SNN112639 - Apex Park, Daventry, Northamptonshire: Archaeological Excavation Report

Oxford Archaeology carried out an archaeological excavation in 2019 within the Phase 4 area of Apex Park, Daventry, Northamptonshire, centred on NGR SP 55630 64480. A geophysical survey of the c 14.9ha Phase 4 development site and two phases of trial-trench evaluation in 2018 and 2019 had established the presence of prehistoric remains, notably an earlier prehistoric ring ditch. The excavation area, totalling c 0.53ha, was subsequently targeted upon these remains in the south of the site. The excavation exposed the c 16m diameter ring ditch, the construction of which is dated to the late Neolithic/early Bronze Age, by late Neolithic flint, and charcoal radiocarbon dated to 1873–1663 cal BC recovered from its lower fills. The recovery of abraded late Neolithic/early Bronze Age (Beaker), Bronze Age and Iron Age pottery from its upper fills suggest that the ring ditch continued to form a focus for activity into the Iron Age. It is likely that the ring ditch surrounded a barrow, though no primary burial was encountered. A cremation burial recorded during the 2019 evaluation to the east of the ring ditch has been radiocarbon dated to the middle Bronze Age (1406–1262 cal BC) and the ring ditch lies a short distance to the south-east of a larger segmented enclosure ditch of early Bronze Age date, previously excavated in the Phase 3 Apex Park development area. A large quantity of worked flint recovered from the ring ditch and neighbouring Iron Age features suggests that the monument was a focal point of later prehistoric activity. Together with Iron Age pottery recovered from the ring ditch, a small number of Iron Age pits and postholes (including a rectangular four-post structure) were scattered across the excavation area, providing evidence of outlying activity associated with a settlement previously excavated to the south-west. A NW–SE aligned ditch also crossed the site to the south of the ring ditch and has been tentatively dated to the Iron Age. It is possible that the ditch formed a boundary between the earlier prehistoric monument to its north and the middle Iron Age settlement site previously excavated to the south-west. A later date for the ditch, however, cannot be entirely ruled out, and it may have constituted the remains of a medieval or post-medieval field boundary. Remains definitely post-dating the Iron Age were limited to plough furrows and land drains indicative of medieval/post-medieval and modern agricultural activities.