Ladybridge Farm: Archaeological Evaluation
full report (pdf file, 3.43 MB) | finds index | method statement
See Interactive Map or full report for distribution of finds.
The fieldwalking programme was carried out in two phases due to different crop regimes across the site. The first phase covered an area of approximately 30 hectares (Zones A, B, and C) and was undertaken in October 2003. Due to the presence of a beet crop in the southeastern part of the site (Zone D), and the need to undertake the evaluation excavation work prior to the ploughing and re-sowing of the area, the fieldwalking was undertaken after the evaluation excavation had been completed. This second phase of fieldwalking covered an area of approximately 11 hectares and was carried out in May 2004.
The ground conditions during the first stage of the fieldwalking resulted in moderate visibility, with a young relatively dense cereal crop partially obscuring the weathered and dry ground surface. Visibility during the walking of Zone D were considered to be good, with a recently ploughed and weathered ground surface.
Fieldwalking Procedure
In order to ensure complete fieldwalking coverage of ploughed areas, and to avoid any duplication of coverage, ranging poles were used to divide the site into smaller working areas. These areas were then further sub-divided into 2.0m traverses which were fieldwalked. All finds were bagged and secured to the find-spot using a surveying flag. Each find was then allocated a unique find number using pre-numbered tags and its 3-D position recorded using a total station theodolite.
All finds were processed and catalogued. Information relating to location, material type and identity were then entered into an Access database. XYZ coordinate files were then exported into AutoCAD in order to generate distribution plots.
Fieldwalking Results
A total of 1,460 finds were recovered during the fieldwalking programme. The majority of the finds were ceramic (625) or ceramic building material (545), with a further 290 finds, of which 201 were lithics, 73 were modern glass and the remaining 16 modern metalwork.
Ceramics
With the exception of one sherd of a Roman oxidised ware jar and two sherds of glazed local medieval pottery, the ceramic finds were of post-medieval or modern date. This assemblage consisted of transfer printed wares (184 sherds), glazed earthenwares (109 sherds), English stoneware (sixty-four sherds), fragments of clay pipe (forty-two), white china (214 sherds) and miscellaneous glazed china (nine sherds). The assemblage is predominantly of 18th to 20th century date and was spread relatively evenly throughout the site. Although Zone D contained a higher density of ceramic finds, this is likely to be due to enhanced recovery as a result of improved visibility during fieldwalking in comparison with Zones A, B and C. Alternatively, Zone D may have undergone different agricultural regimes, or belonged to different owners, particularly since the clusters appear to be contained within historic field divisions. The date and distribution of the assemblage indicates that this material was derived from manuring.
Ceramic Building Material
The assemblage of ceramic building material (CBM) included 240 undiagnostic fragments, 203 fragments of pantile, eighty-four fragments of brick, ten fragments of field drain, seven fragments of drain pipe, and one fragment of white glazed wall tile. The assemblage was entirely post-medieval and modern in date. The distribution of the material was similar to that of the ceramic material, with concentrations reflecting the former field divisions (Figure 10). Two clusters of CBM were identified in the northeastern corner of the area of investigation (Zone A) and one in Zone D, although both are reflected in the ceramic distribution. The clusters are therefore more likely to represent areas of greater manuring or ploughed out rubbish dumps rather than the locations of the remains of small agricultural buildings.
Other finds
An assemblage of eighty-nine non-ceramic and non-lithic finds were also recovered. A total of seventy-three fragments of glass were identified as sherds from bottles and windows including metal-reinforced and car headlight glass. The material was entirely post-medieval and modern in date. The remaining sixteen finds included animal bone, metal, and plastic, which were also entirely modern in date.
Lithics
An assemblage of 215 pieces of lithic material was collected during fieldwalking. The total included 188 pieces of worked flint, twenty-five pieces of chert, of which seven chert pieces, as well as a piece of natural blue agate and a quartz pebble were identified as natural and are not discussed further; all the material has been the subject of a specialist assessment and is discussed in detail and catalogued in Appendix B.
The majority of the assemblage (73.5%) has been identified as small flakes or angular debitage; a total of two blades were also identified as well as five cores.. In addition, four projectiles, sixtynine retouched and utilised pieces, and twenty-two scrapers were identified within the assemblage. Projectiles included a crude leaf-shaped arrowhead dated broadly to the Neolithic to Bronze Age. Two transverse arrowheads were collected, one dateable to the early Neolithic and one from the late Neolithic onwards. A barbed and tanged arrowhead was recovered and is broadly dateable to the early Bronze Age, and often has Beaker associations. Scrapers were the most common tools found, with twenty-two examples; nine were fragments which were too small to be diagnostic and four are not diagnostic of date. A total of nine scrapers were dateable; three end scrapers may be early Neolithic and six small circular or thumbnail scrapers date to the Early Bronze Age. In addition, fiftythree flakes and blades showed evidence for retouch and use. Of these, four were probably Mesolithic in date, one was Neolithic and two were chronologically undiagnostic. A total of ninety-six flint tools were identified and included projectiles, scrapers, retouched flakes and an awl, a fabricator and burin.
The overall distribution of lithic material is weighted towards the southern area of the investigation and most particularly towards Zone C. As a result, the majority of flint waste, tools, dateable pieces and burnt lithic material is distributed across the same area.
The Vale of Mowbray Neolithic Landscape Project (VMNLP) has undertaken three phases of reconnaissance fieldwalking within the site (Harding 1997, Harding 2003, Harding and Johnson 2004b). The fieldwalking targeted lithic material and was undertaken along transects set out at 15m intervals. Zone C was walked in 1996 as Field 21, and produced a significant lithic assemblage including three possible fragments of early Neolithic leaf shaped arrowheads, two possible late Neolithic end scrapers, and a fragment of knife of early Bronze Age date. The southern half of Zone B was also walked in 1996 as Field 24, and yielded a much smaller assemblage which included a late Neolithic or early Bronze Age serrated blade and a possible Late Neolithic end scraper. Zone A and the northern half of Zone B were walked in 2003, a few months prior to the FAS fieldwalking programme. This area was allocated Field 50, and produced a very small assemblage of only fifteen lithics. The assemblage included two Neolithic scrapers, two possible early Neolithic cores, and a late Mesolithic microlith.
Both the FAS and the VMNLP fieldwalking programmes produced similar distributions of lithic material. In both cases, the highest density was recovered in Zone C, with a rapid fall-off of lithic finds to the north in Zone B, and a gradual reduction of lithics to the east. Interestingly, the density of lithic finds from the FAS survey was found to increase in the southern part of Zone D, however, this may have been due to better ground conditions, as well as the fact that this area had not been recently walked by another team prior to surface collection.
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