Water main dig uncovers Bronze Age
Submitted by PaulM on Tuesday, 20 April 2004 Page Views: 929
Neolithic and Bronze AgeA 3,000-year-old hill-top settlement has been discovered during water mains digging. Pottery and flint have been found alongside burnt bones and storage pits at a site near Taplow. The remains are thought to date back to 850 BC, and are from the late Bronze Age or early Iron Age.A team of archaeologists are now trying to establish whether the settlement was permanent or temporary.
Claire Cable, senior environmental scientist at the Thames Water, which is working on the site, said: “The site would have been of strategic value, as it occupied the top of a prominent hill with extensive views of the Thames Valley.
“The area was very densely settled from the Stone Age onwards since it was an important route to the heart of the country.”
Cotswold Archaeology will now register the findings with the Sites and Monuments Records Office.
Other archaeologists will then know the location of the settlement and be able to refer to it when they investigate other sites in the area, which include an Iron Age hill fort and a Saxon burial site.
Dr Peter Spillett, of Thames Water’s head of environment, quality and sustainability, said: “We are always keen to bring in archaeologists, particularly when we are carrying out ground excavations, as we realise the importance of preserving any findings and their significance to the history of the area.”
The exact location is being kept secret by the water company at the moment because they said they want to protect the site.
The dig was part of a £30m plan by Thames Water to lay a new main, which will carry water from near Taplow to Dorney Water Treatment Works.
Source: Slough Observer 20/04/04
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