Volume 36 (2010)
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Northamptonshire Archaeology Volume 36 (2010) |
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Editorial
Andy Chapman
[pp. iii-iv]
A re-investigation of the scientific dating evidence from the hillfort at
Rainsborough
Sarah-Jane Clelland and Cathy M Batt
A
chronological framework is an integral part of any archaeological interpretation
but it is often restricted by the lack of precision in the dates available to
the archaeologist. This is a particular problem in the Iron Age, due to the
limitations of radiocarbon dating in this period; specifically the period
between 700-400BC where the radiocarbon calibration curve provides large errors.
Archaeomagnetic dating is predominately a method of dating materials that have
been heated in antiquity. Therefore archaeomagnetic studies offer an
underexploited opportunity to provide dates for the Iron Age through the study
of past geomagnetic field, as recorded by archaeological materials. As with
radiocarbon, archaeomagnetic dating requires a calibration curve to provide
calendar dates. However, in order to produce a calibration curve it is necessary
to assign a calendar date to every magnetic direction used to construct it. One
of the main problems with the current method of calibrating magnetic directions
is the imprecision of the calendar dates attributed to the magnetic direction
determinations used in it. This ongoing research is attempting to improve on the
independent dating associated with each data point in the current calibration
curve. Unlike radiocarbon dating, there is evidence that the direction of the
geomagnetic field was undergoing rapid changes between 700-100BC, so
archaeomagnetism should be capable of high resolution dating during this period.
This paper describes how evidence from the Iron Age hillfort at Rainsborough is
being used to improve the current archaeomagnetic calibration curve for the UK.
[pp. 1-7]
Excavation of Iron Age and Roman settlement at Upton, Northampton
Charlotte Walker and Anthony Maull
Excavation at Upton, Northampton
prior to residential development located settlement from the late Bronze
Age/early Iron Age and continuing through the Iron Age and Roman periods. A
small group of isolated pits, radiocarbon dated to the late Bronze Age/early
Iron Age, contained a small pottery assemblage and a saddle quern. A short
length of a pit alignment was examined. A number of pits contained early/middle
Iron Age pottery, but a radiocarbon date centred on the 4th to 3rd centuries BC
indicates that the pits, which were unusually deep, were still open into the
middle Iron Age. Middle to late Iron Age settlement comprised several enclosures
of varying sizes and plan forms, and a possible roundhouse, all set alongside a
linear boundary ditch with the same orientation as the pit alignment but lying
50m to the south. The linear boundary was later reinstated slightly to the south
of its original line, contemporary with a second phase of enclosure
construction. The landscape was re-organised in the early Roman period, the late
1st/early 2nd centuries AD, with the introduction of a rectilinear ditch system
and a patchwork of small enclosures, lying largely to the east of the Iron Age
settlement and either a satellite of, or peripheral to the ‘small town' at
Duston. Settlement continued through the 3rd century and into the later
4th century. There was a complex palimpsest of rectilinear and more irregular
ditched enclosures, and in the early phase there was a pottery kiln and possible
workshop, a stone-lined well and two inhumation burials. The material finds are
fairly typical for a small rural settlement, although the presence of some
finewares and a range of building materials suggest that there was a well
appointed household nearby.
[pp. 9-52 + CD]
Anne Foard-Colby and Charlotte Walker
Northamptonshire Archaeology carried out archaeological excavation, prior to
development of a sports hall, on 0.18ha of land within a walled garden at
Quinton House School, Upton, Northampton. A small group of pits or
postholes contained pottery dated to the late Bronze Age/early Iron Age. The
continuation of a pit alignment seen in previous excavations to the east was
confirmed, although only a single pit lay within the site. Most of a small Iron
Age enclosure, probably dating to the later middle Iron Age, was excavated. The
enclosure had seen intensive use, containing a circular sub-enclosure, which may
have been a roundhouse ring ditch, two small rectangular sub-enclosures and
other boundary ditches and scattered postholes and pits, the latter lying mainly
close to the enclosure ditch. The pottery assemblage was dominated by large
storage jars. The enclosure lies to the west of an area of more extensive
contemporary settlement examined in previous excavations, with the Roman town of
Duston lying further to the east. A medieval ditch system and an associated
hollow-way, dated to the 13th-16th centuries, may lie near the northern end of
Upton deserted medieval village. A later medieval stone structure, a stone-lined
pit and adjacent wall, were constructed over the filled ditches. A number of
quarry pits at the western end of the site produced pottery, clay tobacco-pipes
and glass bottles dating from the late 17th to 19th centuries.
[pp. 53-73]
An Iron Age pit alignment near Upton, Northampton
Simon Carlyle
A short length of an Iron Age pit alignment, identified by geophysical
survey, was excavated by Northamptonshire Archaeology in April 2007 during the
construction of the Cross Valley Link Road (CVLR) at Upton, on the western
outskirts of Northampton. A small ditch, possibly part of a Roman or medieval
field system, and medieval furrows were also identified. In addition, between
April and July 2007, an archaeological watching brief was maintained during
construction work on the new road and river crossing over the River Nene. No
significant archaeological remains were identified within the road corridor,
although a sharpened wooden stake/peg, radiocarbon dated to the middle Saxon
period, was recovered from beneath a depth of alluvial silt on the edge of a
possible river palaeochannel.
[pp. 74-87]
An archaeological watching brief at Sywell Aerodrome runway,
Northamptonshire
Anne Foard-Colby
Northamptonshire
Archaeology carried out an archaeological watching brief during the removal of
topsoil prior to the infilling of land to the west of runway 5/31 at Sywell
Aerodrome, Sywell, Northamptonshire. For the most part, any archaeological
remains would have been sealed beneath subsoil and therefore not visible during
the present work. However, in small areas where the subsoil was shallow a number
of features were exposed, including a Roman oven with a pitched stone surface, a
ditch and two pits. A small assemblage of 1st to 2nd-century Roman pottery
was recovered from the oven and ditch. A small number of residual worked flints
and a few sherds of medieval pottery were recovered from the subsoil.
[pp.
89-95]
The Delapré Roman kiln field, Northampton
Paul Woodfield
A series of eight Roman pottery kilns, dated to the late 1st and early
2nd-centuries, were found unexpectedly during the formation of a defensive bank
on the western side of Delapré Park, Northampton near the entrance from the
London Road. The material recovered suggests that their production
followed that of the Hardingstone kilns, the potters moving closer to a
suggested road, a Roman period predecessor of the Northampton to Towcester road.
The products are remarkably standardised, but show a very high level of
competence in their throwing and firing, and certain characteristics suggesting
that pottery production may have been translocated here to facilitate
distribution, perhaps to the civil or other official authorities.
[pp.
97-112]
A geological review of some early churches in the Northamptonshire area
John F Potter
The importance of geology, stone emplacement and
bedding orientation, in six churches in the area of Northamptonshire is
examined. These churches, on architectural evidence, have long been recognised
as having Anglo-Saxon origins. The examples reveal in all instances the typical
Anglo-Saxon, ‘Patterned' style, which includes the use of vertically-bedded
stone orientation in definitive patterns. The detail of the stonework and its
bedding orientation provides a significant and further means of identification
for work of this period.
[pp. 113-131]
Archaeological investigation of land adjacent to ‘The Cottons', Rockingham
2003
Gary Edmondson
In advance of the erection of several
dwellings, near the northern limit of the village of Rockingham, a programme of
archaeological investigation was undertaken. The site extended from Main
Street in the west to a curving lane, ‘The Cottons', in the east. The
earliest evidence for occupation of the site was a possible prehistoric pit
containing an animal burial associated with flint artefacts. A small sherd
of late Bronze Age - early Iron Age pottery was also recovered from the site.
An indication of Roman activity in the vicinity was implied by the presence of a
small assemblage of residual pottery, recovered from the fills of later
features. In the medieval period the eastern part of the site was within an
arable field, indicated by ridge and furrow earthworks. A ditch separated
this area from the land parcel bounding Main Street in the west. In the
western land parcel perpendicular ditches with a slightly diverging alignment to
the present land boundaries were identified. Pottery and animal bone
recovered from the recut northern boundary ditch indicated activity in the
vicinity. The majority of the archaeological features identified in the western
area were post-medieval or later in date. Most of this area had been
disturbed by landscaping associated with construction of a Victorian gas works.
However, beneath the disturbance traces of at least one substantial stone
building were revealed. This would appear to have been erected in the
17th-18th centuries, a similar date to other buildings in the vicinity.
The building, which was probably domestic in function, is not depicted on any
surviving historic maps. Traces of two wells, and walls near the street
frontage in the western part of the site were also revealed. Until
recently the western land parcel was a farm yard, whilst the paddock in the east
preserved the ridge and furrow earthworks.
[pp. 133-140]
Leather-working at the site of Medieval Cumbergate,
Peterborough
Taleyna Fletcher and Quita Mould
Excavation
adjacent to the covered shopping areas of Queensgate Centre and Westgate Arcade
in central Peterborough revealed up to 1.6m of archaeological deposits spanning
the late medieval period to the present day. The initial phase dated to the
early 15th century and included a boundary wall or building to the north, with
an adjacent cobbled surface. Later dumps and pits produced a relatively large
assemblage of well-preserved leather attributable to the late 14th to early 15th
century, perhaps suggesting a cobbler's workshop in the vicinity. Subsequent
post-medieval surfaces were probably associated with the construction and
maintenance of Cumbergate. The evidence suggests that the road was created
in its documented form after the middle of the 16th century.
[pp.
141-152]
Alex Thorne
A building record was made of Lift Bridge GN5 immediately
prior to its dismantling in October 2004. It was built in 1815 as part of the
Grand Union Canal, Northampton Arm to enable the farmer, whose land it was built
on, to continue access with carts to fields otherwise cut off by the new canal.
Although the Lift Bridge was renovated in 1914 and in the 1960s, several of the
original iron fittings are thought to have been re-used in the structure.
[pp. 153-163]
The 1930s Douglas Garage at 46-50 Sheep Street, Northampton
Michael Webster and Stephen Parry
Northamptonshire Archaeology carried
out building recording and analysis, along with desk-based assessment of the
former Douglas Garage, 46-50 Sheep Street, Northampton, prior to proposed
demolition of existing structures and its redevelopment as dwellings. The
buildings mostly date to the construction of a purpose-built garage in 1937,
which comprised show rooms and offices at the front with accommodation above and
workshops to the rear. Subsequent alterations, particularly to the workshops
were also noted. In addition, earlier structures were found to have survived
adjoining the property to the north (52 Sheep Street) but too little remained to
indicate how the earlier garage, which was established in 1928, operated.
[pp. 165-166 + CD]
NOTES:
The Northamptonshire Portable Antiquities Scheme (Pas), 2008
Julie Cassidy
[pp. 169-171]
Northampton, Kingswell Street: Further Thoughts
Jim Brown
[pp. 171-172]
Some Recent Archaeological Publications
Andy Chapman
[pp. 172-174]
Raunds Area Project Publications
Andy Chapman
[pp.
174-176]
Northamptonshire Archaeology Client Reports Online
Andy Chapman
[pp. 176-177]
Other Client Reports Online
Andy Chapman
[pp. 177]
Archaeology in Northamptonshire 2008
Pat Chapman with
additional material from Richard Ivens and South Midlands Archaeology
2009, 39
[pp. 179-186]
Archaeology in Northamptonshire 2009
Pat Chapman with
contributions from Richard Ivens and David Gilbert
[pp.
187-192]
CD
The Journal of Northamptonshire Archaeological Society:
Northamptonshire Archaeology
, Volume 20, 1985 to Volume 29, 2000-01