Summary : A ring ditch at Down Farm of later Neolithic origin, re-used in the Middle Bronze Age when it appears to have been associated with the nearby enclosure (SU 01 SW 84). The site was excavated in 1982, having been identified as a cropmark. The first phase ring ditch appears to have been circa 15 metres in diameter and was of polygonal appearance. A mound may have existed during this phase. Subsequently, there was evidence for two concentric ditches, the inner of which was a recut of the original ditch. All these features were sealed by silts containing Middle Bronze Age matrial as well as a quantity of Beaker pottery and flints. Dating evidence from these ditches was sparse, but two Y-shaped flint tools and a tranchet axe came from the original ditch. Later deposits included a lozenge arrowhead while Peterborough Ware sherds were found in the ploughsoil above the site. It was also possible to correlate the molluscan sequence from the primary ditch with that obtained from the nearby Cursus (LIN 41). Following some disturbance from ploughing, the site was re-used in the Middle Bronze Age as the focus for a small cemetery. The ditch appears to have been recut, this narrow slot being deliberately backfilled, and then sealed with a dense deposit of flint nodules. Deverel-Rimbury potsherds, worked flint and some cremated bone was present in the ditch fill, all concentrated on the southeastern side. A number of post holes were present, some cutting the flint packing, but they did not form a clear pattern or structure. Some at least may represent marker posts for burials. 13 cremation deposits were located, some accompanied by Deverel-Rimbury sherds, and all forming a compact group on the south and south-east of the monument. Five inhumations were also found, mostly to the southwest of the monument. Three formed a compact group with a post at its centre. Further unburnt bones were found in the northern sector. A bronze spiral ring was found in the ploughsoil. |