The Hungate excavation is the largest archaeological dig in York’s city centre in the last 25 years. After seven years of preparation, excavation began in 2007 and is scheduled to finish by the end of 2011, with a further two years scheduled for post-excavation. The excavation is a mitigation scheme in advance of a major urban regeneration project (Connelly 2007, 1), which spans several streets and comprises a single area more than twice the footprint of York Minster. The York Archaeological Trust is not only responsible for carrying out the excavations in conjunction with the construction schedule, but has made it central to their many
public outreach efforts. This includes public tours and open days, community archaeology projects, participation of school groups and volunteers, as well as the annual Archaeology Live training school (Connelly 2007, 3).
Figure 41: Block H of the Hungate excavation facing southeast, with the Stonebow heading to the left in the foreground and the Hungate street frontage and Block G on the right. Reproduced from
Great Expectations for the Hungate Excavation (Connelly 2007, 1).
The site is so extensive the area has been divided into eight blocks, corresponding to the multi-storey (primarily) residential buildings scheduled to be constructed. The area where the new construction will be most invasive is Area H, which is the only area undergoing complete excavation. Because of this, the work in Area H will span the entire five-year excavation, and will be the last area where building will take place. Area H has been divided into two sub-areas, H1 and H2. Work began in Area H1 first, with the goal of locating the medieval church St John’s in-the-Marsh, in order to ensure the burial ground remained undisturbed (Kendall 2007, 6), and was found relatively quickly (Kendall 2009, 1). After 15 months, Area H1 was fully excavated and showed occupation from the Norman Conquest to the modern period (Connelly 2008, 1). Excavation also revealed occupation from the Roman period, including several burials, but no evidence was found from after the Roman period to the mid-10th century (Kendall 2009, 2).
Figure 42: Left: Location of the Hungate excavation within the York city centre. Right: Location of Block H, and Areas H1 and H2. Reproduced from Hungate Excavations: Season 2 Draws To An
End (Connelly 2008, 1).
In 2008, which was the final year of work in Area H1, a deep trial trench was dug in Area H2, which revealed a sunken floored building from the Anglo- Scandinavian period. As activity from this time period was not found in Area H1, nor from any of the other areas receiving less complete excavation, this was the first evidence of occupation during the time when York was a Viking capital (Hunter-Mann 2009, 4). At its widest, the trial trench spanned 9.0 metres and at its deepest, reached depths of 3.4 metres. Roman pottery was found, but there was no evidence of Anglian occupation. The earliest structure is a large, sunken floored building, measuring 4.3 metres long by 3.5 metres wide, with a depth of .8 metres. Unusually, one wall consisted of planks made from boat timbers. While the structure was similar to those found at the Coppergate excavation, the presence of a central hearth indicated it was likely a single story structure, more consistent with types found in Anglo-Scandinavian sites in London (Hunter-Mann 2009, 6). The trial trench also revealed a stony surface which aligns with Haver Lane, a residential street lost during the demolition in the 1930s, which suggests a possible Anglo-Scandinavian origin for the street (Hunter-Mann 2009, 7).
Figure 43: Left: Location of the deep trench in Area H2. Right: Plan drawing of the sunken floored building found in the deep trench in Area H2. Reproduced from The Vikings Come to Hungate… (Hunter-Mann 2009, 4-5).
Due to the good preservation of the wooden planks, further analysis of the boat timbers used to construct the sunken floored building was possible, including dendrochronological analysis. It was determined the trees from which the boat was built were cut down no earlier than 953, and broken up for use in the building within only 12 years. It was also determined that the wood was likely local; constructed using techniques originating in the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, and brought to the British Isles during the 5th-6th centuries. So while the structure was clearly Anglo-Scandinavian, the boat was not (Allen 2009, 9-11).
Figure 44: The deep trench facing southwest, showing the Anglo-Scandinavian features in the lower half. Reproduced from The Vikings Come to Hungate… (Hunter-Mann 2009, 4).
Figure 45: Plan and section of the boat timbers making up part of the sunken featured building found in the deep trench of Area H2. Reproduced from Rocking the Boat (Allen 2009, 10).
With the completion of the excavation in Area H1, full excavation of Area H2 commenced. The chronology of activity seemed to show a rising of the ground surface (by over a metre in some places) during the early to mid-10th century, which was probably a reflection of the site’s proximity to flooding by the River Foss. These deposits had a distinct ‘tiger striped’ stratigraphy, which was not clearly understood. During the mid-10th century the area was partitioned with lanes made of river cobbles, which sit perpendicularly to the modern street of Hungate,
possibly showing the origin of its alignment. Sunken featured buildings appear in the late 10th century, but have been designated basements of unknown use. To the northeast, a line of cess, rubbish and wicker lined pits parallel to the modern street were also in use during this time. Later, during the 11th century, ditches were cut on similar alignments to the river cobble partitions (Connelly 2010, 1-3).
As work carried on in this area (H2), more Roman period burials were found in the south-eastern part of the area, and in the Anglo-Scandinavian section in the southwest, more rubbish and cess pits were found, and evidence for what was causing the ‘tiger stripe’ appearance of the raised deposits. Hearth structures were discovered which were used and then ‘raked out’ which contributed the black layers of ash, and destroyed oven-like structures were found, which were the source of the layers of burnt daub. In between the layers of burnt material, were layers of silt and clay, which produced the unusual striped deposits (Kendall 2010, 9-10).
Early results from the current and final year of excavation have revealed a total of six sunken featured buildings dating to the late 10th century. The most recent building to be found is of a new type. It was not cut as deeply as the others, and had a substantial stone-filled foundation and entrance. The building measured 7.4 metres by 4.1 metres, with a 4 metre long, 1.4 metre wide entrance passage. This was a large, substantially built structure, and unlike the other buildings, which sit between the cobbled/ditched partitions, sits across two plots, even though it is likely from a similar time period (Connelly 2011, 4-6). Excavation is due to be completed by the end of 2011 at Hungate, which will be followed by two years of post-excavation, and should result in further insight about the Anglo-Scandinavian activity in this part of York.