A Late Roman Well at Heslington East, York: ritual or routine practices? Open Data

Steve Roskams1, Cath Neal1, Jane Richardson2 and Ruth Leary3

1. Department of Archaeology, University of York, UK. Email: steve.roskams@york.ac.uk / cath.neal@york.ac.uk (0000-0002-2686-0506)
2. Archaeological Services WYAS. Leeds, UK. Email: Jrichardson@aswyas.com
3. Independent Researcher.

Cite this as: Roskams, S., Neal, C., Richardson, J. and Leary, R. 2013 A Late Roman Well at Heslington East, York: ritual or routine practices?, Internet Archaeology 34. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.34.5

Summary

The well under excavation

The supply of fresh water is a central requirement for human settlement. This article discusses evidence associated with the construction, use and demise of a late-Roman well recently excavated at Heslington East near York, UK. It seeks to suggest that, by a holistic analysis of all archaeological evidence, we can distinguish the ideological from the functional dynamics that made up the site formation processes within this feature. The assemblages that evidence these activities might be considered mundane in some respects but their integrated assessment, along with a detailed examination of depositional and formation processes in the feature, produces compelling evidence for what has been termed 'structured deposition'.

This article is Open Access, made possible by the generous support of the Departmental Research Committee, Department of Archaeology, University of York.

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