Monument record MDR3285 - Neolithic occupation site, Big Lane, Hognaston

A pit containing sherds of a Neolithic bowl, a number of flints and numerous charcoal flecks was found below a Bronze Age barrow (SMR 7901) during excavation in 1983. The excavation report identified further pre-barrow activity in the form of a small number of flints on the pre-barrow ground surface around the pit. A rim of a second Neolithic vessel was found in the iron pan. Both vessels are belived to be associated with the Mildenhall tradition, rather than the more usual (in this area) Grimston style. The charcoal from the pit was derived from Lime with some grass and rhizome fragments. The excavation report suggested that there had been occupation on the site at the beginning of the Middle Neolithic leading to the digging of a small pit and a small scatter of flints and Mildenhall style pottery, dated to late in the fourth millennium BC. The full extent of the occupation could not be judged, particularly since the area was thought to have been subject to deturfing prior to construction of the barrow, but it may represent a very short-lived phase of only a few days by a small group of individuals (1)