Seven pits of varying size and character were identified in this area that is broken by the route of the Northern Approach Road. West of the road, Trench 31 revealed three pits containing charcoal: F61-63. At 0.3m the deepest of these, F61, was also the widest with a circular diameter of 0.9m at its mouth. With sharp concave sides this was filled with three deposits over a flat base. The basal deposit [120] of dark grey silty sand housed the most frequent inclusions of charcoal in small lumps and flecks. This was overlain by firm light blueish grey sandy clay [119] and capped by fine mid grey brown sandy silt [118] with rare charcoal flecks. Over 10m to the northwest was a second pit, F.62, and a third, F.63, a further 15m from this. Respectively, these were sub-circular and rectangular (c.0.37-.46m wide and 0.5-.85m long) with depths of only 0.08-0.11m. Each containing mid or light grey sandy silt, the degree of charcoal varied from rare (F62) to frequent (F63). Again, these contained no artefacts – including heat affected stones. On the east side of the road and in Trench 35, four pits may be distinguished from proximate post-Medieval features. Two of these, F36 and 68, contained two fills the uppermost of
which were rich with charcoal. In F68 the charcoal included large lumps of roundwood along the base of the fill [108] and concentrated along the pit’s north edge. This produced a radiocarbon date within the 2nd century BC. In situ burning was not readily apparent in F68, but the flat base of F36 was reddened and hardened by direct heat. These two pits were each 0.6m wide with concave sides to a depth of 0.11-0.28m. These two pits were separated by almost 60m, midway between which was a further two pits, F69 and 70. These were positioned 5.0m apart and were similar in their character. Both c.0.4m diameter at their circular mouth, these displayed sharp concave profiles filled to 0.18m depth with mid brownish grey silty sand, but no charcoal. Undated, their connection with the charcoal-filled pits is uncertain.<1>

The extent of the pits group is highlighted by the record of charcoal-filled pits in the area of the Northern Approach Road between the two areas of trenching, defined during monitoring in 2013 (ECC3897). Similar pits were also encountered in the evaluation in 2001 (ECC2811). Of a character certainly comparable with those pits in the current project (the dimensions are not reported, but a photo and basic feature descriptions are presented), this appears to represent a north-south distribution in excess of 300m length.<2><3>