Probable Late Iron Age or Roman burial, Admirals Farm, Great Bentley (EHER 83046)

The fragmentary remains of a copper alloy vessel and a Samian vessel were discovered by a metal detecting group. In an unauthorised excavation the remains of the Samian vessel and possibly one other object were removed, prior to examination by an archaeologist. Further excavation by the group and with a local archaeologist recovered a copper alloy patera handle and a fragmented copper alloy object/s which was too corroded to determine its form to the west of the original findspot, and 12 glass gaming counters from the backfilled deposit. Most of the finds are thought to have been recovered from the modern ploughsoil, except for the Samian vessel which was noted to be in a deposit which differed from that of the ploughsoil. It is thought that the excavation by the nighthawk reached the deepest extent of the archaeological feature from which the artefacts originated at 0.53m. The full extent and character of the feature could not be determined but the group of artefacts was suggested to represent a Late Iron Age or Roman high status burial. It was noted that the burial was quite shallow and may have been covered by a burial mound.

February 2022. Metal detected finds and further excavation. The fragmentary remains of a copper alloy vessel and a Samian vessel were initially discovered by a metal detecting group on 19th February. The copper alloy vessel had been broken into many pieces and the Samian vessel, which appeared to be buried upright, had suffered considerable damage to its upper part, probably from ploughing. The area excavated by the metal detectorists measured approximately 0.6m by 0.4m and was 0.3m deep. The excavation had been through a mid grey/brown ploughsoil and had stopped at about the level that the soil colour changed to a lighter brown/grey soil. The group removed a quantity of copper alloy and Samian fragments and backfilled the pit, leaving the remainder in situ. On 21st February, the group returned with a local archaeologist and it became apparent the site had been revisited by an illegal metal detectorist and items had been removed. In the base of the original excavation, a further deep excavation had been made by the illegal detectorist, and the remains of the Samian vessel had been removed. The area excavated measured approximately 0.35m by 0.2m and was 0.24m deep. It is thought, due to the size of the secondary excavation, that another object may have been situated to the west of the vessel and was also removed. It was noted that it appeared as if the natural geology was reached at the base of the illegal detectorist's excavation, and that this represented the deepest extent of the archaeological feature within which the artefacts were situated. The original metal detectorists had noted strong signals in the area to the west of the original excavation and the decision was made to explore these signals and remove the objects to deter future disturbance. The same mid grey/brown ploughsoil was identified and excavated, and two 'signals' were identified at the interface between the two deposits. A Roman copper alloy patera handle (object 1) was recovered, as well as another copper alloy object or objects (object 2), which was too corroded to determine its form. Both of the objects recovered were recorded using a GPS system and photographed in situ. The areas excavated were also recorded using the same method. Lastly, 12 glass Roman gaming counters were recovered from spoil used to backfill the original excavation. At least one of these was a blue/black colour (the rest were mostly white) and two were broken in half. The blue/black counter was recovered when removing the backfilled spoil with the local archaeologist, and the remainder were recovered by sieving. It is not possible to characterise the archaeological feature from which the artefacts were recovered with absolute certainty due to the extent of the area excavated, as this did not expose the extent of the feature. It is thought that most of the artefacts were recovered from a soil disturbed by modern ploughing and were therefore not considered to be in situ. However, the change in the characteristics of this soil at approximately 0.3m was interpreted as the transition into the archaeological deposit or feature from which the artefacts originated. The feature is interpreted as a high status Roman or Late Iron Age burial and is suggested to be similar to those found in the Stanway quarry in the 1990s. The probable natural geology which was noted at a depth of 0.53m may indicate the burial is relatively shallow and may indicate that it was covered by a burial mound. The finds are with the metal detecting group. <1> Note: The cropmark of a probable Bronze Age round barrow is recorded approximately 350m to the east, see EHER 3176. A Late Iron Age or Roman settlement is recorded approximately 200m to the south-west, see EHER 49607.