Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age Settlement Remains and Post-Medieval Activity on Land off Southminster Road, Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex

Between 27th July and 12th August 2020 Oxford Archaeology East undertook an archaeological excavation totalling 0.37ha at land off Southminster Road, Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex. The three small excavation areas (Areas 1-3) uncovered the course of a palaeochannel alongside two groups of discrete features (in Areas 1 and 2) which probably represent the remains of Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age settlement. The larger group of post holes and pits in Area 1 produced small assemblages of Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age pottery and burnt flint. Significantly, one of the pits was also found to contain fragments of eight briquetage pedestals probably associated with salt-making. The smaller group of pits in Area 2 produced contemporary pottery in addition to structural daub fragments. The remaining features encountered in Areas 2 and 3 comprised boundary ditches and a small number of pits of post-medieval origin (16th century and later), in addition to a small quarry to extract the underlying sand and gravel. The most recent episode of early modern activity was represented by a small, ditched enclosure, former field boundaries and a further quarry. This site provides an important addition to the emerging pattern of known Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements in the vicinity of Burnham-on-Crouch and also adds to the growing corpus of later prehistoric sites associated with salt-making on the River Crouch.