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THE WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY MAGAZINE 



Fig. 1 . Calne: horse skull in Iron Age pit 



(Figure 1). Detailed analysis has not yet taken place, 

 but there are indications that the inhabitants 

 practised a mixed farming economy, which also 

 included a textile industry based on wool. They had 

 established their dwellings on a small outcrop of 

 limestone brash adjacent to clay areas that would 

 have provided excellent grazing. There was also 

 evidence for cereal processing, the presence of 

 horses, and a predilection for collecting interesting 

 stones and fossils. 



The site is important as it starts to 'fill in the 

 gap' between the chalk to the east and the limestone 

 hills to the west. That its presence was not previously 

 known is due to the depth of the overlying soil, 

 which precluded any clue through drought-induced 

 crop marks in the long-term grass sward. Indeed, 

 the existence of the limestone outcrop was not even 

 suspected. 



The excavation was carried out by a stalwart 

 team of volunteers drawn from the local community 

 (most of whom had never dug before!), Bristol 

 University students and members of the Society's 

 Field Group. Mark Corney kindly surveyed the site, 

 Mark Evans is drawing the finds and Bradford 

 Geophysical Surveys carried out a magnetometer 

 survey. The fieldwork has been followed up by two 

 finds processing days; the first coinciding with 

 National Archaeology Day in July 2000, and the 

 second in Calne in February 2001. The success of 

 the latter was largely due to the hard work put in 

 by Wendy Smith. Tremendous support was received 

 from BBCWiltshire Sound and the local press. Nick 

 Mayl deserves special thanks for the long hours he 

 put in, his patience and his dedication to the cause. 



Calne Without 



Quemerford Farm (SU 010 699); Post-Medieval 

 Survey of earthworks at Quemerford Farm by 

 English Heritage revealed traces of former buildings 



and closes. While earlier origins cannot be ruled 

 out, these may represent post-medieval 

 encroachment and enclosure of part of Quemerford 

 Common, at an important focal point and fording 

 position, where clothing industry based on the River 

 Marden is recorded in the late 16th century. 

 Cartographic evidence provides support for 

 shifting, essentially short-lived settlement 

 throughout the 18th- 19th centuries. The former 

 agricultural focus of Quemerford is shown to have 

 been over 1km distant from the present centre, 

 situated on the slopes of the Chalk/Greensand 

 escarpment close to Cherhill. In common with 

 much of the surrounding low-lying area, the site 

 shows evidence of a sequence of drainage activities, 

 many of which give a corrugated ridge-and-furrow 

 like effect. Further details are available from the 

 National Monuments Record Centre, Report no. 

 AI/22/2000. 



Cherhill, Avebury and West 

 Overton 



A4 corridor between Yatesbury and West Overton 

 (SU 0564 7020 to SU 1322 6844); Undated 

 The archaeological monitoring of the installation 

 of a fibre-optic cable trench and associated works 

 between Yatesbury and West Overton was 

 conducted by AC archaeology. The monitored 

 works consisted of some 5.5km of trenching and 

 associated receptor pits sited along the verges and 

 carriageway of the A4. This lay wholly within the 

 Avebury World Heritage Site, traversed the 

 boundaries of two Scheduled Ancient Monuments 

 (SAM28131/01 and SAM28131/02) and ran 

 adjacent to a third (SAM2 1 76 1) .These monuments 

 comprise parts of the West Kennet Avenue and the 

 Sanctuary, elements of the Avebury complex. 



The archaeological project comprised 

 monitoring of contractor's topsoil strip and 

 trenches, including the excavation of regularly- 

 spaced receptor pits. No archaeology was revealed 

 within any of the receptor pits or within the greater 

 part of the trenches linking them. This was largely 

 due to the presence of extensive previous service 

 trenching along the route, the siting of trenches 

 along modern road embankments constructed to 

 carry the A4, and the presence of deep road cuttings, 

 truncating archaeological horizons. 



One short (11m) section of trench cut into the 

 lay-by and carriageway adjacent to the scheduled 

 area of the Sanctuary revealed a concentration of 



