More information : SK 507828 Removal of overburden by bulldozer in advance of limestone quarrying at Kiveton revealed a probable Roman kiln (or corn-drying oven) at the bottom of a circular pit and a short stretch of V-shaped ditch, partly rock-cut, 2ft deep and 4-6ft wide. (1)
Subsequent excavation by Radley, Plant and others, showed the 'Kiln' as a hollow with stone footings on one side, and fire-reddened stones and cobbles on the other; a stone-lined channel led eastwards. The 'kiln' had been abandoned and then filled with ash, bones and pottery. Fragments of a pair of bronze tweezers, with two thin sheets of bronze about 1" square, were found on top of the primary infilling. About 700 sherds were taken from the kiln and a further 1000 from the ditch and pit. Almost all of this was calcite gritted fabrics and grey ware, no Samian or mortaria, and identified by Hartley (Leeds Mus) as essentially military in character and comparable with wares from the early auxiliary forts at Ilkley and Slack. Some 30 sherds of rustic ware are paralleled in military contexts at Templeborough, Doncaster, Pentrich...etc. Hartley suggests that a likely context for the pottery at Kiveton would be a small vicus attached to a temporary military site restricted to the period 80-130 AD. The topography of the site in no way detracts from this: it is a limestone knoll on a south-facing slope on the line of a supposed Roman road (SK 58 SW 8); the ditch is certainly defensive with 'Kiln' and pit on the uphill side. Probing revealed no structures, and the presence of burnt stones among large quantities of freshly broken pottery indicates an occupation violently terminated. Quarry officially closed 31.5.68. (2)
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