Knobbs Farm, Somersham. Phase 5B Investigations

Abstract

Investigations were undertaken in advance of gravel extraction, and formed the westward continuation of the 2004 Phase 4 excavation. A total of 114 archaeological features were recorded. Whilst residual Neolithic and Early Bronze Age flintwork was recovered, no early prehistoric features were found. The earliest features on site were a series of pits or wells, some of which produced Middle Iron Age pottery. There was evidence of continuity in the use of these wells through the Iron Age and into the Roman period. The beginning of Romano-British occupation of the site commenced during the late 1st to mid 2nd century AD, involving the construction of four enclosures (A,B,C and D), a trackway, buildings, some possible corn-drying kilns and a cremation. Between the mid to late 2nd and 4th century Enclosure A was re-cut and a further enclosure (E) established, alongside the establishment of a rectilinear field system. This also coincided with the beginnings of an inhumation cemetery.