Bronze Age palisaded structures (Area E) (original) (raw)

A Bronze Age ring ditch at Earls Barton Quarry, Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire Archaeology, 2005

An archaeological watching brief was carried out at the southern extension at Earls Barton Quarry. A ring ditch enclosure, 10m in diameter, lay on a gravel island between two palaeochannels. It is dated to the Early Bronze Age by food vessel sherds from the ditch, suggesting that this was a funerary monument forming an outlier to the well known Grendon complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments. An undated cremation deposit to the east of the palaeochannel may have been directly related to the adjacent Grendon barrows. A pit excavated in the evaluation may have dated to the Iron Age. A medieval track was also recorded.

Eight Ring-ditches at Four Crosses, Llandysilio, Powys, 1981–85

Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 1986

Eight ring-ditches and several stretches of pit alignment have been excavated between 1981 and 1985, as part of the investigation of an extensive cropmark complex on a gravel terrace in the Upper Severn valley at Four Crosses, northern Powys. Excavation of the ring-ditches, which form part of a more scattered barrow cemetery, has revealed a long and complex pattern of development of barrow types and burial forms in the period between the Middle Neolithic and the Middle Bronze Age. This is compared with the recently published sequence from the neighbouring upland barrow cemetery at Trelystan, and subdivided into four hypothetical phases. There is evidence of activity in the vicinity of some of the sites in the Iron Age, Romano-British, and possibly the early post-Roman period.

An Early Bronze Age henge and a Middle Bronze Age ditch system at Priors Hall, Kirby Lane, Corby

2012

Zooarchaeological finds analysis of the site. In October and November 2011 a prehistoric ring ditch and an adjacent ditch system, located by geophysical survey and previously investigated by trial trenching, were subject to open area excavation. The ring ditch has been shown to be a henge monument, situated on high sloping ground, just below the watershed, overlooking the Willow Brook, which joins the River Nene to the east. A nearby pit contained an assemblage of decorated and rusticated Beaker sherds, and fragments of hazelnut shell have given the earliest radiocarbon date, 2140-1950 cal BC, indic-ating that the pit and perhaps the adjacent henge, were constructed in the Early Bronze Age, the nal centuries of the 3rd millennium BC. The henge was near circular at 31.0-33.5m in diameter, with a broad U-shaped ditch and an entrance to the south-east. The former presence of an external bank was indicated by deposits of limestone that had come in from outside. There were a few shallow pits within the interior and to the north-west the unurned cremation burial of a 6-8 year old child was accompanied by a jet bead. This burial and a deposit of carbonised oak in the secondary lls of the ditch have given radiocarbon dates in the rst half of the 2nd millennium BC, 1750- 1620 cal BC, indicating that the burial was a later addition to the monument. A Middle Bronze Age side- looped spearhead also came from the ll of the henge ditch, showing the survival of the henge as a substantial earthwork. To the north of the henge there was an L-shaped ditch system, and a red deer antler tine has been radiocarbon dated to the Middle Bronze Age, 1190-1010 cal BC. The ditch also produced part of a human femur and fragments from a cylindrical red-clay loomweight.

The excavation of a medieval ring-ditch enclosure at Hayknowes Farm, Annan, Dumfries and Galloway

Excavation at a crop-mark site found close to Annan, Dumfries and Galloway, revealed evidence of a ring-ditch containing a number of intriguing internal structures. Initially this was presumed to be a prehistoric monument, but pottery and radiocarbon dating, unexpectedly, indicated that the main structural phase of the site falls between the llth-13th centuries AD. This suggests that a degree of caution is required when interpreting crop-mark sites on morphological characteristics alone. Moreover this excavation makes clear that morphological interpretation can have a constraining influence on excavation strategy, so caution is required when designing fieldwork programmes.

An Early/Middle Iron Age Ring Ditch, possible Shrine, Pits and Field System, Wrotham, Kent

In 2009 and 2010 SLR Consulting undertook a strip, map and sample investigation at Wrotham Quarry, Trottiscliffe, Kent (NGR TQ 647 596). The results of this programme of archaeological work revealed a residual lithic scatter, comprising a Levallois-style core/scraper, as well as other worked flint from the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic/Bronze Age periods. The main period of activity, however, was during the Early and Middle Iron Age, for which a segmented ring ditch 13m in diameter, coaxial field ditches, pits, cremated human bone, assemblages of pottery and carbonised wood were recovered. The pottery and radiocarbon dating of a cremation confirmed a Middle Iron Age date of 365-171 cal BC (at 95% confidence), but also a collection of decorated sherds which were assigned a slightly earlier date. Pottery manufacture might also have occurred on site. A final phase was represented by two pits with sherds from 12th century pottery vessels. The interpretation placed on the ring ditch tentatively suggests that the site might not have been domestic, and instead could perhaps have been a rare example of an Iron Age shrine.

Prehistoric Northampton: A circular ring ditch and flint scatters

Northamptonshire Archaeology, 2021

An arc of ditch excavated at St Peter's Street in the 1970s may have been part of a ring ditch with an internal diameter of c.23m, probably dating to the Late Neolithic/ Early Bronze Age and either an Early Bronze Age round barrow or some other form of Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age monument. The ditch fills produced small scraps of pottery and a small mixed flint assemblage, while the snail assemblage indicated the presence of local scrub or woodland. A complete but damaged collared urn, buried 35m to the east within a shallow depression, may have been an accessory vessel to a lost satellite cremation burial. A small flint assemblage from the excavations at Northampton Station in 2013 is described and related to more extensive flint scatters from nearby sites and at Duston to the west. The assemblages indicate a specific Mesolithic presence at Chalk Lane, but also span the Neolithic to Early Bronze Age. It is suggested that these concentrations of flint to the north of the river Nene may define parts of a zone of enhanced flint deposition centred on the Briar Hill causewayed enclosure to the south of the river. They may at least partly derive from periodic temporary gatherings of people in the vicinity of the enclosure. It has previously been postulated by the author that there were similar zones of enhanced flint deposition around the Dallington causewayed enclosure, Northampton, and the Cardington causewayed enclosure, Bedford.

A Middle Neolithic Ring Ditch and Settlement at King Alfred Way, Newton Poppleford

László Lichtenstein Paul Rainbird, 2018

A rare Neolithic ring ditch which was the focus of a pair of graves containing cremated human remains was uncovered during archaeological works at King Alfred Way, Newton Poppleford. In the vicinity of the ring ditch were several pits or postholes, the finds from which indicated that they were largely contemporary with the ring ditch and graves, and may represent the positions of at least two houses. A few finds, including a sherd of Early Bronze Age Beaker pottery and some sherds of later Iron Age pottery, indicate some later prehistoric use of the area. An assemblage of Peterborough ware pottery, worked flint and a radiocarbon date show that the main use of the site was during the Middle Neolithic. The detailed analyses of the human remains and palaeoenvironmental evidence are also presented.

The excavation of two prehistoric ring-ditches and associated burials at Kilbrew, Co. Meath

Journal of Irish Archaeology, 2021

A rescue excavation undertaken in Kilbrew townland, Co. Meath, focused on two prehistoric ring-ditches discovered by geophysical survey in 2013. The objective was to recover burials exposed in two test trenches previously excavated in 2014, and submit those remains for scientific analysis and radiocarbon dating. The burials are from two adjacent ring-ditches built at different times during the Bronze Age. One of the ring-ditches was reused during the later Iron Age/early medieval period, with an inhumation burial discovered at the centre of the monument.