MOLA undertook archaeological excavations at Brackmills, Northampton, investigating part of a large Iron Age settlement and Roman complex farmstead. The remains were very well preserved having, in places, been shielded from later truncaton by colluvial deposits. Earlier remains included a late Bronze Age/early Iron Age pit alignment.
MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) undertook archaeological excavations at Brackmills, Northampton, investigatng part of a large Iron Age settlement and Roman complex farmstead. The remains were very well preserved having, in places, been shielded from later truncaton by colluvial deposits. Earlier remains included a late Bronze Age/early Iron Age pit alignment. The main focus of occupation spanned the middle Iron Age to the late 4th century/early 5th century AD. The initial late middle Iron Age enclosed farmstead was defined by a series of enclosures and boundary features. From the late Iron Age the core of the settlement shifted and the range of activity increased dramatically, both in complexity and density through the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. The pottery assemblage associated with the beginning of this development is dominated by utilitarian jars with no clear evidence of higher status activity. Two well preserved pottery kilns date from this period, adding to our understanding of local pottery traditions. Funerary evidence for this period was limited to two late Iron Age/early Roman crouched inhumations, and a small assemblage of disarticulated human bone. By the second century the settlement had developed further, and a well-constructed road surface had been laid, leading to the stone roundhouses at the core of the settlement. The re-establishment or expansion of the farmstead with stone rectangular buildings in the late 3rd to 4th century AD marks a clear shift in the status of the site. Industrial remains included a drying oven. Of note for a rural site were 17 inhumation burials and a single cremation burial. Following the decline of the settlement, there was only a short reoccupation when there was a single sunken featured building. Later the site became part of an open field system in the medieval period.
Between 1990 and 1998, MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) undertook a series of archaeological excavations within Wollaston Quarry covering an area of 116ha. Eight excavation areas and a watching brief were undertaken revealing evidence of Neolithic pits, late Bronze Age/early Iron Age pit alignments and Iron Age to Roman settlements.
A record of the National Mapping Programme project in Northamptonshire. It recovered and mapped archaeological evidence from field systems, through settlement remains, to funerary monuments, and ranges from the Neolithic to the 20th century.
During the Neolithic and Bronze Age - a period covering some 4,000 years from the beginnings of farming by stone-using communities to the end of the era in which bronze was an important material for weapons and tools - the face of Britain changed profoundly, from a forest wilderness to a large patchwork of open ground and managed woodland. The axe was replaced as a key symbol, first by the dagger and finally by the sword. The houses of the living came to supplant the tombs of the dead as the most permanent features in the landscape. In this fascinating book, eminent archeologist Michael Parker Pearson looks at the ways in which we can interpret the challenging and tantalising evidence from this prehistoric era. He also examines the various arguments and current theories of archeologist about these times. Drawing on recent discoveries and research, and illustrated with numerous maps, plans, reconstructions and photographs, this book shows what life was like and how it changed during the Neolithic and Bronze Age.
MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) has undertaken archaeological work at Monksmoor Farm on the north-eastern edge of Daventry in six different areas. Finds presented here include two early Neolithic pits, a middle Iron Age settlement and two late Iron Age settlements.
Excavations near Guiting Power in the Cotswolds reveal evidence of occupation until the late 4th century AD: a relatively undefended middle Iron Age farmstead was abandoned, followed by a mid to later Iron Age ditched enclosure. This latter site perhaps became dilapidated, with a Romanised farmstead developing over the traditional habitation area.
The first volume of the long-running Raund's area project in eastern Northamptonshire. A settlement was established in the 6th century and in the late 9th or early 10th century a tiny stone church was erected, ditches were subsequently cut to define a churchyard and burials were made. This report concentrates on the ecclesiastical excavation, including significant and rare evidence for liturgical fittings; including a clergy bench, sacrarium and altar. The report includes the sculptural and skeletal finds.
