SNN114847 - Land west of Gipsy Lane, Kettering, Northamptonshire: Archaeological Strip, Map and Sample Excavation

In May 2021, Cotswold Archaeology carried out an archaeological strip, map and sample excavation on land west of Gipsy Lane, Kettering, Northamptonshire. An area measuring 30m long by 20m wide was excavated in the southern part of the site, targeted on the location of a suspected ring ditch identified by a previous programme of geophysical survey and trial trenching. A circular feature was revealed within the excavation area, appearing in plan as a faint ring of silty material correlating with the geophysical anomaly and trial trench results. Two additional hand-excavated slots produced no artefactual material, and no clear cut could be identified for the suggested ditch. Possible internal features identified but not investigated at the evaluation stage could also not be relocated despite extensive cleaning of the surface of the natural substrate. No other features or deposits of archaeological significance were encountered. On the basis of these results it is considered likely that the feature is not, as previously suspected, archaeological in nature, but that it is in fact the result of a periglacial phenomenon, perhaps a frost polygon or ice wedge.