CBA SMA\SMA 1998.PDF - Council for British Archaeology

Buckinghamshire
and was 0.67 ha in extent. The excavated area adjoins Marsh
Lane East Site 2 (Tranche 1) to the east. The two sites, which
have a combined area of 1.38 ha, will be published together
as the 'M4 Motorway Diversion, Taplow'.
The drift geology consisted of sandy and clayey silt alluvium
overlying gravel, cut in some areas by peatfilled relict water
courses (palaeochannels). The subsoil had been heavily
disturbed by ploughing. The whole site was overlain by a
clayey silty loam ploughsoil.
Lake End Road. Domey (NGR SU 9290 7960)
The site lies at 22 m OD on the floodplain terrace and is
4.9 ha in extent. The excavated area extends 500 m
westwards from the B3026 (Lake End Road) and lies 450m
north of Dorney Court. The site was separated from the
previously excavated Lake End Road site (Franche 1) by the
line of the road. The two sites, which have a combined area
of 5.9 ha, will be published together as 'Lake End Road,
Dorney'.
The site is flat and is surrounded to the west and southwest
by arable land and to the north and south-east land which
was pasture in 1997 but had previously been under arable
cultivation. At the western end of the site the drift geology
consists of alluvial sandy and clayey silts overlying gravel.
At the eastem end, the gravel generally lay directly below
the ploughsoil except for occasional silt bands which may
represent relict water courses or flood deposits.
Summary of excavation results
Tarty Neolithic
Lake End Road West
A concentration of early Neolithic pottery and flintwork
recovered from a shallow, silt-filled hollow in the gravel,
extended over an area c 20 m x 7 m and included c 650
sherds of pottery and c 920 pieces of worked flint. A section
excavated through the hollow immediately to the north of
the finds spread produced only two pieces of worked flint,
indicating that the distribution of finds is likely to be a real
indication of early Neolithic activity rather than an accident
of survival. Further evidence for in situ activity was the
presence of a single small pit cutting the fill of the hollow
and containing a particularly dense concentration of early
Neolithic pottery. Two finds spreads of similar date and
character recorded at the Eton Rowing Lake have been
described as Neolithic `middens'.
Later Neolithic
Lake End Road West
Nine later Neolithic pits produced an exceptionally large
assemblage of Peterborough Ware pottery and worked flint,
including part of a polished flint axehead. The pits were
clustered in two tight groups of three and four pits
respectively (Group 1:953, 1050, 1341; Group 2: 528, 600,
605, 1222). These were similar in shape and size, with
shallow, bowl-shaped profiles, with a mean diameter of
1.07 m and surviving to a mean depth of 0.36 m. Two other
isolated examples were found, of which one (684) was
substantially larger and deeper than average (1.5 m in
diameter and 0.86 m deep). Environmental samples from the
pits produced significant quantities of hazelnut shells, with
only occasional cereal or cultivated legume remains. In
addition a group of Neolithic pottery was recovered from a
probable Saxon pit (1434). A pit (1883) in Group 1 was also
thought to be Neolithic on the basis of its profile and fill
which were very similar to the others in the area, however,
no finds were recovered from this feature.
Bronze Age
Marsh Lane
A 4.5 ha area excavated to the east of Marsh Lane, extended
an area investigated during Tranche 1 (TAMLE 96). The
Tranche 1 excavations revealed an area of Bronze Age
activity including a series of ditches cut through the upper
silts of a palaeochannel. This activity may represent the
periphery of a settlement site, perhaps located on the slightly
higher ground to the south-west of the site. The majority of
the pottery suggests a middle Bronze Age date for this
activity.
The Tranche 2 excavations identified eight cremations, and
two possible cremations, of which three produced middle
Bronze Age pottery as well as burnt bone. A possible
posthole building, of uncertain form, is tentatively dated by
a single fragment of pottery, of possible Bronze Age date,
found in a posthole. A Neolithic laurel leaf arrowhead was
found on the surface of the natural gravel in the area of the
possible structure.
M4 Motorway Diversion
A 0.67 ha area was excavated along the northern side of the
M4 motorway. The site adjoined Marsh Lane East Site 2,
where two Bronze Age ring ditches, one with a central
cremation, were investigated during Tranche 1. No further
prehistoric finds or features were discovered during
Tranche 2.
Lake End Road West
The greater part of a middle Bronze Age Bucket Urn was
found in part of a segmented ditch. This was almost the only
stratified Bronze Age pottery from the site. Another ditch
produced an arrowhead of Bronze Age type. A number of
other ditches are provisionally dated to the middle or late
Bronze Age on the grounds of their common alignment with
these dated features. There was little indication of Bronze
Age settlement activity on the site, although the ditches
seem to indicate the presence of a field system in the
mid-late Bronze Age and the Bucket Urn suggests that a
settlement may be located nearby.
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