York Historic Environment Record

Following a scheme of archaeological evaluation an open area mitigation excavation was undertaken at Moss Street Depot, York, on behalf of O’Neill Associates for Yorkshire Housing. Fieldwork was undertaken between the 6th February and 19th March 2004, and encountered archaeological remains dating from the Roman period to the modern day. A single trench measuring 33mx24m was excavated. Three phases of Roman activity were encountered. During the 2nd to early 3rd century (Period 1), the area appeared to have been used for the deposition of domestic waste, possibly derived from the colonia, and pit and posthole alignments demarcated boundaries across the site. In the 3rd century (Period 2), a trackway was established across the northwestern corner of the site, interpreted as an intra-cemetery thoroughfare. The two parallel ditches had been backfilled with a range of material, some of which may have been deposited in a votive context, including a lead model, horse remains and ceramic beakers. Following the disuse of the ditches, in the latter part of the 3rd or early 4th century (Period 3), a single inhumation burial cut the northern trackway ditch, and was followed by a triple inhumation burial. Osteological analysis of the skeletal remains revealed that two of the individuals showed signs of decapitation. No evidence for early medieval activity was encountered, and during the 11th to 13th century, the site was divided into a series of long, rectilinear plots, which appeared to have been given over to agriculture or horticulture, while ceramic evidence indicated occupation in the immediate vicinity. Subsequently, a thick layer of orchard or garden soil accumulated, and the site remained undeveloped until use as Moss Street Depot in the 20th century.