Prehistoric settlement and Roman quarrying at Milton Landfill, Milton, Cambridgeshire. Post-Excavation Assessment

The excavations revealed evidence for early land use in the form of several early prehistoric flints found in later features. The earliest evidence of settlement on the site was limited to a single waterhole of Early Bronze Age date, and a pit which the waterhole truncated. Activity increased in the later part of the Bronze Age with evidence of land division in the form of an 'L' shaped arrangement of ditches, a post-built roundhouse and two enigmatic post alignments. More extensive settlement occurred from the beginning of the Iron Age, comprising a scattered and seemingly unenclosed agricultural community. The main settlement features were a series of large waterholes distributed across the site, dating to the Early and Middle Iron Age. Accompanying these were the remains of post-built structures such as further roundhouses and granaries and small groups of pits associated with the settlement features. This occupation activity spans a large part of the Iron Age and may indicate the exploitation of an area of land by one or more extended family groups. In the early Roman period occupation had ceased. Instead, widespread quarrying took place, but only within a specific area where the gravel was of a higher quality. The quarry pits were dense but relatively shallow, probably due to the water table at the time of quarrying. The most obvious use for the gravel would be surfacing of the Roman road, Akeman Street, which bounds the western side of the excavation area. Following the Roman period there was no land use on the site until the medieval period; the pre-enclosure system of ridge and furrow was evident across the excavation area.