More information : (TF 132075 derived from OS 1:10000) The multi-period site at
Maxey was discovered by Dr. J.K.St. Joseph from aerial
photography (see TF 10 NW 1 for an outline of the main features).
Complex cropmarks of ring ditches, linears and enclosures at
Maxey were plotted in the 1956 RCHME survey. (1)
In 1979 an emergency two day excavation was carried out in
advance of gravel extraction. The site excavated was a ring
ditch at approximately TF 132075 (RCHME site 100). Excavations
revealed a double outer ditch, probably formed by two ditches dug
in rapid succession, and a smaller inner ditch. The inner ditch
had post holes set into a filling to form a palisade. A shallow
central pit was revealed from which two waste flakes were found.
No other finds were made. The excavators date the feature to
either the Neolithic or the Bronze Age. (2)
In 1997 RCHME Aerial Survey undertook a computer-aided transcription
of the area of the Maxey Complex. The excavated ring ditch referred
to by Authority 2 (site 100), approximately 25 m in diameter, is
more accurately located at TF 1333 0751. A very similar feature
(site 98), 30 m in diameter, lies only 120 m to the north-west at
TF 1322 0757. This feature has probably also been destroyed by
gravel extraction. (3) |