| Abstract: |
Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by Tetra Tech, on behalf of Abri Group Ltd to undertake an archaeological evaluation of an 8 ha parcel of land located in Sherecroft Farm, Botley, Hampshire, The evaluation, comprising thirty trial trenches (each measuring 50 m by 2 m) was carried out between 6 and 24 April 2023. Twenty one of the thirty excavated trial trenches contained archaeological features and deposits, demonstrating archaeological remains are present across the site. A total of 44 features, comprising ditches, gullies, pits, a possible posthole and a number of other features, represented four periods of activity: Late Bronze Age, Late Iron Age/early Romano-British, medieval and post-medieval, though most of the features remain of uncertain date. The evaluation was able to demonstrate extent, character, date, condition and quality of the archaeological remains, and although there was a paucity of dating evidence it was able to show evidence of activity from Late Bronze Age through to the post-medieval. The test of the geophysical survey was mixed. There was limited confidence in the results and the more definite anomalies were confirmed but often not in multiple locations. And the features with the clearest dating did not correspond with the survey. None of the feature in trench 9 match the geophysics, nor do they do they continue into other trenches, which suggests they form a fairy discrete area. Ditches 909 and 913 are 17.5 m apart centre to centre and pit 906 is equidistant between them. They are parallel and not on the same alignment as the trench so they are not forming a circle. Pottery suggests ditch 913 is significantly older than ditch 909 but ditch 909 has residue artefacts from the same period. So it is possible that the Late Bronze Age material in ditch 913 is residual, as assumed in ditch 909, and that all three features are contemporary and date to the Late Iron Age/early Romano-British period. The environmental evidence from the feature 1504 contained ahigh proportion of oak which is not typical of domestic refuse, and it has been suggested that it could be associated with a cremation burial rite. A Middle Bronze Age placed urn deposit was identified to the west of the site by the Botley bypass investigations. Pottery from ditch 1508 is also Late Iron Age or early Romano-British but is described as more Romanised and therefore possible a little later than that in trench 9. Again there is no obvious continuation of the ditch beyond trenches 8 or 10, although there is a possible connection with undated ditch 10604 from the Botley bypass investigations. Environmental evidence in ditch 1508 is typical of a Late Iron Age/Romano-British site and is likely to reflect background settlement ‘noise’, suggesting that the ditch is located near to settlement features where domestic refuse was discarded. Two watering holes were dated to this same period by the Botley Bypass investigations are located 100 m south-east of ditch 1508 and 150 m east of the features in trench 9. They too have ditches either side of them. A spread of material, 1104, contained High Medieval pottery. It appears to be isolated but could be related to ditch 1204 to the west which contained medieval/post-medieval tile. Neither corresponds to the geophysical survey result. There are few clear continuations of ditches between trenches. Ditches 2003 and 2110 appear to be part of the same feature as undated ditch 10304 from the Botley bypass investigations and they all correspond to the geophysics. Otherwise, a number of ditch could be connected but it is never clear nor are they confirmed by the geophysics. |
