Silksworth, Chapelgarth, prehistoric remains

Probable prehistoric features were recorded during an evaluation in 2016 and subsequent excavations in 2018-19.

Three gullies were found during the evaluation in 2016. The first gully was orientated NW-SE and measured 0.7m wide and 0.1m deep. It had irregular sides and evidence of roots in the base suggesting that it was a robbed-out hedgerow. Its fill contained charred heather twigs and tuber rhizomes. The second was orientated NW-SE and was 0.67m wide and 0.08m deep with irregular sides and concave base. The fill of the gully contained heath grass, suggesting a late prehistoric date. The third gully ran north-south and again measured 0.67m wide and 0.08m deep with irregular sides and concave base. The fill of the gully contained spelt wheat, suggesting an Iron Age date. Gully 6 was radiocarbon dated to 2387 +- 26 BP (or between 696 and 397 calBC) - the Iron Age.

including small pits or postholes. A Neolithic end scraper was found in one of the holes.

Remains of naked barley were recovered from the fill of a ditch terminus, a cereal crop normally associated with the Bronze Age or earlier).

A linear gully was recorded, 2.3m long, 0.72m wide and 0.07m deep. It had gently sloping sides and a rounded base. It was filled with loose friable clayey sandy silt with inclusions of gravel and lenses of yellow-brown silty clay. The gully was radiocarbon dated to the Iron Age.

A ring gully contained a limited amount of hammerscale and evidence of animal dung being burned as fuel. Two flint tools were recovered from the ring gully - a probable Mesolithic or early Neolithic broken blade and part of a Neolithic or Bronze Age fabricator tool. These are likely to be residual (i.e. not in-situ).

Environmental remains are suggestive of an Iron Age or Romano-British date.

In January 2019 a further area was excavated. The intersection of two previously-identified gullies was exposed.