| Abstract: |
Oxford Archaeology (OA) was commissioned by Bellway Homes Limited (South West) to undertake a strip, map and record excavation of the site of a proposed housing development at Coxwell Road, Faringdon, Oxfordshire. The early to middle Iron Age settlement previously investigated immediately to the north (Cook et al. 2004; Weaver and Ford 2004) appears not to have continued into the present site. No certain Iron Age pottery was recovered, and the only possible prehistoric feature encountered was an enclosure ditch that producing no datable finds but was cut by early Roman features. A complex of rectilinear, ditched enclosures was established in the mid to late 1st century AD, and was developed further in the 2nd century, when occupation was at its most intense. The site appears to have been largely abandoned by the end of the 2nd century, with only a single ditch dated to the late Roman period. No buildings could be clearly identified within the enclosures, but a curving gully may have been part of a roundhouse, and a shallow hollow containing stone rubble could have been a building foundation. Very little ceramic building material was recovered, suggesting that any buildings did not have tiled roofs. Evidence for grain processing is provided by a T‐shaped corn‐dryer. Charred cereal chaff was recovered from this feature, though this probably represents fuel rather than the residues of the corn‐drying process itself. Significant amounts of cereal chaff were recovered from other samples across the site, and two millstone fragments indicate that a mill lay in the vicinity. This is notable, as mills denote intensive and centralised processing of grain, and are typically associated with towns, roadside settlements or villa estates. If the site formed part of a larger agricultural estate, the focus of this is not clear. Livestock husbandry was also practiced. The animal bone assemblage was dominated by cattle and sheep, and there are indications that both were bred at or near to the site. The only direct evidence for craft working was smithing slag cakes, that suggest that small‐ scale blacksmithing may have taken place. The pottery assemblage is fairly utilitarian in character, and other artefacts are limited in quantity and range, including simple iron tools and fittings, a glass bead and a bow brooch. An enamelled peacock brooch is a much more unusual find, with only a few plate brooches depicting this bird previously recorded from Britain. Overall, the picture is of an agrarian settlement of modest status. Sparser Roman activity was identified in the two previous excavations to the north. Features in this northern area included a 2nd‐century corn‐dryer (Cook et al. 2004), echoing the evidence for crop processing at the present site. Other Roman features in the previous excavation areas included an inhumation burial (ibid.) and a sub‐circular stone structure of 2nd century or later date interpreted as a shrine, based on associated finds of metalwork such as a spearhead and arrowhead (Weaver and Ford 2004). It would appear that the focus of 2nd‐century domestic activity lay within the present site, while the area to the north had more of a ritual association. |
