| Abstract: |
The location of the excavation area was informed by the
results of the archaeological evaluation (CA 2015), and was agreed with Hugh
Coddington (CAOCC). An excavation area of 0.6 ha was set out on OS National
Grid (NGR) co-ordinates, using Leica GPS, and surveyed in accordance with CA
Technical Manual 4: Survey Manual. An archaeological excavation was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology (CA) in September
and October 2015, on land to the west of Abingdon Road, Drayton. The excavation area was
located at the north-west end of the proposed development area, and was targeted on
archaeological features identified by a previous evaluation of the site (CA 2015).
The Bronze Age and Roman features identified by evaluation and excavation are situated on
a gravel island within the wider floodplain of the River Ock, a minor tributary of the Thames.
An enclosing ditch, originally of Middle Bronze Age date, delineated an area of gravel drift
geology from the less well drained alluvial silts and underlying clays of the flood plain and
river terrace, and is likely to have provided necessary drainage at this time. This ditch was
subsequently recut in the Late Iron Age or early Roman period. A Bronze Age enclosure
ditch, together with limited evidence of activity of this date, was recorded within the
excavation area.
Excavation confirmed the results of geophysical survey and field evaluation, and identified
the remains of a Late Iron Age/Roman enclosed farmstead, with associated land boundaries.
The dating of the ceramic assemblage recovered within the area excavated indicated that
this part of the site was occupied for a limited time, between the mid-first and mid-second
centuries AD, although pottery of later Roman date has been recorded within the vicinity of
the excavation area (WYG 2014).
It is probable that the boundary ditches identified by excavation date to the period of Late
Iron Age/Romano-British transition, and comprise part of a wider scheme of enclosure which
was focused in the northern and eastern parts of the Site. Artefactual evidence recovered
from ditches and refuge pits is diagnostic of domestic activity, with coarse and fineware
pottery types, and small quantities of central Gaulish imported wares. Recorded pottery
distribution within other parts of the site suggests further, and possibly later, settlement
activity beyond the excavation area, to the north and west. The extent of enclosed
settlement has been confirmed by the results of recent geophysical survey (Abingdon
Archaeological Geophysics 2015).
Two probable Iron Age four-post structures were also identified within the late Iron
Age/Roman enclosure. A penannular gulley, representing an Iron Age or early Roman
roundhouse of c.15m diameter, was recorded within the northern corner of the excavated
area. The full extent of the roundhouse was not revealed. A smaller possible Iron Age
structure, with a diameter of c. 6m, was recorded in the centre of the excavated area. It had
been truncated by a later Roman ditch and may, on the basis of its relatively small size, have
functioned as a livestock pen or storage building. A limited assemblage of animal bone
suggests a primarily pastoral farming economy, an interpretation which is broadly supported
by a number of other excavated sites within the Upper Thames Valley.
A system of north-west/south-east aligned medieval furrows was recorded across the
excavation area, which confirms that it comprised part of the open-field agricultural
hinterland of Drayton village during this period. The evidence from this site complements that
from a number of investigated sites within the surrounding area, which indicates that the
wider landscape was extensively settled and exploited during the later prehistoric and
Roman periods. |
