Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age activity at Pippin's Road, Burnham-on-Crouch (EHER 49646)

Evaluation and excavation in advance of development, found two Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age boundaries and a scatter of contemporary pits to their North. Amongst these, three unurned cremation burials were recorded, one of which has been radiocarbon dated to 1236–1051 cal BC. An unstratified socketed bronze axe head and associated two further fragments of copper alloy, found together in a modern agricultural drain, probably constitute at least part of a dispersed hoard of Late Bronze Age metalwork.

August 2017. Trial trenching. The trial trench evaluation of the overall 5.57ha development area established the presence of a low density and low complexity scatter of pits and ditches or gullies of definite and probable Late Bronze Age to Earliest Iron Age date. These features were confined to the Western and Southern parts of the site. Six pits, a gully and a ditch contained pottery of Late Bronze Age to earliest Iron Age date, with two additionally contained burnt and/or struck flint fragments. Four features were entirely devoid of artefactual content; all small pits or postholes in Trenches 1 and 22. Given their proximity to dated remains in other trenches, it is likely that most if not all are of similar late prehistoric date. <1> November - December 2017. Archaeological excavation. The majority of all features identified across both excavated areas were of Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age date. In essence, a pair of parallel boundaries (D1 and D2) comprised a number of interrupted ditches that ran across both areas on an irregular E-W alignment. These ditches contained mixed dating material spanning from about 1150-500 BC. The distribution of the Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age pottery suggests that boundary D2 went out of use several centuries before D1. A scatter of contemporary pits was present, mostly located to the North of the boundary. Amongst these, three unurned cremation burials were recorded, one of which has been radiocarbon dated to 1236–1051 cal BC. An unstratified socketed bronze axe head and associated two further fragments of copper alloy, found together in a modern agricultural drain, probably constitute at least part of a dispersed hoard of Late Bronze Age metalwork. Two further Bronze Age metalwork hoards are known in the vicinity of the site and form part of a SE Essex cluster in the wider distribution of such deposits. <2>