Stanton Harcourt Airfield, Oxfordshire

Between the 13th and 17th of June 2016 Oxford Archaeology conducted an
archaeological trial trench evaluation at Stanton Harcourt Airfield, Oxfordshire.
The evaluation trenches were targeted on the results of a geophysical survey and
the plot of cropmarks from aerial photographs. Possibly the earliest feature
uncovered was a curvilinear ditch potentially defining a round barrow. Other
trenches exposed a comprehensive system of drove roads and field boundary
ditches dating to the earlier part of the Romano-British period, and which generally
corresponded with geophysical anomalies and the aerial photographs.
The Romano-British archaeology was most dense within the north-west corner of
the evaluated area, with the presence of numerous postholes and domestic refuse
suggesting occupation in the vicinity. Within the southern part of the site the
frequency of finds was reduced, indicating that these areas were further away from
any focus of occupation and probably more agricultural in nature.
Evidence for small scale gravel extraction possibly from the earlier post-medieval
period was also observed, as was evidence for the machine cultivation of the site
shown by tooth marks from “Gyro-Tiller” machinery, observed within the surface of
the gravel deposits throughout the northern half of the site.