Publisher's Synopsis
In the early Bronze Age, there was a single isolated burial monument defined by a ring ditch within which were six similarly shaped pits. One of these pits contained urned cremation burials, one pit contained an unurned cremation burial, two pits contained pottery vessels and two pits did not contain human remains or artefacts.
The vast majority of the archaeological evidence was associated with enclosures and fields systems that were probably established during the middle to late Iron Age period and were developed and expanded upon in the Roman period, being utilised until the early 4th century. At least two of the enclosures were established during the Iron Age and a further seven enclosures were created during the Roman period, with the earlier enclosures being incorporated. These enclosures and field ditches were part of an extensive landscape across this area, where a vast array of cropmarks have been plotted, making the Redhouse site just one of many in the landscape. Part of the Roman Road from Lincoln to York, known locally as the Roman Ridge, extended across the eastern part of the area.
Enclosures were utilised for both domestic and other functions such as crop processing, stock management and smithing. Features found included a crouched inhumation within a pit which was radiocarbon dated to the middle Iron Age. Several Roman coins including three counterfeits were recovered during excavations. Of note were fragments of coin moulds from one of the Roman enclosure ditches, which makes this one of only about 40 sites that have produced evidence for this activity.
