Boulton Moor, Chellaston, Derby (Phase 4). Archaeological Evaluation and Excavation (OASIS ID: oxfordar1-295869)
Oxford Archaeology (South), 2017. https://doi.org/10.5284/1044661. How to cite using this DOI
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This work is licensed under the ADS Terms of Use and Access.
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Oxford Archaeology (South)
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Resource identifiers
- ADS Collection: 2883
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1044661
- How to cite using this DOI
Introduction
Twenty evaluation trenches representing a 3% sample of the site were excavated on a standard grid. A prehistoric pit was found in Trench 15, so a 10m square was opened up around it. Four similar pits were found forming an east-west alignment, and another in line in Trench 14 to the west. Several east-west post-medieval furrows, a large pit of later 19th or 20th century date and two recent field boundaries were also found.
The evaluation was followed immediately by further excavation; Trench 15 was extended considerably, and other trenches by 10m squares. Fifteen pits in alignment were exposed in Area 15, and five in Area 14, but none in Areas 11 and 17 further west or in Trench 10 to the east. Area 21 was stripped between Areas 14 and 17, and Area 22 between Areas 15 and 10, the latter exposing three further pits on an ENE-WSW alignment. Area 10 was therefore extended northwards and located another five pits, showing that the alignment extended for at least 160m across the site. Fourteen pits were excavated, five containing pottery tempered with quartzite, but no other finds except burnt flint and one utilized stone fragment. A sample of charcoal from one of the pits has been radiocarbon-dated to 760-420 cal BC at 94% confidence. One of the pits in Areas 15 was cut by a curving ditch comprising two lengths at right angles with a gap in between. The north-eastern arm was recut by a shallower gully, which continued south-westwards right across the area. This gully contained sand-tempered pottery with ferrous inclusions including a pedestal base of Iron Age date. One deep and five small pits, all undated, were found south of the alignment in Trench 15, plus a post-medieval gully.
