Element record MCC583 - Late Iron Age occupation site L7, Sheepen, Colchester

Summary

Late Iron Age occupation area at Sheepen, recorded during the 1930s excavations.

Location

Grid reference TL 98646 25462 (point)
Map sheet TL92NE
Non Parish Area COLCHESTER, COLCHESTER, ESSEX

Map

Type and Period (1)

Full Description

Site L7 was a large occupation area, being 21ft in diameter. It also was hollowed into the sand, to a central depth of 2ft, with a 6ft shelf at 6" on the East side. From the edge of this shelf the main hollow was filled with what seemed to be a made-up flooring of gravely brown earth, a foot thick, which ended in a wall-bank, 9" thicker, against the side of a pit-like hollow, 8ft across at the mouth, occupying the West end of the site. The flooring was, however, not primary, for under the wall-bank and again in the centre of the hollow were black layers, 3-4" thick, and the latter stopped on the E. against the remains of a turf wall, 15" wide and preserved to a maximum height of 10", running N. and S. Six courses of turfs could be seen, but little more than 4ft of the length remained, and it was distinctly sealed over by the flooring, which must therefore be a secondary make-up. Over the latter, from the wall-bank on the W to the far edge of the hollow above the shelf on the E., lay a black stratum of debris, up to 10" thick. A 6" deposit of dark loamy earth above and within the shelf may represent a collapsed secondary wall-bank, and above it, running from the site's E extremity to merge into the main black stratum in the middle was a further black layer 8-10" thick. The hollow on the W was chocked with similar material, and the site seems certainly to have been destroyed by fire.<1>

Sources/Archives (1)

  • <1> Monograph: Hawkes, C.F.C. and Hull, M.R.. 1947. Camulodunum: First Report on the Excavations at Colchester 1930-1939. p.123.

Finds (0)

Protected Status/Designation

Related Monuments/Buildings (1)

Related Events/Activities (1)

Record last edited

Oct 17 2016 9:11AM

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