Monument record 1677/0/9 - Possible Iron Age quarry pit

{1} A large disturbance which may possibly be a quarry pit, dug for clay. On the geophysical survey the feature shows as a large dark area, at least 12m long and up to 5m wide, sited adjacent and parallel to the edge of the bank. The trench was sited at the southern end of the pit and excavation revealed that the pit at this point had been cut through a layer of whitish coloured clay not seen elsewhere around the hillfort.
The excavation showed the bottom of the pit to be at least 1.60m deep below the modern surface. A small amount of pottery dating to around the 1st century BC was recovered from the upper layers of the pit but nothing was found to suggest it may be later than the Iron Age period. The south-east end of the trench was extended in March 2011, and this confirmed that at this point the quarry pit was cutting the tail of the rampart. Two decorated but unstratified sherds were recovered from the area above the pit.
Feature F2 was not fully exposed in the excavated area but was relatively shallow and irregular, with a maximum depth of 0.2m. The fill consisted of clayey loam, including a scatter of both burnt and unburnt limestone. A few sherds of Iron Age pottery were found in the fill but these were not diagnostic for closer dating. It is possible that the feature was a quarry pit for the small pieces of ironstone that occur in this area.
Feature F4: this shallow feature or layer overlay the western edge of the quarry pit F1. The fill was similar that in feature F2.

<1> Jackson, D. & Tingle, M., 2012, An Archaeological Survey of the Hunsbury Hillfort Defences, 37/122-4 (checked) (Article). SNN108365.

Record last edited

Dec 7 2012 2:54PM