Archaeological Test Pit Excavations in Peakirk, Cambridgeshire, 2012 Catherine Ranson and Alex Pryor with contributions from Avril Lumley-Prior 2 Archaeological test pit excavations in Peakirk, Cambridgeshire, in 2012 Catherine Ranson and Alex Pryor with contributions from Avril Lumley-Prior Access Cambridge Archaeology McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research University of Cambridge Downing Street Cambridge CB2 3ER 01223 761518 [email protected] http://www.access.arch.cam.ac.uk/ Front cover image – End of the Dig and Sow digging day in Peakirk Village Hall (copyright ACA) 3 4 Contents 1. SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................... 9 2. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 10 2.1 ON LANDGUARD POINT ........................................................................................................ 10 2.2 ACCESS CAMBRIDGE ARCHAEOLOGY .................................................................................... 10 2.3 TEST PIT EXCAVATION AND RURAL SETTLEMENT STUDIES ....................................................... 11 2.4 THE HIGHER EDUCATION FIELD ACADEMY (HEFA) ................................................................ 11 3. AIMS, OBJECTIVES AND DESIRED OUTCOMES .................................................................. 13 3.1 AIMS ................................................................................................................................... 13 3.2 OBJECTIVES ........................................................................................................................ 13 3.3 OUTCOMES .......................................................................................................................... 13 4. METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................................... 14 4.1 EXCAVATION STRATEGY ....................................................................................................... 14 4.2 EXCAVATION METHODS ........................................................................................................ 14 4.3 ON-SITE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SUPERVISION .............................................................................. 15 4.4 ON-SITE FINDS IDENTIFICATION AND RETENTION..................................................................... 15 4.5 TEST PIT CLOSING AND BACKFILLING ..................................................................................... 15 4.6 RECORDING ......................................................................................................................... 16 4.7 FINDS PROCESSING AND RECORDING .................................................................................... 16 4.7.1 Finds appropriate for recording, analysis, reporting, retention and curation ................ 16 4.7.2 Finds appropriate for disposal after recording and reporting ........................................ 16 4.7.3 Legal ownership of finds ............................................................................................... 17 4.7.4 Curation of Archaeological Finds .................................................................................. 17 5. LOCATION ................................................................................................................................. 18 6. GEOLOGY AND TOPOGRAPHY .............................................................................................. 21 7. ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ..................................................... 22 7.1 PREHISTORIC ACTIVITY ......................................................................................................... 22 7.2 ROMAN ACTIVITY .................................................................................................................. 22 7.3 SAXON SETTLEMENT ............................................................................................................ 24 7.4 LATER MEDIEVAL PERIOD ..................................................................................................... 24 7.5 POST-MEDIEVAL PERIOD ...................................................................................................... 25 8. RESULTS OF THE TEST PIT EXCAVATIONS IN PEAKIRK .................................................. 28 8.1 DIG AND SOW TEST PIT RESULTS ......................................................................................... 29 8.2 HEFA TEST PIT RESULTS .................................................................................................... 57 9. DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................. 66 9.1 PREHISTORIC PERIOD ........................................................................................................... 66 9.2 ROMAN PERIOD .................................................................................................................... 66 9.3 ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD ........................................................................................................ 67 9.4 MEDIEVAL ............................................................................................................................ 67 9.5 POST-MEDIEVAL AND LATER .................................................................................................. 68 10. CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................... 68 11. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................... 69 12. REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................... 70 13. APPENDICES ........................................................................................................................ 72 13.1 LISTED BUILDINGS IN PEAKIRK .............................................................................................. 72 13.2 POTTERY REPORT - PAUL BLINKHORN ................................................................................... 77 13.3 DIG AND SOW FAUNAL REPORT - VIDA RAJKOVACA................................................................ 89 13.4 OTHER FINDS FROM PEAKIRK TEST PITS - CATHERINE RANSON & ROBERTA FULTON ............... 93 13.4.1 Dig and Sow other finds list ...................................................................................... 93 5 13.4.2 HEFA other finds list ............................................................................................... 101 13.5 MAPS ..................................................................................................................................... 105 List of Tables Table 1: The pottery excavated from PEA/12/1 ..................................................................29 Table 2: The pottery excavated from PEA/12/4 ..................................................................32 Table 3: The pottery excavated from PEA/12/5 ..................................................................33 Table 4: The pottery excavated from PEA/12/7 ..................................................................34 Table 5: The pottery excavated from PEA/12/8 ..................................................................35 Table 6: The pottery excavated from PEA/12/9 ..................................................................36 Table 7: The pottery excavated from PEA/12/10 ................................................................37 Table 8: The pottery excavated from PEA/12/11 ................................................................39 Table 9: The pottery excavated from PEA/12/12 ................................................................40 Table 10: The pottery excavated from PEA/12/13 ..............................................................41 Table 11: The pottery excavated from PEA/12/14 ..............................................................42 Table 12: The pottery excavated from PEA/12/15 ..............................................................43 Table 13: The pottery excavated from PEA/12/17 ..............................................................44 Table 14: The pottery excavated from PEA/12/18 ..............................................................45 Table 15: The pottery excavated from PEA/12/19 ..............................................................46 Table 16: The pottery excavated from PEA/12/19b ............................................................47 Table 17: The pottery excavated from PEA/12/24 ..............................................................48 Table 18: The pottery excavated from PEA/12/25 ..............................................................49 Table 19: The pottery excavated from PEA/12/27 ..............................................................50 Table 20: The pottery excavated from PEA/12/28 ..............................................................51 Table 21: The pottery excavated from PEA/12/29 ..............................................................52 Table 22: The pottery excavated from PEA/12/30 ..............................................................53 Table 23: The pottery excavated from PEA/12/31 ..............................................................54