Monument record 4611/0/17 - Saxon/medieval linear boundary

Boundary system possibly established in the later 10th century, as part of a broader organisation of the landscape following the reconquest of the Danelaw by the Saxon kings

{2} A linear boundary ditch lay largely within the area excavated in 2006, but the westernmost end lay within the narrow strip investigated in 2011. It was aligned north-west to south-east and was 1.05m wide by 0.16m deep, with a shallow U-shaped profile. The fill of dark grey-brown sandy clay contained no finds, but wood charcoal from a soil sample has given a radiocarbon date centred on the 10th century AD (865-1015CalAD, 1100+/-30BP, Beta-402868). The furrows of the medieval field system, see below, cut across this ditch, suggesting that this boundary later became redundant, and indicating that the open field system was established at a later date, probably sometime after the Norman Conquest in the late 11th or 12th centuries.

Chapman, A, Foard, A, & Clarke, J., 2015, Excavation of a Bronze Age and early Iron Age landscape at Harlestone Quarry, Northamptonshire 2007-2014 (Report). SNN110518.

<1> Field L.; Chapman A., Archaeological Excavation at Harlestone Quarry Near Northampton, October 2006, (unchecked) (Report). SNN105844.

Record last edited

Nov 23 2016 10:52AM