The area lies within the Roman canabae, a term meaning stalls or booths and used because it is known to refer to settlements around fortresses elsewhere in the empire (Ottoway, 1993, 67). This would have been the service and industrial area for the Legionary fortress, and as such, activity from the period is expected to include such things as pottery manufacture, metal working, tanning, leather work and butchery. At York the canabae lay outside the north-west and south-east sides of the fortress, and included quays along the Foss (RCHM, 1962, xxxiv). People who lived in this area had short leases in the territorium legionis, that is on land legally assigned to the legion in garrison, and these leases were under supervision of the primus pilus or senior centurion (RCHM, 1962, xxxiv). This territorium covered many square miles and included woodland and pasture and arable land (RCHM, 1962, xxxiv).
A good comparative example for the canabae at York is that excavated between 1984 and 1990 at Caerleon. Here, as at York, the extra mural settlement grew up around the legionary fortress. The military and civilian components of the area would have formed a symbiotic relationship, one depending on the other. At Caerleon a street grid outside the fortress was discovered, extending from the via principalis on both sides of the fortress (Evanses, baths, workshops and even agricultural establishments (Evans, 2000). Presumably, artefacts and crops would have been sold to the soldiers living within the fortress.
Investigations at the Roman fort at Carnuntium (near Vienna, Austria) have shown that the
, 2000, 497). The types of buildings which existed in the extra mural settlement were varied both in their construction type and status. There was evidence for a courtyard house, templre was a burial route between the canabae and municipium where burials were placed in such a way as to line the road which was common practice at this time (Athena Review Vol. 2 online). At Carnuntum the first buildings were erected during the second half of the first century and these were made of wood and clay. Soon, however, these buildings were replaced, in the second century AD, with ones of stone construction but the main period of expansion and extension took place in the third and fourth centuries AD. Excavations which took place in 1948-57 have shown that streets and lanes of various dimensions formed the boundaries of blocks of buildings (insulae), and that a paved road, the so-called Sudstrasse, separated an upper and lower river terrace. This road was equipped with a central drain which carried waste and rain water to the River Danube (Archaeological Prospection, 2001).
The fortress at Caerleon was built on relatively high ground near the confluence of two rivers, just as at York, and the civilian settlement outside the walls would have had to make use of the land further towards the river which was more likely to flood (Evans, 2000, 488). Preservation of organic materials suggest that the deposits were waterlogged after they were laid down (Evans, 2000, 488). As deposits at York are likely to be similar, we might expect to find the same kinds of assemblages. A quay was also discovered on the western side of Caerleon and it was suggested by Evans (2000, 489) that it was possible that it may not have been on the river but on a dock with a managed water supply. Evans points out that there is insufficient evidence to determine whether this quay represented a large portion of riverside arrangements which were under military control, or whether it formed only a small proportion of a waterfront which was part military and part civilian (Evans, 2000, 494). Evans also suggests that as this quay was not constructed until later in the occupation of the fortress, it is therefore likely that there were others, built around the time of the foundation of the fortress itself (Evans, 2000, 494).
At
York, the Roman River Foss was once thought to have run across the current site (Macnab,
1991, 7), but recent work suggests that it ran in very much the same course as the
present river. The Foss would have been wider and tidal, providing convenient access
for boats to unload relatively near to the south-east gate of the legionary fortress
(RCHM, 1962, 64). Excavation of the Telephone
Exchange on Garden Place in the 1950s (Richardson,
1961) revealed what was thought to be the old Roman course of the Foss. In light
of recent work it seems more likely that this was a dock set back from the main course
of the river.
During the underpinning of the Halifax Building in 1981, the grit-stone footings of a possible Roman building were observed at a depth of 3.5 m below the present ground surface (Finnlayson, 1997, in Macnab, 1999, 7). This building, which dates to the Roman period and found adjacent to the Roman course of the river Foss, could be interpreted as the base of a derrick or crane used for the unloading and loading of goods from ships (Wacher, 1974, 168). This would be associated with a probable wharf and 'although nearer to the fortress than to the colonia there is no reason to believe that it [the building] would have been solely used on behalf of the former' (Wacher, 1974, 168). Ottoway suggest that 'In addition to quays on the Ouse, supplies for the legion may have passed through others on the banks of a river Foss rather wider than it is today' (Ottoway, 1993, 69). Ramm points out that 'at Hungate, the average Roman level seems to have been c 20 ft OD with the top of the wharf at 17.5 ft' (Ramm, 1971, in Butler, 1971, 182).
Cobbled surfaces were identified in borehole surveys of Palmer Lane in 1992 (YAT, 1992) and although dating evidence is not associated, they could possibly be Roman. Clay extraction pits, kilns and dumps of material found at sites including the Haymarket, Borthwick Institute and Layerthorpe Bridge indicate pottery manufacture in the area. Excavations at the Layerthorpe Bridge revealed possible evidence of Roman riverside activity and a ford (MAP, 1998).
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Roman Artefacts from the Telephone Exchange Excavations. Click a thumbnail for larger image & details. |
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