ENN109054 - Rushden Eastern SUE, 2018 (Trial trench)

Site code: LRE18. The evaluation comprised the excavation of seventy-nine trenches. The results of the evaluation broadly confirmed the results of the geophysical survey. and identified archaeological remains concentrated centrally within the site. The features can be attributed to one of five main periods; the Bronze Age, Early Iron Age, Late Iron Age and Early Roman period, Mid-Late Roman and medieval/post-medieval. The earliest feature identified comprised a ditch containing Bronze Age pottery and Mesolithic or early Neolithic flint. This corresponded to an anomaly on the geophysical survey and likely represents the remains of a barrow. A further anomaly identified by the geophysical survey potentially relates to this phase with a further probable circular barrow directly to the south of the site. The ceramic assemblage indicates that activity began in the Early Iron Age. Two roundhouses represent the main foci of activity in the southern/central part of the site. In the southern/central part of the site a poorly defined Late Iron Age and Early Roman period settlement, set within two natural ridges, was identified by the geophysical survey. This comprised an enclosed area indicating the potential for multi-phase activity broadly comparable to a 'banjo' enclosure. A potential burial sealed by stone was identified directly to the west of the main settlement area. Later Roman period activity is characterised by the Y-shaped trackway and associated plots clearly identified by the geophysical survey and dated to the 2nd to 3rd centuries AD. A large area of agricultural land use was identified to the north-east of the settlement representing both arable and pastoral land usage. A probable cemetery was identified in the north-eastern limits of the settlement with a further isolated burial to the south. Information from OASIS Online Form