South Midlands Archaeology (38)

Reports on investigations undertaken at various locations along a new road corridor, including several within the Biddenham Loop, an area that saw intense activity from the Neolithic through to the Romano-British period. Late Bronze Age and Romano-British features were also recorded at the A421, Kempston, whilst evidence for Saxo-Norman settlement and a system of parallel Romano-British bedding trenches interpreted as relating to vine cultivation were identified on land west of Kempston. LD

This paper describes a newly discovered archaeological site, located on the south bank of the River Great Ouse in the parish of Blunham near Tempsford, Bedfordshire. Apart from one test pit, the site has yet to be explored by excavation and therefore its identification, function and date remain provisional. However, it is argued here that there is already enough evidence from historic maps, aerial photographs and observations on the ground to provisionally equate it with the lost Viking fortress at Tempsford -- mentioned in the entry for 917 in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. This was the place where a Danish army was encamped for a summer while attacking Bedford and raiding surrounding territory. It was also the site of an important battle between Danish and West Saxon armies, resulting in the death of the Danish King of East Anglia and the storming and capture of the fort.

Reports on further phases of area investigation in advance of gravel extraction at The Lea, Denham. This identified the continuation of a mid- to late Bronze Age feature, probably representing a trackway, as well as Romano-British enclosures, wells and drying ovens. LD

Reports on the investigation of a prehistoric site just south of the Iron Age hillfort of Madmarston Hill [near Swalcliffe, Oxfordshire]. Although the features encountered during excavation could not be exactly matched to those seen on aerial photographs, the results were informative and complemented findings from excavations on the hill itself in 1957--58. The investigation confirmed that the enclosures in this area were domestic and constituted a settlement rather than a barrow cemetery or other site of a ritual nature. The large amount of animal bone shows that there was a strong pastoral economy here, and storage pits suggest that subsistence arable was practised as well as just pastoral agriculture. The settlement dated from the early to middle Iron Age. LD

Short article reporting on the 2007 excavation season of a long-running project in Oxfordshire, which acts as a training excavation and is committed to education in the widest sense, with participants from across the world as well as a selection of British universities. Although severe flooding meant that some objectives for this season's work in Trendles Field could not be met, the excavation findings nonetheless provided a significant step forward in understanding this important rural Roman religious complex. Of particular significance was the discovery of a small square shrine -- key aims for next season include the completion of excavations in this area as well as in the centre of the arena. LD

Reports on geophysical survey work undertaken at Cadwell Farm in 2007 as part of the Brightwell Baldwin Community History and Archaeology Project, run by the South Oxfordshire Archaeological Group. The survey investigated an area of former earthworks, previously interpreted as the site of a deserted medieval village but also said locally to have been a monastery. The results confirmed that despite levelling and ploughing operations in modern times, a significant amount of archaeology had survived. The data informed the interpretation of surface features visible in early aerial photographs, and revealed a complex multi-period site with clear occupation at least back to the Iron Age and possibly earlier. LD

Numerous brief, separately authored notes on archaeological investigations carried out, in the main, during 2007 in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire. Entries are organised within county sections by archaeological unit, consultancy or society, and within these sections alphabetically by location. The more substantial contributions include: