Archaeological Excavations on Roman, Saxon and Medieval Sites in Harwell and Longcot, Oxfordshire (Paperback)

This volume presents the results from three excavations in the Vale of the White Horse in Oxfordshire: two side by side on Blenheim Hill in Harwell and one in nearby Longcot.

On the larger of the Harwell sites, a series of Roman enclosures and land divisions along with pits, a corn drier and a coin hoard were identified. The site may have been first used as a work-place in the Mesolithic, but the main phases were one early Roman and three late Roman episodes, with an apparent hiatus from the 2nd to early 3rd century. A few sherds of Saxon pottery hint that the last phase continued into the 5th century. Two deposits of cremated human bone (three individuals) were undated but might belong to the early Roman period.

Just across the road, the second excavation found further later Roman enclosures but nothing of early Roman date. Four Middle Saxon inhumation burials, two of which were radiocarbon dated, were located within the area that was possibly still marked by the latest Roman enclosure. A possible Bronze Age pit points to prehistoric activity on the site.

Further west in Longot, the third site revealed a dense sequence of field boundary ditches spanning several phases in the early Roman period (2nd century AD) and early Medieval period (11th-13th centuries AD), with just a few other features (pits and post holes) of both periods. Prehistoric and later Roman activity is reflected only in residual finds. Although no direct (structural) evidence of occupation on the site was found for either period, the quantity of pottery indicates that settlement can be expected not far away. This is the first indication of Roman occupation in Longcot.