The Archaeology of Castle Hill, Wittenham Clumps

HOMEPAGE

The Archaeology of Castle Hill

Trench 1

Trench 2

Trench 3

Trench 4

Week 2

Trench 4

Index

Week 3 update

Week 4 update

Week 5 update

Week 6 update

Interim Summary Reports

Photographs of people at work

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Latest from Castle Hill

This trench was dug to test the results of the English Heritage geophysical survey which indicated that a buried inner ditch, possibly of Bronze Age date, would run through this trench. English Heritage also located several possible pits and suggested that there might be gullies of circular buildings on the hilltop. We also wished to test what damage the plough had done in this area.

Filled up ditches and pits appear as dark patches in the soil.

Ploughing has removed evidence of any smaller pits or postholes that may have survived. No trace of any curving gullies has been found. We have found the buried ditch, which we have excavated to a limited depth, recovering prehistoric pottery. We are now investigating two pits, one circular Iron Age pit (in the middle of the trench) and one square Roman pit (at the downslope end) which contained a Roman coin. It's possible that this is a well and we hope to investigate it further.

Plough damage to the archaeology here has been very severe; apparently a triple-bladed plough was used on the hilltop in the 1940s and 1950s, which has left us parallel score marks in the chalk. This plough was designed locally, and the Machine Man pub is named after the inventor.

Our work on this trench is almost complete and we hope to close it this week.

The excavation is being carried out by a team of students, local volunteers and archaeologists from Oxford Archaeology.

Trench 4 showing the Square Roman pit.

If you would like to help on the dig please speak to one of the team, or contact Denise Price, at Oxford Archaeology on 01865 263800. Application forms may also be obtained by e-mail from denise.price@oxfordarch.co.uk.