Prior's Fen, Bank Farm, Thorney, Peterborough: An Archaeological Evaluation

Between the 5th and 8th of September the Archaeological Field Unit of Cambridgeshire County Council (CCCAFU) undertook an archaeological evaluation on land located in Prior's Fen, north of Bank Farm, in the Parish of Thorney, Peterborough, some 2.5km north of Whittlesey. The site is located near the Fen Edge in an area of known archaeological activity, with particular reference to the presence of Bronze Age round barrows. Therefore, the aim of the archaeological evaluation was to identify and interpret deposits (namely buried soils) and features in the context of the prehistoric landscape. The evaluation compromised an assessment of the desk-based sources including aerial photographs followed by the excavation of 1260m of linear trenching. Notwithstanding the presence of prehistoric finds in the proximity of the proposed development, no archaeological features or deposits (including buried soils) were encountered. The apparent absence of archaeological features is consistent with the results from the aerial photographic evaluation. Even allowing for some degree of disturbance caused by modern farming, sites still would have been preserved by partial burial under fen deposits. On the whole it seems that the evaluation area was never occupied.