Old Kempton Lane, Basingstoke
SU 6020 5140 (R. Lythe) excavation 31st October 2006 - 2nd March
2007 CgMs Consulting on behalf of Barratt Southern Counties POKB06
excavations uncovered an early to mid Roman rectilinear ditch, probably
representing the northeastern portion of an enclosure ditch around
a Roman settlement. It was backfilled during the late Roman period,
before being truncated by a circular pit which was in turn partially
backfilled prior to the creation of a rectangular grave cut in the
center. This contained a human skeleton in a supine position, accompanied
by a 3rd to 4th century funerary vessel. After the grave was closed,
backfilling of the large circular feature resumed. Artefactual evidence
also suggests that the western arm of an Iron Age “banjo enclosure”
revealed during the excavation remained extant as an earthwork into
the Roman period, when it was backfilled with domestic debris presumably
from the adjacent settlement.
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