a1 panel archaeology 7/6/10 4:27 pm page 1 under your very feet · 2019. 2. 26. · who lived here?...

Who lived here? Whathas been found?Archaeology in the ParkUnder your very Feet

Harrold-Odell Country Park, Carlton Road, Harrold, Beds MK43 7DS Tel: 01234 720016 email: hocp@bedford.gov.uk

Designed byRobert and Rhoda Burnswww.drawingattention.co.uk© 2010

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Coins, pottery and items such as hair pins, needles, spindle-whorlsand brooches shed light on the everyday lives of the formerinhabitants, in addition to dating individual features. Animalbones and objects like quern stones for grinding corn, showthat the farming economy hardly changed. But the site wasprobably never prosperous, and in Roman Times even suffereda decline of status. There is no way of knowing if the occupantswere free owners of modest means or whether they weretenants, or indeed worked for a landlord who lived elsewhere.

PotsA cemetery outside the settlement containedfive graves with cremated human remains.These contained 28 pots with a variety ofgrave offerings which would mostly havecontained food and drink.

The WellThe best preserved of these are later in datefrom the 6th Century AD and were lined withlimestone and hazel, dogwood or willowframework to prevent the soil collapsinginwards. To reach the water a ladder,remains of which were found in one well,and oak buckets were used - The oakbuckets may have been carved from a single piece of oak.

Late iron age and Romano Britishfarmstead from 1st century BC tofourth century AD. There was earliersettlement as well including circularditched funeral monument.

There was a break in settlement fromthe end of the 4th century until the Saxons came in the 6th century.

Even hundeds of years ago trade would have been important and pottery and querns (stones for milling flour) have been found on site from Hertfordshire, the Pennines and abroad.

Villagers

Where in the Park?

The drawings show the type of roundhouse that would have formed the

homes and these were some 10-12 min internal diameter. These roundhouses

had hearths and cooking areas and one had a large earth vessel set in

a water filled pit as an early fridge orcold store! The houses were enclosed

by a timber palisade, and later, ditches.

Ditches also surrounded the fields and this would have been a familyrunning a mixed farm to supportthemselves. Later buildings from

the Roman period would also have been circular and over

this period were knocked down and rebuilt

several times.

By the 4th Century AD the main building was a rectangular farmhouse with several rooms

The Settlement

VisitorsCentre

MainEntrance

Outline ofsettlement

Outline ofGrebe Lake

N

The farmstead was concentratedbetween the current island inthe lake and the visitor centre.This area would then havebeen small arable fields closerto the island, the settlementitself with two roundhouseshalf way between the islandand the visitor centre andstock yards towards the visitor centre.

Underneath theLake

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