What did we find? ·No features were found in any of the test pits except for a posthole in the pit at 115 Wilbury Road. However this posthole had no dating evidence from it. As it was dug in a flower / vegetable bed, it could have been any date from ancient up to very modern. ·The two test pits at 18 and 24 Wheathill yielded some Roman pottery and one or two sherds of Early to Middle Iron Age pottery (dating from perhaps 750-200 BC). However, the edges of the sherds were very worn, showing that they had been moving through the soil for many years, probably as a result of ploughing in the Middle Ages and more recently; they could have been some way from their original place of deposition. This suggests that the pits probably lay outside the settlement area. This perhaps means that the edge of the settlement was towards the rear of the houses on that side of the road, confirming that the burial found at 28 lay outside it. ·The test pit in no 33 yielded significantly more Roman pottery than the others, including a piece of amphora and a piece of samian ware (red glossed Roman pottery). This may indicate that it is closer to the heart of the settlement. ·The test pit in no 115 Wilbury Road yielded some Roman pottery and some Early to Middle Iron Age sherds. As they were not particularly worn, this may indicate that the settlement may extend that far. Therefore, the results are somewhat inconclusive. Conclusions Clearly, there was a settlement of some size here at ‘Hawthorn Hill’ in the Romano-British period. Some of the finds, such as the amphora sherd, suggest that it was a relatively prosperous community, able to afford luxury foodstuffs or wine imported from the Mediterranean. The tesserae and tile fragments suggest that at least one of the buildings was substantial, with a mosaic floor. There was some activity somewhere in the vicinity during the Iron Age but its whereabouts are yet to be determined. We still do not know whether there was a continuity of occupation or two separate periods, although there is no obviously Late Iron Age (200 BC - AD 43) date. Further analysis of the pottery may shed some light on this. Even though the results seem inconclusive and unspectacular, they still represent an important contribution to our understanding of an ancient settlement in the historic parish of Norton. End
Home Aims and Challenges Events Diary 2010 Newsletters August 08 March 09 December 09 June 2010 Maps Church Field Church Field contd. Further maps Links Guardian Letchworth Exhibition Cottages Luton Museum York Community Archaeology Projects National Archaeology Week NHDC Archaeological Services Hertfordshire Family History Society North Hertfordshire Archaeological Society NCAG Constitution Press Publications Comet 07 February 08 Summer 2008 Guardian Articles Sept 2009 Article 1 Article 2 Article 3 Article 4 Article 5 Join Us Membership Form