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Oxford Archaeology (Cambridge)
15 Trafalgar Way
Bar Hill
Cambridgeshire
CB23 8SQ
This collection comprises images, databases, GIS data and site records from evaluation and excavation work at land north of Halstead Road, Eight Ash Green, Essex undertaken by Oxford Archaeology East in November 2020 and March 2021.
A 38-trench evaluation across three fields was undertaken between the 2nd and 13th November 2020. The archaeological remains uncovered fell into two periods; a very small amount of possible Late Neolithic activity was indicated by a pottery assemblage recovered from one of three post holes in the southern portion of the western field, and a network of ditches relating to medieval and post-medieval agricultural activity, some of which corresponded to boundaries recorded on the 1837 Fordham Parish Tithe map.
An open area excavation of approximately 0.85ha was undertaken between the 1st and the 18th of March 2021, targeting the prehistoric and medieval - post-medieval features revealed during the November 2020 evaluation. The south‐western corner of the site contained a group of 14 small, sub circular pits/post holes, one of which contained pottery dated tentatively to the Late Neolithic period. No obvious structure was formed by these features, although it is possible that some of them may have formed a fence line or wind break. They were probably the result of a low‐level, transient presence at the site during the Late Neolithic period.
In the south‐eastern corner of the excavation area, close to the current line of Halstead Road, a small rectilinear ditch system was revealed, from which a small medieval ceramic assemblage was recovered. It is probable that this network of ditches belonged to a system of small plots associated with roadside dwellings or cultivation. To the north of this, two broadly parallel boundaries were revealed, possibly belonging to an open field system on the periphery of the village during the medieval period.
The final phase of activity at the site comprised two boundary ditches probably associated with post‐medieval field arrangements, the latter of which was present on the 1837 Fordham Parish Tithe Map. A small assemblage of assorted post‐medieval finds was recovered from the two ditches.