Monument record 6837/0/3 - Neolithic pits, Brackmills Point

Three Neolithic pits were found during archaeological investigation at Brackmills Point. A small quantity of burnt bone was found in one of the pits

{1} Trial trench excavation at Brackmills Point identified a single undated pit that may have been a midden for the disposal of hearth waste. The fill contained frequent heat affected stones, charcoal fragments, small fragments of fired clay, a flint core and burnt bone. The bone is white in colour, indicating a temperature in excess of 6000C, as is typical of many cremation burials. The bone comprises small fragments from long bone shafts, but there is insufficient to identify it to species.

{3} Subsequent excavation found a pair of pits 33m to the north of the isolated pit. One of the pair contained a number of worked flints and debitage, dating to the early Neolithic, while charred hazelnut shell from the same pit was radiocarbon dated to the the end of the early Neolithic.

<1> Clarke J., 2013, Archaeological evaluation of land at Brackmills Point former Cattlemarket site, Liliput Road, Northampton, February 2013 (Report). SNN109905.

<2> Clarke J., 2013, Archaeological excavation of land at the former Cattlemarket site, Brackmills Point, Liliput Road, Northampton, May 2013 (Report). SNN109906.

<3> Clarke, J., 2015, Neolithic pits at the former Cattle Market, Brackmills Point, Liliput Road, Northampton, p. 35-49 (Article). SNN110229.

Record last edited

Apr 23 2025 7:18PM