부산대학교 도서관

The Archaeology Unit of Southampton City Council (Southampton Archaeology) carried out archaeological excavations in the St Clement's Street car park in Oxford, on behalf of the Watkins Jones Group, in association with the construction of student accommodation. The earliest evidence of human activity was a group of worked flints, probably of Mesolithic date (c 9000-400BC). There was no evidence of human activity after that date until the Saxo-Norman period, when three pits were dug. This phase may tie in with the manor of Bolshipton, owned by the St Frideswide's nunnery, and situated in this area. More intensive use of the site happened in the Anglo-Norman period; the evidence consisted of numerous features including pits, postholes and a gully, all bounded on the west by a north-south ditch. Occupation continued into the High Medieval period, although the area occupied in the Anglo-Norman period appears not to have been used, and all the High Medieval features were found to the east of the north-south ditch, which was re-cut. There was a hiatus in the 14th century and the area seems to have been abandoned, or used in such a way as to result in no features or dating evidence. Documentary and cartographic evidence suggested the west part of the site might have been crossed by the Oxford Civil War defences but no evidence was found so they must lie further west than the excavated area. In the second half of the 17th century the site seems to have been turned into a market garden by the Penson family, with the garden being sold off for housing by the 1870s. The houses survived the Second World War but were cleared for car parking in the post-war period. A number of finds were retained and together with the site records form the archive.