Monument record 9802 - Possible Neolithic hearth

A watching brief undertaken during the construction of two fish ponds found a small area of burning which contained charcoal, bone fragments and a sherd of late Neolithic pottery. An undated ditch was also identified.

{1} A watching brief was undertaken during the excavation of two fish ponds. Recent ploughing had truncated possible archaeological features. A truncated possible ditch was uncovered directly below the topsoil cutting an alluvium and limestone outcrop. The undated ditch ran roughly east to west and had a width of 0.8m though only 0.05m deep.
A small area of burning less than 1m in diameter was found with some charcoal cutting the alluvium. Within this feature was as sherd of late Neolithic pottery as well as a few fragments of unburnt bone. Both the pottery sherd and the bone had been damaged by probable ploughing and weathering.
At the extreme north of the development there were limestone blocks making a spread 8m long and up to 1.2m wide. It seems to be related to the delapidated limestone boundary wall five metres to the north. An undated roof tile fragment came from this spread.
The alluvium, 0.7m thick, was directly below the recent ploughing and it overlay the first terrace river gravels in the Nene Valley. The alluvium contained a range of discarded artifacts dating to the Neolithic, Bronze Age, early middle Saxon and the Middle Ages which is suggestive of regular flooding through the area over the last 5000 years.

<1> Atkins R., 2000, Archaeological Watching Brief On Land At Lilford Lodge Farm, Oundle, Northamptonshire, 2000, p.3-4 (checked) (Report). SNN100498.

Record last edited

Oct 4 2023 11:41AM