Founded 1906
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WATCHING BRIEF AT OVINGDEAN In January 2003 members of the BHAS field unit conducted a watching brief in the field at Ovingdean, located west of St Dunstans. The field was walked by the Society in 2000. The fmds from this field walking had produced Neolithic flint work, including a number of tools. Pottery from this same area included sherds dated to both the Roman and Medieval periods. A large section in the south east corner of the field has been disturbed while contractors for Brighton and Hove City Council construct an enclosure to house equipment for use on works on the undercliffe. The top-soil was removed, but not down to the chalk subsoil, so no features were noted. The examination of the cleared area, and the surrounding bunding, produced finds of flint flakes, a side scraper, fire cracked flint and a small number of oyster shell fragments. OVINGDEAN The finds from the excavation at Ovingdean in April 2002 have been examined through a number of finds processing days held at the Victoria Rooms, Stanmer. The collection of finds included pottery, bone and mollusc,with a number of large pieces of dressed stone being among the pieces. The bone and pottery have been the subject of a more detailed study, and show an interesting variety in species and date ranges. The mollusc collection included a large number of oyster shells, some mussel and scallop. One feature found in situ was a tiled floor surface, lying on top of this floor was a collection 15 whelks shells, possibly a Medieval lunch for one of the workmen demolishing the buildings. The interim report has been completed and will be part of the Field Notebook Collection 2002. ROCKY CLUMP The winter programme also processed the material from the 2002 excavations at Rocky Clump. As in the past season the predominant finds were pottery and bone. The large north/south ditch contained significant quantities of disarticulated bone lying in the lower layers. A number of small finds from the ditch, found at the end of the season, included a number of bronze boot studs and several pieces of decorated pottery. The pottery day school allowed Malcolm Lyne to examine some of the pottery from the recent work and he has identified sherds from Rowlands Castle, Hampshire, Wickham Barn near East Chiltington and a number of pieces from the New Forest including a number of pieces of imitation New Forest Ware. The ditch contains pottery dated from the late 2nd century A.D. through to the early 4th century A.D. The closes phases of the 2002 season revealed a succession of pits overlying earlier pits, each being sealed by a flint capping. A large pit lies adjacent to the large north/south ditch located on its east side. The pit and ditch bottom are of the same level, and while the pit cuts through the ditch on the east it does not disturb the west side. The north/south ditch is joined by a smaller east/west running ditch at this juncture. The area opens out onto a level terrace and into this terrace has been cut another pit with a small gully running into it. Rocky Clump is producing a very complex arrangement of pits, terraces and ditches that confirm that a considerable amount of Roman agricultural activity was taking place in Stanmer during the 1st to 4th centuries A.D. A large geophysical survey was conducted to fields both north and south of the excavated area, using the Societi~ resisitivity equipment. The survey investigated an area of over 18,800 metres. The results, using the recently purchased Geoscan software, combined with software developed by David Staveley, leader of the geophysics team, has resulted in a clear and concise pattern of readings. The images produced indicate a complex arrangement of features. There are no obvious signs of rectangular buildings, but the configuration of a number of low readings may indicate the location of Iron Age style round houses. However, further investigations will be required to confirm this.
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BRIGHTON ROMAN VILLA The Roman villa at Brighton, located at the bottom of Springfield Road, (Dudley), was recently being excavated by Archaeology South-East. During the month of October 2002 the site of the old Endeavour Garage was demolished to allow commencement of a building project consisting of several blocks of apartments. The buildings are being constructed in two phases and the first section cleared allowed investigation of an area to the east of the known Roman villa. The villa is considered to date from the 1st century A.D. and is known to have possessed black and white geometric mosaics. During the latter part of the professional excavation, and after clearance from the building contractor, the members of the Brighton and Hove Archaeological Society Field Unit were allowed to join the professional unit in their endeavors. The land and old garage buildings had been removed down to a level just above the natural deposits of combe rock. The area produced a number of features including some walls, a well, pits, post- holes and a single burial. The walls revealed protruded only a few metres east of the old garage concrete floors, which still cover the main villa site. The professional excavations produced a sequence of events in this area of an early pit being built upon by later walls and some disturbance occurring as a result of the unstable ground. The wall features appear to have been investigated before sand earlier excavations by H.S.Toms and a watching brief during the construction of the Endeavour Garage are deemed responsible for these intrusions. There was evidence of some wall chasing. The pits were of considerable size, with one pear shaped pit almost 1.5 metres in depth. The pits had been sectioned by the professional team with the BHAS field unit removing some of the remaining quadrants. Cleaning back a large section of clay with flint, overlying the combe rock, produced a number of post-holes and a small pit. One large pit on the site was constructed and then filled with a deposit of grey coloured clay, into this clay deposit was cut another smaller pit containing a fill consisting of significant numbers of oyster shells. The burial was of an adult, among the bones of the feet were collected a number of hob nails. The burial appears to be aligned with other burials found during the middle of the last century when garage work pits were sunk into the floor below. The most significant feature found by the professionals, and noted in earlier building works, was a beautifully constructed chalk block lined well. The well was excavated to a depth of 1 .5M and finds of Roman pottery show that it was filled in during a later Roman phase. The BHAS Field Unit examined the well fills and found a coin of Constantius II dated to 347-350AD (pers comm. David Rudling) The pits produced large quantities of pottery, bone and shell. The BHAS unit found a bone pin, an additional one to those found earlier by the professional unit. Other finds by Archaeology South East included a pair of bronze tweezers, and decorated samian ware. The pits lie east of the known villa site, but the peculiar feature of this excavation has been the walls. The walls are substantial and Roman pottery has been found beneath the lower layers. However, the orientation of the protruding wails is on a different alignment to those indicated in the published report (Dudley). The walls may be of an earlier phase or, as has been suggested by the Director, Richard James, a possible mortuary building associated with the burials close by. The final chronology and development of the villa will not be determined until the second phase of the excavation is completed. The members of the BHAS Field unit look forward with eager anticipation to the commencement of this second phase at Springfield Road. The BRAS Field Unit would like to thank both Ian Grieg and Richard James for allowing the members of the Society to participate in their excavations. A complete report on the excavations, with the confirmed dating details, will be compiled by Archaeology South-East. References:- Kelly E. & Dudley C. 1981 'Two Romano-British Burials' Sussex Archaeological Collections' 119, 65-88.
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