Site record MDR22960 - Burnt Mound (BM04), Stretton Extension, Willington Quarry, Egginton

The southernmost and larger of two burnt mounds excavated in the Stretton Extension of Willington Quarry in 2013. The mound was identified as an irregular crescent-shaped deposit of dark silt mixed with charcoal and fire-cracked pebbles. It measured c12.8m by c9.75. Two sherds of Beaker pottery were recovered from the deposit. A radiocarbon date from a sample from the upper part of the deposit produced a date of 2200-2020 cal BC whilst two radiocarbon dates from the lower parts of the deposit produced dates of 2210-2030 cal BC and 2200-1980 cal BC. Under the northwestern edge of the mound was a 'sub-rectangular pit or natural hollow' some 3.4m by 2.32m and 0.14m deep. Centrally within the crescent was an oval pit with a flat base c2.15m by 1.85m and 0.3m deep. This contained a number of fills. Possibly the mound was eroding into the pit. Radiocarbon samples from the fill produced dates of 2290-2040 cal BC and 2140-1950 cal BC. There was no trace of a timber lining but this was probably because the clay into which it had been dug was impermeable. To the west of the pit was another indistinct feature believed to be a tree-throw hollow. (1)