Excavations at Cawthorn Camps, North Yorkshire 1999-2000: Summary Report at Site Archive Completion with an Appendix on Survey Transects taken for the Purpose of Earthwork Monitoring
Author(s): Thomas Cromwell, Jeremy Evans, A R Hall, Nicola Hembrey, Peter Makey, M-R Usai, Pete Wilson
Excavations on the first- and second-century Roman military earthwork complex known as Cawthorn Camps, located north-west of Pickering, North Yorkshire confirmed the broad dating of the major features through artefacts and archaeomagnetic dating. Earthworks A and D were shown to be forts of two phases. Within Fort A and Annexe B well-preserved turf structures were examined which were shown to be buildings associated with the Roman military occupation. The interior of Fort D was shown to be heavily disturbed by later activity, although the defences survived remarkably well. The well-defined turf structure of the second phase rampart was revealed and the existence of four phases of inner ditch was demonstrated. In addition to the Roman military remains two major features sealed by the pre-Roman buried soil provided evidence of prehistoric occupation. The re-examination of one of the ‘Officer’s dug-outs’ investigated by Sir Ian Richmond in the 1920s showed it to be an early medieval Grubenhaus, unfortunately no datable material remained in situ. Overall the artefact and ecofact assemblages were sparse. This report represents a summary of the data available at the completion of the site archive and presents preliminary interpretations of the data.
- Report Number:
- 17/2003
- Series:
- CfA Reports
- Pages:
- 21
- Keywords:
- Archaeomagnetism Ceramic Charcoal Early Medieval Excavation Flint Pottery Prehistoric Roman Soil/Sediment
