Experts uncover the details of Iron Age life
A LITTLE piece of Roman History has been unearthed following underground pipework near Green Hammerton.
The remains of a Roman road and part of a bridgehead settlement, thought to date from the Iron Age, were unveiled this week after the find came about during a multi-million pound pipeline project being carried out by Yorkshire Water.
Archaeologists uncovered the Iron Age settlement, dating back to 100BC, during the excavations near to the River Nidd, and also important evidence that the line of the Roman road – which was always thought to run along the A59 corridor between York and Green Hammerton – may actually have diverged further east.
Archaeologists also found the remains of a number of pieces of Roman pottery, including cooking ware, tableware and fragments of roof and floor tiles, as well as a spindle-whorl for spinning wool, fragments of glass vessels, lead and iron fragments, a small bronze coin and parts of quernstones for hand-grinding corn.
Also found were medieval horse-shoes, pottery and a lead musket-ball, all recovered from the subsoil overlying the Roman and earlier features, which are thought to date from about 200AD.
The finds have emerged along the route of the new pipeline being laid by contractors working on behalf of Yorkshire Water, linking the water treatment works at Acomb Landing with the mains infrastructure near Marton-cum-Grafton.
Tuesday saw archaeologists discussing the dig, and showing some of the artefacts which have lain just a few inches below the surface for around 2,000 years.
Company director Richard Fraser, of Northern Archaeological Associates, who have been working on the dig since June, said: “What is particularly nice about this dig is that it has helped us fill in some of the gaps about the hinterlands surrounding York.”
Other artefacts uncovered have provided a revealing insight into the nature of the Iron Age settlement which would have overlooked the river.
The remains of part of the settlement comprised what would have been a number of timber round houses, with deep storage pits and possible hearths inside.
Animal bones collected from nearby ditches indicated that pork and beef were part of the diet and there were also indications the round houses would have had the modern equivalent of a kitchen garden.
Yorkshire Water engineers said the company and contractors had worked with the dig team to help record and preserve the area’s heritage.
The route of the pipeline has been altered to preserve the ancient settlement.
The 6m project will help deliver softer water to a number of North Yorkshire communities.
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Weather for Harrogate
Thursday 24 May 2012
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