Emergency Observation Visit to 36 Cherry Road, Kettering, May 2024

The area observed during the emergency observation visit was the foundation trench of a small rear extension to a residential dwelling at the site, which had been excavated by groundworks contractors prior to the visit. During the visit, recording of a single undated pit, identified in the section of the foundation trench was undertaken. All archaeological deposits and artefacts encountered during the monitoring visit were fully recorded. All contexts were described on pro-forma sheets including a detailed description, stratigraphic relationships, interpretation, and a checklist of associated finds. The extent in plan of all archaeological features and deposits revealed were recorded using Leica Capture Survey Grade RTK GPS using SMARTNET real-time corrections, operating to a 3D tolerance of � 0.05m to Ordnance Survey National Grid and Datum. Sections or profiles through features and areas of complex stratigraphy were drawn at a scale of 1:10 or 1:20 as appropriate. The heights of all recorded deposits were established relative to Ordnance Datum. During an emergency monitoring visit to site, a single pit was identified that was presumed to have previously contained the disturbed human remains recovered during the excavation of the foundation trench for a domestic extension. The lack of any further skeletal remains in the foundation trench section suggests that the remains do not come from an in-situ inhumation burial, but may have been detached from the rest of the remains and deposited within the pit separately. Unfortunately no dateable material was recovered from the feature, and so the remains are undated. However, the proximity to other human remains, again undated, suggest the possibility of an as yet unidentified cemetery in the vicinity, although its size and date are not possible to define.