18th December 2020:

The results of a 2016 excavation within the area of the former Oxford Jewry on St Aldate’s have been published in a new book, ‘The Archaeology of Oxford in the 21st Century’.

The volume, the first in a new series of Occasional Papers published by the Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society, presents the results of eleven excavations carried out by Oxford Archaeology within the historic walled city of Oxford and in the extramural area just to the north.

The investigations shed fresh light on the character of medieval Oxford, both before and after the Norman Conquest, and on the early modern city, including its Civil War defences. Of special interest is evidence from St Aldate’s which offers what is very likely to be the first medieval Jewish signature in British zooarchaeology. The site, located in a tenement on St Aldate’s behind what is now Sainsbury’s, is recorded as having a Jewish owner in the late 13th century.

The findings are set within a larger context by a chapter outlining the key findings, a new synthesis of current knowledge of Oxford’s archaeology, and an examination of the changing aims and methods of archaeology carried out in the city over the last fifty years. Viewed as a whole, the book represents a significant new contribution to knowledge of Oxford’s archaeology and history.

To find out more about how to purchase the book, click here.