Archaeological Test Pit Excavations in Thorney, Cambridgeshire 2006, 2007 and 2010 Catherine Collins ii Carenza Lewis & Catherine Ranson Archaeological Test Pit Excavations in Thorney, Cambridgeshire 2006, 2007 and 2010 Catherine Collins Access Cambridge Archaeology Department of Archaeology University of Cambridge Pembroke Street Cambridge CB2 3QG 01223 761519 [email protected] www.access.arch.cam.ac.uk (Front cover image: The excavations at THO/10/9. © ACA) iii iv Contents 1 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................................ 9 2 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................... 10 2.1 ACCESS CAMBRIDGE ARCHAEOLOGY (ACA) .................................................................................... 10 2.2 THE HIGHER EDUCATION FIELD ACADEMY (HEFA) ......................................................................... 10 2.3 TEST-PIT EXCAVATION AND RURAL SETTLEMENT STUDIES .............................................................. 11 3 AIMS, OBJECTIVES AND DESIRED OUTCOMES ......................................................................... 12 3.1 AIMS .................................................................................................................................................. 12 3.2 OBJECTIVES ....................................................................................................................................... 12 3.3 OUTCOMES ........................................................................................................................................ 12 4 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................................... 13 5 LOCATION .............................................................................................................................................. 14 6 GEOLOGY AND TOPOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................ 17 7 ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ............................................................ 18 7.1 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................... 18 7.2 ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND..................................................................................................... 21 7.2.1 Prehistoric Period ..........................................................................................21 7.2.2 Later Prehistoric and Roman Period .............................................................22 7.2.3 Anglo-Saxon and Medieval ...........................................................................23 7.2.4 Post-Medieval Period and later .....................................................................24 7.2.5 Undated ........................................................................................................25 7.2.6 Previous Archaeological Work ......................................................................25 8 RESULTS OF THE TEST PIT EXCAVATIONS IN THORNEY ....................................................... 28 8.1 2006 EXCAVATIONS .......................................................................................................................... 29 8.2 2007 EXCAVATIONS .......................................................................................................................... 39 8.3 2010 EXCAVATIONS .......................................................................................................................... 56 9 DISCUSSION .......................................................................................................................................... 70 10 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................... 73 11 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................. 74 12 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................... 75 13 APPENDICES ..................................................................................................................................... 78 13.1 POTTERY REPORTS – PAUL BLINKHORN ............................................................................................ 78 13.1.1 Pottery Types ................................................................................................78 13.1.2 2006 Results .................................................................................................83 13.1.3 2007 Results .................................................................................................86 13.1.4 2010 Results .................................................................................................92 13.2 OTHER FINDS – CATHERINE COLLINS ................................................................................................... I 13.2.1 2006 Finds ....................................................................................................... i 13.2.2 2007 Finds ...................................................................................................... v 13.2.3 2010 Finds .................................................................................................... xv 13.3 MAPS .............................................................................................................................................. XXIII v List of Figures Figure 1: Location map of England with an insert of East Anglia and the village of Thorney highlighted in red ................................................................................................................14 Figure 2: The extent of the parish of Thorney 1:100,000 © Crown Copyright/database right 2018. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service ..........................................................15 Figure 3: The extent of the conservation at Thorney in blue © Crown Copyright/database right 2018. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service 1:10,000 ...................................16 Figure 4: 17th century map of Thorney Island (copyright: http://www.thorneysociety.co.uk/village-history) .................................................................20 Figure 5: 1880’s OS Map of the village of Thorney © Crown Copyright/database right 2018. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service ....................................................................21 Figure 6: The approximate location of all the test pits excavated in Thorney by year 2006 (red), 2007 (green) and 2010 (purple) (NB: Test pits not shown to scale) © Crown Copyright/database right 2018. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service ...................28 Figure 7: Location map for the test pits excavated in Thorney in 2006 (NB: Test pits not shown to scale) © Crown Copyright/database right 2018. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service. ................................................................................................................29 Figure 8: Location map of THO/06/1 ..................................................................................30 Figure 9: Location map of THO/06/2 ..................................................................................31 Figure 10: Location map of THO/06/3 ................................................................................32 Figure 11: Location map of THO/06/4 ................................................................................33 Figure 12: Location map of THO/06/5 ................................................................................34 Figure 13: Location map of THO/06/6 ................................................................................35 Figure 14: Location map of THO/06/7 ................................................................................36 Figure 15: Location map of THO/06/8 ................................................................................37 Figure 16: Location map of THO/06/9 ................................................................................38 Figure 17: Location map for test pits excavated in Thorney in 2007 (NB: Test pits not shown to scale) © Crown Copyright/database right 2018. An Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service. ..............................................................................................................................39 Figure 18: Location map of THO/07/1 ................................................................................40 Figure 19: Location map of THO/07/2 ................................................................................41 Figure 20: The dog (top) and cat (bottom) skeletons found in THO/07/2 ............................42 Figure 21: Location map of THO/07/3 ................................................................................43 Figure 22: Location map of THO/07/4 ................................................................................44 Figure 23: Location map of THO/07/5 ................................................................................45 Figure 24: Location map of THO/07/6 ................................................................................46 Figure 25: Location