012AD00054

Compacted Pebble Surface

Phasing

The surface itself was not excavated (merely cleaned for recording), but the material sealing the surface contained 3 Roman sherds. The surface is the earliest event in the immediate vicinity. It was cut by a pit (012AD00091), before a layer of material (012AD00055) sealed these features. This layer was then cut by slot 012AD00057 and ditch 012AD07227, although they did not cut through the pebble surface.

Stratigraphic Matrix Diagram

  012AD00057   012AD07227  
         
  012AD00055      
         
         
  012AD00091       
         
  012AD00054   = 012AD00467   
         

Discussion

A number of pebble surfaces were encountered during the excavation season in 1995, generally cut by enclosure ditches (and thus only visible in the sides of the ditch), although some, like this one, were partly intact. In all but one case (012AD01005), the surfaces appear to be Roman in date, as the material sealing them tends to contain relatively large numbers of exclusively Roman sherds. This material is a hillwash, a sandy clay loam with around 20% chalk inclusions (Munsell colour varying from 10YR 3/2 to 10YR 4/3). The plan above shows the location of all of the remaining surfaces in the immediate area, together with the approximate limit of the sealing layer 012AD00055.

The surfaces were not deliberately created, rather they formed by compaction due to constant use. Although they were only found sporadically, the pattern indicates that the path was from the spring area in the south up the dry valley side towards the late Roman structure (012AF07215) to the south.

All Contexts and Associated Finds Totals

TYPE  FILL VOLUME OBJECTS AN BONE DENSITY
SEALING LAYER 012AD00055   5 1  
SURFACE 012AD00054   1 0  
SURFACE 012AD00467 0 0

Context Details

KEY_ID TYPE SHAPE L B D PROFILE NOTES
012AD00054 PEBBLE SURFACE AMORPHOUS
560
436
4
 FLAT PEBBLE SURFACE. UNEXCAVATED. CUT BY PIT 90/91. OVERLAIN BY LAYER OF HILLWASH 55.
012AD00055 LAYER RECTANGULAR
525
330
12
 FLAT LAYER SEALING COBBLE SURFACE 54. CUT BY SLOT 56/57. SEALS PIT 90/91. CONTAINED ANIMAL BONE AND A FEW ABRADED POTTERY SHERDS. DAUB FLECKS THROUGHOUT.
012AD00467 PEBBLE SURFACE AMORPHOUS 193 57 13 WORN PEBBLE SURFACE IN THE CUT OF DITCH 32. SLOT WOULD APPEAR TO BE LATER FEATURE. CHALK PEBBLES SUB ANGULAR 1-10CMS.

Objects

KEY_ID OB PERIOD MATERIAL TYPE SUB_TYPE CLASS No
012AD00054 AA   STONE STONE   RED CHALK
2
012AD00055 AB   CHARCOAL SAMPLE    
1
012AD00055 AE DAUB BURNT DAUB    
3
012AD00055 AA 2-4C POTTERY SHERD J  
1
012AD00055 AD 2C POTTERY SHERD B SAMIAN
1
012AD00055 AC 4C POTTERY SHERD    
1

Animal Bones

KEY_ID SPECIES ELEMENT QUANT CHEW BURN BUTCH FBRK
012AD00055 Cattle Humerus P 1 0 0 0 0