THELOSTVILLAGEOFANDRESCHURCH Age settlement 405 930; illus. 1). survey - PDF document

THELOSTVILLAGEOFANDRESCHURCH Age settlement 405 930; illus. 1). survey (ButlerTrans.Leicestershire Archaeol.and Hist.Soc., as project 1Location plan IRONAGESETTLEMENTANDROMANOBRITISHENCLOSURESATCOVENTRYROADCharlotte Walker (nŽe Stevens),Steve Hayward,Ian Meldon, Danny McAree,EdTaylor, Richard Swann,Rowena Lloyd, Rob Smith settlements and An unenclosed (Clay 1992). A containing a later an important into the Warwickshire 2General site plan IRONAGESETTLEMENTANDROMANOBRITISHENCLOSURESATCOVENTRYROAD North Sea.93.5m OD. area as Beccles 3 soil use in the second and 3General view of ßooded site full extent of a smallTopsoil and subsoil were removed using a 360¡excavator fitted wPeriodStructure/descriptionMiddle Iron AgeEnclosure with associated internal and external Romano-BritishRegular rectangular enclosure system, linear boun(2ndÐmid 3rd century AD)enclosureMedievalRidge and furrow Þeld systemPost-medieval/modern Field drains entrance, a third mid third century, the excavated area. To the the eastern (D5) and IRONAGESETTLEMENTANDROMANOBRITISHENCLOSURESATCOVENTRYROAD 4The Iron Age enclosure RD1, and a sub extended entrance Þnds. Further south Þnds. Further southcomminuted charcoal andtwo horizontal bands of compact burnt stones measuring between 50Ð100mm. This mayhave been a cooking pit or a pit containing the debris from such a feature.Ditch D1 and structure RD3 had a complex relationship. A shallow gully, [72],(illus. 7, section 9) predating the enclosure ditch may have been the originalwestern arm of RD3, suggesting that the enclosure boundary may have originallyterminated east of RD3. The earliest enclosure [70] and a later re-cut [67] cut through IRONAGESETTLEMENTANDROMANOBRITISHENCLOSURESATCOVENTRYROAD wide and 0.20m half of an early/middle half of an early/middle(s. 5 and 18.1).The fills of ditch D5 were grey brown silty clays with charcoal flecks and some small fills were grey clay up to 30mm. The side of the entrance of the enclosure broad and shallow at an abrupt at an abruptcontained several large rounded cobbles, measuring 300Ð400mm, and at least oneabout 700mm in size. They had been closely packed together, maybe to consolidate acrossing point or causeway. There were also less dense layers of small burnt stone,measuring between 40 and 100mm, in the fills to the east of this, ditch [138]. A fewsherds of Iron Age pottery and a fragment of bone were found in the length of D3 RD2, was centrally A small sub 44 5Roundhouses RD1 and RD2 IRONAGESETTLEMENTANDROMANOBRITISHENCLOSURESATCOVENTRYROAD 6Roundhouse RD1 (section 32) east with the ditch A re-cut was also the ditch. charcoal and small and the north- and the north-terminal. Most sectionscontained small amounts of animal bone, more than was usual from most features onthe site. Wood identified from charcoal in the southern terminal was of oak and thehedgerow species of hazel, blackthorn and the hawthorn group. Charcoal from theprimary fill (31) of the southern terminal [29] has been radiocarbon dated to 380Ð350and 300Ð220 cal BC (68% probability, 2250+/Ð 40 BP, Beta 184129) (Table 6).Roundhouse 1 (RD1)This roundhouse lay just 2m to the north of RD2 and was perhaps an ancillary building. an ancillary building.ep, but the easternone was only 0.10m deep. The southern terminal was steep-sided and had been recutalong the internal northern side by a steep-sided shallow gully [117], 0.18m deep, that [117], 0.18m deep, that deep (illus. 5 and 6). deep (illus. 5 and 6).which ran into enclosure ditch D5 and may have been a drainage ditch branching offthe northern side of the roundhouse. The ditch was typically shallow with a V-shapedprofile. There was a pair of postholes, [125] and [127], each 0.55m wide and 0.25Ð0.35m IRONAGESETTLEMENTANDROMANOBRITISHENCLOSURESATCOVENTRYROAD 7Roundhouse RD3 48 8Roundhouse RD4 and enclosure entrance IRONAGESETTLEMENTANDROMANOBRITISHENCLOSURESATCOVENTRYROAD and the width narrowed and was 4m wide. and was 4m wide.ide and 0.55mdeep, with the step of a possible reÐcut on the inner, western side (illus. 7, section 78).The northern terminal had been lost under a furrow.The southern terminal fill was grey sandy clay with dense comminuted charcoal,occasional small stones and one very large burnt cobble, measuring 200mm by150mm, in the centre of the fill. The remaining ditch fills were typically orange sandyclay with grey mottles and sparse inclusions. There were no finds. There were nointernal features, but the way enclosure ditch D1 swung outward suggests that it may roundhouses, RD5 and ditch forming a ditch forming a and 0.55m and 0.55mVÐshaped, but narrowerand shallower, similar to most of the circuit. However, where the ditch shared acommon course with the enclosure ditch (D1), it was flatÐbottomed and up to1.55m wide and 0.40m deep. No relationship was established between the two ditchsystems.Within the fills of both terminals there was comminuted charcoal and denseburnt stone with pieces measuring up to 150mm. The fills elsewhere were typicallygrey clays with orange mottles, and contained less charcoal and fewer and the northern side of 50The northern terminal [19] had a VÐshaped profile 0.80m wide and 0.70m deep,steepÐsided on the east, but with a step probably caused by recutting along the westerninner side (illus. 9, section 13). The southern terminal was similar, but with the stepfrom reÐcutting in the outer southern side. The remainder of the ditch wasconsiderably shallower with some indications of a reÐcut. The ditch fills were dark grey silty clay with charcoal flecks and some stoneoccasionally burnt. Within the primary fill of the northern terminal a large burntstone, 200mm wide, was overlain by a thin layer of dense comminuted charcoal andfrequent burnt stone.Finds comprised animal bone and some fired clay from the northern terminal. In thesouthern terminal (illus. 9, section 14, 21) was a fragment of briquetage. Charcoalfrom the southern terminal has been radiocarbon dated to 350Ð300 and 220Ð170 calBC (68% probability, 170+/Ð BP, BetaÐ182767) (Table 6). The charcoal has beenidentified as wood from the hedgerow trees of hazel, the hawthorn group andblackthorn, as well as the larger trees of alder, ash and oak. There was one small posthole 1.5m west of the northern terminal. It was steep-sided and flat bottomed, 0.27m in diameter and 0.25m deep. Within the blue grey 9Roundhouses RD5 and RD6 IRONAGESETTLEMENTANDROMANOBRITISHENCLOSURESATCOVENTRYROAD had a diameter of The internal earlier north-west earlier north-west and sharply east. space within 0.50m space within 0.50mwide and 0.30m deep,steep-sided and flat-bottomed. The fill included frequent stones, measuring 50mm,and a few at 180mm, perhaps packing stones. The nearby postholes were shallow andflat-bottomed with sloping sides. The posthole by the northern terminal, [82], wassimilar in size and shape to [84] with steep sides and a flat bottom.The fills of the ditch and the postholes were of dark grey brown silty clay withfrequent charcoal flecks and some stones, although the earlier northern terminal alsocontained burnt stone. There were no finds.Roundhouse 7 (RD7)This roundhouse which was the most easterly lay about 2m south of the end of the extendedentrance ditch (D2) (illus. 10). It was deÞned by a curving gully open to the east and with thenorthern arm extended further eastwards. The northÐsouth diameter was 9.0m.To the north-west the ditch was 2.10m wide, but it narrowed abruptly to 0.60mwide and 0.40m deep (illus. 10, section 142). The ditch narrowed again to 0.18m inthe south, although the southern terminal had been destroyed by a northÐsouth and the presence of a scale and nature of the 52 11Pit 37, section 3 10Roundhouse RD7 IRONAGESETTLEMENTANDROMANOBRITISHENCLOSURESATCOVENTRYROAD(13)light grey sandy clay with sparse stone0.22m thick(14)dark grey sandy clay with some stone and burnt stone0.40m(15)greyish orange mottled clayey sand, occasional charcoal ßecks0.30m (35)dark grey clay, charcoal ßecks, stone and burnt stone0.36m(38)mottled greyish orange clayey sand, sparse charcoal ßecks,0(28)dark grey sandy clay, dense charcoal ßecks and sparse fragments,0.50m(36)grey clayey sand, dense charcoal ßecks and sparse fragments, some0.56m Pit 37 showing section 3 from a mature tree. 13Cattle skull from pit 37, showing butchery marks IRONAGESETTLEMENTANDROMANOBRITISHENCLOSURESATCOVENTRYROADROADin a 4.0m long northÐsouthline (illus 5). The northerly pit [62] was the most substantial, 0.60m in diameter and0.42m deep, and contained a large rubbing stone (SF2), measuring 290mm by 170mm,as well as many small pieces of burnt stone within the orange and grey clay fill. Theother pits were less substantial.Date and duration of the Iron Age settlement Andy ChapmanRadiocarbon dates were obtained from charcoal from the principal roundhouse, RD2,the external roundhouse, RD5, and from wood recovered from pit [37] (Table 6). Thedates are quite closely consistent but, given the nature of the calibration curve in the to be relocated, no dates giving a the fourth century and the linear boundaryditch were in use during the second and thirdcenturies AD. the eastern entrance, the eastern entrance,was 1.40m wide and 0.70m deep, with a steep-sided slot, 0.35m wide, running alongits northern edge (illus. 14, section 55). In general, ditch D6 was broad and shallow, burnt stone and sparse along the outer edge may some form of timber some form of timber()Western boundary ditchA linear ditch (D7) ran eastwards for a length of c83m, although some sectionswere not well defined (illus. 4 and 14). It was typically U-shaped, 0.60 Ð 0.70m wideand c0.30m deep (illus. 8, section 89, context 321. Charcoal from ditch length [321]was from the hedgerow trees of blackthorn, hazel and the hawthorn group as wellas oak, birch and willow or poplar; and the latter two species were only recordedin this feature. Charcoal from this ditch was submitted for radiocarbon dating inthe belief that it had come from the adjacent ditch of Iron Age date, due to confusion IRONAGESETTLEMENTANDROMANOBRITISHENCLOSURESATCOVENTRYROAD 14Western Roman enclosure and boundary northÐsouth ditch. To northÐsouth ditch. To)17m parallel to, and 5.0m east of, the division ditch. It was shallow, only 0.18mdeep, with a U-shaped profile and was 0.60m wide. The fill was, unusually, a reddish unusually, a reddish55m wide by 0.30mdeep, with a dark grey mottled orange fill with frequent comminuted charcoal andoccasional stones. Two wide shallow circular hollows south of gully [541] were nomore than 0.10m deep, with grey brown sandy fills. Further east there was another there was anothernd 0.35m deep.There was a 0.20m diameter posthole at the end cut 0.20m deeper. A recut [265] on itsouter, southern side had the same dimensions at the terminal, but became shallower asit extended back for 3m. It may have held a post as part of an entrance structure (illus.16, section 71). The eastern terminal was V-shaped, 0.90Ð1.10m wide and 0.50mdeep.The enclosure ditch was generally U-shaped. The western and northern arms weretypically 0.45Ð0.55m wide and between 0.23Ð0.30 m deep. The southern arm was0.90Ð1.10m wide and 0.50m deep, but its southern edge had been obscured by the fillsof the hollows to the south. The eastern arm had been almost lost under thenorthÐsouth field boundary.The ditch fills were typically grey sandy clay, but east of the entrance the fills were IRONAGESETTLEMENTANDROMANOBRITISHENCLOSURESATCOVENTRYROAD 15Eastern Roman enclosures 60 16The small Roman enclosure IRONAGESETTLEMENTANDROMANOBRITISHENCLOSURESATCOVENTRYROAD adjacent enclosure. At adjacent enclosure. AtOpposite the enclosure entrance there were numerous shallow, bowl-shaped andmore elongated hollows up to 0.10m deep (illus. 16, section 169, illus. 17). In hollow[219] the fill was grey orange brown sandy clay with small areas sticky orange brownclay, and containing frequent comminuted charcoal and frequent rounded pebbles,measuring 10Ð150mm.The finds from this area comprised the majority of the Romano-British potteryfrom the site and half the ceramic tile. Two hollows in particular, [213] and [219],included 62% of the pottery and the majority of the mortaria sherds (illus. 20 and21).Just beyond the southÐwestern corner of the small enclosure there were twoirregular gullies partially overlain by layer (220). The primary fills of [513] were darkgrey silty clay that contained Roman pottery (illus 20, 11 and illus. 21, 17). A shallowhollow to the south of the larger area had a similar fill [198].Medieval and postÐmedieval featuresThe Iron Age and Roman features had all been truncated by a regular system offurrows aligned northÐsouth (illus. 2). The ploughed down furrows were c2m wide, and furrow had survived furrows indicating that deriving from three 62 17Hollow 219 outside small Roman enclosure IRONAGESETTLEMENTANDROMANOBRITISHENCLOSURESATCOVENTRYROAD as temper:ASmall and angular pieces of granitic rock. BPieces of softer rounded off-white granitic rock up to 5mm in CSand/quartzDGrogTable 2:QuantiÞcation of Iron Age pottery fabricFabricSherdsWeightAve. sherd(g)weight (g)196105711.0122431213.00333110233.394483677.65516915.69 vessel from Wanlip D5 (183)/[186] and D5 (183)/[186] andt of the features ismainly tempered with sand/quartz and occasional grog.Form, decoration and ÞnishThere are no obvious fine wares or sherds with burnished surfaces in the assem-blage and the majority of the pottery clearly derives from coarse ware jars. Some 26sherds of scored ware were recovered from the features, but 22 of the sherds camefrom one vessel (illus. 18, 3). This vessel also had shallow thumb impressions on theneck, and there were shallow thumb impressions on the rim of the larger scored warejar (illus. 18, 2). The three vessels with surviving rim to shoulder profiles areillustratedCatalogue of illustrated pottery (illus. 18)1Jar with a fairly long everted neck. Fabric 2. This form is unJar with a fairly long everted neck. Fabric 2. This form is un2Bi-partite jar with little neck. Spaced scoring with orange coBi-partite jar with little neck. Spaced scoring with orange coroundhouse RD1 3A slack sided jar with long everted neck with shallow finger i corrugated Upper fill 14, Hinckley, as ROVV). IRONAGESETTLEMENTANDROMANOBRITISHENCLOSURESATCOVENTRYROAD orange surfaces and a 18Iron Age pottery duced both larger baseand body sherds from a cylindrical vessel c 120mm in diameter. The body sherd is 10mmthick, while immediately above the base the body is 14mm thick and the base is c 15mmthick.This assemblage provides further evidence for the presence of regionally traded saltfrom Cheshire in the Central Midlands, and adds to previous evidence from thecounties of Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire (Morris 1979) and alsoWarwickshire (Hingley 1996, 20).Table 3:QuantiÞcation of briquetageContext/featureFeature groupSherds weight (g)14 /37Large pit7 4920 /19RD5 north terminal212140 /139316305 /307Ditch D416total16 187 19Iron Age bone implement IRONAGESETTLEMENTANDROMANOBRITISHENCLOSURESATCOVENTRYROAD made from a bovine a rounded point. Extensive indicating how the tool was4Bone implement: 143mm long, pointed end 50mm long, oval sectio is 290mm long is 290mm longrn convex surfaces.A fragment from a saddle quern from the northern enclosure ditch D4, [307],comprises one corner from a sub-rectangular block of granite, with a well-wornconcave surface.Fired clayTora HyltonThere are 11 fragments of fired clay weighing 61g from two contexts. The fired clayfrom the ditch terminal of roundhouse RD5, context 11, ditch [19] is hard and darkgrey fading to brown in colour as a result of exposure to high temperatures. There areno diagnostic features. The fired clay from (317)/[319], the entrance ditch D2, isoxidised and silty with no diagnostic features.The Roman PotteryRoy Friendship-TaylorThe assemblage comprised 373 sherds weighing 4.6kg. The general condition of the all inner and outer other very common Table 4.Roman pottery fabric typesNumberTypeDescription1aGreySilty, with fragments of grog1bGreyQuartz very coarse fabric1cGreySmooth, burnished silty medium Þred1dGreyVery soft brown/grey1eGreyGrog/quartz1fGreyGrey/brown very sandy2aOxidisedSilty/chalky2bOxidisedQuartz and grog Ð generally poorly Þred3Organic inclusions4aWhite wareFine/silty with grog5aFawnVery soft and silty5bFawnSoft and silty but harder than 5a and with quartz5cFawnCoarse sandy5dFawnSimilar to 5b but with a cream slip6MortariaMancetter/Harts Hill production centre7BlackVery sandy7aBlackLittle sandy8BB1Black Burnished category 1 Ð hand made9White wareMiscellaneous fabric10Building materials11FawnSmooth hard Þred Ð sparse ßint12LNVCCLower Nene Valley Colour Coat Ð white fabric13SPGSoft Pink Grog ware14SamianUnidentiÞable form16CCOXBOxford Colour Coat (Brown col. coat)1dish, rim sherd, fabric 7, 2nd Ð 3rd century, context 351, wes2neckless jar, rim sherd, fabric 1e, second century, context 353small jar, rim sherd, fabric 1b, late second century, context 4jar, rim sherd, fabric 7a, context 237, small enclosure ditch5jar, rim sherd, fabric 1a, context 219, hollow6channel rim jar, rim sherd, fabric 1e, early second century, c7dish, rim sherd, fabric 8, black burnished ware with arcading 8jar, rim sherd, fabric 1a, second century, context 198, hollow9 jar, rim sherd, fabric 1b, context 213, hollow10jar, rim sherd, fabric 8, black burnished ware, third century11 ßanged dish, rim sherd, fabric 5b, second to third century, IRONAGESETTLEMENTANDROMANOBRITISHENCLOSURESATCOVENTRYROAD 20Romano-British pottery 70 21Romano-British pottery IRONAGESETTLEMENTANDROMANOBRITISHENCLOSURESATCOVENTRYROAD12bowl, rim sherd, fabric 1e, second to third century, context 13 mortaria, rim sherd, fabric 6, late second to third century,15mortaria, rim sherd, fabric 6, 120Ð150 AD context 219, hollow17 mortaria, rim sherd with spout, fabric 6, third century, con18mortaria19 mortaria, rim sherd, fabric 1a, late third century, context of the assemblage archive. Fabric 1Sand tempered clay with moderate grit and sparse grog aFabric 2Sand tempered clay with abundant sand, sparse large gri to touch.Fabric 3Sand tempered clay with moderate grit and occasional fl of poor quality and of the material is as the astragulus. as the astragulus. ents, horn cores,left mandible, scapula, radius, metacarpals, distal femur, tibia and metatarsals fromtwo or more cattle. A frontal bone from a young animal displayed cuts marks asevidence of butchery (illus. 13), as did some of the other bones. This group alsoincluded a tibia and a third phalanx from a horse and some sheep/goat bones. Stainingdue to waterlogging and/or contact with organic matter was also noted on this a 500-micron mesh and sample samplete wheat chafffragment (glume base) was noted in sample 2, from context (28) pit 37. All samplescontained charcoal over 5mm in size.The environmental evidence is very poor due in part to the poor soil conditions, but BC (Clay 2001). IRONAGESETTLEMENTANDROMANOBRITISHENCLOSURESATCOVENTRYROAD1.To indicate the type of wood used as domestic fuel2.For environmental evidence3.For evidence of woodland management charcoal was poorlynarrow roundwood although largewood was also present; the sampl and Cutler 2000); the it should be noted that sp., hawthorn; Malussp., apple; Pyrus sp.,pear; Sorbusspp., rowan, service tree and whitebeam. These taxa areanatomically similar; one or more taxa may be represented in the charcoal. Prunoideae Ð Prunus spinosa L., blackthorn Salicaceae. Salix sp., willow, and Populus sp., poplar. In most respects these taxaare anatomically similar. 12 terminal [21] of probably from probably fromcentrally locatedroundhouse RD2, was particularly poorly preserved and it was not possible toexamine the whole sample. The taxa identified included hazel, the hawthorn/Sorbusgroup, blackthorn and oak. Material recovered from the fill of pit [37] included pottery, worked bone, the skullfragments and long bones from two or more cattle, and waterlogged wood. The woodincluded short lengths of both narrow roundwood and largewood. Roundwoodincluded oak, blackthorn and hawthorn/Sorbusgroup, oak largewood was alsorecorded and sometimes included burrwood. The large dimensions of a thick scale ofbark suggested an origin from a fairly mature (unidentified) tree. There was noevidence to suggest that the wood was artefactual in origin and it is probable that boundary ditch D7.group, blackthorn, oakand possibly willow or poplar. of oak heartwood and IRONAGESETTLEMENTANDROMANOBRITISHENCLOSURESATCOVENTRYROAD Table 5:Charcoal and waterlogged woodAlnusBetulaCorylusFraxinusPomoideaePrunusQuercusSalicaceae(alder)(birch)(hazel)(ash)(hawthorn,etc)(oak)RD5 northern2Ð21242h, 6rÐRD2 southernÐÐ1Ð313hÐÐÐÐÐ3r3r10h,6rÐD6 enclosureÐÐ?1Ð22191rÐD7 linearÐ11Ð11r11h/u,3scf.1 hazel. The charcoal appears to have high calorie firewood to more precisely Three radiocarbon dates IRONAGESETTLEMENTANDROMANOBRITISHENCLOSURESATCOVENTRYROAD on the mistakenTable 6:Radiocarbon determinationsLaboratoryContextSample DetailsConventionalCal BC/ADNumberdetailsdetailsradiocarbon ageBP68% conÞdenceC13/C12 ratio68% conÞdenceBeta-31/29 Þll, southCharcoal2250BC184129terminal(hazel, hawthorn+/Ð40390Ð350}(AMS)roundhouse RD2family, blackthorn)Ð26.6 ä300Ð200}Beta- 28/37 lower Þll,Wood2230BC182768large pits(Oak roundwood)+/Ð60390Ð200}(radiometric) large pitÐ25.0ä410Ð110Beta-20/21 Þll, southCharcoal2170BC182767terminal, (alder, hazel,+/Ð40360Ð290}(AMS)roundhouse RD5hawthorn family,Ð24.9ä260Ð160}blackthorn, ash)380Ð100Beta-163/163 Þll,Bone collagenUndatedIndated182770north terminalBeta-34/32 Þll, ditch, Bone collagenUndated Undated182769roundhouse RD4Beta-317 (320/321),Charcoal1860AD184130Þll Romano-(birch, hazel,+/Ð40100Ð200}(AMS)British boundaryhawthorn family.Ð24.5ä70Ð240ditch D7blackthorn, willow)Table7:Radiocarbon calibrations they can also be to be barren Northampton- to less middle Iron Age date or IRONAGESETTLEMENTANDROMANOBRITISHENCLOSURESATCOVENTRYROAD (Charles et al 2000). from other areas, not minor enclosure, main road, as the workshopsBeamish, M., 1998A Middle Iron Age Site at Wanlip, LeicestershiBlinkhorn, P., and The Iron Age pottery, in A. Chapman forthcomCharles, B. M.,A Bronze Age ditch and Iron Age settlement at ElParkinson, A., andLeicesterClay, P., 1992An Iron Age Farmstead at Grove Farm, Enderby, Lei IRONAGESETTLEMENTANDROMANOBRITISHENCLOSURESATCOVENTRYROADGale, R., andPHancocks, A., 2002Iron Age Pottery, in C. Stevens 2002, pp.14Ð1Hingley, R., 1996Prehistoric Warwickshire: a review of the evidAn Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment of Land to the west Marsden, P., 1998ThePrehistoric Pottery, in M. Beamish 1998, ppMorris, E., 1979The Briquetage or Very Coarse Pottery VCP, Sellwood, L., 1984Objects of Bone and Antler, in B. Cunliffe 19 82Tutin, T. G.,Flora Europaea. 1Ð5, CambridgeHeywood, V. H., et al1964Ð80Tyers, P., 1999Roman Pottery in Britain. Routledge.University ofIron Age farmstead discovered. Annual Report 1999/2000.LeicesterServices, 2000Willis, S., 2001An Archaeological Resource Assessment of the Later Bronze and IronAge (First Millennium BC) in The East Midland Counties of England.www.le.ac.uk/ar/east_midlands_research_framework.htm