SUMMARY

Excavations at Dunmore Road, Abingdon (formerly Berks.) uncovered activity dating from the Neolithic to the early Roman period. Following some ephemeral traces of Neolithic and Bronze Age activity, the earliest clear evidence of settlement was represented in the early Iron Age by a series of post-built and ditched roundhouses, numerous pits, and four- and six-post structures. Middle Iron Age activity was represented primarily by a series of enclosures accompanied by an inhumation burial and several pits. One of the enclosures was recut in the late Iron Age and a larger adjoining enclosure was established during this time. The larger enclosure was recut three times in the early Roman period, showing continuity in local activity, which also saw the construction of a probable masonry building. A previously unknown Roman road, flanked by ditches c.20–28 m apart with layers of metalling in between, was found extending across the site. Projection of the road alignment southwards connects it to the late Iron Age oppidum and Roman nucleated settlement at Abingdon. No road has previously been found that links Abingdon to the main Roman road network. Activity ceased in the early second century AD, around the time of settlement and landscape reorganisation observed more widely in the Abingdon area. The road does not appear to have been refurbished thereafter, and the extent to which it continued in use through the later Roman period is unknown. Medieval furrows crossed the site on the same alignment as the Iron Age and early Roman enclosures and perpendicular to the Roman road. However, the furrows may have been aligned upon Wootton Road to the west rather than indicating any influence from the late prehistoric or Roman remains.

SUMMARY

Excavations on the former Grove Airfield in 2018 revealed evidence of multi-period land use and agriculture. A middle Bronze Age field system and possible stock enclosures were discovered alongside some artefacts and charred plant remains. A seemingly isolated inhumation burial provided limited evidence of activity during the late Bronze Age. In the late Iron Age/early Roman period, new land boundaries were established and signs of habitation included a possible roundhouse. The settlement was reorganised during the second century AD and was enlarged in the third century, having a formal rectilinear layout with several enclosed areas and post-built structures. Two inhumation burials of possible early Roman date are indicative of rural burial practices in a non-cemetery context. By the fourth century the settlement appears to have become more open, with a shift towards more intensive arable production and crop processing signified by the construction of a large corndryer and greater quantities of charred plant remains. The settlement was abandoned by the end of the fourth century.

SUMMARY

Excavations to the north-east of Wantage (formerly Berks.) uncovered an Iron Age settlement that was established in the eighth or seventh century BC. Eleven roundhouses, variously defined by postholes and penannular ditches, dated to the earliest or early Iron Age. A total of fifteen roundhouses defined by penannular ditches dated to the middle Iron Age, alongside further settlement features. Activity appears to have diminished during the late Iron Age before the site was significantly reorganised early in the Roman period when two rectilinear enclosures and minor subsidiary enclosures were established. These enclosures were recut multiple times throughout the following centuries and the organisation of the site remained remarkably consistent until its abandonment at the end of the fourth century AD. Corndryers dating to the middle and late Roman periods suggest a focus on cereal processing. One early Anglo-Saxon sunken-featured building was discovered, probably dating to the sixth or seventh century AD. The site was cultivated in the later medieval period, signified by the presence of numerous furrows, and a trackway of late fifteenth- to sixteenth-century date was found to extend southwards towards Wantage.