Land at The Quadrant, Abingdon Science Park, Oxfordshire Archaeological Evaluation Report

The works initially comprised the excavation of four evaluation trenches measuring 30m by 1.6m. These were to be excavated during two phases of works; the first in support of the Planning Application and the second, reliant on the results of the first phase, to be undertaken upon approval of the Planning Application and subsequent site clearance works. Scrubland and dense tree coverage restricted trench locations to the northern extent of the Site (Fig. 2). Given the potential for inert landfill deposits c 3m thick, each trench was to be excavated to a maximum depth of 1.2m with a 3m deep trial hole situated at either end. Upon excavation of the first trail hole (Test Pit 2) a perched water table emitting a strong hydrocarbon smell was identified at c 1.3m - 1.6m depth. A Desktop Environmental Audit identified hydrocarbons "not considered to pose an unacceptable risk to human health" within known landfill deposits across the proposed development area (Paragon, 2016). It was decided a series of test pits would prove to be a more informative strategy given the likelihood of substantial modern deposits within the Site, the presence of hydrocarbons defining the maximum excavation depth for each test pit. A series of other restricting factors affected the maximum depth of the test pits and these will be discussed below in the discussion section (section 4). In all, four test pits were excavated, spatially distributed to provide an even coverage of the depositional sequence across the northern extent of the Site. A summary of OA's general approach to excavation and recording, Geomatics and Survey, Environmental evidence, artefactual evidence and burials as implemented on this site can be found in the WSI (OA, 2018) and are not repeated here. Site specific methodology was as follows: " All test pits were CAT scanned prior to and during excavation. " Test pit were excavated in even spits to a maximum depth of 0.7m - 2.15m using a 5 tonne rubber tracked mechanical excavator under the close supervision of a qualified archaeologist. " Topsoil and underlying deposits were stored separately at a safe distance from the test pit edges (minimum 1m). " Each test pit was recorded, photographed and a representative section of the exposed deposits drawn. " The location of each test pit was recorded using a GNSS system with a sub 50mm accuracy. " Upon completion of all archaeological recording the test pits were backfilled with the arising material in reverse order of excavation. In April 2018 Oxford Archaeology (OA) undertook an archaeological trial trench evaluation of land at The Quadrant, Abingdon Science Park, Oxfordshire (NGR SU 50699 97332). The work was commissioned by PRA 2 Sarl. The evaluation confirmed the recorded historical landfilling of the proposed development area between 1967 and 1971. Two distinct episodes of landfill were identified, overlain by a sand, gravel and pea gravel capping deposit and subsequent levelling deposits. No archaeological features were identified during the course of the evaluation. No artefactual material was recovered during the course of the evaluation.