NHER 64578 (Monument record) - ?Iron Age, Roman and later features

August 2016. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed development site.
A total of eleven trenches were excavated, six of which revealed archaeologically-significant remains.
A small assemblage of worked flints provided some evidence for prehistoric activity on the site, although this material was all residual within later contexts.
The earliest features appeared to be two adjacent small pits that both produced small quantities of probable Iron Age pottery. A north-west to south-east aligned ditch in the same trench was one of the more notable features revealed as it produced a reasonably large quantity of Roman pottery. The amount of pottery present suggests a proximity to contemporary settlement, although another ditch to the west was the only other feature of possible Roman date exposed during this work. This north-to-south aligned ditch produced four Roman pottery sherds and a small quantity of animal bone. Samples taken from the fills of these two ditches revealed little in the way of environment material.
Later features included a small pit that produced single sherds of Late Saxon and medieval pottery. A group of large, steep-sided pits revealed at the far eastern end of the site appear t have been quarry pits of relatively recent date. Finds recovered from these features included small quantities of post-medieval pottery, clay tobacco pipe fragments and ceramic building material.
Information from draft report. Final version awaited.
The archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2018.23).
P. Watkins (HES), 31 January 2021.