No structural evidence was found relating to this period. Pottery of 2nd–3rd/4th centuries AD date occurred in the top fill of the Iron Age ditches, in vestiges of buried soil sunken into tops of earlier pits, and in the topsoil. This was mainly Severn Valley ware, with some Black-burnished ware and a few samian sherds (the latter no longer available). The pottery was probably deposited as a result of agricultural activity involving manuring fields associated with a nearby settlement. The high stratigraphic level of the Roman material tended to imply that Iron Age structures were well eroded by the time of the ensuing Roman activity, or perhaps had even been deliberately slighted, although the banks had not been entirely flattened judging by their attractiveness to burrowing animals, and possibly to rabbits in particular at a later date.
© Internet Archaeology/Author(s)
URL: http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue28/3/2.4.html
Last updated: Wed July 21 2010