York Historic Environment Record

This report relates to two of York Archaeological Trust’s excavations, the first at 12-18 Swinegate and the second at 14 Little Stonegate and 18 Back Swinegate. These excavations represent two of the most interesting, though little known of the Trust’s excavations. A total of fifteen trenches were excavated, and these revealed a complex sequence of deposits dating from Roman times to the present day. In addition, a number of exceptional artefacts were recovered including a collection of well-preserved wooden coffins of late 9th to early 11th century date, and a group of writing tablets of mid-14th century date. This is one of three reports prepared with a grant from the Museum Resilience Fund; the other two reports relate to the excavations overall, and to the wooden coffins from the site. It is intended that the information in the present report can be used as an introductory text to accompany any documents or exhibitions relating to the conservation of, and research into, the coffins from the site. It aims to give a brief outline of the excavations and to provide the archaeological context for the coffins.