Aldi, Exeter Road, Topsham, Devon. Archaeological Evaluation and Excavation.
Cotswold Archaeology, 2017. https://doi.org/10.5284/1043259. How to cite using this DOI
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Hazel
O'Neill
Cotswold Archaeology
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Resource identifiers
- ADS Collection: 2736
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1043259
- How to cite using this DOI
Introduction
An archaeological investigation was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology between October 2015 and January 2016 at Aldi, Exeter Road, Topsham, Devon. An initial evaluation of the site comprised the excavation of six trenches, which uncovered a number of prehistoric and Roman features. Three excavation areas and eight additional trenches subsequently targeted the identified features.
The evaluation and excavation identified seven phases of activity between the Neolithic to post-medieval periods. A number of Neolithic pits and several Early Bronze Age cremation burials were uncovered during the archaeological investigation. A probable later prehistoric roundhouse was succeeded by several phases of Roman occupation. Four buildings which have been interpreted as Roman military warehouses were replaced by an area of agriculture in the late 1st to 2nd centuries AD. Some evidence for post-Roman activity is illustrated by a single pit dated to this period and possibly by a number of undated ditches and pits that were stratigraphically later than the prehistoric and Roman remains. Finally, several large post-medieval quarry pits were also found on the western side of the site.
