SNN112188 - Iron Age and Roman Settlement at Mallard Close, Earls Barton, Northamptonshire

Late Iron Age and early Roman enclosures and a Roman walled enclosure were investigated in an open area excavation. The small, square Iron Age enclosure was surrounded by a deep ditch with a narrow western entrance, conforming to the Wootton Hill type, but it was probably part of a more extensive settlement. The enclosure contained several deep storage pits, some of which held deposits of selected finds including quern and antler working debris. The enclosure was in use from the 1st century BC to the mid 1st centruy AD, when it was encompassed within a more complex system of shallower ditches that formed a new enclosure. Nearby domestic occupation is indicated by the presence of numerous shallow pits. The ditched enclosure was abandoned before the mid 2nd century AD, when a walled enclosure was created to the south. The lengths of heavily robbed stone wall formed the northen side of a rectilinear enclosure that would probably have contained a high status building, perhaps a villa. A T-shaped oven and a well to the north may have been contemporary ancillary features. The walled enclosure was levelled in the 4th century or later. The apparent main focus of the later Roman settlement within the walled enclosure has been largely lost to 20th quarrying.