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Summary

Two phases of Iron Age domestic occupation were found during an excavation on the west side of Maddison Street in 1980/1981 and during a watching brief in 1984 (both SOU 29). A total of three post-built structures were identified, with associated occupation hollows, layers, an area of in situ burning and gullies of uncertain function. Finds included loomweights and Middle Iron Age pottery. Scientific dating of the area of in situ burning in the earliest phase suggested a date between the 3rd to 1st centuries BC.

Protected Status: None recorded

Other References/Statuses

• HER backup file (new series): SOU 29  etc
• Old Southampton SMR No/Backup file: SU 4111 SE 3 (M)  also SU 4111 NE 11

Monument Type(s):

• HOLLOW (Middle Iron Age - 400 BC to 101 BC)
• IN SITU BURNT DEPOSIT (Middle Iron Age - 400 BC to 101 BC) + Sci.Date
• LINEAR FEATURE (Middle Iron Age - 400 BC to 101 BC)
• POST BUILT STRUCTURE (Middle Iron Age - 400 BC to 101 BC)
• POST HOLE (Middle Iron Age - 400 BC to 101 BC)
• SITE LAYER (Middle Iron Age - 400 BC to 101 BC)

Full description

Excavation in Maddison Street in 1980 and 1981 (SOU 29):
[3]: Natural deposits were brickearth above plateau gravel. Attribution of a possible Iron Age date for features was made on the basis of the discovery of type artefacts or by the presence of a very specific mid-yellow grey silt-loam. Other features, excluded from the report, may have been of Iron Age date. Three sub-phases were recognised (Phases 1A to 1C). Phase IA consisted of a layers, gullies, two hollows and postholes/postpits. The evidence was interpreted as two post-built structures associated with occupation hollows. It was uncertain whether the gullies were bedding trenches for buildings, drainage trenches or property boundaries; they were 1m wide and less that 50 cm deep. Phase IB consisted of evidence for a post-built structure and layers. Finds from both these phases suggested domestic occupation, and included loomweights and Middle Iron Age pottery. Phase IC was not securely dated (see [7] for reinterpretation and details).

[7]: A radiocarbon date was obtained from a small amount of charcoal from one context in Phase IC; in [3] this phase was not securely dated as Iron Age. The result of the radiocarbon date suggested that Phase IC could belong anywhere between the Romano-British and Middle Saxon periods. One sherd of pottery found in a context in this phase was dated as either Iron Age or Saxon. It is thought possible that Phase IC could be of Early to Middle Saxon date. (It has therefore been indexed on a separate monument record - IP.)

Watching Brief in Maddison Street in 1984 (SOU 29):
[7]: One of the foundation trenches observed coincided with an excavation baulk at the north end of the SOU 29 excavation trench. One of the contexts exposed was a layer of in situ burnt brickearth; the context had been allocated to Phase IA in the excavation report [3] although the area of in situ burning had not been exposed during the excavation. A Thermo-remnant Magnetism (TRM) date and an approximate Thermoluminescence (TL) date were obtained for this context. The TRM date for the last firing of this layer was "between 120 and 220 BC at the 68% coinfidence level", the result "is also compatible with a date of about 800 AD". The approximate TL date gave a result of 160 AD +/- 360 (200 BC to 520 AD) at the 68% confidence level, which indicates the earlier date is more likely. These dates confirm the dating of Phase 1A to the 3rd to 1st centuries BC in [3] on the basis of the ceramic evidence alone.

IP 20/2/04: [5] lists the Iron Age evidence as being Middle to Late, but was written before the reassessment of Phase IC. Finds not indexed.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESH1537 - Watching Brief in Maddison Street in 1984 (Ref: SOU 29)
• ESH29 - Excavation in Maddison Street in 1980 and 1981 (Ref: SOU 29)

Related records

Associated Links: None recorded

If you have any feedback or new information about this record, please email the Southampton HER (her@southampton.gov.uk).

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