NHER 60055 (Monument record) - Early Neolithic pit or natural feature and undated ditches and pits

2004-2005. Desk-based Assessment.
Assessment of proposed line of Norwich Northern Distributor Route.
See reports (S1) and (S2) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 28 July 2015.

December 2006-January 2007. Geophysical Survey.
Magnetometer survey on proposed line of Norwich Northern Distributor Route (Area 2).
The southern half of this area contains several discrete positive anomalies which may relate to pit-like features, but their archaeological origin is uncertain. Several weak linear anomalies were also noted.
See report (S3) for further information.
Previously recorded under NHER 49756.
A. Cattermole (NLA), 18 September 2009.

January-February 2010. Trial Trenching
Evaluation of western half of field – the proposed site of a contractors' compound for the Norwich Northern Distributor Road.
Archaeologically significant features were recorded in 17 of the 32 trenches excavated, the majority of which were ditches. Many of these ditches were aligned either north-south or east-west and may well be broadly contemporary, with the small number on differing alignments likely to have been of a different date. One of the north-south aligned ditches corresponds with a previously identified linear cropmark feature (NHER 51973). A trench was also placed to examine a second, similarly-aligned linear cropmark feature, although in this case no related sub-surface remains appeared to survive. Unfortunately it was impossible to closely date any of the excavated ditches, with finds limited to a small number of prehistoric worked flints recovered from two ditches excavated in the north-western part of the site.
A small number of discrete features were also identified, including a single post-hole, several pits (some of which were only partially exposed and therefore potentially ditch termini) and various natural
features. Apart from the odd worked flint these features also produced little in the way of dating evidence, the one exception being a pit that contained tiny scraps of undatable prehistoric pottery. Environmental samples taken from two of the pits produced very sparse plant macrofossil assemblage of predominantly charcoal/charred wood and charred roots/stems. The presence of coal fragments and black tarry material suggested that the assemblages were primarily composed of modern
remains.
The 10 worked flints recovered included Mesolithic/Early Neolithic blades and cores; a Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age piercer; an Early Bronze Age barbed and tanged arrowhead and several undiagnostic flakes. The six tiny sherds of prehistoric pottery recovered from one of the pits were the only other finds found during this work.
See report (S4) for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S5). See NHER 49757 for information on single trench excavated in field to south.
The associated archive has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2010.100).
Previously recorded under NHER 51973.
S. Howard (NLA), 17 August 2010. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 8 May 2014 and 11 May 2019.

May 2014-January 2015. Geophysical Survey.
Magnetometer survey on updated proposed line of Norwich Northern Distributor Road through easternmost part of field (Area P2).
This survey revealed no anomalies of obvious archaeological significance. Although a number of discrete areas of magnetic enhancement were identified these were thought to be reflect changes in the underlying geology. Numerous small dipolar anomalies were likely to represent ferrous debris and a linear dipolar anomaly is a continuation of the service pipe detected during the earlier survey.
See report (S6) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 3 April 2018.

May 2015. Geophysical Survey.
Magnetometer survey of portion of field immediately west of proposed route of Norwich Northern Distributor Road.
The only response of note is an intermittent north-north-west to south-south-east aligned anomaly, the position and orientation of which indicate it most likely represent a former field boundary of relatively recent date (although not one that appears on the available 19th-century maps).
See report (S7) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 7 March 2021.

March 2021. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of land between Norwich Northern Distributor Road (now Broadland Northway) and block investigated in 2010 (Trenches 9-20).
The twelve trenches excavated revealed only a small number of scattered linear and discrete features. By far the most interesting was a shallow, irregular crescentic pit or natural feature that produced an assemblage of Early Neolithic pottery and worked flints. The main fill of this feature was relatively sterile, with virtually all of the finds recovered from what was presumably a deliberate dump of dark, charcoal-rich material in one half. The bulk of the 60 pottery sherds recovered are from a single Carinated bowl datable to the first half of the 4th millennium BC. The worked flint assemblage comprises flakes, blades, miscellaneous debitage, a side scraper and two backed blades. Although this material doesn’t appear to represent in situ knapping debris it is nevertheless likely to be contemporary with the pottery (and therefore also deliberately gathered for burial within this feature). A sample of the darker fill produced several fragments of heavy burnt animal bone but unfortunately little in the way of charred plant macrofossils apart from charcoal and small number of poorly preserved grass seed or cereal grain fragments.
The other features identified included two small pits with sterile fills and several ditches – the majority of which produced no dating evidence. Most of the ditches were however aligned north-to-south, which was the orientation of a number of former field boundaries shown nearby on 19th-century maps. The most extensive of these features also produced a single fragment of post-medieval ceramic building material and was associated with a parallel linear feature (interpreted as the base of a former hedgerow) that contained part of a modern iron plough.
Two of the southernmost trenches revealed evidence for recent disturbance, with deposits of obviously modern date lying beneath the topsoil. This disturbance presumably occurred during the construction of the Norwich Northern Distributor Road, when the area investigated lay between a works compound and the new road.
Unstratified finds were limited to a single prehistoric flint flake.
See report (S8) for further details.
An archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2021.31).
P. Watkins (HES), 10 May 2021. Amended 27 July 2023.