ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVALUATION - Mike Griffiths and Associates

FAS_lbf01.wpd 169
indicative of domestic activity, although other undated features may also belong to this period.
These pits are likely to form part of a much wider area of activity identified during watching briefs in the
adjacent Nosterfield Quarry (FAS 2005), although the density of features appears to be lower, and their state
of preservation poorer at Ladybridge Farm. Within the quarry site, similar features, containing comparable
ceramic (including Grimston and Grooved wares) and lithic material, were identified in loose groups around
the edges of an in-filled lake, which is likely to have been marshy, and seasonally characterised by standing
water (Figure 109). Some features, which produced evidence for heating and quantities of charcoal, have been
tentatively identified as associated hearths. This activity seems to be concentrated in the southern part of
Nosterfield Quarry, possibly delineated by an alignment of pits and a ditch. The late Neolithic activity at
Ladybridge Farm also appears to be situated to the south of this potential boundary.
While the distributions evidenced by fieldwalking, test pitting and trial tenches adhere to the same general
trends, the investigations revealed that the evidence from surface collection, and the presence of finds within
the ploughsoil, cannot be used directly to infer the presence of underlying archaeological features. This lack
of direct correlation has implications for the future interpretation of lithic scatters in this area, and also for the
fieldwork strategies that may be subsequently employed as small scale investigations over ‘hot spots’ will not
necessarily identify associated features.
Although no Roman, early medieval or medieval features were identified, vestiges of later agricultural practices
were encountered during the excavation of trial trenches at Ladybridge Farm, where three features were
identified as historic field boundaries. A larger number of such linear features have been investigated at
Nosterfield Quarry; hedgerows and ditches were used to delineate the enclosure of the landscape during the
post-medieval period which have since fallen out of use.
10.0 ASSESSMENT
There is a notable absence of archaeology from the early Bronze Age (discounting lithic material of this date
within the ploughsoil) to the early post-medieval period. The later post-medieval period is represented only by
the historic field divisions and the manuring material within the ploughsoil. Some of the historic field divisions
were apparently encountered during evaluation, but were unremarkable features.
The programme of evaluation has defined an area of late Neolithic activity. This is manifest as a concentration
of lithic material distributed horizontally and throughout the depth of the ploughsoil. It is also present in the
form of scattered small pit features which are identifiable through their content: principally late Neolithic
pottery, and were also found to contain broadly dated lithic pieces, charcoal and calcined bone. Both the lithic
concentration and the excavated features are distributed throughout the southwestern part of the area of
investigation fading to the north and the east. The identified area seems to be located on the highest ground
within the investigation area. The broader distribution of these features reflects the trends identified at
Nosterfield Quarry in so far as the activity seems to focus on the zone surrounding the infilled prehistoric lake.
Investigation within Zone E, including surface reconnaissance and auger survey, has identified the possible
eastern limit of the infilled lake represented by a marked slope which may reflect the original edge of the lake,
FIELD ARCHAEOLOGY SPECIALISTS