Title: |
Holwell Quarry, Holwell, Hertfordshire. Archaeological Field Evaluation. |
Number of Pages: |
39 |
Biblio Note |
Please note that this is a bibliographic record only, as originally entered into the BIAB database.
The ADS have no files for download, and unfortunately cannot advise further on where to access hard copy or digital versions.
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Publication Type: |
Report
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Abstract: |
Eleven trial trenches, each 50m long by 1.8m wide, were excavated across the site as part of an archaeological evaluation carried out in advance of a planning application for the extension of the existing quarry at Holwell. Each trench contained archaeological features and, in general, these correlated closely with the results from an earlier geophysical survey. Arefacts including pottery, quern stones, bronzework and animal bone were recovered. Trenches excavated to the north of the exisiting quarry void indicated activity during the Late Iron Age. The scatter of pits and ditches were not directly characteristic of a domestic settlement foci. They may have represented the margins of a settlement now destroyed to the north or better represented to the south. The area to the south of the existing quarry was identified during geophysical survey as likely to represent settlement and this was confirmed by trial trenching. A complex network of ditches indicated the site of an enclosed farmstead, dated by pottery and other finds from the Late Iron Age into the Romano-British period. The range of finds recovered from the fills of pits and ditches confirmed the domestic status of the settlement. To the west, in an area running the length of the quarry, the majority of recorded features appeared to be the result of ploughing, probably of medieval date or later. Similar features were found cutting across the Iron Age and Roman remaiins to the north and south of the quarry. This extended period of cultivation had resulted in the erosion of archaeoloigcal deposits over the whole site, with only earth-cut features now surviving. [Au(adp)] |
Publisher: |
Bedfordshire County Council, Planning Department Conservation and Archaeology Section
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Year of Publication: |
1998
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Locations: |
Location - Auto Detected: |
Holwell |
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Subjects / Periods: |
ROMAN
(Historic England Periods)
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Late Iron Age (Auto Detected Temporal) |
Medieval (Auto Detected Temporal) |
IRON AGE
(Historic England Periods)
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Note: |
Date Of Issue From:
1998
Date Of Coverage From:
01
Date Of Coverage To:
01
Editorial Expansion:
Site name: HOLWELL QUARRY, HOLWELL Study area: Investigation type: Evaluation District: North Hertfordshire Monument: [finds]. Early Iron Age, DITCH. Roman (AD43-410), DITCH. Late Iron Age, DITCHED ENCLOSURE. Late Iron Age, DITCHED ENCLOSURE. Roman (AD43-410), FURROW. Late Iron Age, FURROW. Roman (AD43-410), PIT. Late Iron Age, [finds]. Late Iron Age, [finds]. Middle Iro Ngr: TL16703210 Parish: Pirton Postcode: SG5 3ST
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Source: |
BIAB
(Archaeological Investigations Project (AIP))
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Created Date: |
19 Jan 2009 |