Northamptonshire Archaeology 37

An overview of the state of commercial archaeology, and the loss of jobs following the recession of 2008-10.

A triple-ditched circular enclosure, 23m in diameter with a central space 7.8m in diameter, was excavated in advance of new housing. The outer two ditches had single entrances to the north-west. A possible narrow entrance through the inner ditch had been blocked by an elongated pit, which was packed from bottom to top with a dense mass of disarticulated human bone, from perhaps 130 individuals. Only selected bones, particularly the femur with lesser quantities of the other major limb bones, had been collected for deposition in the pit. Fragments of skull are present in some quantity but vertebra and ribs are rare, and there are no hand or foot bones. Initial examination of the bone has recorded the presence of frequent lesions around the major limb joints, suggesting that the deposited material may have come from partially decayed corpses that had been forcibly dismembered to separate the major long bone joints. However, it will require much further analysis before the full story of the burial rite and the treatment of the individuals will be more fully understood. Initial radiocarbon dates indicate that the bone deposit was the product of a single event occurring in the Middle Neolithic (3360-3100 cal BC), although a more extensive programme of dating will be needed to establish the chronology of the whole monument in relation to the mortuary deposit.

In October and November 2011 a prehistoric ring ditch and an adjacent ditch system, located by geophysical survey and previously investigated by trial trenching, were subject to open area excavation. The ring ditch has been shown to be a henge monument, situated on high sloping ground, just below the watershed, overlooking the Willow Brook, which joins the River Nene to the east. A nearby pit contained an assemblage of decorated and rusticated Beaker sherds, and fragments of hazelnut shell have given the earliest radiocarbon date, 2140-1950 cal BC, indicating that the pit and perhaps the adjacent henge, were constructed in the Early Bronze Age, the final centuries of the 3rd millennium BC. The henge was near circular at 31.0-33.5m in diameter, with a broad U-shaped ditch and an entrance to the south-east. The former presence of an external bank was indicated by deposits of limestone that had come in from outside. There were a few shallow pits within the interior and to the north-west the unurned cremation burial of a 6-8 year old child was accompanied by a jet bead. This burial and a deposit of carbonised oak in the secondary fills of the ditch have given radiocarbon dates in the first half of the 2nd millennium BC, 1750-1620 cal BC, indicating that the burial was a later addition to the monument. A Middle Bronze Age side-looped spearhead also came from the fill of the henge ditch, showing the survival of the henge as a substantial earthwork. To the north of the henge there was an L-shaped ditch system, and a red deer antler tine has been radiocarbon dated to the Middle Bronze Age, 1190-1010 cal BC. The ditch also produced part of a human femur and fragments from a cylindrical fired-clay loomweight.

An archaeological evaluation was carried out by Northamptonshire Archaeology on 180 hectares of open farmland to the north-east, east and south-east of Wootton, Northampton. Areas of archaeological remains had been identified from aerial photographs and geophysical survey, and these and the intervening areas were examined and characterised through the excavation of 306 trial trenches. This report focuses on the features of certain or likely Bronze Age date. At the northern end of the site, on the Hunsbury ridge, there are two or possibly three ring ditches, probably the remains of Bronze Age round barrows, one of which had been previously investigated. There was also a dispersed pattern of field or enclosure ditches of possible Iron Age date. On the lower slopes to the north of Wootton Brook there was a single pit, radiocarbon dated to the Early Bronze Age, containing a deposit of dark charcoal-rich soil, with a small amount of cremated bone, at least partly cattle bone, three flint arrowheads and a scraper. This pit joins the growing corpus of Neolithic and Bronze Age pits in the region located in recent years as chance finds during the investigation of extensive development sites. In the same area there was also an Iron Age ring ditch and several late Iron Age ditches. At the southern end of the site, on a low prominence south of Wootton Brook, a middle/late Iron Age settlement comprised a sub-rectangular enclosure as well as subsidiary enclosures and pits. An isolated ring ditch in this area may be either a Bronze Age ring ditch or part of the Iron Age complex.           

This project sought to assess the condition of the earthworks at Hunsbury, establish the extent of archaeological survival within the ramparts and examined a previously recorded external ditch. Three geophysical surveys were commissioned which were followed by small scale trial excavations. These demonstrated that the 19th-century quarrying within the interior in the 19th century had left a small but significant area intact which was larger than previously imagined. It also showed that the hillfort had a vitrified rampart, a comparative rarity in England and confirmed the existence of a substantial but incomplete and undated outer ditch.

Between April and July 2010 Northamptonshire Archaeology undertook a programme of watching briefs and open area excavation at the southern fringe of the Market Place, Kettering, Northamptonshire. The truncated remains of 18th to 20th-century tenements were revealed, comprising stone wall foundations, stone and brick-lined cellars and pits. In association there was a substantial assemblage of post-medieval pottery, together with clay tobacco-pipe, animal bone and other finds, including a set of vulcanite dentures. Documentary research has identified the excavated structures as the remnants of commercial premises and has provided details of their occupancy through the later post-medieval period.

Northamptonshire Archaeology carried out buildings recording at the former RAF Chelveston Airfield, Chelveston. Two of several Nissen huts constructed during World War 2 and used for the storage of small arms, ammunition and explosives were surveyed and photographed prior to their restoration for reuse as storage.