Monument record 1582 - Site of early Bronze Age henge and middle Bronze Age field system, Priors Hall

A circular henge probably constructed in the the final centuries of the 3rd millennium BC. A secondary cremation burial to the north-west dated to the first half of the second millenium. A Middle Bronze Age L-shaped ditch system lay to the west of the henge.

{3} Trial trenching in Area 3 of the probable Bronze Age round barrow. The mound has been largely ploughed flat. A single cremation burial was present associated with a jet bead. To the north of the barrow was an enclosure of probable Iron Age date. The function of this feature is uncertain as there appeared to be no associated occupation. Its proximity to the Bronze Age funerary monument may imply a special or ritual function.

{4} Excavation of the features previously identified by geophysical survey and trial trench excavation has refined the dating and classification of the features.

The earliest feature was a small pit. This pit, which was fully excavated, produced a small assemblage of Beaker pottery that comprised small numbers of sherds from some six or seven vessels, including both fine decorated Beakers and thicker-walled rusticated Beakers. There were also six flint flakes, probable knapping debris but coming from more than one nodule.

The ring ditch, originally thought to be a round barrow, has been shown to be a henge monument. The Priors Hall henge would fall within the classic Type 1 henge group; being over 20m in diameter and possessing a single ditch, single entrance and single external bank. The available radiocarbon dates suggest a probable origin in the late 3rd millennium BC, although the actual date of construction for the henge has not been established, as there is no material available from primary ditch fills, and a date can only be inferred from related features. The earliest radiocarbon date is from hazelnut shells in the nearby Beaker pit, which falls in the late 3rd millennium BC, 2140-1950 cal BC. Radiocarbon dates from the internal cremation burial and from a length of carbonised oak in the secondary ditch fills indicate usage of the henge for burial in the second quarter of the 2nd millennium BC, 1750-1620 cal BC. The carbonised oak in the henge ditch may have come from the pyre of the excavated burial or some other lost cremation burial.

The enclosing ditch of the henge was near circular with internal dimensions of 31.0m north-west to south-east, not quite in line with the entrance, and 33.5m south-west to north-east, to give a slightly oval plan form. The entrance causeway was 5.2m wide, facing 10o north of south-east by Ordnance Survey grid.

The earthwork monument was still standing beyond this date, as a Middle Bronze Age spearhead was recovered from the ditch fills, and a Middle Bronze Age L-shaped ditch system was sited immediately adjacent to the henge with the corner of the L lying closest to the henge. The function of this ditch system is unclear. There was no surviving continuation to the north, and ditches of similar depth to the extant ditch could not have been lost to truncation in this area. Either the other half of a rectangular enclosure had been defined by shallow and insubstantial features or by a bank or hedge, or the ditch system was only ever an L-shape.

Asymmetrical ditch fills suggest that a bank had been thrown up on the northern up slope side of the ditch. The later date of this ditch system is indicated by the presence of fragments of a cylindrical fired-clay loomweight in the fills, and a date at the end of the Middle Bronze Age, 1190-1010 cal BC, was provided by radiocarbon dating of an antler tine from the ditch. A length of human femur was also recovered from this ditch.

A C-shaped ditch to the south of the henge may have enclosed a small mound, 8m in diameter, which seems most likely to have been a secondary monument probably constructed at some later point in
the Early Bronze Age. Similarly, the short line of shallow pits to the west of the henge may also be an ancillary feature added at some later date.

<1> Shiel D.; Robertson F., 2004, Priors Hall, Corby: Geophysical Survey Report (Report). SNN105488.

<2> Butler A., 2011, Archaeological Geophysical Survey on Land at Priors Hall, Zone 3, Corby, Northamptonshire (Report). SNN108335.

<3> Jones C., 2011, Archaeological Evaluation on Land at Priors Hall, Zone 3, Corby, Northamptonshire December 2010 to February 2011, p. 8-9 (Report). SNN108336.

<4> Chapman A.; Jones C., 2012, An Early Bronze Age Henge and a Middle Bronze Age Ditch System at Prior Hall, Zone 3, Kirby Lane, Corby, Northamptonshire (Report). SNN109203.

<5> Chapman A.; Jones C., 2012, An Early Bronze Age Henge and Middle Bronze Age Boundaries at Priors Hall, Kirby Lane, Corby (Article). SNN108361.

Record last edited

Jul 19 2023 10:18AM