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The area that is currently the subject of the watching brief is located 300m to the north of Nosterfield village in the western half of the quarry.
The most recent activity recorded within the watching brief so far is a series of medieval plough furrows. Three have been identified running parallel on a NE-SW alignment 10m apart in the northern half of the area; two more have been recorded running NW-SE to the south.
In 2002, two large ditches were recorded running across the site; one on a NW-SE alignment, the other following a SW-NE alignment (see map of previous results in The Archaeological Dividend). The alignment of these ditches projected into the current watching brief area. Excavation in November 2003 has shown that the two ditches are in fact one, and that they join at right angles to form the corner of a large boundary. The ditch has been excavated in three places and has proved to be between 2.5m and 3.0m wide and up to 1.2m deep with a wide V-shaped profile. The backfill sequence suggests that the ditch may have been re-cut at some time. A small assemblage of Roman pottery (greyware and amphora) and ceramic building material (tegula) recovered from the latest backfill suggests that the ditch was visible as a boundary at least until the Roman period.
30m to the south of the ditch a small square enclosure has been excavated. The feature was carefully cleaned by hand and mapped. It is formed by a continuous ditch circuit which encloses an area approximately 100m square. The ditch was sectioned leaving eight baulks in order that the backfill sequence could be recorded, the baulks were then retired representing 100% excavation. The ditch proved to be 1.5m wide and 1.0m deep with a steep V-shaped profile. Despite the complete excavation of its backfills, no finds were recovered from the ditch. The interior of the feature was carefully cleaned but no features were present.
This small square enclosure is currently being interpreted as a possible square barrow. The lack of a burial inside the enclosed area is not surprising given that up to 0.5m of ground has been eroded by medieval and modern ploughing. During the 2002 phase of the watching brief a nearby cremation cemetery and ring ditches, which may be the ploughed out remains of round barrows, show that this area was used for burial during the Bronze Age and possibly later. Square barrows in Yorkshire are normally associated with an Iron Age burial rite. Until recently it was assumed that this type of burial was restricted to the Yorkshire Wolds where high status chariot burials have been found within the square barrows (see Wetwang Chariot Burial). However, other examples of chariot burial within square barrows are now known outside the Wolds, most recently alongside the A1 in West Yorkshire (see West Yorkshire Chariot Burial and the Newbridge Chariot Burial). We already have a hint of a possible second example of a square enclosure in the current watching brief area.
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Excavation team working on a square barrow. |
Excavation team after complete excavation of square
barrow. |
Interactive Map: Results from current watching brief area.
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