Archaeological specimens of iron are occasionally found to be well preserved under conditions that would normally be regarded as highly aggressive. A striking example arose during excavations at Hungate, York, where iron articles were found in an excellent state of preservation after a period of about 2000 years. Investigation revealed that the lack of corrosion was attributable mainly to inhibition of the activity of sulphate‐reducing bacteria by tannates present in the soil. Phosphates likewise present probably assisted by reason of their known corrosion‐inhibitive properties.
SummaryThe site was first occupied in the Bronze Age by a small agricultural settlement, consisting of two circular timber houses with ancillary structures and ditches. One house was eventually replaced by a stone structure. A single radiocarbon determination suggests that the settlement is to be dated within the period 1700–1300 B.C. The Iron Age settlement of Trevisker Round was probably established in the second century B.C., if not earlier. An original inner enclosure, half an acre in area, housing a single defended farmstead, was later superseded by a larger defended enclosure, 3 acres in area, also with circular timber houses and occupation areas. This occupation was followed at the end of the first century A.D., by a Romano-British phase of occupation, which lasted until the middle of the second century.
Roman Villa at Weekley in Northamptonshire (SP 885818) was first referred to by eighteenth-century antiquaries, who stated that 'pavements, foundations, pottery and a great deal of money' had been ploughed up in a field known as Castle Hedges. 1 The site of these discoveries is one mile northeast of what appears to be a fairly extensive Roman settlement on the northern outskirts of Kettering. 2 The area is now under threat from ironstone-quarrying, and preliminary surveys were carried out during 1970 both from the air and on the ground. 3 These indicate that the site began in the late Iron Age with a series of enclosures and occupation subsequently continued into the Roman period. A number of pottery kilns were found which probably date to the third quarter of the first century A.D. The lime kiln which is the subject of this report was found during a geophysical survey arranged for the location of further pottery kilns. 4 It had been soundly constructed, having a circular stone-built chamber roughly 3 m in diameter and 2 m deep. The chamber had a ledge 45 cm wide running round the inside and a stone-built throat or elongated flue some 2 m in length on the south side, beyond which lay an oval pit or stoke-hole. During the lifetime of the kiln, the flue had been rebuilt and the levels of the floor and ledge of the chamber were raised. The kiln probably dates to about the middle of the second century and had presumably been associated with the villa which lies nearby to the north. 5 Little apparently remains of this building other than pitched stone foundations, although tesserae in the plough soil confirm the former presence of mosaic flooring. Lying as it does in an area of variable geology, the kiln had clearly been sited deliberately on limestone and marl, on land sloping gently to the south *J. L. Biek is responsible for the scientific and technical content. The Discussion also incorporates the results of research undertaken by B. Dix. The authors would like to thank Dr. N. Davey and Dr. F. W. Anderson for comments on site which have been used in the report, Professor S. S. Frere and Mr. R. Goodburn for advice on the text and Mr. D. Neal and the Ancient Monuments Drawing Office for the illustrations. 1 For these earlier discoveries, see VCH Northants. i (1902), 194. 2 P.S.A. xxiii 2 (1909-11), 493-501, 223-5; xxvi 2 (1913-14), 245. 3 Excavation was carried out on behalf of the Department of the Environment during the Autumn of 1970. Grateful thanks are due to the landowner, His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch, to his agent Mr. J. K. Royston, and to the tenant farmer, Mr. J. Brodie, for permission to carry out the work. 4 The survey was carried out by Messrs. A. J. Clark and D. Haddon-Reece of the Ancient Monuments Laboratory's Geophysics Section, using a gradiometer. 5 This is about a third of a mile north of the position recorded on O.S. maps.
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