Multi-period remains at NE Chelmsford Bypass sites TT15 and TT16, SE of A131 (EHER 80780)

Trial trenching in area TT15 recorded sparse archaeological remains, comprising a Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age pit and tree throw, and undated pits and post hole. Area TT16 produced a broad scatter of features including an unurned Bronze Age cremation burial and a Roman pond.

August 2021. Trial trenching. Archaeological remains were sparse in area TT15. The few finds, including a moderate assemblage of Late Bronze Age pottery and small amounts of animal bone and flint all come from discrete features in the NE part of the field: a Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age pit and tree throw. This area also contained undated pits and an undated post hole. A broad scatter of archaeological features, dominated by shallow undated ditches, was found through the central part of TT16. Pottery from this area spanned the Bronze Age to post-medieval periods, with a small peak in the Roman period. A single unurned cremation burial was recorded in Trench 452. Other Late Bronze Age unurned cremation burials have also been recorded in this landscape to the South of the present site, by this programme of evaluation in areas TT05, TT06, TT07 and TT09 (see EHER 80776, EHER 80777 and EHER 80778), and by trial trenching in 2014 at EHER 49015. They may represent a local practice of separate groups in the Late Bronze Age, some conducting isolated unurned cremations and others conducting urned cremations in closer proximity to their habitation site, as seen at the present day Bulls Lodge quarry site (see EHER 46881, EHER 46213 and EHER 46463). Alternatively, they might reflect stratification of one population/group with higher status individuals being cremated and deposited in vessels, while lower status burials were positioned more remotely and were unurned. A pit which produced a small assemblage of Early Roman pottery was sealed by medieval deposits and may be a pond. The feature is indicative of a long-established water source in a rural, agricultural setting, used and maintained across many years. The relatively modest finds assemblage suggests it was not located in or close to an area of intensive activity/settlement. Other finds include small amounts of animal bone, flint and fired clay, with a small length of copper alloy chain also being found. <1>