An Iron Age and Roman Settlement at Burnmill Road, Market Harborough, Leicestershire

The project involved the machine stripping of two fields (identified in this document as the West Field and the East Field. Stripping of the excavation areas was conducted using two 360p machines fitted with toothless ditching buckets under supervision by qualified and experienced archaeologists. Stripping was supervised and controlled by the archaeological team to ensure that the archaeological horizon was exposed and sufficiently clean to identify any archaeological features present. The earliest evidence from the site was represented by residual Mesolithic lithic finds recovered from a number of later features. However, the first concrete evidence for onsite occupation dated to the Middle to Late Iron Age in/the West Field. This activity appears to have been predominately animal husbandry-based,/given the high percentage in recovered bone of cattle bone. The features comprised/a north-south multi-phase boundary ditch/flanking the western edge of the site dated by several mid- to late/Iron Age pottery sherds recovered from excavated sections. An adjoining east-west ditch ran the length of the West Field, forming a/substantial/arc as it headed east. This ditch contained several re-cuts, with finds including Iron Age pottery/and animal bone.//Within the/enclosure defined by the/ditch, were several banana-shaped/curvilinear gullies/with post-holes at either end./ Metalworking debris from the fills suggested/a functional link.//A probable well measuring 3m wide and 1.5m+ deep was located 6m south of the enclosure./ The eastern half of the West Field contained a dense spread of substantial/ditches,/a number of which formed/overlapping enclosures and boundary features.//Most notable was a/substantial/ditch running/downslope/north-west - south-east across the eastern half of the site.//A 10m length of the feature/contained a/substantial/quantity of highly vitrified clay and organic material, seemingly/representing/a single dump of/burnt building material, possibly roof thatch.//A wide spread of gravels in the north-east corner of the site/likely represented a rudimentary surface or trackway./ A single undated isolated crouched inhumation burial, possibly juvenile, was also recorded in this area, its hand clasped close to its face and holding an iron object, possibly a brooch./ The earliest activity in the East Field comprised a Late Iron Age/Early Roman concentration of occupation in the north-west corner defined by a north-south boundary ditch and hinting at a further settlement focus to the north beyond the limit of excavation on the brow of the ridge. An associated crude metalled surface likely represented a continuation east of the possible trackway identified in the West Field. During the Early Roman period, activity in the East Field was characterised by/the setting out of a series of/small/adjoining enclosures linked to a substantial ditch running north-east to south-west./ The enclosures/were occupied by/dense,/complex multiphase occupation dating to the 1st to 3rd century and indicative of a/Roman/ladder settlement. An earlier circular enclosure, possibly representing a Late Iron Age or Early Roman roundhouse, was identified east of the gas pipeline easement. The area north of the principal east-west ditch appeared empty of features, possibly representing a 'no man's land' between the twin areas of occupation. During the early 2nd-mid 3rd centuries the partially-silted ditches were utilised for the interment of nine predominately adult individuals in inhumation burials, skeletal analysis of which indicated that several had sustained injuries linked to heavy physical labour. 3rd-4th century activity was identified on the south-eastern and southern limits of the excavation, suggesting a settlement focus offsite to the east.