Monument record MLI32862 - Late Bronze Age to early Iron Age Salt Making Site, Billingborough
Summary
Excavation revealed a late Bronze Age to early Iron Age salt making site in Billingborough parish.
Type and Period (5)
- SALT WORKS (Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age - 900 BC to 500 BC)
- HEARTH (Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age - 900 BC to 500 BC)
- GULLY (Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age - 900 BC to 500 BC)
- PIT (Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age - 900 BC to 500 BC)
- ARTEFACT SCATTER (Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age - 900 BC to 500 BC)
Protected Status/Designation
- None recorded
Full Description
A large elliptical mound, 1 acre in area, was excavated in 1975 in advance of earth-moving, and produced evidence of four hearths associated with late Bronze Age and early Iron Age pottery and briquetage. This is a salt-making site, with cropmarks showing on 1976 aerial photographs of the area. {1}{2}
Excavations on a site in Billingborough parish revealed that late Bronze Age and early Iron Age salt-making had taken place. The salt-making phase of activity was preceded by a middle to late Bronze Age settlement that had been abandoned, probably because of marine flooding (see PRN 33304). The salt-making site was succeeded, after a gap of about a century, by a new settlement during the middle to late Iron Age (see PRN 32860). The later Iron Age settlement was also abandoned and in the early Romano-British period a new field system was laid out in this area (see PRN 35515).
This site is one of the earliest salt-making sites known in the country with a radiocarbon date of 840-390 cal BC. A number of features associated with salt-making were identified. There were four pits containing ashy deposits and briquetage fragments as well as several hearths. These were some gullies which may have been surviving evidence from structures, perhaps temporary shelters or windbreaks. One of the pits appeared, during excavation, to contain an in situ clay structure which disintegrated on excavation. Several scatters of salt-making debris were found across the site. The pottery that was found was not distinctive in form or fabric and was present in only small amounts. It is of a style that dates it probably to the late Bronze Age to early Iron Age. The analysis of the small amount of animal bone (cow, sheep/goat and pig) showed that most of the animals present were exploited for their meat. The development of salt marsh to the east of the site at this period would have provided ideal grazing for sheep, in particular, and meat may have been salted and perhaps traded with settlements in the region. {3}{4}
Sources/Archives (4)
- <1> SLI2881 Index: Lincolnshire County Council. Sites and Monuments Record Card Index. TF 13 SW: Z.
- <2> SLI757 Article in Serial: A.J. White (ed.). 1976. 'Archaeology in Lincolnshire and South Humberside, 1975' in Lincolnshire History and Archaeology. vol.11, p.57.
- <3> SLI7301 Bibliographic Reference: Peter Chowne, Rosamund Cheal and A.P. Fitzpatrick. 2001. Excavations at Billingborough, Lincolnshire, 1975-78: a Bronze-Iron Age settlement and saltern site. pp.14-16, 40-2, 81, 92-3.
- <4> SLI7302 Archive: South Lincolnshire Archaeological Unit. 1996. Excavations at Billingborough 1975-78. LCNCC 173.1996.
Map
Location
| Grid reference | Centred TF 12723 33268 (126m by 109m) Centre |
|---|---|
| Civil Parish | BILLINGBOROUGH, SOUTH KESTEVEN, LINCOLNSHIRE |
Related Monuments/Buildings (2)
Related Events/Activities (1)
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External Links (0)
Record last edited
Mar 21 2021 8:35PM
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