Monument record MDR5504 - Iron Age ditch system, Little Hay Grange, Ockbrook

During the course of excavations of a 2nd century AD Romano-British building [SMR23823] an Iron Age ditch system was uncovered. This lay beneath the building and extended beyond the limits of the excavated area. It consisted of an east-west ditch crossing the site, from which a branch extended in a north-westerly direction. Both ditches had a 'V'-shaped section with a squared base slot, and have been interpreted as enclosure ditches. Primary fills of the ditches included bones and teeth of cattle, horses, sheep and pigs, many with butchery marks. There were also sherds of handmade Ancaster-Breedon scored ware which has its origins in the 5th to 4th centuries BC. The secondary fills contained Late Iron Age handmade pottery. The Late Iron Age levels within the ditch infills were sealed by spreads of Mercia Mudstone into which several bowl-shaped hearths had been cut. Pottery associated with these indicates a late 1st to early 2nd century AD date, but no evidence to indicate their purpose was discovered. (1, 2)