Alistair Barclay

Andrew B. Powell

Lorraine Mepham

Chris J. Stevens

This volume brings together the results from the excavations at the former Imperial College Sports Ground, RMC Land and Land East of Wall Garden Farm, near the villages of Harlington and Sipson in the London Borough of Hillingdon. The excavations revealed parts of an archaeological landscape with a rich history of development from before 4000 BC to the post-medieval period. The opportunity to investigate two large areas of this landscape provided evidence for possible settlement continuity and shift over a period of 6000 years. Early to Middle Neolithic occupation was represented by a rectangular ditched mortuary enclosure and a large spread of pits, many containing deposits of Peterborough Ware pottery, flint and charred plant remains. A possible dispersed monument complex of three hengiform enclosures was associated with the rare remains of cremation burials radiocarbon dated to the Middle Neolithic. Limited Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age activity was identified, which is in stark contrast to the Middle to Late Bronze Age when a formalized landscape of extensive rectangular fields, enclosures, wells and pits was established. This major reorganized land division can be traced across the two sites and over large parts of the adjacent Heathrow terraces. A small, Iron Age and Romano-British nucleated settlement was constructed, with associated enclosures flanking a trackway. There were wayside inhumations, cremation burials and middens and more widely dispersed wells and quarries. Two possible sunken-featured buildings of early Saxon date were found. There was also a small cemetery. Subsequently, a middle Saxon and medieval field system of small enclosures and wells was established.

The development of prehistoric and later communities in the Colne Valley and on the Heathrow Terraces

Imperial College Sports Grounds and RMC Land, Harlington

David Field

Jim Leary

The chronological disjuncture, LBK longhouses have widely been considered to provide ancestral influence for both rectangular and trapezoidal long barrows and cairns, but with the discovery and excavation of more houses in recent times is it possible to observe evidence of more contemporary inspiration. What do the features found beneath long mounds tell us about this and to what extent do they represent domestic structures. Indeed, how can we distinguish between domestic houses or halls and those that may have been constructed for ritual purposes or ended up beneath mounds? Do so called 'mortuary enclosures' reflect ritual or domestic architecture and did side ditches always provide material for a mound or for building construction? This collection of papers seeks to explore the interface between structures often considered to be those of the living with those for the dead.

Houses of the Dead

Margaret Gray

George Lambrick

This report describes three seasons of excavation conducted in advance of gravel extraction in 1972, 1973 and 1988 on the Devil's Quoits circle-henge monument near Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire. Evidence has been recovered for the total plan, including the extent of the ditches and the positions of the standing stones, while the probable area and character of the external bank are known from the excavations of W. F. Grimes in 1940. Sections were cut through the ditch to establish its stratigraphy in 1972 and 1973. In 1988 a further study was made of the interior, including stoneholes which had been inaccessible in the earlier excavations. Finds contemporary with the use of the monument include struck flint and animal bone but very little pottery. Iron Age, Roman and medieval material was recovered from later deposits. The sediments and soils in the henge ditch are analysed. The character and the interpretation of the monument, including its possible manner of construction are discussed, as is the available environmental evidence. The destruction of the stone circle, the erosion of the bank and the silting of the henge ditch are described. The monument is placed in its immediate setting by the inclusion of a gazetteer and review of local pre-Iron Age sites. The importance of this monument as a ceremonial complex within the Upper Thames Region as well as nationally, and proposals for its preservation and partial reconstruction as a cultural amenity are also discussed.

Excavations at the Devil's Quoits, Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, 1972-3 and 1988

Alistair Barclay

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