Introduction
We were invited to evaluate the geoarchaeology of a site at Cross Leys Quarry, Peterborough, to help the excavating archaeologists, both in understanding the origins of the deposits and in assessing the archaeological potential of the site.
Background
The bedrock of the site was known to be Jurassic clay and limestone, and we found the soils to be brown rendzinas which are thin, typically clayey soils overlying limestone. The site lay in an area of gently undulating farmland about to undergo quarry development.
We analysed five bags of samples collected from the site by the excavating archaeologists
Findings
The samples we looked at represented a variety of archaeological deposits, all sharing a silty sandy texture and mineralogy that was in part, river deposited. We found the samples all to be dark due to the amount of fine charcoal fragments they contained, but there was no clear evidence of burning around the pits or of the clay contained within the samples.
Conclusions
From our investigations, we were able to tell the excavating archaeologists that the samples had come from burnt material, but had been through at least one phase of mixing and weathering before being dumped into the pits. Because the samples are disturbed, this also limits the amount of useful information that may be gained from further analysis.
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