NHER 68181 (Monument record) - Roman to Late Saxon environmental evidence

May 2013. Excavation.
Excavation of two small foundation trenches for new footbridge across the River Tas, one on each side of the river. These trenches revealed no archaeologically-significant features and no finds were recovered.
Natural gravels were encountered at the base of both trenches, overlain by organic, silty layers likely to represent deposition at the margins of the river channel. These were overlain by what was probably predominantly alluvial material, deposited during more prolonged periods of flooding.
The lower deposits were subject to a programme of environmental sampling and supporting radiocarbon dating.
Bulk samples produced little in the way of anthropogenic remains, suggesting this location had been peripheral to the main foci of human activity. The well-preserved assemblages of plant macrofossils suggest damp, grassland conditions were locally prevalent, with evidence the river at this location had been relatively sluggish and quite muddy at its base. A single monolith sample taken from the western trench was sub-sampled for both pollen and diatoms. A Roman radiocarbon date of cal AD 250 to 400 at 95% probability (Beta-376996; 1710 ± 30 BP) was obtained for material from the base of the sequence and a Middle to Late Saxon date of cal AD 775 to 995 at 95% probability (Beta-376995; 1150 ± 30 BP) for material from the top. A third date of cal AD 605 to 665 at 95% probability (Beta-380703; 1400 ± 30 BP) was obtained for material from the middle of the monolith (where preliminary results indicated a notable change in the pollen profile). The pollen profile suggests that during the Roman period grassland was dominant, with woodland cover sparse. The local grazing of animals is indicated by the presence of fungal spores associated with dung. The presence of cereal pollen indicates that arable fields had also lain close by. Rye is the dominant cereal pollen, with this evidence for its cultivation during the middle to late Roman period being quite significant - as it is not thought to have been widely cultivated at this time. During the Early Saxon period there appears to have been an increase in cereal growing locally, with a probable shift from rye to wheat. Around this time the river was increasingly slow flowing, with diatom and pollen evidence indicating that by the Middle to Late Saxon period the flow of water and the area of open water were both reduced. A decline in cereal pollen can also be seen at this time, along with an increase in hazel growth and plants associated with a fen-type environment – suggesting the poor flow of the river was encouraging the water-logging and flooding of the surrounding land.
See report (S1) for further details.
An archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2021.228).
P. Watkins (HES), 26 March 2024.

October 2016. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of remedial works to consolidate the river bank and provide erosion protection close to the foundations of the new footbridge.
No archaeologically-significant features or deposits were observed.
A small number of finds were recovered from the silts dug from the river bed, including a single sherd of abraded Roman pottery and several fragments of animal bone.
See report (S2) for further details.
An archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2021.227).
P. Watkins (HES), 26 March 2024.