360-364 Shirley Road, Southampton (SOU1577)

Orchard Homes was granted planning approval for the redevelopment of land at 360-364 Shirley Road, Southampton. A condition for an archaeological watching brief was placed on the approval and the Archaeology Unit of Southampton City Council carried out the archaeological work between January and October 2012. Post-excavation work was undertaken from October 2012 to June 2013. The earliest phase of occupation was a late Iron Age enclosure with a splayed, ditched entrance. Within the enclosure was evidence of a structure, internal ditches and pits. The ditches and pits contained pottery in sand-, flint-, grog- and organic-tempered fabrics, briquettage, daub and burnt flints. A few grains of charred wheat were recovered, together with large amounts of charcoal from oak, hazel, buckthorn, gorse, birch and lime. Radiocarbon dates of 370-170 BC and 390-200 BC were obtained from samples of roundwood charcoal. After the enclosure ditches had filled, a posthole structure of late Iron Age/early Roman date was built over the site of the splayed entrance. The postholes produced charred wheat, barley and oats, grog-tempered pottery, and a fragment of iron slag. The final phase of occupation was marked by a rectilinear field system. The fills of the ditches included sherds from Gaulish flagons and mortaria of the late 1st century AD, together with local copies of Gallo-Belgic pottery vessels. The upper fills included Dorset Black Burnished wares and Vectis ware from the Isle of Wight. Evidence of agricultural activity was provided by charred wheat and oats together with weed seeds of buttercup, vetch, nettle and bindweed. Some of the wheat had been malted suggesting production of beer. The charred wheat produced a radiocarbon date of AD 120-200. The site showed no sign of occupation after the mid-Roman period and by the medieval period the area had become common land within the parish of Shirley, which it remained until built over in the mid-19th century. The dataset consists of site records including photographs and drawings, with artifacts consisting mostly of ceramics.