A Late Celtic Inhabited Site at All Cannings Cross Farm. 527 



111 the course of the trenching, nine pits were found of varying 

 depths and sizes, as shown in the list helow. It is prcjhal^le that 

 these were storage pits, as most of them were certainly too small 

 for hahitations. No signs of hearths were found either in the pits 

 or on the surface. Fragments of pottery, etc., and several hammer- 

 vStones were fo\ind in some of the pits, hut these seem only to have 

 found their way into them in the natural process of filling up, and 

 none were found actually on the pit floors. 



A few trenches were also cut at a spot nearer to the track leading 

 to Eyhury Camp, resulting in similar finds of numerous sherds of 

 ])ottery, hammei'stones, and a few other relics {see relic tal)les). 

 No pits were found at this spot, hut sections of what appeared to 

 he two ditches, running nearly parallel with each other, were 

 opened. These ditches were only some 14ft. apart, from 4ft. to 5ft. 

 deep, 8ft. to 10ft. wide at the top, and some 2ft. wide at the l)ottom. 

 They might l)e the houndary ditches of the settlement ; hut no 

 attempt could be made to trace them out. 



That the site was inhabited for a consideral)le length of time is 

 probable, judging from the large accumulation of pottery sherds. 



From the character of the pottery, some of it wheel turned, and 

 of the other finds, including iron ore and iron slag, there can be 

 little doubt that the site was inhabited in the Early Iron Age^, not 

 improl)ably in the earlier part of the period, for some of the pottery 

 seems to bear evidence of a lingering tradition of Bronze Age 

 ornamentation, and metal seems to have been somewhat scarce, 

 although this latter may have been due solely to the ])overty of the 

 inhabitants. It also seems fairly certain that the site was aban- 

 doned at some period before the lioman ()C'CU})ation of t be country, 

 for not a fragment of pottery or any other object bears e\'idence 

 of Koman inllucnce. rottery of distinctively JJomano-Ihilish ty}>e 

 IS so coiiinionly tninid in tliis ])art, of tlie counLry, tliat its total 

 absence from this site is tJie morii rcniarkaltlc. 



The writer does not know of any othei site in the county where 



• Professor Woyd Dawkins, who has seen the colieetion of pottery and 

 , other objects fouml on the site, has expressed himsi'lf in agreement with 

 I this view. 



