Higher Nansloe Farm Helston Cornwall Post-Excavation Assessment and Updated Project Design for Coastline Design and Build Ltd CA Project: 889011 CA Report: 18038 May 2019 Higher Nansloe Farm Helston Cornwall Post-Excavation Assessment and Updated Project Design CA Project: 889011 CA Report: 18038 Jonathan Orellana, Project Officer prepared by and Jonathan Hart, Senior Publications Officer date 8 May 2019 checked by Jonathan Hart, Senior Publications Officer date 8 May 2019 approved by Karen Walker, Principal Post-Excavation Manager signed 08/05/2019 date issue 01 This report is confidential to the client. Cotswold Archaeology accepts no responsibility or liability to any third party to whom this report, or any part of it, is made known. Any such party relies upon this report entirely at their own risk. No part of this report may be reproduced by any means without permission. 1 Higher Nansloe Farm, Helston, Cornwall: Post-Excavation Assessment and Updated Project Design © Cotswold Archaeology CONTENTS SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................................... 4 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 5 2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES .................................................................................................. 7 3 METHODOLOGY .............................................................................................................. 8 4 RESULTS .......................................................................................................................... 9 5 FACTUAL DATA AND STATEMENTS OF POTENTIAL ................................................... 21 6 SUMMARY STATEMENT OF POTENTIAL ...................................................................... 26 7 STORAGE AND CURATION ............................................................................................. 27 8 UPDATED AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ................................................................................ 27 9 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................. 29 10 PUBLICATION ................................................................................................................... 29 11 PROJECT TEAM ............................................................................................................... 31 12 TIMETABLE ....................................................................................................................... 31 13 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................. 32 APPENDIX 1: STRATIGRAPHIC ASSESSEMENT BY JONATHAN ORELLANA .......................... 34 APPENDIX 2: FLINT BY JACKY SOMMERVILLE .......................................................................... 35 APPENDIX 3: POTTERY BY GRACE JONES ................................................................................ 38 APPENDIX 4: STONE BY RUTH SHAFFREY ................................................................................ 50 APPENDIX 5: METALWORK BY GRACE JONES .......................................................................... 53 APPENDIX 6: BURNT BONE BY ANDREW CLARKE .................................................................... 55 APPENDIX 7: CHARRED PLANT REMAINS BY SARAH WYLES ................................................. 56 APPENDIX 8: CHARCOAL BY SHEILA BOARDMAN .................................................................... 61 APPENDIX 9: OASIS REPORT FORM ........................................................................................... 70 2 Higher Nansloe Farm, Helston, Cornwall: Post-Excavation Assessment and Updated Project Design © Cotswold Archaeology LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1 Site location plan (1:25,000) Fig. 2 The site showing archaeological features and geophysical survey results (1:750) Fig. 3 Area 1, showing archaeological features (1:250) Fig. 4 Pit 1041, section and photograph (1:20) Fig. 5 Trench 9 (north), showing archaeological features (1:100) Fig. 6 Roundhouses 1 and 2 as seen from above (photogrammetry image) (1:75) Fig. 7 Trench 9 (south), showing archaeological features (1:100) Fig. 8 Photographs: General view of Trench 9, looking south-east towards Roundhouses 1 and 2; General view of the two roundhouses, looking south-east (1m scales) Fig. 9 Roundhouses 1 and 2, sections (1:20) Fig. 10 Posthole 9074, section and photograph (1:20) Fig. 11 Trench 8, showing archaeological features (1:100) Fig. 12 Cist 9101, section and orthomosaic photograph (1:20) Fig. 13 Cist 9253, section and orthomosaic photograph (1:20) Fig. 14 Photographs: Cist 9101 showing lintels 9102, looking south-west (0.3m scale); Post-excavation view of cist 9101, looking south-west (0.3m scale) Fig. 15 Pit 9129, section and photograph (1:20) 3 Higher Nansloe Farm, Helston, Cornwall: Post-Excavation Assessment and Updated Project Design © Cotswold Archaeology SUMMARY Site Name: Higher Nansloe Farm, Helston Location: Cornwall NGR: 65897 26703 Type: Excavation Date: 24 April–14 June 2017 Planning Reference: PA16/07813 Location of archive: CA office Exeter, to be deposited with the Royal Cornwall Museum Site Code: NAN 17 A programme of archaeological work was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology between April and June 2017 at the request of Coastline Design and Build Ltd at Higher Nansloe Farm, Helston, Cornwall. Four areas were excavated across the development area. The earliest remains comprised seven Early Neolithic (4000 BC–3000 BC) pits; although no associated structural remains were identified, these may indicate settlement of this date, possibly on an episodic basis. A single Beaker period (2600 BC–1800 BC) pit might represent a continuation of this pit digging tradition. Longer term settlement began during the Early to Middle Bronze Age (2400 BC–1100 BC) when a roundhouse settlement was established. Two adjoining roundhouses were found, along with evidence that they had been deliberately dismantled. Later Bronze Age (1100 BC–700 BC) remains comprised a four-post structure and a cluster of pits/postholes. During the Iron Age, a rectilinear field system was established, associated with trackways and ditch arrangements suggestive of livestock management. In one area, a cluster of pits and postholes was associated with processing involving heating, whilst within another part of the site, two probable cist burials were found. No human remains were found but, aside from small quantities of unidentifiable burnt bone, bone was absent from all periods on the site, probably due to the acidity of the soils Later remains were restricted to a single ditch which was cut through the subsoil and which is likely to have been medieval or later in date. This document presents a quantification and assessment of the evidence recovered from the excavation which is of regional significance and warrants publication within a suitable journal. 4 Higher Nansloe Farm, Helston, Cornwall: Post-Excavation Assessment and Updated Project Design © Cotswold Archaeology 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Between April and June 2017 Cotswold Archaeology (CA) carried out an archaeological excavation at Higher Nansloe Farm, (centred on NGR: 65897 26703; Fig. 1). The archaeological works were undertaken in advance of development for housing and were commissioned by Coastline Design and Build Ltd. The programme of archaeological work was requested by Sean Taylor, Senior Development Officer Historic Environment (SDOHE), Cornwall Council Historic Environment Service (CCHES), the archaeological advisor to Cornwall Council, and was carried out in response to a condition attached to a planning consent issued by Cornwall Council (ref: PA16/07813). 1.2 The work was undertaken in accordance with a detailed Written Scheme of Investigation (WSI) produced by CA (2016a) and approved by Cornwall Council acting on the advice of the SDOHE. The fieldwork also followed Standard and Guidance for Archaeological Excavation issued by the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (2014); the Management of Research Projects in the Historic Environment (MORPHE): Project Manager’s Guide and accompanying PPN3: Archaeological Excavation issued by Historic England (2015). The fieldwork was monitored by the SDOHE, including site visits on 27 April and 17 May 2017. Location, topography and geology 1.3 The development area lies on the southern edge of the town of Helston (Fig. 1). It is bounded to the north by residential properties fronting Bulwark Road and by a school to the north-east. Farmland lies to the west, south and south-east of the development area. The development area comprises some 2.3ha (of which 0.39ha were archaeologically excavated) and prior to the development consisted of a sub- rectangular field laid to grass and defined by hedge-lined boundaries. 1.4 Helston and the development area lie on high ground forming the eastern bank of the River Cober which flows through the Loe Valley 600m west of the site, emptying into the sea at Porthleven Sands, 3.2km south-west of the site. The development area itself lies just off the brow of a 71m aOD-high hill, on its upper eastern side facing away from the Loe Valley. The landscape around Helston forms a broadly triangular parcel of relatively high ground (reaching c. 80m aOD) defined by the River Cober to the west, and water courses leading to the Carminowe Creek to the south and to Helford