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Northern zone, Open Area 34 (east of Road 1) - Period 2B

Open Area 34, is bounded by Road 1 to the east and ditches 25041 and 25045 to the south and east (Figure 50). Its northern extent is not determined and it is unclear whether or not it extends as far as the watercourse, an estimated 70m away from its southern boundary. Only the southern edge of the enclosure interior is exposed within Excavation Area G. However, this is occupied by a likely roundhouse structure and a number of pits.

Period summary view | Open areas, enclosure systems and roads on the lower terrace

Gully/slot 25113 (Group 158)

Narrow gully/slot 25113 (segs 7156, 7322) runs parallel to boundary ditch 25041, some 4m to its north. It closely mirrors the curvature of the boundary and is either contemporary with it or else a direct replacement. As pit 7060 potentially signals the demise of the boundary ditch, it is tempting to see this gully as being a replacement fenceline or else flanking a hedge-line in between it and 25041. The gully fill includes LIA pottery and baked clay.

Building 101 (Groups 306, 307)

Curving gully 25110 (seg. 10223) is 8m long, 0.2m wide and only 0.08m deep. It has a rounded terminal at its south end, and extends beyond the site edge to the north. If this is the surviving part of a foundation slot belonging to a circular structure, the whole structure is c. 11m in diameter. It is tentatively interpreted as the remains of a roundhouse - either its eaves-drip or an actual foundation slot. Its fill contains only a small quantity of LIA grog-tempered and Romanising pottery.

A number of mostly unexcavated post-holes fall on or within its circumference and at least some could be associated. The two investigated post-holes 7136 and 7172 (Group 307) contain post-pipes and perhaps some hint of in situ burning and/or replacement. Post-hole 7136 contains 1kg of Roman tile. This could be a secondary insertion, or perhaps the post-hole is unrelated to the wider structure.

Located toward the south-west corner of the enclosure and positioned alongside Road 1, this could be the latest LIA vernacular building known within the settlement.

Pitting (Groups 308, 309)

Pits 7210, 7415, 7279 and 7383 (Group 309) are an inter-cut cluster located between possible building gully 25110 and the southern enclosure boundary. Pits 7078, 7146 (Group 308) are outliers to the east and west. There is a degree of chronological progression evident within the inter-cutting group, where the latest Period 2B pit in the sequence, 7210, clearly contains a Romanising ceramic element in its upper fills. Only 7146 (Group 308) betrays any hint of being distinctively early, having a late 1st century BC-earlier 1st century AD range.


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