Saxon Southampton; a New Review - Archaeology Data Service

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PHILIP HOLDSWORTH
Though individual parallels for the Hamwih buildings are not difficult to
find, it is clear that there are many factors contributing to building forms in the
8th and 9th centuries. The possibility of bow-sided buildings in 6th-century
contexts at Chalton suggests that this shape may, to some extent, be a traditional
building form in southern England. However, an equally acceptable hypothesis
from the evidence presently available would have the Hamwih buildings a result
of trading contacts with the North Sea littoral, where bow-sided buildings are
frequently found at an early date.
PITS (FIG. 18)
The dominant archaeological features on all the Hamwih sites are pits.
Often it is impossible to interpret their primary functions with certainty as,
almost without exception, they contain little but domestic refuse and to a lesser
extent industrial waste.
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FIG. 18
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HAMWIH, SOUTHAMPTON, PIT F54
Plan and profiles of rectangular pit with corner posts and traces of wooden lining
The pits cannot be grouped on the basis of ground plans and profile-shapes
as could those at Maxey (Northants) .28 Of ninety-five pits examined, twenty-nine
were rectangular, thirty-eight circular, twenty-five oval and three amorphous;
no one ground plan showed a tendency towards any particular profile. It is
hoped that future work on the pits involving use of a computer will prove more
successful.
28 P. V. Addyman, 'A dark-age settlement at Maxey, Northants.', Medieval Archaeol., VIII (1964), 32-7.
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