Prehistoric finds and features, West of Tendring (EHER 3091)

Excavation revealed a series of prehistoric features and finds from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age. These features are thought to reflect past demarcation of the landscape for arable or stock agriculture and probably date between the earlier Bronze Age and Late Iron Age.

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import. Cropmarks. <1> <2> In August 1992, 14 trial pits were excavated in order to find a suitable site for a reservoir. Four of the pits were in the area of EHER 3091, the other ten were in EHER 3092 and EHER 17252. Neither finds nor features were detected. <3> In 1994 Cotswold Archaeological Trust undertook an archaeological evaluation. Eleven trenches were excavated over the area of crop marks. The archaeological deposits encountered consisted predominantly of linear ditches containing some prehistoric flint and poorly diagnostic pottery. These features are thought to reflect past demarcation of the landscape for arable or stock agriculture and probably date between the earlier Bronze Age and Late Iron Age. No archaeological deposits of Romano-British or later date were found. Specific features composed of a ring ditch of a late Beaker period round barrow which produced a small secondary flint flake and two sherds of thick-walled handmade pottery of broad prehistoric date. Within and around the barrow, considerable pitting hinted at the possibility of settlement related activity within this area predating the barrow construction in the late Beaker period. A number of pit fills produced late Neolithic/earlier Bronze Age struck and burnt flint. Also recovered was a Palaeolithic implement. In the centre of the barrow ditch was a burial pit around 3m in diameter. This contained an urned cremation dating to the late Beaker period of around 1700 BC. Other features comprised further areas of pitting and linear ditches including part of a major Iron Age enclosure and gullies, some of which produced Iron Age pot and certainly date to the Iron Age although an earlier date cannot be discounted for others. Structural evidence from the site was limited. A few post holes were found broadly dated to the Prehistoric period. It is thought that posthole evidence could reflect the construction of fence lines associated with the cutting of ditches. Proximity of the study area to Iron Age settlement is also suggested by the charcoal rich fills to enclosure ditches. Fragments of fired clay were recovered from ditches and the charcoal rich horizon may represent the deliberate dumping of waste material from a building into a nearby ditch. <4> <5> Following the evaluation by the Cotswold Archaeological Trust in 1994, further excavation was done to determine whether there were any structural remains which could indicate occupation. Five trenches and the area of the ring ditch were stripped. These were located to cover the two known postholes. In Trench A, 11 further postholes were identified, not in any pattern suggestive of a building plan. Small quantities of prehistoric pottery and worked flint were recovered from the fills but it appears that these are residual. Pits and a shallow gully were also recorded. In Trench B, a cluster of postholes were against the western edge of excavation. These formed no identifiable structural pattern, and neither could they be linked with those in Trench A. In Trench C, three features were located, one was possibly a westward extension of the gully from Trench A, the other two were a posthole cutting a large pit. These other features were not excavated due to Health and Safety considerations, and no finds were recovered from their surfaces. Trench D contained no features. Trench E contained several features, gullies, ditches, pits and postholes which again did not seem to form a structural pattern. Pottery retrieval dated from Middle to Late Iron Age. Loomweights and a spindle whorl were also found. The ring ditch was stripped and planned but no further excavation was conducted.. Whilst the excavation located a number of postholes in Trenches A, B and E, these formed no pattern suggestive of a recognisable structure. It appears that during the Middle and Late Iron Age some form of occupancy, probably domestic, occurred within the study area. <6> <7>