Late Bronze Age ring ditch, urned cremation and features at land at Weeley (EHER 80364)

Late Bronze Age pits, a ditch, a ring ditch and possibly an urned cremation burial features were found in all areas apart from Area 5. A small assemblage of Late Bronze Age pottery, and several struck flints, were also recovered.

August 2021. Archaeological excavation. A small number of Late Bronze Age features were found in Areas 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7, with no large concentrations, other than the ring ditch in Area 6. Nine pits, mostly yielding Bronze Age pottery, were found across Areas 1, 2, 4 and 7, with the majority (six) being in Area 7 and including a cluster of four similar sized pits. Pit 5910, also in Area 7, produced 143 sherds of Late Bronze Age pottery, the largest assemblage from any single feature on the site. Area 6 contained the remnants of a ring ditch, surviving in two segments and with much of its Eastern side having been completely truncated. This feature measured c. 18m in diameter with its ditches up to 0.67m wide and 0.31m deep and yielded 19 sherds of pottery. A short stretch of ditch was also found in Area 2 and had been partially excavated during the evaluation - further excavation produced two struck flints. An undated pit and ditch in Area 1 were also attributed to this phase. Evaluation Trench 41 uncovered a cremation burial pit containing bone of an older sub-adult or adult, and probably originally urned. The cremation deposit produced small fragments of pottery. The fill was a dark grey silty clay with frequent fragments of charcoal and burnt and calcined bone. The evaluation attributed the burial to the Early Iron Age based on pottery type, but no further evidence for Early Iron Age activity was found during the excavation and it may instead be of earlier date. A sample of the cremated bone will be submitted for radiocarbon dating. <1> <2>