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CHER Number:	MCB17708
Type of record:	Monument
Name:	Prehistoric and Roman remains, Reach Road, Burwell

Summary - not yet available

Grid Reference:	TL 583 660
Parish:	Burwell, East Cambridgeshire, Cambridgeshire

Monument Type(s):

FINDSPOT (Late Mesolithic to Early Neolithic - 7000 BC to 3001 BC)
FINDSPOT (Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age - 3000 BC to 1501 BC)
PALAEOCHANNEL (Early Neolithic to 5th century Roman - 4000 BC to 409 AD)
BURIAL (Middle Iron Age to Late Iron Age - 200 BC to 42 AD)
POND? (2nd century AD to 3rd century AD - 101 AD to 300 AD)
DITCH (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
DITCH (Unknown date)
PIT (Unknown date)

Associated Finds:

ANIMAL REMAINS (Undated)
MOLLUSCA REMAINS (Undated)
POLLEN (Undated)
BLADE (Late Mesolithic to Early Neolithic - 7000 BC to 3001 BC)
CORE (Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age - 3000 BC to 1501 BC)
FLAKE (Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age - 3000 BC to 1501 BC)
SHERD (Early Iron Age to 2nd century AD - 800 BC to 200 AD)
HUMAN REMAINS (Late Iron Age - 100 BC to 42 AD) + Sci.Date
QUERN (1st century AD - 1 AD to 100 AD)
ROOF TILE (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)

Associated Events:

Evaluation of Land NW of 60 Reach Road, Burwell, 2007 (Ref: BURR 07)

Full description

1. Evaluation revealed a range of features spanning the prehistoric and Roman periods. A small quantity of worked and burnt flint was recovered, mostly from the deposits of a former water channel, indicating some activity in the area from the later Neolithic/early Bronze Age. Further artefacts recovered from the channel deposits indicate that the channel was open in the later Iron Age and Romano-British period, and may date back to the 2nd millennium BC. The partially articulated remains of at least two individuals were exposed along the S edge of the channel, with a radiocarbon date from one giving a date for deposition in the late Iron Age. The remains may indicate the late continuation of the tradition of burial in wet places, which has previously thought to be a Bronze Age practice. On the N side of the channel, heavy disturbance of the wet ground surface was observed, possibly caused by livestock concentrating at the river's edge. Two linear features, a possible 2nd-3rd century pond, and a pit containing fuel ash slag were also recorded, indicating agricultural and industrial activity in the vicinity. Molluscan evidence suggested a landscape primarily of short turfed open grassland, while an almost complete absence of charred plant remains suggest that the site may lie away from any settlement areas. The rising water table caused abandonment of the area, probably in the later Roman period.

<1> Allen, M., 2007, Archaeological Evaluation Report: Trial Trenching on Lane to the North-West of 60 Reach Road, Burwell, Cambridgeshire (Unpublished report). SCB20321.

Sources and further reading