Cropmarks of Bronze Age ring ditches, Rush Green (EHER 2943)

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Summary

Two ring ditches, one excavated which revealed it to be the ploughed out remains of a Bronze Age round barrow. A further ring ditch lies North-East of a rectangular enclosure.

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Location

Grid reference	Centred TM 1555 1553 (849m by 562m)

Type and Period

Description

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import. Two ring ditches, one excavated, together with a further ring ditch lying NE of a rectangular enclosure. <1> <17> Part of the ditch of the excavated barrow was recorded in section during construction of a sewer trench in 1975. <2> <19> The site was further excavated in 1982 when a single unurned cremation was recovered from a pit in the approximate centre of the c.22m diameter ring ditch. Finds included flint, pottery and possible remains of a wooden coffin. <3> Samples from the ring ditch and the buried pit were analysed. Radio carbon dating for the ring ditch gave a result of 3000-3300 years old - a date range of approx. 1300-1000 BC. <14> Charcoal analysis revealed that the individual concerned was possibly cremated in an oak coffin or that a huge tree had been used to build the pyre. <15> <18> Samples of charred plant remains revealed an abundance of onion couch tubers. <16>

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Sources

<1> SEX4 DESC TEXT: Unknown. 1960 onwards. SMR form unknown.
<2> SEX1834 Article in serial: Couchman, C.R. (ed.). 1976. Work Undertaken by Essex County Council Archaeology Section, 1974-76. Essex Archaeology and History. 3(8). 144-183. Couchman, C.R., p 147-9.
<3> SEX41505 DESC TEXT: Buckley, D.G. and Priddy, D.A.. 1983. Rescue excavation of a ring ditch at Rush Green, Clacton, 1982.
<4> SEX52658 RECORD SHEET/FORM: Ordnance Survey. 1950-1990. OS cards. TM11NE19, 1977.
<5> SEX41507 Aerial Photograph: CUCAP. 1959. ZZ 66.
<6> SEX41508 Aerial Photograph: CUCAP. 1972. BJB 87-89.
<7> SEX22419 Map: Ingle, C.J., Strachan, D., Tyler, S. and Saunders, H.. 1993-2017. NMP Cropmark Plot - 1:10,000. paper. 1:10,000.
<8> SEX68557 Aerial Photograph: NMR. 1976. TM1515/3/103.
<9> SEX68558 Aerial Photograph: Farrands, R.H.. 1962. 104.3.
<10> SEX41514 Aerial Photograph: CUCAP. 1976. BXJ 59.
<11> SEX68561 Aerial Photograph: NMR. 1976. TM1515/4.
<12> SEX68562 Aerial Photograph: NMR. 1976. TM1515/2/2.
<13> SEX68559 Aerial Photograph: NMR. 1976. TM1515/3/103.
<14> SEX71184 DESC TEXT: Otlet, R.L.. 1983. Rush Green Clacton Series. 8/3/1983.
<15> SEX71185 DESC TEXT: Taylor, M.. 1983. Charcoal from Rush Green, Clacton 1982. 25/3/1983.
<16> SEX71186 DESC TEXT: Unknown. 1983 ?. Rush Green, Clacton, Essex: Plant macrofossils.
<17> SEX7819 Serial: Colchester Archaeological Group. 1975. Colchester Archaeological Group Annual Bulletin, Vol. 18. 18. Vol. 18 pp. 24.
<18> SEX40954 Serial: Transactions of the Essex Archaeological Society. 1983. Essex Archaeology and History Series 3, Volume 15. 3(15). pp 121-128, 165.
<19> SEX21133 DESC TEXT: Petchey, M.R. in Couchman, C.R.. 1976. Essex Archaeology and History. Vol. 8 pp. 147-149.