Archaeological Excavations at Holme Hall Quarry, South Yorkshire

This volume documents the results from large-scale archaeological investigations at Holme Hall Quarry on the Magnesian Limestone ridge, South Yorkshire. The main occupation of the site occurred during the Roman period when two rural farmsteads were constructed and a field system with associated droveways and enclosures imposed across the landscape.

This volume documents the results from large-scale archaeological investigations at Holme Hall Quarry on the Magnesian Limestone ridge in South Yorkshire. The excavations were preceded by extensive fieldwalking and geophysical surveys which together have revealed multiperiod archaeological remains across an area of landscape where very little archaeology had previously been known. The work set out in this volume adds an important dimension to the archaeology of South Yorkshire and reveals how strip, map and sample excavation can help to fill gaps in knowledge and give a more detailed understanding of the organisation of the early Roman frontier region in Britannia. Scatters of chipped lithics dating to the Mesolithic to Early Bronze Age were uncovered, and also pits and a possible Middle Iron Age structure, but the main occupation of the site occurred during the Roman period when two rural farmsteads were constructed and a field system with associated droveways and enclosures imposed across the landscape. The field system was probably established in the mid-late 1st century AD, early in the Roman military occupation, as a planned reorganisation of the landscape which served to intensify agricultural production of livestock and crops, presumably for both local consumption and export to the Roman military. Numerous late Roman pits and postholes within the two farmsteads suggest the area was occupied until at least the late 3rd century AD, but virtually no evidence was found for Roman activity in or after the early/mid 4th-century, perhaps due to disruption of the previous system of military supply and unrest at this time across Britannia and other parts of the Roman Empire. Features dating to the Anglo-Saxon period were also present, but there is little evidence for activity thereafter until the 18th and 19th centuries. During this period local limestone was quarried and burnt to produce lime for ‘marling’ the fields to support the increase in agricultural production needed to support the Napoleonic war effort and growing urbanisation.

Summaries

Chapter 1: Introduction

Outline of the study

Structure of this report

Geology and physical setting of the site

Archaeological and historical background

The investigations

Site phasing

Chapter 2: Fieldwalking and geophysical surveys

Introduction

The fieldwalking survey of 1993–4

The geophysical survey of 1994

The geophysical survey of 2014–15

The fieldwalking survey of 2015

Other evaluation work

Chapter 3: The excavation of 2004

Introduction

Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age

Late Iron Age/Roman

Post-medieval

Topsoil

Undated features

Specialist reports

Chapter 4: The excavations of 2015 and 2019

Introduction

Mesolithic to Bronze Age

Roman

Post-medieval

Undated features

Specialist reports

Chapter 5: The excavations of 2020–22

Introduction

Prehistoric palaeochannels/palaeovalleys (natural)

Mesolithic to Early Bronze Age

Middle Iron Age

Late Iron Age to Roman

Early medieval

Post-medieval

Undated features

Specialist reports

Chapter 6: Summary and discussion

Introduction

Prehistoric palaeochannels/palaeovalleys (natural)

Mesolithic to Early Bronze Age

Middle Iron Age

Late Iron Age to Roman

Early medieval

Late medieval

Post-medieval

Undated features

Significance of results

Concluding remarks

Bibliography

Francis M. Morris has a particular interest in the late Iron Age, Roman, and early Anglo-Saxon periods in Britain and in contemporary connections between Britain and continental Europe at that time. He took a DPhil in Archaeology at the University of Oxford in 2010 and subsequently worked at the Oxford Celtic Coin Index and on the publication of the Biddles’ excavations at the chapter house of St Albans Abbey (forthcoming). Since 2012 Francis has contributed to the publication of books in the Winchester Studies series, especially WS 3.i (this book), WS 4.i The Anglo-Saxon Minsters of Winchester (forthcoming), and WS 11 The British Historic Towns Atlas of Winchester.

• By (author) Francis M. Morris