Cropmark visible from the air.

Single ditched rectilinear enclosure visible as a cropmark from the air.

Cropmark visible from the air.

Polygonal single ditched enclosure visible as a cropmark from the air {1}. A ditched enclosure, approximately D-shaped and of probable Iron Age or Roman date seen as a cropmark. The enclosure is in a hill-top position but its east side has been cut by a farm track running beside a field boundary. Defined by a single ditch and measures 89m x 93m approximately.

Single ditched rectilinear enclosure visible as a cropmark from the air.

Two adjacent stretches of ditches visible as cropmarks from the air. An evaluation in 2001 (TWM Archaeology) included one trench over each of these ditches. Trench 2 - no evidence was found relating to the cropmark. Natural subsoil was recorded at 53.71m OD. A furrow cut through the north part of the trench. Trench 3 - a ditch was recorded which coincided with the cropmark. Ridge and furrow was also recorded. Natural subsoil was recorded at 51.50m OD. The ditch ran north-south. It was 3.05m wide. Excavation was curtailed at a depth of 0.70m due to water inundation. The fill was light grey gritty silty clay with a reddish orange mottle. There were no finds. Could be associated with the Iron Age enclosure to the north (HER 4838). A furrow was excavated on the east and west side of the ditch. It had a wavelength of 9.50m and a maximum depth of 0.34m.

Two adjacent single ditched rectilinear enclosures visible as cropmarks from the air. Excavation in 2001-2002 (TWM Archaeology) showed that this was a multi-phase Iron Age site. The site lay on the north side of an extremely shallow, fertile valley, 400m from the Ouse Burn at an elevation of 60mOD. The excavation identified three distinct phases. Phase 1 - palisade enclosure. Three or four palisade lines defining a sub-rectilinear or D-shaped enclosure with a minimum internal area of 0.5ha. The palisade slots were mostly vertically sided with flat bases, around 415mm wide and 300mm deep. Post holes were up to 220mm in diameter and 200mm deep. To some extent the multiple lines could represent successive enlargements of the palisaded enclosure or it could be a double palisade (like West Brandon excavated by Jobey in 1962). Several of the round-houses recorded during the excavation could have belonged to the palisaded enclosure. A radiocarbon date of 770-400 cal BC was obtained from oak charcoal from the central palisade slot. The only finds were two flints. Phase 2 - unenclosed settlement. The palisaded enclosure was superseded by a settlement of timber round-houses. There was no sign of boundary features. The houses varied between 8m and 12.5m in diameter and the walls were set in continuous slots. The external encircling drainage gullies were typically U-shape in profile, up to 2m wide and 0.8m deep. Internal features survived in two houses. At the centre of house O was a hearth consisting of a 40mm deep scoop containing ash, charcoal and black silty clay. To the north of this was a vertically-sided pit 290mm deep containing 15 sherds of pottery from an Iron Age bowl and charred barley grain. House B contained an inner ring of five postholes which probably supported the roof. House D had post holes defining an entrance facing south-west. The open settlement consisted of at least 14 structures. More structures may have been destroyed by ploughing. The settlement may have extended beyond the excavation area. A charred barley grain from the fill of the pit in round-house O was radiocarbon dated to 520-380 cal BC. Wood charcoal (alder or hazel) in the post ring in house B was dated to 410-360 cal BC. A sample of oak roundwood from the fill of a posthole in house C1 was dated to 750-400 cal BC. Alder or hazel charcoal from the same context 400-230 cal BC. A sample of betulaceae charcoal 400-230 cal BC. A charred tuber from the fill of a wall slot in house Va was dated to 170 cal BC - AD 10. This is likely to be intrusive. Phase 3 - enclosed settlement. Two main enclosures are present (those shown on Tim Gates' aerial photographs of 1994). The western enclosure enclosed an area 62m x 46m and contained one large WSW facing round-house and a 2m wide gully. Only part of the eastern enclosure lay within the excavation area. This enclosure probably contained three ESE-facing round-houses. The western enclosure had a ditch 5m wide. The entrance consisted of a causeway 8m wide. This was later cut by a narrower 3.3m wide ditch. Finally a causeway was inserted 5m wide surfaced with sandstone fragments. The eastern enclosure had a ditch up to 5.82m wide and 2m deep. Two charred wheat grains from the ditch were radiocarbon dated to 200-1 cal BC. Radiocarbon dates from the houses in the eastern enclosure were 350-60 cal BC, 370-170 cal BC, 360-40 cal BC, 170-1 cal BC and 200-40 cal BC. At the north corner of the eastern enclosure there was another enclosure or boundary feature with a ditch 4.2m wide and 1.3m deep. House A was probably contemporary with an enclosed by this third enclosure. A opaque pale blue melted glass object (probably a Type 3A bangle) from the house was of a type that originated at the time of the Roman conquest. 16m south-west of house A was an arrangement of postholes, three in a line and 2 offset. This bears some resemblance to a four-poster granary. 15m south of the main enclosures was a shallow gully leading into a 3.75m wide and 0.9m deep ditch. Its fill produced a ceramic fragment, possibly a Roman tile. Finds from the excavation included 115 sherds of pottery, an unstratified Roman amphora sherd, possible Roman tile fragments, fired clay artefacts, an iron ?pin, the molten glass bangle, a black glass bead (rare in the Iron Age), 1 saddle quern, 1 probable saddle quern, a base of a beehive quern, a rubbing stone. Slag and residues from metallurgical practices were recovered. Animal bone included cattle, pig and horse. Cereals included barley and wheat (including the chaff of spelt wheat. 4 pollen samples were assessed. The palisaded enclosure could have had Bronze Age origins.

Single ditched rectilinear enclosure visible as a cropmark from the air.

Single ditched rectilinear enclosure visible as a cropmark from the air.

Single ditched oval enclosure visible as a cropmark from the air. With one south-facing entrance. Stevenson suggests that it could be as early as Neolithic in date given the polished stone axe head which was found in Earsdon in 1932 (HER 729). He suggests that it could have been an enclosed settlement, ritual site or stock corral.

Alison Deacon Air Photo and LiDAR Interpreter:
A large curvilinear enclosure of uncertain date is visible as cropmarks on air photos. This feature is located to the north of Earsdon on the banks of Brierdene Burn. The cropmarks are rather indistinct and there may be internal and external features that have not been mapped. The enclosure measures approximately 97x70m and there are suggestions of an internal enclosure abutted to its western side. This feature appears to underlie medieval ridge and furrow.