Middle Iron Age settlement at Lawford South, Phases 2-5, Land South of Long Road (EHER 80577)

Trial trenching and excavation recorded Middle Iron Age remains comprising the concentric ring-gullies of a roundhouse and associated post holes and pits suggest the presence of a small farmstead in the NW of the evaluated area. A series of cropmarks in the Northern part of the site which had been interpreted as Iron Age from aerial photography were proven to represent Romano-British activity. An undated trackway and ditches may belong to this Iron Age field system.

August 2020. Trial trenching. Middle Iron Age remains comprising the concentric ring-gullies of a possible roundhouse structure and associated pits suggest the presence of a small farmstead in the NW of the evaluated area. Continuing land use into the Late Iron Age is indicated by a possible ditched trackway and associated field system which may extend across the SE half of the site. <1> August 2020. Trial trenching. The projected line of an Iron Age trackway identified during an evaluation of the site to the immediate West (see above) did not correspond to any features in this evaluation. <2> February 2021. Archaeological excavation. In Area 1, the excavation investigated the remains of a Middle Iron Age roundhouse, formed by two discontinuous concentric ring ditches with an apparent opening either to the SE or SW. Five post holes within the building may have formed part of the framework to support the roof and a cluster of three pits in the NW quadrant may have been associated with domestic activities. A small assemblage of Middle Iron Age pottery was recovered from these features. A concentration of burnt bone in the terminal of one of the ring ditch segments was initially thought to be a human cremation deposit, but subsequent investigation demonstrated that the material was burnt sheep or goat bone, and may have been a placed deposit. Although no dating evidence was recovered to support this interpretation, it is possible that the trackway in Area 2 and the undated ditches in Areas 4 and 5 form part of an Iron Age field system, their alignment being on a NE-SW or NW-SE axis, similar to the route of the Roman road and differing from the North to South axis of the post-medieval (and probable medieval) field system. <3>