Land at 34-118 Round Hill Close, Townhill, Southampton. Archaeological Evaluation (SOU1759)

Abstract

The Archaeology Unit of Southampton City Council carried out an evaluation of land at 34-118 Round Hill Close in June 2017 in advance of redevelopment. The site lay on the London Clay and the Portsmouth Sand. The site had been agricultural land for at least 100 years and all six trenches revealed a ploughsoil overlying the natural. A few burnt flints were recovered, indicative of prehistoric activity. A sherd of medieval pottery recovered from the same context on an earlier archaeological watching brief, suggests the ploughsoil dates back at least to the medieval period. The only features were tree disturbances, probably all dating to the 20th century when the site was developed with three blocks of council housing surrounded by landscaped gardens. Given the lack of evidence of significant human activity on the site it is recommended that no further work should be required during the development phase. The archive contains text documents, raster images and an Access database. No finds were retained for the permanent archive. The paper archive and the photographic archive; comprised of black and white negatives and colour slides, were deposited with Southampton City Council Museums archaeological collections