220 



THE WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY MAGAZINE 



Pit 215 was the largest of the Iron Age pits to 

 be found on this site, and was situated at the 

 western extremity of the spread of contemporary 

 features (see Fig 3). It was circular, 3.2m in 

 diameter and 0.5m in depth, with steep sides and 

 a slightly concave base. Primary fill 214 contained 

 five sherds of late Iron Age pottery along with 

 animal bone. Upper fill 213 contained occasional 

 charcoal flecks and 1 1 sherds of late Iron Age 

 pottery. 



Roman activity 



The trackway (Figures 3 & 5) 

 A ditched trackway (37) ran NNE-SSW across the 

 northern extent of Area 1 . The feature measured 

 c.l25m in length and was 11m wide at its widest 

 point. The flanking ditches (39 and 54) measured 

 1.5-2.0m wide and 0.65m deep, with 'U'-shaped 

 profiles. The distance between the ditches measured 

 c.5-7 m, and formed a 'hollow' trackway displaying 

 wheel ruts cut into the natural, overlain by up to 

 0.3 m of dark grey-brown clay silt, which also filled 

 the upper levels of the two ditches. Pottery dating 

 to the 2nd to 4th century AD was recovered from 

 within the ditch fills, as well as late Roman and 

 Saxon pottery from the deposits (40) filling the 

 hollowed trackway. 



Saxon activity 



All three of the ditches were cut into the natural 

 (510). Ditches 505 and 512 were both sealed by a 

 medieval plough soil (501/515). Ditch 505, 

 orientated north-east to south-west, was 33m long, 

 1.34m wide and 0.26m deep. The sole fill (504) 

 contained one sherd of 10- 12th century pottery. 

 Ditch 512, orientated north-south, was c.4 m long, 

 0.6m wide and 0.1m deep, with gradually sloping 

 sides and a rounded base. A terminus was identified 

 at its northern end. No datable material was 

 recovered from the single fill. Ditch 517, orientated 

 north-south, was 24m in length, 1.0m wide and 

 0.26m deep. A terminus was identified at the 

 southern end of the feature. No datable material 

 was recovered from the single fill. 



From the ploughsoil (501/515) a total of six 

 sherds of pottery of 10- 12th century date were 

 recovered. An environmental sample taken from the 

 deposit identified the presence of free-threshing 

 cereal grains. 



Area 4 (Figure 4) 



Ten intercutting ditches were identified across Area 

 4. 0.8-2. 4m in width, and 0.1 -0.6m deep, all had 

 steep sides and concave bases. All of the features 

 were sealed by a probable medieval ploughsoil 

 (702). The pottery from the features indicates a late 

 Iron Age-early Roman date. 



The Saxon activity comprised two pits (63 and 134). 

 Pit 63 cut the northern edge of the trackway. The 

 pit was 1.8m in diameter and 0.29m deep. Fill 64 

 contained two sherds of Saxon pottery and a large 

 quantity of animal bone. Upper fill 65 contained 

 one sherd of Saxon pottery. Pit 134 was situated 

 against the south-eastern edge of the site, cutting 

 the arc of the Iron Age gully 2 10. The pit was sub- 

 circular in plan, measuring 3.88 x 2.56m and 0.48m 

 deep, with steep sloping sides and a flat base. The 

 primary fill (160) contained seven sherds of Saxon 

 pottery, residual Roman pottery, animal bone and 

 a late Roman copper alloy coin (sf 1 8) . The final fill 

 135 contained 14 sherds of Saxon pottery, animal 

 bone and a late Roman catapult bolt-head (sf 19, 

 Figure 8, no. 3). 



Area 2 (Figure 4) 



Only a minimal amount of activity was identified 

 in this area, consisting of three ditches, and a spread 

 of buried medieval ploughsoil. 



THE FINDS 



The Pottery 



by Jane Timby 



A moderately large assemblage of some 901 sherds 

 (9.5kg) of pottery was recovered. Although the 

 group largely comprises sherds of middle-late Iron 

 Age date, a diverse chronological history of activity 

 of the area is indicated by the presence of late 

 Neolithic, PBronze Age, Roman, Saxon, medieval 

 and post-medieval ceramic material. 



Pottery was recovered from a total of 101 

 contexts, mainly from Area 1 . Area 2 produced just 

 nine sherds and Area 4, 34 pieces. The majority of 

 the groups are quite small, 72% of the contexts 

 having 10 sherds or less. Only seven contexts yielded 

 between 21-50 sherds and just one context (133 - 

 the layer of trample or midden deposit within 

 enclosure 309) produced in excess of 50 sherds. 



The overall average sherd size at 10. 6g is 



