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The relationships between the stone-footed rectangular buildings which had been identified remained complex, but at this early stage of the excavation the main phasing was becoming apparent. Building 1(a) comprised a narrow rectangular 'long house' measuring at least 11.2m in length and 5.6m in width, with wall footings of carefully set unbonded limestone. A stone-lined and capped drain first recorded in 1995 was found to have a rock-cut bottom, whic lay in a straight line approximately north-south for a distance of about 7m, diagonally across the interior of the building. The drain appeared to have drained the semi-sunken hall floor, whose southern half consisted of either stone flagging or bare limestone. In the northern half of the structure lay a fine rectangular hearth neatly defined with kerb stones (1m x 1.6m), and which had at least three clay linings beneath its ashy fill It has provided a radiocarbon date of cal AD 780-980 (Beta-101535, 1170 +/- 40 BP).
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