Iron Age Settlement at Buckingham to Brackley Trunk Main Replacement. Archaeological Evaluation and Excavation

Between 23 June 2009 and 16 July 2009 Oxford Archaeology East conducted an Archaeological Evaluation followed by a small open area excavation of an Iron Age ring ditch, on a section of the line of the Buckingham to Brackley Trunk Main Replacement (NGR SP 6751 3485 and SP 6410 3601). A Watching Brief had previously been conducted on Phase 1 of the pipe route (NGR: SP 6753 3487 to SP 6877 3424) that revealed modern agricultural deposits. This was in response to a desk-based assessment (Morgan 2009) that had highlighted the possibility of the pipe trench crossing several areas of archaeological potential. These included the route of two possible Roman Roads and a ring ditch identified by geophysical survey. A total of 23 trenches were excavated and these were targeted to investigate the remains highlighted above. The work was commissioned by Anglian Water. The evaluation revealed low levels of archaeological activity spanning the pre-historic to post medieval period across the development area. This was primarily in the form of residual finds that included occasional prehistoric flint and pottery dated to the Early to Middle Iron Age, Roman pottery and post medieval wares. It also demonstrated that the putative Roman roads either did not pass through the area on their suggested routes or had been entirely truncated by later agricultural activity. The excavation of the penannular ditch and earlier gullies revealed a sequence of Early to Middle Iron Age occupation up to three phases of activity were recorded in the form of small enclosures and a roundhouse.