Iwade Site A and B (West), Iwade;
TQ 8990 6760 (site A) & TQ 9020 6740 (Site B); (Mark Bagwell); excavation; 10 January-17 October 2000; Ward Homes Ltd; IWA00/ IWB00
Natural London Clay was recorded between 16.80m OD and 13.33m OD.
The earliest phase consisted of a pit, which contained a Late Mesolithic flint assemblage, which represented most stages of the core reduction sequence. It is possible that the pit may be a tree throw hollow. Residual flints, several of which were projectile points, found in later features suggest brief visits to the site for exploitation of resources and for hunting during the neolithic period.
The middle bronze age period was represented by a 2m deep well and several pits. Two pits contained deliberately placed complete pots and two contained the fragmentary remains of near-complete vessels. None contained cremations. They were assumed to be of a ritual nature.
The agricultural use of the site commenced with the setting out of a formal field system during the Late Bronze Age period, which included a field and a trackway enclosed by ditches. A copper alloy plastave axe was found in one. Quern stones and animal bones recovered from them indicates settlement in the proximity of the site. Pitting activity included features with various interpretations: a pond, possibly clay-lined storage pits, fencelines and several heaths. There is a small amount of ceramic evidence, recovered from Bronze Age features, for the continued use of the site into the Early Iron Age period.
A Late Iron Age farmstead developed during the early part of the Late Iron Age c.150-100BC continued until the end of the Late Iron Age. A boundary ditch was dug through the middle of the Late Bronze Age field system, which had by then gone out of use. Two groups of postholes were located in the enclosure's SW corner representing three roundhouses, two of them within a penannular gully.
A second Late Iron Age farmstead phase c.75BC-AD50 was located in the East side of the enclosure, where two round houses were built. One was represented by fifteen postholes and stakeholes with a hearth at its centre, located within a ring ditch. The second roundhouse was represented by a penannular gully with a group of stakeholes and two inter-cutting hearths at its centre. Two hollow ways were located to their East, which probably functioned as tracks for the movement of animals into and out of the enclosure. A group of square post-built structures up to 3mx3m to their South may represent small buildings for storage of grain or timber, or animal sheds.
A second enclosure ditch was dug during the Late Iron Age to the SE of the first enclosure. It comprised a sub-square ditched enclosure flanked on its East and North sides by an external ditch. The function of the enclosure however, due to truncation by the modern road through its centre and the medieval drove way to its W, is unclear. The inclusion of several Roman sherds in the Late Iron Age assemblage recovered from the second enclosure suggests the enclosure may have continued in use into the Roman period, possibly as a livestock enclosure.
The high ground and lighter soils in the Southern central part of the site continued to be utilised for agriculture during the Medieval period. A N-S field boundary in the western side of IWB00 produced AD 1150-1250 pottery, while a E-W field boundary produced AD 1250-1350 pottery. The latter ditch run perpendicular to a N-S drove way. A 10m x 6m post-built structure was located on the same alignment as the field ditches. Its postholes were relatively small but it may represent a structure such as a barn, sheepfold or temporary dwelling. Throughout the Post-Medieval period the site continued in agricultural use and probably consisted of open fields. No evidence of occupation was found.
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