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Durham E-Theses Aspects of late iron age and Romano-British settlement in the lower Hull valley Didsbury, Michael Peter Townley How to cite: Didsbury, Michael Peter Townley (1990) Aspects of late iron age and Romano-British settlement in the lower Hull valley, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/6477/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 ABSTRACT The lower Hull valley is an extensive tract of estuarine alluvium between Kingston upon Hull and Beverley, North Humberside. The thesis examines the evidence for later Iron Age and Romano-British settlement in a landscape block of £. 330 km , incorporating the valley proper and the higher glacial deposits at its margins. The discussion utilises a comprehensive and critical gazetteer of some two hundred and twenty sites and findspots, and seven detailed site-studies present the results of the author's fieldwork or analysis of previously unpublished material assemblages. The sites are located on both alluvial and glacial deposits, and are presented in the context of their environmental settings. Activity on the valley margins before the end of the Arras burial tradition is evidenced by aerial photography, and by the beginning of the first millennium A.D. there \<rere settlements on the clay/alluvium interface at sites such as Salthouse High School, Hull, and Chapel Farm, Weel. Acculturation from south of the Humber is suggested by the use of wheelthrown cordoned pottery at Risby, a site which may have developed into a villa and which remained in occupation until the late fourth century. Settlement on the alluvium deposit itself, hitherto held to have been a tidal inlet of the Humber until the early Middle Ages, can now be demonstrated at riparian sites such as Greylees Avenue, Hull, throughout the Roman period. A substantial body of Roman finds from the alluvium has been revealed by recent fieldwork and database research, and is analysed in the light of the valley's geomorphology and the lower Mean Sea Level which then obtained and for which a value is postulated. The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. ASPECTS OF LATE IRON AGE AND ROMANO-BRITISH SETTLEMENT IN THE LOWER HULL VALLEY by MICHAEL PETER TOWNLEY DIDSBURY In two volumes: VOLUME ONE Thesis submitted for the degree of M.Phil, in the University of Durham (Department of Archaeology) June 1990 *** 2 1 HAR 1931 CONTENTS VOLUME ONE Page Contents 1 List of tables 5 List of illustrations 8 Declaration 14 Statement of copyright 14 Acknowledgements 15 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND 1.1 Introduction 16 1.2 The physical background to settlement 21 1.3 The study area: description, delineation, and the geography of settlement 23 1.4 Previous archaeological work in the study area 28 1.4.1 Surface fieldwork 29 1.4.2 Excavations 30 - 1 - Page 1-^.3 Aerial photography 34 ^'^•^ Data management 37 CHAPTER 2 ASPECTS OF LATE IRON AGE SETTLEMENT IN THE.STUDY AREA 2.1 Introduction 39 2.2 East Yorkshire: the Iron Age background AO 2.2.1 The nature of the evidence AO 2.2.2 Climate A3 2.2.3 Food producing economy A6 2.2.A Settlement and society 52 2.3 Evidence for Iron Age settlement in the study area 69 2.3.1 Aerial photographic evidence 69 2.3.2 Archaeologically investigated Iron Age sites 86 2.3.2.1 Salthouse High School, Hull (G.97) 88 2.3.2.2 Chapel Farm, Weel (G.159) 95 - 2 - Page 2.3.2.2 The late Iron Age settlement at Redcliff, North Ferriby (G. 187) 114 2.3.3 Iron Age material finds from the study area 160 CHAPTER 3 ASPECTS OF ROMANO-BRITISH SETTLEMENT IN THE STUDY AREA 3.1 Introduction 166 3.2 Settlement in the study area in the light of recent research 167 3.2.1 Introduction 167 3.2.2 Settlement west of the River Hull 169 3.2.2.1 The lA and RB settlement site at Fishpond Wood, Risby (G.139) 205 3.2.2.2 The lA and RB settlement site at Burn Park Farm, Skidby (G.145) 238 3.2.3 Settlement east of the River Hull 280 3.2.3.1 General survey 280 3.2.3.2 A fourth-century occupation site at High Eske Farm (G.161) 283 - 3 - Page 3.3 Settlement in the alluvial areas of the lower Hull valley in the Roman period 291 3.3.1 Introduction 291 3.3.2 Excavations at Greylees Avenue, Hull (G.69) 292 3.3.3 Romano-British finds from the alluvium deposit: their significance and interpretation 307 CHAPTER A SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 3A1 VOLUME TWO Contents 1 List of illustrations 2 List of civil parishes 8 APPENDIX 1. THE GAZETTEER. Introduction 9 The Gazetteer. lA Illustrations 82 Bibliography 168 *** - A - LIST OF TABLES [All page references are to Volume 1] Page 3.1 Bishop Burton. Recovery rate of pottery by chronological period and field-walked area. 178 3.2 RB coins from clay and gravel areas west of the River Hull. 199 3.3 Burn Park Farm. Flint types recovered. 249 3.4 Burn Park Farm. Flints per hectare, by area. 250 3.5 Burn Park Farm. Mediaeval and post- mediaeval pottery in each area as percentages of the total pottery from each line-walked area. 266 3.6 Burn Park Farm. Mediaeval and post- mediaeval pottery in each area as percentages of the total mediaeval and post-mediaeval pottery from the farm. 266 3.7 Burn Park Farm. Average sherd weights of mediaeval and post- mediaeval pottery. 267 - 5 - Page 3.8 Burn Park Farm. Sherds per hectare of mediaeval and post-mediaeval pottery. 267 3.9 Burn Park Farm. Prehistoric, RB and unclassified sherds. Number and weight per area. 267 3.10 Burn Park Farm. Chronological distribution of pre-mediaeval pottery per line-walked area. 268-9 3.11 Burn Park Farm. Pottery totals by period for each line-walked area. 270 3.12 Burn Park Farm. Sherds per hectare of main lA and RB fabric types in each field-walked area. 270 3.13 Burn Park Farm. Average sherd weights of selected lA and RB fabric categories per line-walked area. 271 3.1A-18 Burn Park Farm. Basic ceramic data Fields 1-6. All pre-raediaeval and unclassified fabric categories. 272-6 3.19 Burn Park Farm. Basic ceramic data Field 1 (1987). 277 3.20 Burn Park Farm. Basic ceramic data Field 3 "Gridded Scatter". 278 - 6 - Page 3.21 Burn Park Farm. Field 1. Analysis of pottery collected by "general survey" in 1984. 279 3.22 Burn Park Farm. Overall densities of lA and RB sherds per 0.25 hectare in each field-walked area. 279 3.23 High Eske Farm. Spatial distribution of material of periods I, VI, and VIII compared. 287 3.24 Alluvium deposit. "Zones" 1-5 as percentage of alluviated area. 323 3.25 Alluvium deposit. Distribution of sites and finds per "zone". 325 3.26 Alluvium deposit. Percentage of finds having any contour as nearest. 326 3.27 Alluvium deposit. Distance of "Zone 1" finds from -3.8m OD contour. 326 3.28 Alluvium deposit. Distance from -3.8m contour of all Zone 1 and 2 finds having it as "nearest contour". 327 *** - 7 - LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS [All page references are to Volume 2] Page 1.1 National and regional location of the study area. 83 1.2 East Riding relief. 8A 1.3 The Wolds and Holderness: drift geology. 85 1. A The Wolds and Holderness: diagrammatic cross-section. 86 1.5 The study area, with sites mentioned in section l.A. 87 2.1 lA square barrows in relation to drift geology. 91 2.2 lA square barrows north of Scorborough. 92 2.3 Swine barrow group in relation to drift geology. 93 2. A lA sites and finds on the till and chalk west of the Hull. 9A 2.5 Late lA sites and findspots. Southern alluvia. 95 - 8 Page 2.6 Plan of settlement at Salthouse High School, Hull. 96 2.7a) Salthouse High School and the 2.7b) topography of the Sutton Clays. 97-98 2.8 Chapel Farm, Weel. Location and geology. 99 2.9a Beehive quern. Chapel Farm, Weel. 100 2.9b Location of material. Chapel Farm, Weel. 101 2.10 Chapel Farm, Weel. Chronological distribution of sherds by number. 102 2.11 Chapel Farm, Weel. Histogram 1. 103 2.12 Chapel Farm, Weel. Histogram 2. 104 2.13 Pottery from Chapel Farm, Weel. 105-108 2.14 Redcliff. Geological section. 109 2.15 Redcliff. Eastern end of cliff section. 110 2.16 Redcliff. Pre-excavation fieldwork. Ill 2.17 Settlement and communications in Late Iron Age Lincolnshire.