Title: |
Land adjoining 80 Wisbech Road, Littleport, Cambridgeshire: |
Series: |
Archaeological Solutions Ltd unpublished report series
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Downloads: |
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Licence Type: |
ADS Terms of Use and Access
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DOI |
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Publication Type: |
Report (in Series)
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Abstract: |
Between June 2005 and February 2008, Archaeological Solutions carried out two stages of archaeological investigation on land adjoining 80 Wisbech Road, Littleport, Cambridgeshire (NGR TL 5608 8732), in advance of residential development. The site encompassed part of the former Fen edge on the north side of Littleport 'island'. The investigations revealed three phases of activity, focused on the higher, drier southern part of the site. Scattered struck flint indicated sporadic activity during the early Neolithic (Phase 1), when this area was probably dry. In the late Bronze Age/ early Iron Age (Phase 2), numerous shallow pits, some containing pottery and occasional daub fragments, suggest the site lay within paddocks on the periphery of a settlement further to the south. Peat growth in the north of the site was well-developed by this time, having begun around the middle Bronze Age. Remains of two ditches, the larger of which ran down into the fen, suggest that similar agricultural land use continued into the late Iron Age (Phase 3). Part of a ?curated Mesolithic/ Neolithic quartzite pebble hammer was found in the upper fill of the larger ditch, close to its terminus. This might represent a deliberately-placed 'votive' deposit. Its deposition may have been associated with the rising water table, which was causing flooding on the site around this time and probably led to its abandonment soon after. Column samples contained well-preserved pollen evidence for later prehistoric environmental change and agriculture in this part of Littleport. |
Author: |
Richard Greene
T Woolhouse
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Publisher: |
Archaeological Solutions Ltd
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Other Person/Org: |
Historic England (OASIS Reviewer)
Cambridgeshire Historic Environment Record (OASIS Reviewer)
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Year of Publication: |
2009
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Locations: |
Site: |
Land adjoining 80 Wisbech Road, Littleport, Cambridgeshire: |
Parish: |
LITTLEPORT |
District: |
East Cambridgeshire |
County: |
Cambridgeshire |
Country: |
England |
Grid Reference: 556080, 287320 (Easting, Northing)
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Subjects / Periods: |
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Identifiers: |
OASIS Id: |
archaeol7-74184 |
OBIB: |
AS Report No. 3459 |
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Source: |
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Relations: |
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Created Date: |
23 Nov 2016 |