pottery, including York-, Torksey- and Maxey-type wares, attests to a range of trading contacts, two N and S of the Humber. This is in stark contrast to the 8th and proto(prenominal) 9th century focus, which was apparently aceramic.