Roman votive pit, The Twenty-Two Acres Field (EHER 3343)

A hollowed-out oak tree trunk, 0.9m in diameter, packed inside and out with clay containing Roman pottery sherds, was found during gravel extraction in 1965. It is thought most likely that this was a votive deposit dating from the 3rd century AD.

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import. A hollowed-out oak tree trunk, 0.9m (3 feet) in diameter, packed inside and out with clay 0.3m (1 foot) thick, was found during gravel extraction in 1965. Over 100 Roman potsherds were found in the clay outside the trunk. The clay in the interior appeared to have been packed in deliberately. For more than 0.6m (2 feet) down there was clay mixed with occasional Roman potsherds and about six pieces of pulpy matter. Near the bottom of the trunk on the inside was a layer of red-brown soil, containing Samian, horse bones, and deer antler; these were very fragile and impregnated with vivianite - a mineral often present where animal substances decay in the presence of iron. In the bottom mud was found the rim of a jar or flask, later found to fit a fragment from the outer lining. <1> <2> <3> <4> <5> Two suggestions have been made as to what this tree trunk feature might be. One is that it was a well. The depth, 3.35m (11 feet), is right, but no well of this construction has been found elsewhere, and the absence of any upper shafting or lining does not help to support this view. The other more likely suggestion is that it was some form of votive pit. <1> <5> Additional reference: <6>.