Archaeological Test Pit Excavations in West Wickham Cambridgeshire, 2013 Carenza Lewis and Britt Baillie with contributions by Janet Morris Archaeological Test Pit Excavations in West Wickham, Cambridgeshire, 2013 Carenza Lewis and Britt Baillie with contributions by Janet Morris Access Cambridge Archaeology McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research University of Cambridge Downing Street Cambridge CB2 3ER 01223 761518 [email protected] www.access.arch.cam.ac.uk (Front cover photo courtesy of Rosemarie Parks) i Table of Contents 1 SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................ 7 2 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 8 2.1 ALL OUR STORIES................................................................................................... 8 2.2 CAMBRIDGE COMMUNITY HERITAGE .................................................................. 8 2.3 ACCESS CAMBRIDGE ARCHAEOLOGY ................................................................ 9 2.4 TEST PIT EXCAVATION AND RURAL SETTLEMENT STUDIES ........................... 9 3 AIMS, OBJECTIVES AND DESIRED OUTCOMES ....................................................... 10 3.1 AIMS ........................................................................................................................ 10 3.2 OBJECTIVES .......................................................................................................... 10 3.3 DESIRED OUTCOMES ........................................................................................... 10 4 LOCATION ...................................................................................................................... 11 5 GEOLOGY AND TOPOGRAPHY ................................................................................... 13 6 ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (WITH JANET MORRIS) .. 14 6.1 PREHISTORIC PERIOD ......................................................................................... 14 6.2 ROMAN PERIOD ..................................................................................................... 15 6.3 ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD ....................................................................................... 16 6.4 HIGH AND LATER MEDIEVAL PERIODS .............................................................. 16 6.5 POST-MEDIEVAL PERIOD ..................................................................................... 18 6.6 PAST ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL INVESTIGATION ........................ 19 7 METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................ 23 7.1 EXCAVATION STRATEGY ..................................................................................... 23 7.2 CRITERIA FOR SITE SELECTION ......................................................................... 23 7.3 EXCAVATION METHODS ...................................................................................... 23 7.4 ON-SITE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SUPERVISION ...................................................... 24 7.5 ON-SITE FINDS IDENTIFICATION AND RETENTION .......................................... 24 7.5.1 Test-pit Closing and Back-filling ...................................................................... 25 7.6 TEST PIT RECORDING .......................................................................................... 25 7.7 FINDS PROCESSING AND RECORDING ............................................................. 25 7.7.1 Finds appropriate for recording, analysis, reporting, retention and curation ... 25 7.7.2 Finds appropriate for disposal after recording and reporting ........................... 26 7.7.3 Legal ownership of finds .................................................................................. 26 7.7.4 Curation of Archaeological Finds ..................................................................... 26 8 RESULTS OF THE TEST PIT EXCAVATIONS IN WEST WICKHAM ........................... 28 8.1 TEST PIT ONE (WWI/13/1) ..................................................................................... 29 8.2 TEST PIT TWO (WWI/13/2) .................................................................................... 31 8.3 TEST PIT THREE (WWI/13/3) ................................................................................ 33 8.4 TEST PIT FOUR (WWI/13/4) .................................................................................. 35 8.5 TEST PIT FIVE (WWI/13/5) ..................................................................................... 36 8.6 TEST PIT SIX (WWI/13/6) ....................................................................................... 38 8.7 TEST PIT SEVEN (WWI/13/7) ................................................................................ 40 8.8 TEST PIT EIGHT (WWI/1/8) .................................................................................... 41 8.9 TEST PIT NINE (WWI/13/9) .................................................................................... 43 8.10 TEST PIT 10 (WWI/13/10) ....................................................................................... 45 8.11 TEST PIT 11 (WWI/13/11) ....................................................................................... 47 8.12 TEST PIT 12 (WWI/13/12) ....................................................................................... 49 8.13 TEST PIT 13 (WWI/13/13) ....................................................................................... 51 8.14 TEST PIT 14 (WWI/13/14) ....................................................................................... 52 8.15 TEST PIT 15 (WWI/13/15) ....................................................................................... 53 ii 8.16 TEST PIT 16 (WWI/13/16) ....................................................................................... 54 8.17 TEST PIT 17 (WWI/13/17) ....................................................................................... 55 8.18 TEST PIT 18 (WWI/13/18) ....................................................................................... 57 8.19 TEST PIT 19 (WWI/13/19) ....................................................................................... 58 9 DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................. 59 9.1 PREHISTORIC PERIOD ......................................................................................... 59 9.2 ROMAN PERIOD ..................................................................................................... 59 9.3 ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD ....................................................................................... 60 9.4 HIGH MEDIEVAL PERIOD ...................................................................................... 60 9.5 LATE MEDIEVAL PERIOD ...................................................................................... 61 9.6 POST-MEDIEVAL AND LATER PERIODS ............................................................. 62 10 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................. 63 11 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................... 64 12 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 65 13 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................. 67 13.1 POTTERY REPORT (PAUL BLINKHORN) ............................................................. 67 13.1.1 Pottery Types ................................................................................................... 67 13.1.2 Test Pits ........................................................................................................... 69 13.2 FAUNAL REPORT (VIDA RAJKOVAČA) ................................................................ 75 13.2.1 Identification, Quantification and Ageing ......................................................... 75 13.2.2 Preservation, Fragmentation and Taphonomy ................................................ 76 13.2.3 Butchery ........................................................................................................... 76 13.2.4 Test Pits ........................................................................................................... 76 13.2.5 Discussion ....................................................................................................... 79 13.2.6 Bibliography ..................................................................................................... 79 13.3 LITHICS REPORT (LAWRENCE BILLINGTON) .................................................... 80 13.3.1 Quantification ................................................................................................... 80 13.3.2 Condition .......................................................................................................... 81 13.3.3 Raw Materials .................................................................................................. 81 13.3.4 Composition and Dating .................................................................................. 81 13.3.5 Summary ......................................................................................................... 82 13.3.6 References 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