Antiq J 47 (2)

SU 150437. A first report on the rescue excavations deals with two areas, one just outside the bank on the S, and the other a sector of bank and ditch on the N of the monument. After mechanical removal of 46,500sq ft of topsoil, excavation proceeded by hand. Outside the S bank was a large subrectangular timber structure. The bank on the N, now only 12in high, covered a rich occupation layer containing Mid and Late Neo pottery, including grooved ware. There is a particularly wide berm. The lowest of five hearths in the ditch contained rusticated ware and beaker sherds and may provide a 14C date for an early phase of the monument. The earliest pottery is matched at Windmill Hill, Woodhenge and Durrington itself (1952 dig). The associations of grooved ware and of rusticated Beaker ware in various parts of Britain suggest a date in 1st half of 1st millenium BC; a possible means of reconciling this date with the 14C date (c 2620 BC) obtained from the 1952 dig is suggested.

SP 727562. The findings of a tripartite collared urn dating to c 1500 BC raises once more the question of the source of pitted decoration. The urn, which contained the cremated remains of a young person, is of Longworth's primary series and combines Beaker and Mortlake traits. However, the closely-spaced cylindrical pits which cover the entire body below the neck are paralleled only in the handled beaker from ?Somersham (Hunts), which itself recalls the shape of the shale/amber/gold cups of the Wessex Culture. The drum-like base of the Milton urn probably derives from Dutch protruding-foot beakers, but Dutch pitted decoration is confined to the upper part of the vessel and is much too early for the Milton/Somersham examples. Although modern opinion rejects notions of Northern (Baltic) influence, one can still postulate the occasional introduction of new traits by people coasting along the S shores of the North Sea and across to the Thames. Elements of Northern decoration and TRB forms could thus have passed in Middle Neolithic times to our Ebbsfleet wares, from which the Milton urn must ultimately stem.

SU 47352730. Two rich burials were found during mechanical digging of a sewer trench. The contents of Grave I - thirteen or fourteen vessels, including copies of samian forms, ornaments and metal box-fittings - were rescued from their (separate) spoil-heap. The cremation, contained in a flagon, was probably that of an adult male; there were also remains of a ?dog. Grave II, a rectangular pit first seen in the side of the trench, was fully excavated. On a decorated shale tray a meal had been set out with drinking vessels, cutlery and food. Personal possessions included a gaming board and styli. A glass jug probably dates to 3rd quarter of 1st cent AD, and a bronze jug with decorated handle may be of Campanian manufacture, first half of 1st cent AD. The cremation was too fragmentary for age/sex determination. A date of 70-95 is suggested for the samian, deposition of the burial being c 85-95. The significance of the "banquet for the dead" and the old and damaged condition of some vessels is discussed.