Visit to Heslington East

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On 10th May we were privileged to have a guided tour of the excavations for the new University of York site at Heslington East, led by Steve Roskams of the Dept. of Archaeology at the University. Work on the site began 7 years ago with a desktop study, followed by field walking, geophysical studies and 35 machine-dug trenches.  Three priority areas for archaeological investigation were revealed: two under buildings that have now been erected and one in the field being excavated this year using student labour.  The site as a whole goes back to the mesolithic but the current area of study spans the late prehistoric (Bronze and Iron ages), Roman, Anglo-Saxon and medieval periods. Amongst the finds and structures revealed by the excavations are Bronze Age burial urns, Iron Age round houses, a Roman kiln, several Roman buildings, pottery, mortaria, field boundaries and medieval rigg and furrow. There are also clues to a possible Anglo-Saxon cemetery.  This was clearly an important site and we await the report of the excavations with interest.

PLACE members walking past students excavating

Posted on by Margaret Atherden