Untitled - Council for British Archaeology

etween a variety of Iron Age and Romano-British settlements of a
type which have received little attention in the past.
The site's 'position at the junction of the Colne Valley so far
as we know dominated by villa colonization (cg Chedworth) and the
Thames, with its preponderance of native settlement makes it
particularly attractive.
The method of analysis and excavation will be based on a welldefined
samPling strategy which will aim to understand the landscape
as a whole and not simply the settlement nucleii.
There were two seasons of excavation in 1979.* The first was
for three weeks in April/May; the second for seven weeks from
November.
The initial work concentrated on defining the possibilities
of the site for long'term excavation. Trial trenching confirmed
the Iron Age and Romano-British date of the main settlement complexes
and the presence of water-logged conditions favourable for the
preservation of organic material. A programme of field-walking,
random top-soil sampling by excavation, phosphate sampling and
geophysical survey was carried out.
Area 1: Two adjacent enclosures of early Iron Age date were
stripped. Enclosure 1 was four-sided and irregular in shape, 25 m
by 22 m with an eastern.entrance 3 m wide (Fig.44 ). The entrance
was marked by two lines of limestone packed post-holes. The
enclosure ditch was 3 m wide and 1 m deep. A ten per cent random
sample of, the ditch was excavated in addition to the terminals.
No features were found within the enclosure and there was
very little cultural material within the ditch; except a small
quantity of animal bone and coarse pottery - shell tempered wares
with plain, flat rims. Low phosphate levels were recorded inside
the enclosure but there were relatively high ones outside it, on
the lee-side to the east.
Enclosure 2: 40 m northwest of enclosure 1, was oval in .
shape (maximum wldth 29 m) with a south-eastern entrance 2 m wide
A 40 per cent random sample of the enclosure ditch was
excavated. .The ditch was 2 m wide and 0.8 m deep.
'(Fig. 12).
Hut 1: Inside enclosure 2 was a large circular hut gully,
diameter,'with a south-east entrance 47 m-wide. There
were traces of.voids and a continuous slot along the oUtside of .the
gully which might indicate its use as a wall foundation. Many
limestone fragments had accumulated in the gully, particularly near.
the terminals. Within the area defined by the circular gully were
two'hearths. and an irregular collection of-post4holes.
The hut-Circle was centrally .placed within its enclosure
except the outer ditch Swelled out to the south-east leaving a
potential working area in the lee of the hut.. Within, this space
- 163-