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Hazel
O'Neill
Cotswold Archaeology
Building 11
Kemble Enterprise Park
Cirencester
GL7 6BQ
UK
Tel: 01285 772624
An archaeological excavation was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology (CA) in July and August 2014 at land to the rear of 18 Russell Close, Powick, Worcestershire (centred at SO 81917 50938) at the request of Bovis Homes. The site covered about 0.25ha of the 2.8ha housing development area, lying at approximately 55m AOD on gently sloping land. The excavation targeted an area of Middle Iron Age activity identified in the preceding evaluation. The excavation revealed a small, sub-rectangular enclosure of Middle Iron Age date.
The first phase of enclosure was defined by a palisade trench, with a principal entrance to the south-east. There seems to have been an episode of palisade repair before it was replaced by a ditch, mostly cut to a shallower depth. There was also an outer enclosure ditch on two sides mirroring the course of the palisade. The interior was occupied by a scatter of small pits, postholes and gullies that probably represented structures, but it was not clear that this was a settlement and it may rather have been an enclosure for livestock. Pottery was sparse and there were few other finds or economic and environmental indicators. A deposit of charcoal and cremated bone from a pit near the principal entrance represents an unusual record of Middle Iron Age cremation, although the pyre site appears to have lain elsewhere. A major proportion of the pottery came from two largely complete but fragmentary vessels, one from a ditch at the southern entrance, and the other from colluvial deposits outside the enclosure.