Commentary on the Site Description (2008)
This was best represented in cutting 1012 (field record no longer available), which showed that a construction trench (1012.3, 1012.5, 1012.6) had been excavated in the ditch fill. This trench included a funnel-shaped disturbance (1012.4) with a tumble of stones at its base, interpreted as a post-withdrawal hole. This hole implied a post of c. 0.40m in diameter set c. 0.70m deep. At the base of this post-withdrawal hole and extending for 2m towards the terminal of the ditch, could be seen a series of post impressions caused by the weight of the timber they had supported.
This earlier palisade was not recognised elsewhere during the excavation, despite the opening of cutting 1549 (Fig. 14) specifically to investigate this feature; observation by C.I. Walker of the quarry face in 1978 during the destruction of the site also showed a disturbance in the ditch fill very similar to 1012.4. In effect, therefore, this first palisade appeared only on the east side of the enclosure; there is no evidence that it was ever completed elsewhere.
© Internet Archaeology/Author(s)
URL: http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue28/3/3.2.3.5.html
Last updated: Wed July 21 2010