Early Neolithic, Iron Age and Roman settlement at Monksmoor Farm, Daventry, Northamptonshire

Includes contributions from Rob Atkins, Andy Chapman, Mary Ellen Crothers, Val Fryer, Rebecca Gordon, Tora Hylton, Rob Perrin and Yvonne Wolframm-Murray; illustrations by Olly Dindol and Rob Reed. MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) has undertaken archaeological work at Monksmoor Farm on the north-eastern edge of Daventry in six different areas. The earliest archaeological features lay in Area 6 at the southern end of the development area, where two pits were radiocarbon dated to the early Neolithic. They contained a moderate assemblage of worked flints along with sherds of early Neolithic pottery. In the middle Iron Age a settlement was established in the same location comprising a roundhouse and several enclosures. Two other contemporary settlements are thought to have originated in the late Iron Age/ early 1st century BC and were identified in Areas 1 and 2 between c0.2km and 0.5km apart and 500m to the north of Area 6. Area 1 contained evidence for a cluster of eight roundhouses with associated enclosures clearly showing sequential activity, while in Area 2, a large ditched enclosure defined as a Wootton Hill type, within which another roundhouse was present. It is possible that the Wootton Hill type enclosure in particular may have a slighter earlier origin than the limited pottery assemblage suggests. Sparse early Roman features were also found in Areas 3, 4 and 5. This settlement continued in use through the later 1st to 2nd century AD. During the early Roman period the settlement in Area 6 was greatly expanded with large rectilinear ditched enclosures along with smaller enclosures and paddocks being established on either side of a routeway indicating movement of livestock was important. Table of Contents Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 The archaeological evidence Chapter 3 Finds Chapter 4 The faunal and environmental evidence Chapter 5 Discussion Bibliography MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) has undertaken archaeological work at Monksmoor Farm on the north-eastern edge of Daventry in six different areas. The earliest archaeological features lay in Area 6 at the southern end of the development area, where two pits were radiocarbon dated to the early Neolithic. They contained a moderate assemblage of worked flints along with sherds of early Neolithic pottery. In the middle Iron Age a settlement was established in the same location comprising a roundhouse and several enclosures. Two other contemporary settlements are thought to have originated in the late Iron Age/ early 1st century BC and were identified in Areas 1 and 2 between c0.2km and 0.5km apart and 500m to the north of Area 6. Area 1 contained evidence for a cluster of eight roundhouses with associated enclosures clearly showing sequential activity, while in Area 2, a large ditched enclosure defined as a Wootton Hill type, within which another roundhouse was present. It is possible that the Wootton Hill type enclosure in particular may have a slighter earlier origin than the limited pottery assemblage suggests. Sparse early Roman features were also found in Areas 3, 4 and 5. This settlement continued in use through the later 1st to 2nd century AD. During the early Roman period the settlement in Area 6 was greatly expanded with large rectilinear ditched enclosures along with smaller enclosures and paddocks being established on either side of a routeway indicating movement of livestock was important. Cover 1 Title Page 3 Copyright page 4 Contents Page 5 List of Figures 8 Contributors 10 Acknowledgements 11 Chapter 1 13 Introduction 13 Location, topography and geology 13 Project background 13 Archaeological work within the area 15 Historical and archaeological background 15 Prehistoric 15 Late Iron Age and/or Roman period 15 Saxon/medieval and later 15 Site phasing 19 Figure 1.1 Site location 13 Figure 1.2 Site topography 14 Figure 1.3 Site geology 16 Figure 1.4 Geophysical survey interpretation and trenches to the north 17 Figure 1.5 Geophysical survey interpretation and trenches to the south 18 Table 1.1 Summary of site chronology and significant archaeological features 19 Figure 1.6 Areas 1-4 overlying geophysical survey 20 Figure 1.7 Area 6 overlying geophysical survey 21 Figure 2.1 Area 6: Early Neolithic pits and middle Iron Age features 24 Figure 2.2 Area 6: Early Neolithic pits [356] and [359], looking north-west 25 Figure 2.3 Area 2: Section of ditch [9144/9149], looking south-west 25 Figure 2.4 Area 1: Late Iron Age settlement 26 Figure 2.5 Area 1: Late Iron Age ditched enclosure E1 [7124] 27 Figure 2.6 Area 1: Late Iron Age pit [7094] 27 Figure 2.7 Area 1: Late Iron Age ditched enclosure E2 entranceway and cobbled surface 28 Figure 2.8 Area 1: Late Iron Age posthole [7543] 28 Figure 2.9 Area 1: Late Iron Age ditched enclosure E3 looking west 29 Table 2.1. Comparison of the late Iron Age ring gullies in Areas 1, 2 and 6 29 Figure 2.10 Area 1: Late Iron Age gully RG2 [7559] 30 Figure 2.11 Area 1: Late Iron Age pit [7601] 30 Figure 2.12 Area 1: Late Iron Age pit [7513] 30 Figure 2.13 Area 1: Late Iron Age ring gully RG5, looking north-east 30 Figure 2.14 Area 1 : Late Iron Age ring gully RG8, looking west 31 Figure 2.15 Area 1: Late Iron Age pit [7315] 31 Figure 2.16 Area 2: Late Iron Age enclosure E11 32 Figure 2.17 Area 2: Late Iron Age ditched enclosure E11 33 Figure 2.18 Area 2: Late Iron Age ditched enclosure E11 showing revetment 34 Figure 2.19 Area 2: Late Iron Age ring gully RG13, looking north 34 Figure 2.20 Area 6: Late Iron Age settlement 36 Figure 2.21 Area 6: Late Iron Age enclosure E4, looking south-west 37 Figure 2.22 Area 6: Late Iron Age ring gully RG12 37 Figure 2.23 Area 6: Late Iron Age ring gully RG10 38 Figure 2.24 Area 6: Late Iron Age ring gully RG9, looking west 38 Figure 2.25 Areas 1, 3, 4 and 5: Early Roman activity 40 Figure 2.26 Area 6: Early Roman settlement 42 Figure 2.27 Area 6: Early Roman settlement initial phase 43 Figure 2.28 Area 6: Early Roman ditched enclosure E15 44 Figure 2.29 Area 6: Early Roman ditched enclosure E15 showing re-cuts and stake holes 44 Figure 2.30 Area 6: Early Roman ladder enclosures E12, E13 and E14, looking south-west 45 Figure 2.31 Area 6: Early Roman settlement second phase 46 Figure 2.32 Area 6: Early Roman ditched enclosure E16 47 Figure 2.33 Area 6: Early Roman wattle-lined well [222] 47 Figure 2.34 Medieval field systems and post-medieval quarrying in Areas 1 to 6 48 Figure 2.35 Post-medieval quarrying in Area 2 49 Table 3.1. Quantification of worked flint from pits [356] and [359] 51 Table 3.2. Catalogue of flint from pit [356] 52 Figure 3.1 Flake from polished stone axe, showing flat facet, left and finely worked, broken flint arrowheads, right, all from early Neolithic pit [356] 53 Table 3.3: Catalogue of flint from pit [359] 53 Table 3.4. Quantification of worked flint as residual finds from Areas 1-5 54 Figure 3.2 The radiocarbon determination 55 Table 3.5 Late Iron Age pottery by feature group quantification 56 Table 3.6 Roman pottery fabric quantification 58 Table 3.7 Roman vessel forms per fabric 58 Table 3.8. Roman pottery feature group quantification 59 Table 3.9 Roman pottery feature group vessel form quantification 59 Table 3.10. Roman pottery quantification Area 6, enclosure E12 60 Table 3.11. Roman pottery quantification Area 6, enclosure E13 60 Table 3.12 Roman pottery quantification Area 6, enclosure E14 61 Table 3.13 Roman pottery quantification Area 6, enclosure E15 62 Table 3.14 Roman pottery quantification Area 6, enclosure E16 63 Table 3.15 Roman pottery quantification Area 6, trackway E17 63 Figure 3.3 Pottery illustration catalogue 1-10 64 Figure 3.4 Pottery illustration catalogue 11-21 65 Figure 3.5 Pottery illustration catalogue 22-28 66 Table 3.16 Quantification of querns and grinding stones 66 Table 3.17. Daub 67 Table 3.18. Kiln, oven or hearth material 67 Table 3.19. Quantification of slag 68 Table 3.20. Roman ceramic tile 68 Table 3.21. Small finds quantified by material type 69 Figure 5.1 Daventry Monksmoor and surrounding sites 81 Figure 5.2 Area 1 phase plan 83 Figure 5.3 Area 6 phase plan 84 Figure 5.4 Artist impression of Wootton Hill enclosure (after Jackson, 2010, 108) 86 Figure 5.5 Iron Age gateways in Northamptonshire 87 Figure 5.6 Comparative plans of paddocks and routeways 89 Chapter 2 23 The archaeological evidence 23 Period 1: Early Neolithic (4000BC to 2500BC) 23 Neolithic pits 23 Period 2: Middle Iron Age (400BC to 100BC) 23 Period 3: Late Iron Age to post-Conquest (100BC-AD60) 23 Introduction 23 Area 1 25 Enclosure E1 25 Enclosure E2 25 Enclosure E3 27 Ring gully RG1 28 Ring gullies RG2 and RG3 29 Ring gullies RG4 and RG5 30 Ring gullies RG6, RG7 and RG8 31 Area 2 33 Enclosure E11 33 Ring gully RG13 34 Area 6 35 Enclosure E10 35 Enclosure E4 35 Enclosure E5 35 Ring gully RG11 39 Ring gully RG9 39 Period 4: Early Roman (AD60-AD150) 39 Introduction 39 Area 6 39 Initial phase of enclosure system E15 41 Routeway 1 41 Enclosure E9 44 Enclosures E12, E13 and E14 45 Second phase of enclosure system E16 45 Wattle-lined well 49 Areas 1, 3, 4 and 5 39 Period 5: Medieval to post-medieval 49 Open field system 49 Post-medieval quarry pits 50 Chapter 3 51 Finds 51 Worked Flint 51 Area 6 51 Raw material and condition 51 Pit [356] 52 Pit [359] 53 Areas 1-5 53 The Neolithic pottery 54 Iron Age and Roman pottery 55 Fabrics and sources 55 Overview 55 The Iron Age pottery 55 Enclosures 56 Area 1 56 Area 2 57 Area 6 57 Roundhouses and ancillary features 56 Area 1 56 Area 2 56 Area 6 56 The features 56 Fabrics and sources 57 Forms 57 Date 58 Introduction 57 Iron Age pottery from Roman features 57 The Roman pottery 57 Roman features 59 Enclosure E7 59 Enclosures E8 and E9 59 Enclosure E12 60 Enclosure E13 60 Enclosure E14 60 Enclosure E15 61 Enclosure E16 62 Routeway 1 63 Roman pottery from Iron Age features 59 Querns and grinding stones 63 Fired Clay 67 Daub 67 Floor surface 67 Kiln, forge, oven or hearth material 67 Slag 67 Other finds 68 Roman 68 Catalogue 69 Copper alloy 69 Glass 70 Iron 70 Lead 70 Post-medieval 69 Tile 68 Chapter 4 71 The faunal and environmental evidence 71 Animal bone 71 Environmental remains 71 Introduction and method statement 71 Phase 1: Early Neolithic, Area 6 71 Phase 2: Middle Iron Age, Area 6 71 Phase 3: Late Iron Age Area 6 71 Phase 3: Late Iron Age Area 1 73 Phase 4: Roman Area 6 73 Conclusions 73 Chapter 5 79 Discussion 79 Overview 79 Period 1: Early Neolithic 79 Period 2: Middle Iron Age 80 Period 3: Late Iron Age 82 Enclosures 85 Wootton Hill type enclosure 85 Ring gullies 88 Period 4: Early Roman 88 Field system 90 Paddocks and well 90 Back Cover 94