SNN116951 - Post-Excavation Assessment and Updated Project Design for Buckton Fields, Northamptonshire November 2021 to March 2022

Archaeological excavation was undertaken by MOLA Northampton on land at Buckton Fields, Northamptonshire. The work was commissioned by GHC Archaeology and Heritage on behalf of their client Taylor Wimpey UK Limited. Archaeological features dating from the early/middle Iron Age through into the late Iron Age, Roman, and the early medieval periods were identified. Settlement activity appears to have originated in the early/middle Iron Age period based on the pottery assemblage. However, the identification of two Bronze Age artefacts and a moderate flint assemblage hint at earlier origins. The early/middle Iron Age settlement likely consisted of an unenclosed settlement with at least two roundhouses and associated enclosures. The settlement expanded during the middle/late to late Iron Age period with the establishment of several enclosures, some of which were defined by deep ditches that were clearly maintained with evidence of several recuts. A crouched inhumation pit burial was found, as well as a horse and dog burial. During the Roman period, the late Iron Age activity was either replaced or incorporated into a rectilinear system. The stone foundations of two buildings, one rectangular and one circular, were also identified as well as a stone-lined well and an oven. An inhumation burial was found that may have been on the northern periphery of a cemetery identified in previous works (Oxford Archaeology forthcoming). Pottery attributed to the early Roman period comprised nearly one third of the overall assemblage by weight. A smaller proportion of pottery was from the 2nd century onwards. Smaller quantities of later Roman pottery were recovered, which indicated some 4th century activity, but there was a clearly significant decrease in occupation during this period. Whether there was a hiatus in activity is unclear, but there was reoccupation of the area in the early medieval period, with three dispersed sunken feature buildings, each with associated features of pits and/or ditches. These excavations at Buckton Fields have revealed a long-lived settlement, further analysis of which will significantly contribute to our understanding of these types of multiperiod sites.