Archaeological Evaluation of land at Erskine Court, Sutherland Road, Southampton (SOU1657)

The Archaeology Unit of Southampton City Council carried out an evaluation excavation at Erskine Court in May 2014. The work was commissioned by Drew Smith Ltd. The evaluation aims were to determine the extent, condition, nature, character, quality, and date of any archaeological remains encountered, as dictated by current best practice, in order for a decision to be made as to the need for further archaeological work. Natural deposits were the gravels of River Terrace 6, over London Clay. The earliest evidence of human activity was a pit that contained flint flakes and large quantities of burnt flint. It was probably prehistoric. Buried soil was present across the whole site. Its date is uncertain but it probably represent hundreds of years of natural processes and occasional agricultural use. It was cut by a ditch that ran parallel with Rownhams Lane (north-west to south-east), just beyond the south-west boundary of the site. The age of this lane and the ditch are uncertain but the lane first appears on maps of the early 19th century and the ditch contained 19th century china at its base. Another ditch was on a similar alignment but was a separate ditch. Fragments of coal and brick indicate that it was also backfilled in the 19th century or later. Modern deposits included rubble and topsoil and were associated with the construction of Erskine Court. Few pre-modern artefacts were present and no evidence for Roman, Saxon or medieval activity was found. The prehistoric pit is in a part of the development that will remain as soft landscaping.

南安普顿市议会考古组（Archaeology Unit of Southampton City Council）于2014年5月在厄斯金庭院（Erskine Court）开展了评估性考古发掘，本次工作由德鲁·史密斯有限公司（Drew Smith Ltd）委托。本次评估的核心目标为依据当前行业最佳实践，探明场地内出土考古遗存的分布范围、保存状态、属性特征、品类、质量与年代，以此为是否需要开展进一步考古工作提供决策依据。场地内的自然沉积为河阶6组（River Terrace 6）砾石，覆于伦敦黏土（London Clay）之上。最早的人类活动遗存为一处坑穴，其内出土燧石片与大量烧过的燧石，年代大概率属于史前时期。全场均可见埋藏土壤，其年代尚不明确，但推测代表了数百年的自然沉积过程与偶发的农业活动痕迹。该埋藏土壤被一条与朗恩斯巷（Rownhams Lane，走向为西北至东南）平行的沟渠打破，该沟渠紧邻场地西南边界外侧。该巷道与沟渠的年代均未明确，但该巷道最早见于19世纪早期的地图，且沟渠底部出土了19世纪的瓷器残片。另有一条走向相近的独立沟渠，出土的煤屑与砖块残片表明，该沟渠最晚于19世纪或更晚时期被回填。现代沉积包括碎石与表土，与厄斯金庭院的建造活动相关。本次发掘未出土大量前现代人工遗物，也未发现罗马时期、撒克逊时期或中世纪人类活动的痕迹。该史前坑穴所在的开发地块将保留为软性景观（soft landscaping）。