If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.

Summary

A group of 5 ring ditches, largely excavated in advance of gravel quarrying. Some remains may survive in unquarried strip alongside river.

Full Description

A group of five ring ditches, identified from aerial photographs, and excavated in 1972-1974 in advance of gravel extraction. The ring ditches represent a Bronze Age barrow cemetery, in use throughout the second millenium BC. Two urned primary cremation burials were retrieved, the remaining three barrows showing no surviving burial. Associated with one barrow was an external burial, in a small post-built structure. In some cases mound material survived, and posthole structures were found sealed underneath, indicating the presence of an earlier settlement. Evidence of a contemporary flint industry was found in the ditch fills of two of the barrows.

The site was under cultivation during the Iron Age, and by the late iron Age or early Roman period a field system had been laid out. It has been suggested that its location on the flood plain of the River Great Ouse indicates that the site was seasonally occupied, the main focus being above the flood plain. A ditch seems to have been placed to separate the barrows from encroaching fields in the first century BC, but this had been filled in by the mid first century AD. A habitation area was constructed in the centre of the area in the second century AD but this seems to have been occupied seasonally and for a short time only. Fragments of pipe-clay Venus figurines have been taken as evidence of a Romano-Celtic shrine on the site, two burials were found dating to the 2nd or 3rd century AD, one a cremation and the other an inhumation. Two hearths were found in the upper fills of one of the barrow ditches, and carbon dating placed one of them in the 4th century AD and the other in the 6th, indicating continued sporadic use of the site; an inhumation burial just inside the ditch of one of the barrows was dated to the 6th or 7th century AD. Two parallel linear features dating to the medieval period were interpreted as furrows.

Antiquity, Vol 46, 1972, p 313 (Article in serial). SBD11098.

Archaeological Journal, Vol 131, 1974, pp 69, 73 (Article in serial). SBD10785.

Archaeological Journal, Vol 135, 1978, pp 34, 44, 55 (Article in serial). SBD10785.

Archaeological Journal, Vol 142, 1985, pp 73-149 (Article in serial). SBD10785.

BCC Photographic Unit, Plan (Unpublished document). SBD10507.

BCC Photographic Unit, Radio-Carbon Date (Unpublished document). SBD10507.

Bedfordshire Archaeological Journal, Vol 10, 1975, p 85 (Bibliographic reference). SBD10569.

Bedfordshire Archaeological Journal, Vol 10, 1975, p 85 (Bibliographic reference). SBD10569.

Bedfordshire Archaeological Journal, Vol 12, 1977, pp 3, 10-11, 15 (Bibliographic reference). SBD10569.

Bedfordshire Archaeological Journal, Vol 8, 1973, p 142 (Bibliographic reference). SBD10569.

Bedfordshire Archaeological Journal, Vol 8, 1973, p 69 (Bibliographic reference). SBD10569.

Bedfordshire Archaeology, Vol 16, 1983, pp 7-28 (Bibliographic reference). SBD10809.

Bedfordshire Archaeology, Vol 21, 1994, pp 148-149 (Bibliographic reference). SBD10809.

Britannia, Vol 5, 1974, p 435 (Article in serial). SBD10901.

Cambridge AP index, ABE 23 (17/6/1960) TL 156 535 (Aerial Photograph). SBD10593.

Cambridge AP index, AFQ 63-34 (23/6/1962) TL 156 536 (Aerial Photograph). SBD10593.

Cambridge AP index, AGA 41-42 (9/7/1962) TL 156 536 (Aerial Photograph). SBD10593.

Cambridge AP index, AGA 45-46 (9/7/1962) TL 155 536 (Aerial Photograph). SBD10593.

Cambridge AP index, AJA 48 (19/6/1964) TL 156 536 (Aerial Photograph). SBD10593.

Cambridge AP index, AOL 57-58 (23/6/1966) TL 156 536 (Aerial Photograph). SBD10593.

Cambridge AP index, AOO 18 (29/6/1966) TL 156 536 (Aerial Photograph). SBD10593.

Cambridge AP index, BBY 46-48 (16/6/1970) TL 156 536 (Aerial Photograph). SBD10593.

Cambridge AP index, BCP 77-78 (26/6/1970) TL 156 536 (Aerial Photograph). SBD10593.

Cambridge AP index, BIP 46-48 (9/6/1972) TL 156 536 (Aerial Photograph). SBD10593.

Cambridge AP index, BIZ 82-84 (28/6/1972) TL 156 536 (Aerial Photograph). SBD10593.

Cambridge AP index, BNJ 51-53 (18/6/1973) TL 157 535 (Aerial Photograph). SBD10593.

Cambridge AP index, BOU 21-25 (20/9/1973) TL 156 536 (Aerial Photograph). SBD10593.

Cambridge AP index, BQJ 101-102 (12/7/1974) TL 156 536 (Aerial Photograph). SBD10593.

Cambridge AP index, WU 51-58 (30/6/1958) TL 156 536 (Aerial Photograph). SBD10593.

Cambridge AP index, WV 15-17 (3/7/1958) TL 156 536 (Aerial Photograph). SBD10593.

Cambridge AP index, YK 16-18 (18/6/1959) TL 156 536 (Aerial Photograph). SBD10593.

Cambridge AP index, YO 90-93 (20/6/1959) TL 156 535 (Aerial Photograph). SBD10593.

Cambridge AP index, YT 15-16 (22/6/1959) TL 156 536 (Aerial Photograph). SBD10593.

Cambridge AP index, ZU 83 (6/7/1959) TL 156 536 (Aerial Photograph). SBD10593.

Cambridge AP index, ZV 1-3 (7/7/1959) TL 156 535 (Aerial Photograph). SBD10593.

CBA Group 9 Newsletter, Vol 3, 1973, pp 13-14 (Article in serial). SBD10818.

CBA Group 9 Newsletter, Vol 4, 1974, p 6 (Article in serial). SBD10818.

CBA Group 9 Newsletter, Vol 5, 1975, pp 12-13 (Article in serial). SBD10818.

CBA Group 9 Newsletter, Vol 7, 1977, p 42 (Article in serial). SBD10818.

Correspondence, Letter from J K St Joseph, 29/11/1979 (Unpublished document). SBD10802.

Current Archaeology, No 47, May 1975, p 370 (Article in serial). SBD10932.

HER plans, Excavation plans and sections (Plan). SBD10881.

HER Slide Archive, 2872-2874 (Slide). SBD10508.

HER Slide Archive, 5146 (Slide). SBD10508.

HER Slide Archive, 6900 (Slide). SBD10508.

Hollowell, Slide 4038 (Aerial Photograph). SBD11166.

NMR Aerial Photograph, TL 1553/1/246-248 (Aerial Photograph). SBD10595.

NMR Aerial Photograph, TL 1553/2/249-250 (Aerial Photograph). SBD10595.

NMR Aerial Photograph, TL 1553/3/23-25 (Aerial Photograph). SBD10595.

NMR Aerial Photograph, TL 1553/4/476-478 (Aerial Photograph). SBD10595.

NMR Aerial Photograph, TL 1553/5/491-492 (Aerial Photograph). SBD10595.

NMR Aerial Photograph, TL 1553/6/494-495 (Aerial Photograph). SBD10595.

OS: TL 15, TL 15 SE 18 (Unpublished document). SBD11100.

P J Woodward, Untitled Source, Summary reports (with A Taylor) 1972-1974 (Unpublished document). SBD11159.

A Simco, 1984, Survey of Bedfordshire: Roman Period, p 114 (Bibliographic reference). SBD10650.

M Dawson, 2000, Prehistoric, Roman and Post-Roman Landscapes of the Great Ouse Valley, pp 75-76 (Bibliographic reference). SBD10951.

Protected Status: None recorded

Monument Type(s):

• BUILDING (Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age - 3000 BC to 1501 BC)
• POST HOLE (Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age - 3000 BC to 1501 BC)
• CEMETERY (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
• CREMATION (Early Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 1501 BC)
• RING DITCH (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
• FIELD SYSTEM (Early Iron Age to Roman/Romano-British - 800 BC to 409 AD)
• PIT (Early Iron Age to Roman/Romano-British - 800 BC to 409 AD)
• ANIMAL BURIAL (Late Iron Age to Roman/Romano-British - 100 BC to 409 AD)
• BUILDING (2nd Century - 100 AD to 199 AD)
• INHUMATION (2nd Century to 7th Century - 100 AD to 699 AD)
• HEARTH (4th Century to 6th Century - 300 AD to 599 AD)

Associated Finds

• FBD2090 - CORE (Early Mesolithic to Late Bronze Age - 10000 BC to 701 BC)
• FBD2080 - SCRAPER (TOOL) (Early Mesolithic to Late Bronze Age - 10000 BC to 701 BC)
• FBD1642 - TRANCHET AXEHEAD (Mesolithic - 10000 BC to 4001 BC)
• FBD1221 - ARROW (Early Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 4000 BC to 701 BC)
• FBD1500 - AWL (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
• FBD1746 - BEAD (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
• FBD1765 - FLAKE (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
• FBD1993 - TOGGLE (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
• FBD5821 - URN (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
• FBD5823 - PIN (Late Bronze Age - 1000 BC to 701 BC)
• FBD1951 - HOOK (Early Iron Age to Roman/Romano-British - 800 BC to 409 AD)
• FBD1862 - REAPING HOOK (Early Iron Age to Roman/Romano-British - 800 BC to 409 AD)
• FBD1823 - ANIMAL REMAINS (Late Iron Age to Roman/Romano-British - 100 BC to 409 AD)
• FBD5818 - NAIL (Late Iron Age to Roman/Romano-British - 100 BC to 409 AD)
• FBD5819 - BOX (Roman/Romano-British - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• FBD2063 - COIN (1st Century to 2nd Century - 98 AD? to 117 AD?)
• FBD5820 - ARMLET (2nd Century to 3rd Century - 100 AD to 299 AD)
• FBD1924 - PIN (2nd Century to 3rd Century - 100 AD to 299 AD)
• FBD2038 - KNIFE (6th Century to 7th Century - 500 AD to 699 AD)
• FBD5816 - COIN (16th Century to Unknown - 1561 AD)

Associated Events

• EBB1189 - SOUTH EAST OF ROXTON VILLAGE; Excavation, 1972

Sources and Further Reading

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.