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

Oxfordshire
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Fig 29. Wooden artefact 10171 from waterhole 10159, drawn by Steve Allen
dating. The preliminary analysis of the molluscs suggest the
ditch was open when the floodplain was still relatively dry,
suggesting that it probably pre-dates the late Bronze Age.
A gully which ran westward from the prehistoric ditch
appeared to be contemporary with the latest recut.
Only a small number of settlement features were discovered
in the area to the west of the ditch and these were mostly
earlier prehistoric in date, including a pair of finds-rich late
Neolithic pits. A series of later ditches discovered on the
site were Romano-British and Medieval field boundaries.
References
Hey G; 1993 Yarnton Floodplain, SMA 23, 81-5
Hey G; 1996 Yarnton Floodplain, SMA 26,63-7
Hey G; and Bell C, 1997 Yarnton Floodplain 1996, SMA 27,62-4
Jones P; 1990, Neolithic field monuments and occupation at
Staines Road Farm, Shepperton, Surrey Archaeological Society
Bulletin 252, November 1990
Yarnton, Worton Rectory Farm Recycling Plant
(SP4720211302)
Christopher Bell
In November 1997 the Oxford Archaeological Unit
recorded a number of Roman ditches exposed on the site of
a proposed extension to Yarnton Recycling plant, which lies
to the south of the village of Yarnton, Oxfordshire. The work
was commissioned by Worton Rectory Farms Ltd as a
planning condition.
The site is situated to the north of the ARC
Yarnton-Cassington quarry, and lies adjacent to areas
excavated by the OAU as part of the continuing English
Heritage project at Yarnton to examine aspects of the
Neolithic to Medieval landscape prior to its destruction by
gravel extraction. One of the excavations which formed part
of this project examined the area immediately to the south
of the current development site (Hey 1991) and discovered
a complex sequence of intercutting features representing
activity associated with an Iron Age and Romano-British
settlement. In 1996 the continuation of this settlement was
recorded prior to an earlier phase of construction associated
with the recycling plant (Bell 1997).
The sparse arrangement of ditches discovered in 1997
represents a sharp contrast to the dense intercutting pits,
postholes and enclosures seen in excavations to the south.
This suggests a defined northern limit to the Roman
settlement, and the ditches that were found probably formed
part of a contemporary field layout, and a possible
droveway, immediately adjacent to the settlement.
The results of all the archaeological work on the site of the
recycling plant will be integrated into the report on Iron Age
and Roman Yamton (Volume 2 of the Yarnton-Cassington
Project).
References
Bell C; 1997 Yarnton Worton Rectory Farm Recycling Plant, SMA
27, 64
Hey, G, 1991 Yamton Worton Rectory Farm, SMA 21, 86-92
Monitoring of Yarnton-Cassington Electricity Poles
(SP4711)
Christopher Bell
In December 1997 the OAU undertook an archaeological
watching brief during the replacement of existing electricity
telegraph poles by Southern Electric in the vicinity of the
villages of Yarnton and Cassington, Oxfordshire. This
included the area of the ARC Yarnton-Cassington gravel
extraction pit (see above). No significant archaeological
deposits were observed during this course of this work and
no artefacts were recovered.
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