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Summary

A group of six pits, three of which contained sherds of Peterborough Ware style Neolithic pottery, were excavated as part of a programme of archaeological works along the route of a gas pipeline. The other three pits are dated by association to the the Neolithic period. Pieces of worked flint and several rubbing stones were also recovered from the pits.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• PIT (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2201 BC) + Sci.Date

Full description

Joyce, S. + Mudd, A. + Collard, M., 2010, South-West Reinforcement Project, Ottery St Mary to Aylesbeare, Aylesbeare to Kenn, Fishacre to Choakford Gas Pipelines, Devon: Post-Excavation Assessment and Updated Project Design Issue 2: Volume I Text, 45, 120, 130, 179, 180-1 (Report - non-specific). SDV347992.

FTC 2.02. Group of six pits in the centre of the site. Pit 2.02.004, 0.78 metres diameter and 0.18 metres deep, contained 34 sherds of probable Late Neolithic Grooved Ware pot, eight pieces of worked flint and four pieces of burnt bone. Pit 2.02.010 was 1.20 metres wide and 0.50 metres deep. Twenty seven sherds of similar Neolithic pottery were recovered from its secondary fill together with 21 pieces of worked flint and charcoal. A radiocarbon date of 3339-3095 cal. BC was returned from this deposit, early for Grooved Ware. Pit 2.02.006 was 0.90 metres wide and 0.26 metres deep and its secondary fill contained ten sherds of similar Neolithic pottery. The other three pits (2.02.013, 016, 018) are dated to the same period by association. All three contained pieces of worked flint and pit 2.02.013 also contained fired clay. Pieces of worked flint were also recovered from the site during field walking in 2001 including a broken fabricator of Neolithic or Early Bronze Age date and two scrapers, the latter not closely datable.
In addition 19 cobbles and fragments of porphyritic lava, volcanic tuff, sandstone and siltstone were recovered from four of the pits. Of these, four cobbles appear to have been used as rubbing stones. A number of the other unworked cobbles are also likely to have been especially collected. Several fragments of the local volcanic tuff have been burnt suggesting they derived from a hearth.

Joyce, S. + Mudd, A. + Collard, M., 2010, South-West Reinforcement Project, Ottery St Mary to Aylesbeare, Aylesbeare to Kenn, Fishacre to Choakford Gas Pipelines, Devon: Post-Excavation Assessment and Updated Project Design Issue 2: Volume II Illustrations, Fig. 45 (Report - non-specific). SDV347993.

Map object based on this source.

Joyce, S. + Mudd, A. + Collard, M., 2010, South-West Reinforcement Project, Ottery St Mary to Aylesbeare, Aylesbeare to Kenn, Fishacre to Choakford Gas Pipelines, Devon: Post-Excavation Assessment and Updated Project Design Issue 2: Volume III Site Gazetteer, ATK 15.02 (Report - non-specific). SDV347994.

Mudd, A. + Joyce, S., 2014, The Archaeology of the South-West Reinforcement Gas Pipeline, Devon. Investigations in 2005-2007, 19-22, 48, 59, 63-65, 66 (Monograph). SDV359340.

Site 17. Hems Valley, Staverton. The site is on flat land in the low lying valley of the River Hems. Field walking in 2001 recovered eight worked flints including a fabricator and a scraper probably of Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age date. In the centre of the site was a group of six pits. Three of the pits contained sherds of Neolithic pottery, probably Peterborough Ware, some of which was decorated. The form of two rims and the style of decoration initially suggested a Grooved Ware attribution to the sherds. However, the radiocarbon dates [see below] are earlier than usually associated with Grooved Ware, more appropriate to Peterborough Ware. The abraded state of the sherds suggests that they had been around for a while before deposition in the pits. Pieces of worked flint and rubbing stones were also recovered. Soil samples from the pits were dominated by carbonised hazelnut shell and large fragments of charcoal, mostly hazel. Radiocarbon dates of 3325-3018 cal. BC were returned from hazelnut shell from pit 2.02.004, 3339-3024 cal. BC and 3327-3024 cal. BC from pit 2.02.010 and 3311-2931 cal BC from pit 2.02.006. The other three pits, 2.02.013, 016 and 018, were not datable but are interpreted as Neolithic by association. Pieces of worked flint were recovered from all three pits. Map object based on this source.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds

• FDV6120 - POLISHER (Undated)
• FDV6121 - PLANT MACRO REMAINS (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2201 BC)
• FDV6118 - POT (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2201 BC)
• FDV6119 - TOOL (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2201 BC)

Associated Events

• EDV4391 - Fishacre to Lyneham Fieldwalking Survey
• EDV5439 - Archaeological Investigations Along Gas Pipeline, South-West Reinforcement Project

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