Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society 101

Between June 2005 and February 2008, Archaeological Solutions carried out two stages of archaeological investigation on land adjoining 80 Wisbech Road, Littleport, Cambridgeshire, in advance of 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). 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. 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. Column samples contained well-preserved pollen evidence for later prehistoric environmental change and agriculture in this part of Littleport.

Excavations between 1998 and 2006 revealed significant prehistoric activity at a site off Broadlands, Peterborough, to the north of the well-known Fengate sites. The main period of activity at this site was in the late Bronze Age to early Iron Age and seems to have been primarily agricultural (pastoral) in nature, with features including a stockyard and two water-holes, one containing two preserved log ladders. These features provide evidence of how pastoral activity shifted onto higher ground when the fen edge features of the Fengate area became inundated. A single crouched burial, dating to the early Iron Age and marked by a wooden post, was present. Its location may have been influenced by the presence of a Beaker barrow c. 100m to its north-north-east, and/or by its position between the contemporary agricultural features and the edge of the fen. A middle Bronze Age field system and small-scale late Iron Age to early Romano-British activity were also recorded but are not presented in this article.

In 1967 a team led by Mary Cra'ster undertook the rescue excavation of an Iron Age enclosure discovered during the construction of Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge. Following the Cambridge Archaeological Unit's large-scale excavations at the Hutchison Site along the western side of the hospital grounds in 2002-03, subsequent development afforded an opportunity to further investigate Cra'ster's enclosure. This article gives a brief appraisal of Cra'ster's findings before describing the results of the 2007 and 2010 excavations. As the area was known to be truncated and any minor settlement features were unlikely to survive, the main aim of the recent programme was to achieve substantive finds and environmental assemblages from the enclosure to provide greater context for the earlier fieldwork. Aside from a possible pit and plough furrows, the main enclosure ditch was the only significant feature present. The pottery assemblage indicated a Middle/later Iron Age date, and suggested that the site should be ranked as a fairly typical domestic compound of the period. LD

This paper details the excavation of a small rural settlement situated on a clay ridge at Summersfield, Papworth Everard. The ridgeline was first settled during the Iron Age, with the construction of five roundhouses and three enclosures. During the Late Iron Age/early Roman period the settlement developed further with a series of enclosures representing different forms of activity, including habitation, horticulture, crop processing, and the management of livestock. A single burial, that of an adult male buried with a 'sprinkling' of pottery, was encountered during the excavation. Possibly representing two distinct farmsteads, the settlement remains lay either side of a partially metalled routeway. Although this may have branched off the presumed route of Ermine Street, it is possible that this is the Roman road itself. There was a hiatus in activity from the end of the Roman period until the 10th century AD, when settlement to the north of the excavation area, centred on the church of St Peter, encroached into Summersfield. Five separate enclosures and the remains of two structures located on the edge of the settlement were revealed. Discussion focuses on the Iron Age and Roman phases, revealing the character of the later prehistoric and Romano-British settlement on the claylands; this further supports evidence from other recent excavations that have indicated that settlement was not confined to the river terraces.

Brief summaries of archaeological work undertaken in the county, ordered alphabetically by location. LD