Iron Age Pitting and Medieval Ridge and Furrow Agriculture, Caldecote Primary School, Highfields, Caldecote: An Archaeological Investigation

An archaeological evaluation was undertaken at Caldecote Primary School, Highfields, Caldecote, Cambridgeshire to inform the planning process in advance of the construction of extensions to the existing school buildings. The work was carried out by staff of the Cambridgeshire County Council Archaeological Field Unit between the 23rd and 26th of October 2000.

A total of 8 trenches were excavated across the site to ascertain the presence or absence of archaeological remains. Of these 5 contained archaeological features. Subsequently two areas were opened up for excavation around these trenches. A series of pits, some of which produced pottery of Iron age date. A ditch of likely Iron Age or Romano-British date, three medieval furrows, and a series of post holes of unknown date were recorded. The Iron Age features are likely to be associated with a known Iron Age settlement to the north-east, also in Highfields. The ditch is on a similar alignment to excavated examples from the land directly to the same east-west alignment as those encountered in the excavations on land directly to the south, and also known from aerial photographs of the area.