Archaeological Evaluation at Alconbury Weald Enterprise Zone

An archaeological evaluation was carried out on land just off Ermine Street, formerly occupied by Alconbury Airfield, Alconbury, Cambridgeshire. The work took place as part of a series of archaeological works ahead of the Alconbury Weald development. The site was centred on TL 1975 7684. The fieldwork took place between the 6th and 23rd of April 2015 and the 1st and 3rd of June 2015.
The plan was for 88 trenches to be excavated, but, due to the presence of modern services and buildings, only 73 were opened. These trenches revealed two main concentrations of archaeology: in the north-west part of the site where a series of undated features (ditches, furrows and postholes) and a Middle Bronze Age posthole containing two thumbnail scrapers; and several ditches on the eastern edge of the site, which have been dated as Roman and may have been part of a field system.
The features identified during the evaluation revealed a small selection of animal bone, scraps of undiagnostic metalwork, Roman roof tiles, fired clay, and a larger selection of Roman pottery that included samian ware from an enclosure ditch.
The identified features tie in with the other phases of work on the site, with ridge and furrow identified along the western edge in a watching brief carried out during 2014, and Late Iron Age and Roman activity identified in open area excavations along the eastern edge during 2013 and 2015.