SNN110353 - Nene Valley wetlands power line cable installation, Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire: Archaeological excavation and watching brief report

Oxford Archaeology was commissioned by Western power Distribution to undertake a watching brief and detailed archaeological recording during the excavation of a cable trench within the Nene Valley at irthlingborough, Northamptonshire. The excavation trench 2 exposed a transect across part of an extensive area of Iron Age-early Roman settlement that had previously been identified in this part of the valley. Excavation was limited to the impact depth of the cable trench although features exposed at the base of this in trench 2 below layers of alluvium were fully investigated where practicable. Trench 1 was excavated along the embankment of the disused branch rail line that had joined the former Ebbw Vale Iron Ore Works to the Peterborough-Northampton main line and revealed only layers of made ground associated with the construction of the embankment. The Iron Age-early Roman settlement remains were characterised by ditches and pits, with a small number of features that may have been postholes. The ceramic evidence indicated that activity spanned the middle Iron Age to the early Roman period, with a peak in activity during the 1st century AD. There was no positive evidence for activity later than the 2nd century. A single pit was cut through the lower part of the alluvium that overlay the majority of the other features and provided evidence that there at least two phases of activity, separated by an alluvial episode.