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Archaeological Investigations in St John's, Worcester

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Archaeological Investigations in St John's, Worcester Worcestershire Archaeology Research Report No.4 Archaeological Investigations in ST JOHN’S WORCESTER Jo Wainwright Worcestershire Archaeology Research Report no 4 Archaeological Investigations in St John’s, Worcester (WCM 101591) Jo Wainwright With contributions by Ian Baxter, Hilary Cool, Nick Daffern, C Jane Evans, Kay Hartley, Cathy King, Elizabeth Pearson, Roger Tomlin, Gaynor Western and Dennis Williams Illustrations by Carolyn Hunt and Laura Templeton 2014 Worcestershire Archaeology Research Report no 4 Archaeological Investigations in St John’s, Worcester Published by Worcestershire Archaeology Archive & Archaeology Service, The Hive, Sawmill Walk, The Butts, Worcester. WR1 3PD ISBN 978-0-9929400-4-1 © Worcestershire County Council 2014 Worcestershire ,County Council County Hall, Spetchley Road, Worcester. WR5 2NP This document is presented in a format for digital use. High-resolution versions may be obtained from the publisher. [email protected] Front cover illustration: view across the north-west of the site, towards Worcester Cathedral to previous view Contents Summary ..........................................................1 Background ..........................................................2 Circumstances of the project ..........................................2 Aims and objectives .................................................3 The character of the prehistoric enclosure ................................3 The hinterland of Roman Worcester and identification of survival of Roman landscape elements ...........................................3 Medieval boundaries and land divisions ..................................3 Colonisation of back-plot areas and land in suburbs in the post-medieval period ...........................................3 Methods ..........................................................4 Fieldwork. .4 Post-fieldwork analyses ..............................................5 Acknowledgements and personnel ........................................6 Archaeological and historical background. 7 Prehistoric period ...................................................7 Roman period ......................................................7 Post-Roman to medieval periods .......................................8 Post-medieval to modern periods .......................................9 Results of fieldwork ...................................................11 Structural analysis ....................................................11 The Bromwich Lane Tennis Club. 11 Period 1 Geological deposits .........................................11 Period 2 Middle Iron Age .............................................11 Period 3 Mid-1st century .............................................11 Period 4 2nd century. 12 Period 5 Late Roman/early post-Roman .................................13 Period 6 Medieval. .13 Period 7 Post-medieval to modern .....................................13 Other areas of the site .................................................14 The Roman period ....................................................14 Sainsbury’s supermarket and adjacent car parking ........................14 Christopher Whitehead School. .14 The rest of the site .................................................15 i go to next page to previous view The medieval period ..................................................15 Old Council Depot (Figs 9 and 10) .....................................15 19–21 St John’s ...................................................15 Other areas of the site ..............................................15 The post-medieval to modern period. .16 Old Council Depot (Figs 9 and 11) .....................................16 19–21 St John’s ...................................................16 Sainsbury’s store and adjacent areas of car parking .......................16 Other areas of the site ..............................................16 Undated deposits. .17 Artefact analysis .....................................................17 The artefact assemblage by C Jane Evans . 17 The pottery by C Jane Evans . 17 Introduction .......................................................17 Methodology ......................................................18 Site formation .....................................................20 Fabrics ..........................................................21 Middle Iron Age pottery ..............................................25 The mid-1st century (Claudio-Neronian) assemblage: Ceramic Phase 1 ........26 Fabrics ..........................................................27 Forms ...........................................................27 Handmade Malvernian ware (Fabric 3) ..................................27 Palaeozoic limestone tempered ware (Fabric 4.1) .........................29 Mudstone tempered ware (Fabric 9) ....................................30 Severn Valley ware. 30 The 2nd century assemblage: Ceramic Phase 2 ...........................38 Discussion of the pottery assemblage. 41 Date ............................................................41 Sources ..........................................................42 Function and status .................................................42 Characterising the Claudio-Neronian assemblage .........................44 Discussion of the 2nd century assemblage (CP2) ..........................44 Other ceramic finds .................................................45 The graffiti on Roman pottery by Roger Tomlin . 45 The stamped mortaria, catalogue by Kay Hartley . 46 ii go to next page to previous view The coins, by Cathy King with Philip De Jersey . .. 47 The brooches, by Hilary Cool ...........................................49 The other metalwork, by Dennis Williams . 52 Ironworking residues: slag, fired clay, charcoal and coal,by Dennis Williams . 53 Discussion by context group and ceramic phase ..........................54 AMS radiocarbon dating of skeletons, by Nick Daffern . 55 Results and discussion ..............................................55 Osteological analysis, by Gaynor Western . 56 Results ..........................................................56 Age assessment ...................................................57 Sex determination ..................................................57 Non-metric traits ...................................................58 Stature and metric analysis. 58 Skeletal pathology. .58 Dental pathology ...................................................58 Comparisons with general Roman burial practices .........................59 The burials in their local context .......................................60 Animal bone, by Ian Baxter . 63 Bromwich Lane Tennis Club ..........................................63 The Old Council Depot ..............................................64 Cattle ............................................................64 Discussion ........................................................66 Equids ...........................................................67 Summary and conclusion ............................................68 Environmental analysis, by Elizabeth Pearson . 69 Results; Periods 3 to 5: late Iron Age/early Roman to late Roman/sub-Roman. ..69 Discussion ........................................................69 Discussion and conclusions ............................................74 The middle Iron Age and possible late Iron Age enclosure ...................74 Early Roman enclosure and associated settlement ........................74 The 2nd century activity ..............................................76 Late Roman/early post-Roman cemetery ................................76 Post-Roman activity ................................................77 Medieval occupation in the suburb of St John’s ...........................77 Post-medieval occupation in the suburb of St John’s .......................78 iii go to next page to previous view Conclusions ......................................................79 Bibliography .........................................................80 Appendix 1 Radiocarbon dating ........................................126 Appendix 2 Animal bone quantification ...................................134 Figures Figure 1: Location of the St John’s site ....................................90 Figure 2: Areas of archaeological investigation ..............................91 Figure 3: Plan of Hardwick manor, 1754 ...................................92 Figure 4: Extract from Ordnance Survey (1886) .............................93 Figure 5: Bromwich Lane Tennis Club, Archaeological features discussed in text. .....................................................94 Figure 6: Sections through enclosure ditch .................................94 Figure 7: The graves ..................................................95 Figure 8: Composite section, Trench D and CC .............................96 Figure 9: Old Council Depot. Medieval and post-medieval features discussed in text .....................................................97 Figure 10: Old Council Depot. Medieval oven. 97 Figure 11: Old Council Depot. Horncore lined pit (527) ........................98 Figure 12: Middle Iron Age forms ........................................98 Figure 13: Ceramic Phase 1 forms, handmade wares (1–13). 99 Figure 14: Ceramic Phase 1 forms, handmade wares (14–25) .................100 Figure 15: Ceramic Phase 1 fabrics percentage weight and percentage rim EVE ..............................................101 Figure 16: Handmade
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