| Abstract: |
An archaeological excavation was undertaken at Avanti Fields School, Leicester (NGR SK 6260
0648), between March and May 2020. The project was commissioned by Orion Heritage on behalf of
BAM Construct UK, in advance of the construction of a school building and sports hall with associated
external recreation areas, sports facilities, access and landscaping. Planning permission had been
granted subject to a programme of archaeological works: previous geophysical survey and excavation
during the past two decades had shown that surrounding extensive Iron Age settlement, as well as
ridge and furrow agriculture, extended to within the site boundaries. As a result, excavation was
targeted and took place in the northern part of the development, covering an area just over 0.28
hectares in size (2832m2).
This known potential was borne out during the investigations. A small background scatter of residual
worked flint provided evidence of intermittent activity on the site over a considerable period, but most
of the archaeological features comprised elements of the mid to late Iron Age Humberstone
‘aggregated’ settlement, previously excavated during development work immediately adjacent. There
was some direct overlap between features in earlier excavations and good correlation overall with the
geophysical survey. Activity was defined by at least three roundhouses and an enclosure ditch and, in
common with previous areas, the roundhouses were characterised by substantial encircling
penannular drainage ditches but only occasional evidence for the building structure itself. The
roundhouses appeared to have domestic functions, with evidence for small-scale bone-working and
metal-working, and much of the pottery and worked stone was locally made and/or traded from within
the surrounding area. More unusual material however, such as a charred grape pip and a small piece
of blue-green glass, may be Roman items representing significant trading contacts: such finds are
characteristic of later deposits throughout the Humberstone Iron Age settlement. In general, the
environmental remains suggested a mixed self-sufficient farming regime, and in this particular area
pastoralism was probably the main economic activity.
Although only a small area was opened, the site adds an important new contribution to the dataset
previously established for the Iron Age settlement, thought to be the largest in Leicestershire. It
provides comparable and complementary archaeological evidence to the other excavations nearby,
and these can now be considered together to improve our understanding of later prehistoric
occupation more widely.
Later activity was limited to a narrow system of plough furrows dated to the post-medieval period, as
well as a series of modern intrusions associated with previous construction compounds for earlier
development. Unfortunately, these had disturbed large areas of the site, thereby compromising the
integrity of the archaeology in places. |
