Monument record 5390/0/7 - Late Neolithic riverside structure, West Cotton

A Late Neolithic timber structure, one of a number of sites investigated as part of the Raunds area project. A sequence of palaeochannels representing a former channel of the River Nene runs northwest-southeast just to the north of the West Cotton monument complex. A cutting in 1989 uncovered deposits of brushwood and alder trunks at the southern edge of the earliest of the palaeochannels, and these have been interpreted as a platform. Radiocarbon dates obtained so far fall within the range 2916-2464 Cal BC. The platform extended several metres into the channel, and appears to have been consolidated with dumps of gravel, clay and further brushwood. No artefacts were present, but axe marks were present on the timbers. A substantial assemblage of animal bones has been recovered from the site, and the platform has been tentatively interpreted as a revetted timber "island" utilised for the the dumping of feasting debris

{1} A platform- largely of alder, with Pomoideae, hazel, oak and ash- was built at the edge of what was then one of the main channels of the Nene, close to the West Cotton monuments. Environmental evidence points substantial woodland cover, including an alder-lined river bank, with some open areas. Only the east end of the structure was defined.

The base comprised tightly compressed brushwood and some larger branches. Generally disordered, but some of the larger pieces lay at right angles to the river. An inner and an outer alder trunk were partly embedded in the surface of the brushwood layer; axe marks survived on the outer trunk. Lack of side branches from many of the trunks indicates they had been stripped off. Many bone fragments were recovered from a layer between the inner trunk and the river bank including cattle, pig, caprine, equid, red deer, water bird and perhaps aurochs as well as two human bones. The estimated date for the construction of the structure is 2870-2800 cal BC at 13% probability or 2760-2470 cal BC at 82% probability.

<1> Harding, J. and Healy, F., 2008, The Raunds Area Project: A Neolithic and Bronze Age Landscape in Northamptonshire, 113-115 (Report). SNN106245.

<2> Harding, J. and Healy, F., 2011, The Raunds Area Project: A Neolithic and Bronze Age Landscape in Northamptonshire Volume 2 Supplementary Studies (Report). SNN108037.

<3> Windell D.; Chapman A.; Woodiwiss J., 1990, From Barrows to Bypass: Excavations at West Cotton, Raunds, Northamptonshire, 1985-1989 (Report). SNN62621.

Record last edited

Feb 5 2025 7:33PM