Preprocess Annotations

Report Title

Priors Green, Takeley, Essex. Archaeological Evaluation by Trial Trenching. Phase1, Stage 1

Publisher and Publication Year

Essex County Council Field Archaeology Unit - 2005

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Summary

6.1 Finds Summary by J Compton Small amounts of finds were recovered from a total of twenty-three contexts, across fourteen of the excavated trenches. All of the material was counted and weighed, in grams, by context; full details can be found in Appendix 3. The finds types present comprise mainly struck flints and pottery, predominantly of prehistoric date. Few site features can be closely dated, but, in general, the medieval and post-medieval material was recovered near to currently-occupied buildings. In addition, modern and post-medieval finds were located in a drainage trench running across the centre and east of the investigated area. A fragment of modern fibrous tile came from ditch [93], Trench 11 and a piece of burnt stone, possibly derived from tarmac, from pit [89], Trench 10. Prehistoric material was recovered from features in the west of the excavated area, but these finds are also few in number. Prehistoric pottery came from twelve contexts, and amounted to 175 sherds, weighing 620g. Seven contexts produced a total of fifteen worked flints, weighing 200g. The flints, prehistoric pottery and medieval pottery (15 sherds, weighing 81g) form the subject of separate short reports, and, since the remaining categories are few, these are described together below. Late Iron Age and Roman pottery was recovered from five contexts, amounting to 7 sherds, weighing 24g. These are small body sherds, none of which can be closely dated within the Late Iron Age and Roman periods; two sherds are in grog-tempered ware, ditches [56] and [144], and three are sandy grey ware, ditches [22], [117] and [93]. Six pieces of post-medieval roof tile, weighing 68g, came from three contexts. These are small and abraded. The fragments from f (39) of ditch [25] are associated with a sherd of post- medieval red earthenware and a clay pipe stem. Those from f (36) of ditch [24] are associated with two iron nails. A flat iron fragment was found in f (94) of ditch [93], in the same context as the fibrous tile noted above. This ironwork is likely to be post-medieval, although there are no diagnostic features which confirm this date. A fragment of iron was also recovered from the f of possible cremation burial [8], in Trench 28. Twenty-four burnt bone fragments, weighing less than 2g, were recovered from the feature, but the amount is too small to ascertain whether these are animal or human. Also present were quantities of slag and charcoal, and the latter included six carbonised cereal grains. The few sherds of pottery present are prehistoric, with two which are either Roman in date, or have been severely burnt. Identification as a cremation burial is problematic, as the burnt bone is not necessarily Priors Green, Takeley Archaeological Evaluation Report Prepared for Countryside Properties Plc 1616 human. The presence of iron, slag and prehistoric pottery together is improbable, unless one category is residual or the other intrusive. Baked clay and slag fragments were present in two fills of post-medieval ditch [42]. The sole animal bone is a very abraded sheep/goat molar in f (60) of Early Iron Age ditch [58]. Charcoal and coal fragments were found in three contexts ((23), (43) and (145)); these were discarded after recording. The prehistoric pottery and the flints attest to prehistoric activity in the vicinity. However, the assemblage, including the prehistoric finds, is fragmentary and abraded. The average sherd weight for all of the pottery is 3.5g, indicating a potentially high level of residuality. In addition, there are instances of modern intrusion, such as coal and fibrous tile, over much of the site. It seems likely that few of the finds are in their original places of deposition. Quantities are too small for further study, although more work at Takeley may provide enough evidence to define the prehistoric activity. The finds should all be retained, except for the modern and post-medieval items. 6.3 Prehistoric Pottery by N.J. LavenderSUMMARY All dimensions are given in metres Trench Length Width Depth Area Grid Refs. NW SE corner Orientation Features 1a 20 2 0.6 40 TL 57282/21538 57301/21524 East-West Ditch 136, Ditch 138 1b 20 2 0.37 40 TL 57379/21538 57401/21540 East-West Ditch 128, Mod Hedge line 2 40 2 0.38 80 TL 57410/21532 57411/21492 North-South Pit 100, Ditch 112, Ditch 114 3 40 2 0.55 80 TL 57355/21512 57353/21471 North-South Natural Feature 110 4 40 2 0.6 80 TL 57355/21511 57296/21473 North-South Ph 130, Ph 132, Gully 134 5 40 2 0.75 80 TL 57354/21438 57394/21443 East-West Ditch 69 71, Pit 81, Ph 83 6 40 2 0.5 80 TL 57397/21425 57399/21384 North-South Planned only - 1 ditch 7 40 2 0.43 80 TL 57342/21363 57380/21383 East-West Planned only ­ 4 ditches 8 40 2 0.54 80 TL 57314/21363 57342/21335 Northwest- Southeast Ditch 142, Ditch 144 ­ 3 other ditches planned only 9 40 2 0.55 80 TL 57304/21309 57305/21268 North-South Ditch 73, Ditch 91, Ditch 96, Pit 75 10 40 2 0.54 80 TL 57362/21319 57362/21279 North-South Pit 85, Pit 87, Ph 89, Ditch 65, Pit 67, Ditch 56 11 40 2 0.54 80 TL 57340/21279 57379/21276 East-West Ditches 93, 106, 120, 108, 146, 150, 154, 156, Ph 126 12 40 2 0.5 80 TL 57417/21342 57419/21301 North-South Ditch 58 13 40 2 0.3 80 TL 57451/21462 57453/21421 North-South Planned only ­ 1 ditch (Mod) 14 40 2 0.45 80 TL 57438/21398 57478/21396 East-West Blank 15 40 2 0.46 80 TL 57502/21348 57492/21347 East-West Blank 16 40 2 0.46 80 TL 57404/21283 57442/21281 East-West Blank 17 40 2 0.42 80 TL 57452/21337 57473/21296 North-South Blank 18 40 2 0.7 80 TL 57492/21291 57494/21255 North-South Layer 102, Nat Feat 103 19 40 2 0.5 80 TL 57529/21287 57562/21266 Northwest- Southeast Blank 20 45 2 0.6 90 TL 57622/21483 57653/21481 East-West Ditch 22, Ph 33 21 40 2 0.43 80 TL 57528/21352 57529/21311 North-South Pit 48 22 40 2 0.37 80 TL 57511/21401 57549/21399 East-West Pit 45 23 40 2 0.4 80 TL 57502/21470 57505/21430 North-South Modern ditch ­ Machine excavated 24 40 2 0.32 80 TL 57518/21443 57557/21443 East-West Blank 25 40 2 0.3 80 TL 57529/21482 57569/21480 East-West Ph 26, Pit 28, Ditch 30 26 40 2 0.45 80 TL 57657/21446 57687/21420 Northwest- Southeast Pit 50, Pit 52, Ditches 24, 25, 40, 61,63 27 40 2 0.4 80 TL 57624/21461 57626/21421 North-South Ditch 42 28 40 2 0.54 80 TL 57620/21535 57659/21534 East-West Crem 8, Ditch 14, Pit 16 29 40 2 0.55 80 TL 57593/21545 57594/21504 North-South Pit 20, Pit 18 Ditch 06, Ditch 12 30 40 2 0.63 80 TL 57588/21583 East-West Blank 4949 57627/21575 31 40 2 0.5 80 TL 57650/21619 57644/21577 North-South Nat feat 04, Ditch 10 32 25 2 0.6 50 TL 57622/21595 57645/21594 East-West Planned only ­ 1 ditch 33 40 2 0.80 80 TL 57333/21327 57373/212328 East-West Nat feat 140, Ditch 148 5 ditches planned only 34 15 8 0.43 120 TL 57646/21540 57659/21529 N/A Planned only ­ 2 ditches 35 20 2 0.5 40 TL 57618/21503 57621/21483 North-South Ditch 98 36 20 5 0.53 100 TL 57668/21415 57685/21420 East-West Blank 37 25 2 0.4 50 TL 57665/21439 57667/21415 North-South Ditch 116, Ditch 118 38 20 2 0.36 40 TL 57410/21468 57426/21455 Northwest- Southeast Ditch 123 1 other ditch planned only 39 10 2 0.45 20 TL 57392/21509 57400/21502 Northwest- Southeast Planned only ­ 1 ditch 5050 APPENDIX 2: FEATURE LIST All dimensions are given in metres. Number Type Filled by Equals Length Breadth Depth Trench Date 1 Topsoil All

Table of Contents

1. INTRODUCTION 2 2. BACKGROUND 3 2.1 Planning 2.2 Location and topography 2.3 Geology 2.4 History and archaeology 3. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 5 4. METHOD 6 5. FIELDWORK RESULTS 7 5.1 Trench 1a 5.2 Trench 1b 5.3 Trench 2 5.4 Trench 4 5.5 Trench 5 5.6 Trench 6 5.7 Trench 7 5.8 Trench 8 5.9 Trench 9 5.10 Trench 10 5.11 Trench 11 5.12 Trench 12 5.13 Trench 13 5.14 Trench 20 5.15 Trench 22 5.16 Trench 23 5.17 Trench 25 5.18 Trench 26 5.19 Trench 27 5.20 Trench 28 5.21 Trench 29 5.22 Trench 31 5.23 Trench 32 5.24 Trench 33 5.25 Trench 34 5.26 Trench 35 5.27 Trench 37 5.28 Trench 38 5.29 Trench 39 6. FINDS 15 6.1 Finds Summary 6.2 Prehistoric Pottery 6.3 Medieval Pottery 6.4 Flints 7. DISCUSSION 18 8. ASSESSMENT OF RESULTS 23
2 6 Pottery; body sherds, flint-tempered Prehistoric 36 24 2 36 Iron nails, with heads - 2 18 Roof tile fragments Post med. 39 25 1 8 Flint flake - 1 4 Clay pipe stem Post med. 2 36 Roof tile fragments Post med.
3 1 Charcoal and coal fragments (discarded) Modern 3 18 Baked clay - 44 42 2 6 Baked clay - 2 14 Roof tile, joining fragments Post med. 57 56 1 10 Pottery; body sherd, grog-tempered ware LIA 1 2 Pottery; body sherd, flint-tempered Early Iron Age
1. Introduction 1.1 Brief for Evaluation 1.2 Specification for Evaluation 2. Research Archive 2.1 Evaluation Report 2.2 Analytical Reports 2.2.1 Finds Reports 2.3 Finds Catalogues 2.3.1 Context Finds Record 3. Site Archive

Headings

FIGURES
1. INTRODUCTION
2. BACKGROUND
2.1. Planning
2.2 Location and Topography (Fig. 1)
2.3 Geology
2.4 History and Archaeology
3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
4 METHOD
5. FIELDWORK RESULTS (Fig 1)
6 FINDS
6.1 Finds Summary by J Compton
6.3 Prehistoric Pottery by N.J. Lavender
6.4 Medieval and Post-medieval Pottery by Helen Walker
6.5 Flints by Hazel Martingell
7 DISCUSSION
Late Iron Age and Roman
8. ASSESSMENT OF RESULTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
J A
LDROAD
SUMMARY
1 Topsoil All
2 Subsoil All
3 Undist Nat All
Context Feature Count Weight Description Date
7 6 1 1 Pottery; body sherd, sandy orange ware showing
2 8 Flint flakes -
90 89 1 12 Burnt stone (looks modern) -
94 93 1 4 Iron; flat fragment SF1 -
1 2 Tile fragment; fibrous Modern
3.2 Original Context Records 1 to 157
21 A1-size Permatrace plan sheets
22 A5-size Permatrace plan sheets
29 November 2004 until 17 December 2004
Prehistoric
Medieval
Post Medieval