NHER 58502 (Find Spot) - Middle Bronze Age to Roman peat deposits

November 2011-June 2012. Trial Trenching.
Excavation of 13 trial trenches and 5 bore holes in advance of commercial development recorded palaeoenvironmental evidence for this area, with a deposit sequence similar to those recorded elsewhere in the eastern fens. Radiocarbon dating of twig wood extracted from the top and bottom of the peat layers confirmed that there was peat accumulation in this area from the Middle or Late Bronze Age to the Roman period. Pollen assessment indicates that the region was occupied by typical fen carr woodland on the wetland and mixed deciduous woodland on the dryland. Large-scale decrease of woodland on both wet and dry land occurred simultaneously, resulting in more open and possibly wetter conditions. This change may be related to human clearance for farming and/or settlement, but evidence for cultivation was limited to a single grain of cereal and the presence of saltmarsh plants in the wetland areas around this time could not be confirmed.
No archaeological finds or features were recorded.
See report (S1) for further information.
H. Hamilton (HES), 27 December 2012.