Mitchell Hill Common, Cottenham, Cambridgeshire: Plant Site and Phase 1. Post-Excavation Assessment and Updated Project Design

Abstract

Excavations were carried out in two areas (the Plant Site and Phase 1 extraction area) at Mitchell Hill Quarry, Cottenham, Cambridgeshire by the Cambridge Archaeological Unit, between August 2019 and January 2020, ahead of gravel extraction. A total of 10.24ha was stripped revealing features dating from the Beaker period through to the Post-Medieval period, but dominated by the remains of an Iron Age Settlement. The Plant Site area revealed scattered prehistoric features, including Middle Bronze Age and Early Iron Age watering holes with waterlogged wood deposits, comparable to those recorded at the adjacent Gravel Digger’s Quarry site (Bourne 2019). Evidence of Roman activity comprised a series of large curvilinear boundary ditches and trackway related to a known settlement at Mitchell Hill Farm. Although some early pits dating to the Beaker and Middle Bronze Age periods were recorded within the Phase 1 extraction area, the main focus of activity there related to a dense multi phased Iron Age settlement. The earliest phase was characterised by a series of post-built roundhouses and potentially contemporary four-post structures and pits, the subsequent Early Middle Iron Age phases saw the establishment of a major roundhouse, defined by multiple phases of gully and several enclosures. In addition to associated settlement features, which included a considerable number of pits and postholes, four inhumations were likely contemporaneous to the site’s Early and Early-Middle Iron Age occupation. Later Iron Age activity was more limited and mainly comprised pit groupings and ditches. Evidence of Roman activity appears likely to be related to the settlement at Mitchell Hill Farm and was limited to field boundary ditches and a trackway in the Phase 1 area.