Trial Trench

Date September 1996

Event ID 707935

Category Recording

Type Trial Trench

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/707935

NO 4005 3005 In September 1996 SUAT excavated eight trial trenches in and around the 1960s Overgate Centre on the SW side of the City Churches, in advance of redevelopment. The trenches found relatively little evidence of medieval occupation which seemed to confirm that the construction of the present centre had mostly destroyed such remains. Some disturbed and truncated medieval deposits were, however, identified in two trenches and a few sherds of medieval pottery were recovered. Isolated pockets of archaeology may have survived within the complex, and further work in the form of a watching brief is due to take place when redevelopment begins.

Sponsor: TBI plc.

R Cachart 1996

Trial trenching by SUAT Ltd. In 1996 revealed that the construction of the centre in the 1960s had not completely destroyed all traces of medieval occupation; disturbed and truncated medieval deposits were found in two trenches, along with some medieval pottery. [1]

Eight trial trenches were hand dug around the Overgate Centre as part of an archaeological evaluation prior to development. The excavations were undertaken to identify and evaluate all relevant archaeological deposits or features, particularly those thought to relate to the main thoroughfares of Nethergate and Over gate, an early city boundary ditch, burials around the north side of St Mary's Church and the Franciscan Nunnery.

The trial trenches revealed the following:

Trench A Shallow, modern deposits overlay natural sand.

Trench B Modern services cut an unbottomed deep fill of a probable backfilled basement.

Trench C Deep disturbance was caused by modern services with intercutting fills.

Trench D A shallow wall feature represented the remains of a demolished 19th-century urinal infilled with rubble from which two fragments of human bone were recovered.

Trench E Disturbance by modern services had cut through a wall and infilled basement. A disturbed medieval deposit lay the natural sand.

Trench F A very deep upfilling of modern make-up that was not bottomed.

Trench G A former road surface below which relatively modern services and a probable backfilled basement or well had disturbed medieval make-up of an early road.

Trench H - The modern services inserted alongside the foundation remains of a frontage building had disturbed underlying deposits.

The trial work produced no conclusive evidence relating to the four main objectives. Evidence of medieval occupation in the form of disturbed deposits containing residual medieval pottery was however found, and could indicate that pockets of medieval archaeology may well survive intact in other areas of the proposed development. Two small residual fragments of human bone found within an infilling on the north side of the City Churches could suggest that burials took place on this side of the church.

Information from SUAT,

Archaeological Assessment at the Overgate Centre, Dundee.