NHER 68138 (Monument record) - Potentially prehistoric and undated features

May-July 2014. Strip, Map and Sample Excavation.
Excavation on route of Wissington Pipeline Diversion (Field 8).
The stripping of topsoil and subsoil deposits from this section of the pipeline easement revealed two ditches and six small pits.
The pits included a group of three features in close proximity, one of which contained a number of fire-cracked pebbles and three sherds of Early Neolithic flint-tempered pottery. A flint end scraper and several worked flakes were also recovered from this feature, although these can only be broadly dated as later prehistoric.
Additional evidence for at least limited prehistoric activity at this location included three abraded sherds of possible Iron Age pottery recovered from an east-north-east to west-south-west aligned ditch.
The second ditch was a north-north-west to south-south-east aligned feature at the western end of the site. It is suggested that this was likely to correspond with a former field boundary depicted on late 19th-century maps, although this is not consistent with its recorded position and orientation.
The three other pits identified were widely scattered and all undated. A sample from the peaty fill of one produced only charcoal.
Information from report uploaded to OASIS. HER copy awaited.
P. Watkins (HES), 29 February 2024.