Wessex Archaeology Sutton Courtenay Oxfordshire Archaeological Excavation and Assessment of Results Ref: 71505 August 2010 SUTTON COURTENAY, OXFORDSHIRE Archaeological Excavation and Assessment of Results Prepared for: Videotext Communications Ltd 49 Goldhawk Road LONDON SW1 8QP by Wessex Archaeology Portway House Old Sarum Park SALISBURY Wiltshire SP4 6EB Report reference: 71505.01 Path: X/projects/71505/post ex/TT Sutton Courtenay report (ed LNM) August 2010 © Wessex Archaeology Limited 2010 all rights reserved Wessex Archaeology Limited is a Registered Charity No. 287786 Sutton Courtenay, Oxfordshire Archaeological Evaluation and Assessment of Results DISCLAIMER THE MATERIAL CONTAINED IN THIS REPORT WAS DESIGNED AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF A REPORT TO AN INDIVIDUAL CLIENT AND WAS PREPARED SOLELY FOR THE BENEFIT OF THAT CLIENT. THE MATERIAL CONTAINED IN THIS REPORT DOES NOT NECESSARILY STAND ON ITS OWN AND IS NOT INTENDED TO NOR SHOULD IT BE RELIED UPON BY ANY THIRD PARTY. 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NGR 448733, 193671 VERSION STATUS* PREPARED APPROVED APPROVER’S DATE FILE BY BY SIGNATURE 01 F NH KEW 04/08/10 TT SUTTON COURTENAY REPORT (ED LNM) * I= Internal Draft E= External Draft F= Final WA Project No. 71505 ii Sutton Courtenay, Oxfordshire Archaeological Evaluation and Assessment of Results SUTTON COURTENAY, OXFORDSHIRE Archaeological Excavation and Assessment of Results Contents Summary .............................................................................................................v Acknowledgements.............................................................................................vi 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................1 1.1 Project Background .....................................................................................1 1.2 Site Location, Topography and Geology .....................................................1 1.3 Archaeological Background.........................................................................1 1.4 Previous Archaeological Work.....................................................................2 2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ...................................................................................6 2.2 Research Aim 1...........................................................................................6 2.3 Research Aim 2...........................................................................................6 2.4 Research Aim 3...........................................................................................6 2.5 Research Aim 4...........................................................................................7 3 METHODS...........................................................................................................7 3.1 Geophysical Survey.....................................................................................7 3.2 Landscape and Earthwork Survey...............................................................7 3.3 Excavation Trenches...................................................................................8 3.4 Copyright .....................................................................................................8 4 RESULTS ............................................................................................................8 4.1 Introduction..................................................................................................8 4.2 Geophysical Survey.....................................................................................9 4.3 Excavation Trenches.................................................................................10 5 FINDS ................................................................................................................15 5.1 Introduction................................................................................................15 5.2 Pottery .......................................................................................................16 5.3 Ceramic Building Material (CBM) ..............................................................17 5.4 Stone .........................................................................................................17 5.5 Metalwork ..................................................................................................17 5.6 Worked Bone.............................................................................................18 5.7 Animal Bone ..............................................................................................18 5.8 Other Finds................................................................................................19 6 PALAEO-ENVIRONMENTAL SUMMARY........................................................19 6.1 Introduction................................................................................................19 6.2 Charred plant remains and charcoal .........................................................19 6.3 Land molluscs............................................................................................21 6.4 Sediments..................................................................................................22 6.5 Fish and small animal bones.....................................................................23 7 DISCUSSION.....................................................................................................23 7.1 Introduction................................................................................................23 7.2 The prehistoric landscape .........................................................................23 7.3 Correlation between the earlier landscape and later activity (Research Aim 1) ........................................................................................................24 7.4 Anglo-Saxon activity (Research Aims 2 and 3) .........................................25 WA Project No. 71505 iii Sutton Courtenay, Oxfordshire Archaeological Evaluation and Assessment of Results 7.5 Preservation (Research Aim 4) .................................................................28 8 SUMMARY OF POTENTIAL.............................................................................28 8.1 Stratigraphic data ......................................................................................28 8.2 Finds..........................................................................................................28 8.3 Palaeo-environmental................................................................................29 9 PROPOSALS FOR FURTHER ANALYSIS AND PUBLICATION ....................30 9.2 Finds..........................................................................................................31 9.3 Palaeo-environmental................................................................................31 10 ARCHIVE...........................................................................................................31 11 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................33 Appendix 1: Trench Summaries Figures Figure 1: Location of site and results of geophysical survey Figure 2: Combined results from excavation, geophysical survey and cropmark evidence Figure 3: Trenches 1 and 4: plan and photographs Plate 1: Ditch terminus 104, view from north-west Plate 2: Foundation trench 126 and posthole 119, view from east Plate 3: Trench 4, view from south Plate 4: South-facing section through posthole 403 Figure 4: Trenches 2 and 3: plan and photographs Plate 5: Trench 3, view from south Plate 6: Sondage through 305 and 306, view from west Plate 7: Trench 2, view from south Front Cover: Trench 1, post-excavation view, from south; extrapolated outline of ‘Great Hall’ (structure 500) shown Tables Table 1: Finds totals by material type and by trench Table 2: Pottery totals by ware type Table 3: Sample provenance summary Table 4: Sediment profile summary Table 5: Sediment descriptions from Monolith <31> Table 6: Assessment of the charred plant remains and charcoal Table 7: Land snail assessment from ring ditch (104) WA Project No. 71505 iv Sutton Courtenay, Oxfordshire Archaeological Evaluation and Assessment of Results SUTTON COURTENAY, OXFORDSHIRE Archaeological Excavation and Assessment of Results Summary In June 2009 an archaeological excavation was undertaken by Channel 4’s ‘Time Team’ at the scheduled site of Drayton, commonly referred to as Sutton Courtenay (NGR 448733, 193671). Substantial and significant prehistoric and Anglo-Saxon remains are known from the near vicinity. Part of the Drayton Cursus runs