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Summary

Two lengths of enclosure ditch aligned north-south with terminals defining a 5m entrance gap between them were recorded during a community excavation project on land to the west of Dark Lane. Sherds of Middle Neolithic pottery and lithic pieces were recovered from the ditch fills. A calibrated radiocarbon date of 3352-3099BC was obtained from a charcoal sample from one of the ditches.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

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

Full description

Rainbird, P. + Vinnels, L., 2020, Thorverton Community Archaeology Project: Prehistoric Settlement in the Exe valley (Report - Excavation). SDV364561.

Following a trench evaluation in 2017 on land off Dark Lane which found evidence for prehistoric occupation of the site a community excavation project led by AC Archaeology was carried out in 2019. The excavation targeted two areas. Area 1 covered the area of the earlier evaluation and Area 2 the site of a possible ring ditch identified as an anomaly in a geophysical survey.
Two lengths of an enclosure ditch were recorded in Area 1, F1043 and F1044. They were aligned north-south, about 1m wide by 0.5m deep, with terminals defining an entrance gap of 5m. Ditch F1043 probably equates with ditch F105 recorded in the evaluation phase. Sherds of Middle Neolithic pottery and lithic pieces were recovered from the ditch fills. Charcoal from a palaeoenvironmental sample provided a calibrated radiocarbon date of 3352-3099BC. The ditches cut across several pits, two of which were also found to contain Middle Neolithic pottery.

Rainbird, P. + Vinnels, L., 2021, A Middle Neolithic Settlement, Beaker Pit and Late Bronze Age Ringwork at Dark Lane, Thorverton, Mid Devon, 31, 47-48; Figs 6-7 (Article in Serial). SDV364873.

A ditch within the excavated area, which had not been detected by geophysical survey, but which is on the same alignment as a linear anomaly 110m to the north, and may be a continuation thereof, provided a radiocarbon date of 3262-3099 cal BC, within the Middle Neolithic period. Single land division boundaries are not typical of this period, but ditched enclosures are one of the defining types of the Middle Neolithic and it must be regarded as a strong possibility that this ditch forms one side of such an enclosure with a minimum length of 180m. The slight weight of evidence based on the fills is that a bank would have been on the west side of the ditch.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV364561	Report - Excavation: Rainbird, P. + Vinnels, L.. 2020. Thorverton Community Archaeology Project: Prehistoric Settlement in the Exe valley. AC Archaeology. ACD1858/1/0. Digital. [Mapped feature: #136976 ]
	Linked documents:1
SDV364873	Article in Serial: Rainbird, P. + Vinnels, L.. 2021. A Middle Neolithic Settlement, Beaker Pit and Late Bronze Age Ringwork at Dark Lane, Thorverton, Mid Devon. Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society. 79. Paperback Volume. 31, 47-48; Figs 6-7.

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV8786 - Excavation on land off Dark Lane, Thorverton (Ref: ACD1858/1/0)

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