Monument record 3550/1/5 - Neolithic barrow/mortuary structure (Ring Ditch V), Grendon Quarry

A Neolithic and Early Bronze Age monument at Grendon, part of a complex of cropmarks excavated in 1974-5 in advance of gravel extraction. The earliest phase of activity is dated broadly to the early-to-mid Neolithic, and comprised a square feature defined in three sides by a ditch and on the fourth by a line of conjoined posts with a gap or entrance about halfway along. The silting patterns in the ditch suggest that there may have been an inner bank or mound. The interior contained a few pits and postholes. One of the pits contained antler fragments and an ox frontlet; another contained a large assemblage of Grimston Ware sherds. It is possible that an arc of postholes represented an earlier feature, perhaps a post circle of circa 14 metres diameter. Subsequently, probably in the early Bronze Age, the site was surrounded by, and enclosed within, two concentric ring ditches, the outer 35 metres internal diameter and up to 3 metres wide; the inner 26 metres internal diameter and up to 3.2 metres wide. Some Beaker and Grooved Ware sherds came from this and the Neolithic ditch. No burials were found, although the manner of excavation may be partly to blame for this. The Neolithic feature has been tentatively interpreted as some form of barrow, although comparison can be made with mortuary structures and timber facades known from long barrows.

{1}The feature comprised a double ring ditch with the outer ring having a diameter of 35m internally and the inner ditch having a maximum internal diameter of 26m. Both ditches were concentric. There was an internal enclosure ditch. One side was formed by a timber pallisade and the remaining three sides formed by a U shaped ditch. Associated features included a pit, three post pits and a pit containing pottery and animal bones. Radiocarbon dates were obtained.

<1> Gibson A.; McCormick A., 1985, Archaeology at Grendon Quarry Part I: Neolithic and Bronze Age Sites Excavated in 1974-5, p37 (Report). SNN59698.

<2> Northamptonshire SMR Collection of Aerial Photographs, Used with NMR & CUCAP collections (Photographs). SNN104822.

<3> Gibson, A, 1985, A Neolithic enclosure at Grendon, Northants (Article). SNN113214.

Record last edited

Jul 10 2023 12:08PM