At York, a spectacular excavation for York Archaeological Trust, directed by Richard Hall, is taking place within a standing building – the old City Garage in Blake Street, in the heart of the modern city, and in the southern half of the Roman fortress. The upper medieval levels were removed by bulldozer, and although few levels of post-Roman/pre-Norman date were present, five postholes appeared to form a rough rectangular dwelling of the later Anglian period. At a slightly lower level, the uppermost surface of a passageway produced a comb of the type used by the mercenary troops of the closing stages of the Roman Empire.

Parts of two insulae and the intervening road have been investigated. One major building had had successive layers of clay dumped over an opus-signinum floor to alleviate the effects of slumping. Four rooms were excavated, and amongst the latest discoveries is a hoard of 34 silver denarii found under one of the partition walls. These date from the republican period down to Vespasian (AD 69-79). The partition wall under which they were found is itself a secondary insertion into the original stone building, which in turn was preceded by at least three timber phases.

At this point, some fascinating chronological speculations arise. The conventional wisdom states that the 9th Legion was transferred from Lincoln to York in AD 71, and that the rebuilding of the defences and internal buildings in stone took place in the first half of Trajan's (97-117) reign. There is a building inscription of AD 107/8 recording the construction of the south-eastern gate. How then do we explain this new hoard, with its latest coins of Vespasian (69-79)?

The results from the Roman levels would seem to justify the controversial decision to remove most of the medieval levels by bulldozer. During this operation, a unique dump of glazier's debris of c. 1500 was discovered. However, a specimen area was removed by hand, demonstrating that layers dated to c. 1200 directly overlay material of very late or immediate post-Roman date, the intervening layers having been removed in a major terracing operation.

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