Monument record MLI30720 - Iron Age enclosure and round houses, Stamford West
Summary
A rectangular Iron Age enclosure and three round houses on land south of Empingham Road, Stamford.
Type and Period (4)
- PIT (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
- ROUND HOUSE (DOMESTIC) (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
- DITCHED ENCLOSURE (Middle Iron Age to Late Iron Age - 400 BC to 42 AD)
- RECTANGULAR ENCLOSURE (Middle Iron Age to Late Iron Age - 400 BC to 42 AD)
Protected Status/Designation
- None recorded
Full Description
A large rectangular enclosure lies west-northwest to east-southeast and just north of the county boundary, and shows as slight cropmark. The southern ditch seems to continue to the west on a slightly different alignment. {1}
The enclosure appears to have an internal division and pit features within it. {2}{3}{4}
A geophysical survey was undertaken in November 2011 to determine the extent and form of the enclosure. A partial internal ring ditch and at least one field boundary on the same alignment were encountered. Entrances were identified at the south and east corners of the enclosure, and the northern and southern ditches appeared to continue further east. {5}
Subsequent trial trenching in February-March 2012 encountered an enclosure ditch 2.5m wide and 1m deep with steep outer and shallower internal slopes. Iron Age pottery (mostly of mid-late Iron Age date) and a moderate quantity of animal bone were recovered from the fills of the ditches. Several possible internal features were encountered in the same trench. {6}
This area was subject to a strip, map and record in July-October 2014. Four phases of Iron Age activity were recorded within and around the enclosure. The earliest phase was represented by the remains of an Early Iron Age round house, comprising a circular drip gully, open to the southeast, with a number of external postholes. This was truncated by the remains of a second Early Iron Age round house, comprising a drip gully and a near complete ring of external postholes. This round house had a more clearly defined east-southeast facing entrance, flanked by two large post pits. A fragment of quernstone was recovered from the backfill of one of the external postholes. Radiocarbon dating of a sheep/goat phalanx recovered from another post hole returned a date range of 510-370 BC. Several internal post holes or pits were encountered; these could not be positively attributed to either of these two phases, but likely represent the remains of central supporting posts for one or both buildings. The third phase of settlement included the remains of another round house, slightly displaced from the earlier two buildings. As with the phase 2 round house, this had an entrance to the east-southeast flanked by postholes or pits. This was situated within a rectangular enclosure dating to the Mid-Late Iron Age. The western enclosure ditch truncated the western return of the second phase ring gully. The ditches of this enclosure appear to have been backfilled relatively quickly, with the settlement being replaced by a larger sub-rectangular enclosure of probable agricultural origin. {7}{8}
Sources/Archives (8)
- <1> SLI186 Aerial Photograph: FOARD, G.. 1984-90. NORTHANTS CC. TF0007-1, 24/7/1986, 3051/30; NHC 11915/5-6, 2/7/90.
- <2> SLI3613 Map: Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England. 1992-1996. Lincolnshire National Mapping Programme. TF0107:LI.789.6.1-2, 1995.
- <3> SLI5405 Article in Monograph: Helen Winton. 1998. 'The cropmark evidence for Prehistoric and Roman settlement in west Lincolnshire' in Lincolnshire's Archaeology from the Air. Page 49, Fig 2.16.
- <4> SLI145 Aerial Photograph: Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England. 1946-98. RCHME National Aerial Photograph Collection at Swindon. 23/13725, 12/7/90.
- <5> SLI18558 Report: Archaeological Project Services. 2011. Land at Stamford West: Geophysical Survey. -.
- <6> SLI18560 Archive: Archaeological Project Services. 2011. Archaeological Evaluation: Stamford West Field, Stamford. LCNCC: 2011.418.
- <7> SLI18563 Report: Wessex Archaeology. 2017. Stamford West: Archaeological Excavation. -.
- <8> SLI18564 Archive: Wessex Archaeology. 2014. Stamford West: Archaeological Excavation. LCNCC: 2014.91.
Map
Location
| Grid reference | Centred TF 01107 07037 (121m by 130m) Surveyed |
|---|---|
| Civil Parish | STAMFORD, SOUTH KESTEVEN, LINCOLNSHIRE |
Related Monuments/Buildings (0)
Related Events/Activities (3)
External Links (0)
Record last edited
Nov 15 2024 10:39AM
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