Monument record 4620 - Bronze Age cremations and Iron Age settlement, near Bottomclose Spinney (Area B)

Cropmarks of enclosures and other ditches were identified on aerial photographs. Archaeological investigation ahead of residential development included geophysical survey, trial and open area excavation. Excavation was undertaken from 2022 to 2023. The earliest evidence of settlement in Area B was a small number of pits dating to the early Neolithic period and by the middle Bronze Age a small cremation cemetery was located here. The late Bronze Age/early Iron Age saw the construction of linear boundaries in the form of pit alignments and in the middle to late Iron Age there was a significant increase in archaeological features suggesting intensified settlement. The orientation and layout of the enclosures were influenced by the earlier pit alignments. The morphology of the settlement as well as evidence from faunal and charred assemblages suggests that community was intially engaged in a mixed farming economy. The creation of a new enclosure system in the late iron Age/early Roman period suggests that there may have been some settlement continuity following the middle to late Iron Age. However, the site was largely abandoned during the 1st century AD. There was little use of the site until the early medieval period when it was used for the burial of two individuals.

{1} Cropmarks of enclosures, ditches and other very faint ditches which were not plotted.

{3} Enclosure (SP 703627), lies in the S. of the parish, on limestone, at 99 m. above OD. Air photographs (in MR) show the cropmarks of a small trapezoidal enclosure 0.3 hectares in area. No interior features or entrances are visible. It may be associated with other enclosures to the S.E. in Harpole parish.

{4} Geophysical survey undertaken in 2016 correlated well with the cropmark evidence, and confirmed the presence of anomalies of archaeological potential. These comprised a complex of ditches and discrete anomalies as well as a number of anomalies of uncertain origin.

{5} Trial trench excavation identified archaeological features that broadly correlated with the cropmark evidence. Dating evidence suggested most of the features were Iron Age in origin.

{6} Excavation was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology from May 2022-2023. The earliest activity in this area were three cremation burials and potential cremation-related pit that date to the Bronze Age. A pit alignment represented the earliest evidence of settlement related activity within this area that date to the early Iron Age. This comprised 59 pits. Pottery recovered from these features suggests that the pit alignment was established in the early Iron Age and were potentially kept open into the middle and late Iron Age. The middle to late Iron Age activity comprises evidence of settlement and landscape organisation including enclosures, ring gullies and discrete pits and post holes.During the transition from late Iron Age to early Roman period, three enclosures were established. Thereafter, there is no evidence for Roman activity recorded from the excavation. Anglo-Saxon/early Medieval activity comprises an early to middle Anglo-Saxon pit, which contained a human skull. Radiocarbon analysis was undertaken on a fragment of the human male skull bone, which produced a date range of 772-952 cal. AD, indicating an early medieval/Anglo-Saxon date during the 8th to 9th centuries. Evidence of activity for the Medieval period comes in the form of ridge and furrow, with a good level preservation.

{9} Further analysis of the excavations, initially reported above, identified a cluster of 11 pits. The fills were generally sterile although a small assemblage of early Neolithic pottery, worked flint and animal bone was recovered from three of them. The pottery from one pit probably originated from a highly burnished, slightly convex sided bowl. Worked flint recovered from another three pits was indicative of Mesolithic or early Neolithic flint knapping technologies, although the dating has been refined by early Neolithic radiocarbon dates. Inhmation burial initially considered to the middle-late Iron Age was radiocarbon dated and was found to date to the 8th-9th century. It was a double inhumation comprising the partial remains of an adult and of a child aged 4-5 years. The isolated skull of an adult male has been interpreted as a possible 'head stake' burial; the term 'heafod stoccan' or 'head stakes' is frequently encountered in early medieval charters. This is considered to relate to the practice involving decapitated heads, most probably of individuals deemed deviant and subjected to judicial penalties, which were displayed on stakes, typically along important boundaries. Later use of the site was associated with agricultural practices such as ridge and furrow cultivation, a series of post-medieval ditches as well as a number of pits and animal burials.

<1> Foard G., Oral report to SMR, (1978) (Oral Report). SNN100433.

<2> Northamptonshire HER Collection of Aerial Photographs, NCCAP:7062/008-15+21-28+32-35 (unchecked) (Aerial Photograph(s)). SNN104822.

<3> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1981, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p. 98/Site 2 (Series). SNN77381.

<4> GSB Prospection, 2016, Northampton West: Geophysical Survey report (Report). SNN110599.

<5> Coyne, J., 2016, Land West of Northampton: Archaeological Evaluation, October 2016, p. 19 (Report). SNN110600.

<6> Grace Griffith, 2024, Land West of Northampton Northamptonshire: Post-Excavation Assessment and Updated Project Design (Report). SNN116528.

<7> Joanne Barker and Grace Griffith, 2026, Life on the Dallington Brook: Archaeological investigations at Harlestone Park, Northamptonshire, 2022–2023
Archaeological investigations at Harlestone Park, Northamptonshire, 2022–2023 (Website). SNN117096.

<8> Northamptonshire County Council, 1994, The Northamptonshire National Mapping Programme, SP7062_027 (Digital archive). SNN117168.

<9> Joanne Barker, Grace Griffith Abby Antrobus and Dane Wright, 2026, Life on the Dallington Brook: Archaeological investigations at Harlestone Park, Northamptonshire, 2022–2023
Archaeological investigations at Harlestone Park, Northamptonshire, 2022–2023 (Monograph). SNN117231.

Record last edited

Oct 12 2026 2:37PM