York Historic Environment Record

This report deals with a selection of Roman small finds found during excavations conducted by the York Archaeological Trust at nos. 3 and 6, Driffield Terrace, York in 2004 and 2005. Site Codes YORYM:2004.354 and YORM:2005.513. The excavations revealed an unusual inhumation cemetery where the people being buried were overwhelmingly young males, and where decapitation was normal. The cemetery appears to have been used as a cemetery in the third and fourth centuries but dating evidence is sparse. The finds include an unusual pair of iron rings around the ankles of one young male. The implications of these are considered, and it is argued that they cannot be regarded as fetters in any normal sense. There was also a small group of material including a set of miniature silver smiths’ tongs which may have been offerings on a grave marker. The report was originally written in November 2006 and has been up-dated in December 2015 for inclusion amongst the project documents at http://www.yorkarchaeology.co.uk/resources/finding-the-future/gladiators-2/ The site information is derived from the original assessment reports written by Patrick Ottaway and Kurt Hunter-Mann in 2005. Information about the pottery is based on Ruth Leary’s 2006 report. The human bone information is derived from Caffell and Holst 2012.