NHER 68469 (Monument record) - Roman ditch and undated features

March 2014. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of groundworks associated with construction of new dwelling.
The foundation trenches excavated revealed three features – two ditches and a possible pit. The most significant of these was a north-west to south-east aligned ditch that was found to contain a large quantity of Roman pottery (more than 100 sherds), several pieces of Roman tile and fragments of animal bone. The pottery assemblage consists of sherds from seven vessels and represents a well preserved primary deposit. Three vessels in fine ware fabrics are present - an imported Terra Rubra beaker and two in unsourced cream wares that potentially represent Gallo-Belgic imports. The assemblage was likely deposited in the mid to late 1st century AD (c.AD 43-70). The faunal remains are notable for the presence of fallow deer – which until relaitvely recently had been thought to have been first introduced by the Normans.
The second ditch was aligned north-to-south and produced no finds. The possible pit recorded close to these features was also undated.
See report (S1) for further details.
The archive associated with this work has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2017.235).
P. Watkins (HES), 24 August 2024.