WATCHING BRIEF AT OVINGDEAN
In January 2003 members of the BHAS field unit conducted a watching
brief in the field at Ovingdean, located west of St Dunstans. The
field was walked by the Society in 2000. The fmds from this field
walking had produced Neolithic flint work, including a number of
tools. Pottery from this same area included sherds dated to both the
Roman and Medieval periods. A large section in the south east corner
of the field has been disturbed while contractors for Brighton and
Hove City Council construct an enclosure to house equipment for use
on works on the undercliffe. The top-soil was removed, but not down
to the chalk subsoil, so no features were noted. The examination of
the cleared area, and the surrounding bunding, produced finds of
flint flakes, a side scraper, fire cracked flint and a small number
of oyster shell fragments.
OVINGDEAN
The finds from the excavation at Ovingdean in April 2002 have been
examined through a number of finds processing days held at the
Victoria Rooms, Stanmer.
The collection of finds included pottery, bone and mollusc,with a
number of large pieces of dressed stone being among the pieces. The
bone and pottery have been the subject of a more detailed study, and
show an interesting variety in species and date ranges. The mollusc
collection included a large number of oyster shells, some mussel and
scallop. One feature found in situ was a tiled floor surface, lying
on top of this floor was a collection 15 whelks shells, possibly a
Medieval lunch for one of the workmen demolishing the buildings. The
interim report has been completed and will be part of the Field
Notebook Collection 2002.
ROCKY CLUMP
The winter programme also processed the material from the 2002
excavations at Rocky Clump. As in the past season the predominant
finds were pottery and bone. The large north/south ditch contained
significant quantities of disarticulated bone lying in the lower
layers. A number of small finds from the ditch, found at the end of
the season, included a number of bronze boot studs and several pieces
of decorated pottery. The pottery day school allowed Malcolm Lyne to
examine some of the pottery from the recent work and he has
identified sherds from Rowlands Castle, Hampshire, Wickham Barn near
East Chiltington and a number of pieces from the New Forest including
a number of pieces of imitation New Forest Ware. The ditch contains
pottery dated from the late 2nd century A.D. through to the early 4th
century A.D.
The closes phases of the 2002 season revealed a succession of pits
overlying earlier pits, each being sealed by a flint capping. A large
pit lies adjacent to the large north/south ditch located on its east
side. The pit and ditch bottom are of the same level, and while the
pit cuts through the ditch on the east it does not disturb the west
side. The north/south ditch is joined by a smaller east/west running
ditch at this juncture. The area opens out onto a level terrace and
into this terrace has been cut another pit with a small gully running
into it. Rocky Clump is producing a very complex arrangement of pits,
terraces and ditches that confirm that a considerable amount of Roman
agricultural activity was taking place in Stanmer during the 1st to
4th centuries A.D.
A large geophysical survey was conducted to fields both north and
south of the excavated area, using the Societi~ resisitivity
equipment. The survey investigated an area of over 18,800 metres. The
results, using the recently purchased Geoscan software, combined with
software developed by David Staveley, leader of the geophysics team,
has resulted in a clear and concise pattern of readings. The images
produced indicate a complex arrangement of features. There are no
obvious signs of rectangular buildings, but the configuration of a
number of low readings may indicate the location of Iron Age style
round houses. However, further investigations will be required to
confirm this.
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BRIGHTON ROMAN VILLA
The Roman villa at Brighton, located at the bottom of Springfield
Road, (Dudley), was recently being excavated by Archaeology South-East.
During the month of October 2002 the site of the old Endeavour
Garage was demolished to allow commencement of a building project
consisting of several blocks of apartments. The buildings are being
constructed in two phases and the first section cleared allowed
investigation of an area to the east of the known Roman villa. The
villa is considered to date from the 1st century A.D. and is known to
have possessed black and white geometric mosaics. During the latter
part of the professional excavation, and after clearance from the
building contractor, the members of the Brighton and Hove
Archaeological Society Field Unit were allowed to join the
professional unit in their endeavors. The land and old garage
buildings had been removed down to a level just above the natural
deposits of combe rock. The area produced a number of features
including some walls, a well, pits, post- holes and a single burial.
The walls revealed protruded only a few metres east of the old garage
concrete floors, which still cover the main villa site. The
professional excavations produced a sequence of events in this area
of an early pit being built upon by later walls and some disturbance
occurring as a result of the unstable ground. The wall features
appear to have been investigated before sand earlier excavations by
H.S.Toms and a watching brief during the construction of the
Endeavour Garage are deemed responsible for these intrusions. There
was evidence of some wall chasing. The pits were of considerable
size, with one pear shaped pit almost 1.5 metres in depth. The pits
had been sectioned by the professional team with the BHAS field unit
removing some of the remaining quadrants. Cleaning back a large
section of clay with flint, overlying the combe rock, produced a
number of post-holes and a small pit. One large pit on the site was
constructed and then filled with a deposit of grey coloured clay,
into this clay deposit was cut another smaller pit containing a fill
consisting of significant numbers of oyster shells.
The burial was of an adult, among the bones of the feet were
collected a number of hob nails. The burial appears to be aligned
with other burials found during the middle of the last century when
garage work pits were sunk into the floor below. The most significant
feature found by the professionals, and noted in earlier building
works, was a beautifully constructed chalk block lined well. The well
was excavated to a depth of 1 .5M and finds of Roman pottery show
that it was filled in during a later Roman phase. The BHAS Field Unit
examined the well fills and found a coin of Constantius II dated to 347-350AD
(pers comm. David Rudling)
The pits produced large quantities of pottery, bone and shell. The
BHAS unit found a bone pin, an additional one to those found earlier
by the professional unit. Other finds by Archaeology South East
included a pair of bronze tweezers, and decorated samian ware. The
pits lie east of the known villa site, but the peculiar feature of
this excavation has been the walls. The walls are substantial and
Roman pottery has been found beneath the lower layers. However, the
orientation of the protruding wails is on a different alignment to
those indicated in the published report (Dudley). The walls may be of
an earlier phase or, as has been suggested by the Director, Richard
James, a possible mortuary building associated with the burials close
by. The final chronology and development of the villa will not be
determined until the second phase of the excavation is completed. The
members of the BHAS Field unit look forward with eager anticipation
to the commencement of this second phase at Springfield Road. The
BRAS Field Unit would like to thank both Ian Grieg and Richard James
for allowing the members of the Society to participate in their
excavations. A complete report on the excavations, with the confirmed
dating details, will be compiled by Archaeology South-East.
References:-
Kelly E. & Dudley C. 1981 'Two Romano-British Burials' Sussex
Archaeological Collections' 119, 65-88.
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