Monument record 6686/0/1 - Bronze Age cremation and middle Iron Age Ditched Enclosure, Ringstead Quarry

A Bronze Age cremation with pygmy cup and corner of an Iron Age enclosure with associated pits were excavated during quarrying.

{1} Enclosure ditch of up to 1m deep; had been recut on a number of occasions contained 3 pits and a possible bank. 10 further pits formed a linear group in close proximity to the outer edge of the ditch.The individual pits were between 1-2m in diameter and been cut up to 1m deep in the gravel. Fills were a reddish-brown gravelly loam (suggesting early prehistoric date). Black shelley pottery found contained within features. Iron Age date assigned on evidence of a single radiocarbon date obtained from bones in the enclosure ditch.

{2} A Bronze Age cremation was found in a small pit sited just north of the Iron Age settlement. The was 0.63m in diameter and 0.40m deep and there was evidence of burning around its sides. Cremated bone was interspersed with the dark silty loam and burnt earth in-filling above a small urn which had been placed upright at the base of the pit. The size of the urn places it among the accessory (pygmy) cup series that accompany burials, with or without urns, of early Bronze Age date. The cremated remains probably represent a single individual, possibly a woman in her late 20s-early 30s. Small bones of the hands, feet, face and teeth were missing.

<1> Parry S., 1993, Raunds Area Survey Report, p.141 (unchecked) (Draft). SNN1175.

<2> Parry S. et al, 2006, Raunds Area Survey: An Archaeological Study of The Landscape of Raunds, Northamptonshire 1985-94, Site 14/p. 196-7 (Book). SNN105780.

<3> Jackson, D., 1980, Roman Buildings at Ringstead, Northants, p. 14 (Article). SNN73204.

Record last edited

Sep 17 2021 10:45AM