| Abstract: |
The evaluation fieldwork comprised the excavation of 83 trenches in the locations shown on Fig. 2, consisting of 47no. 50m x 1.8m trenches; and 36no. 25m x 1.8 trenches.
The trenches were located to test geophysical anomalies, to act as a means of prospection for remains of a type or period that may not respond to geophysical survey and to provide a representative sample of the remainder of the site. Trench 45, located in the north-eastern part of the Site, was repositioned to respect the extant north-eastern field boundary, with the approval of Geoff Saunders.
Trenches were set out on OS National Grid co-ordinates using Leica GPS and scanned for live services by trained CA staff using CAT and genny equipment, in accordance with the CA Safe System of Work for avoiding underground services.
Overburden was stripped from the trenches by a mechanical excavator fitted with a toothless grading bucket. All machining was conducted under archaeological supervision to the top of the natural substrate, which was the level at which archaeological features were first encountered.
Archaeological features/deposits were investigated, planned and recorded in accordance with CA Technical Manual 1: Fieldwork Recording Manual.
Deposits were assessed for their palaeoenvironmental potential, and samples were taken in accordance with CA Technical Manual 2: The Taking and Processing of Environmental and Other Samples from Archaeological Sites.
Artefacts were processed in accordance with CA Technical Manual 3: Treatment of Finds Immediately after Excavation.
CA will make arrangements with The Higgins Museum (accession no. BEDFM 2021.105) for the deposition of the project archive and, subject to agreement with the legal landowner(s), the artefact collection. The archive and artefact collection will be
deposited in their entirety with The Higgins Museum, with no material being accepted by Milton Keynes Museum. A digital archive will also be prepared and deposited with the Archaeology Data Service (ADS). The archives (museum and digital) will be prepared and deposited in accordance with Standard and guidance for the creation,compilation, transfer and deposition of archaeological archives (CIfA 2014; updated
October 2020).
A summary of information from this project, as set out in Appendix D, will be entered onto the OASIS online database of archaeological projects in Britain. Between January and February 2022, Cotswold Archaeology
carried out an archaeological evaluation of land known as Snakes
Meadow, between Astwood and Stagsden, in Milton Keynes and
Bedfordshire. The evaluation results will inform a series of planning
applications for the development of a solar farm on the Site. The
fieldwork comprised the excavation of eighty-three trenches,
targeting anomalies identified by a preceding geophysical survey
as well as testing apparently blank areas of the Site.
Archaeological features encountered during the fieldwork broadly
correlated with the results of the geophysical survey, comprising
ditches, pits, furrows and field boundary ditches ranging in date
from the later prehistoric to the modern period. A zone of putative
Iron Age/Roman settlement remains, comprising a series of
enclosures, and associated internal and external features identified
by the geophysical survey in the north-western corner of the Site,
was largely excluded from the evaluation as this area will not be
developed. However, some peripheral anomalies were targeted
and corresponding features identified within the trenches. Pottery
and paleo-environmental evidence confirmed the presence of Iron
Age/Roman domestic activity.
A localised area of possible 12th to 14th century domestic
occupation was identified in Trench 1, in the south-western corner
of the Site. |
