Monument record 2435 - Middle to late Iron Age settlement and Roman pit, Swinawe Barn

A small, enclosed middle to late Iron Age farming settlement, partially excavated in 2008-9.

{2} During the watching brief a significant number of Iron Age features were observed and an excavation area was established. The features comprised part of a small enclosed farmstead probably dating to the middle to late Iron Age. The substantial northern and southern arms of an enclosure were revealed, which was 68m long north to south. Its size east to west was not established.

Within the enclosed area were three ring ditches that probably enclosed roundhouses. Two were in excess of 10m in diameter, while the third was 6m in diameter and may have enclosed an ancillary building, such as a workshop. The largest ring ditch had been recut indicating some longevity of use and the majority of the pottery, animal bone and charred grain came from it, suggesting that it was the principal house. Animal bone from the ditch fill provided a radiocarbon date of 40 Cal BC-80 Cal AD. Within this roundhouse were two circular pits.

The pottery assemblage from the site is a classic Midlands scored ware assemblage of the middle Iron Age including a high proportion of rims with fingertip and finger nail decoration and shouldered jars with long concave necks. These charateristics are usually considered typical of earlier assemblages, 4th-3rd centuries BC, but also reappear in later assemblages. In this instance, several characteristics are suggestive of a lter date between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD- consistent with the radiocarbon date.

A pit containing Roman pottery cut the northern enclosure ditch.

<1> Walford, J.; Butler, A.; Mudd, A. & Harding, J., 2006, AWS Empingham to Hannington Pipeline: Archaeological geophysical and metal detecting surveys Phase 1 August - September 2006 (Report). SNN108019.

<2> Carlyle S. Clarke, J. and Chapman, A., 2017, Iron Age, Roman and Anglo-Saxon settlement along the Empingham to Hannington Pipeline in Northamptonshire and Rutland, p. 24-29 (Monograph). SNN110605.

Record last edited

Jan 22 2024 11:48AM