Surrey Archaeological Collections
Surrey Archaeological Society, 2003. (updated 2023) https://doi.org/10.5284/1000221. How to cite using this DOI
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- ADS Collection: 379
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1000221
- How to cite using this DOI
SURREY ARCHAEOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS
Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age placed deposits from Westcroft Road, Carshalton: their meaning and interpretation
This paper details the results of the excavation of a late Late Bronze Age site at Westcroft Road, Carshalton, and the analysis of material recovered from the site. The archaeological remains consisted of a series of cut features which do not have any apparent domestic or agricultural function. Artefacts and faunal material had been placed at the bases of many of these features in an ordered manner, and on the basis of environmental indicators, almost certainly in late spring, these remains are interpreted as representing a ritual structured deposition. Placed deposits have been identified on sites dating from the Neolithic to the Iron Age and there is growing evidence from the Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age period for ritual activity which is very similar in form and content to the findings from Westcroft Road. This paper discusses the remains from Westcroft Road in the light of this evidence, examines the site within the context of Late Bronze Age occupation in the locality, and proposes an interpretation of the meaning of the ritual activity.
