Find Spot record 0940000000 - Finds from TCAST trenches S of Taplow barrow

Excavation of three small trenches south of Taplow barrow outside the scheduled area by the Taplow Court Archaeological Survey Team recovered many artefacts of Mesolithic to post-medieval date within disturbed deposits. Feature thought to be a ring-ditch is probably a Bronze Age to modern pit or post-medieval to modern flower bed. Post-holes may be Iron Age to post-medieval. A sindle gully may be Roman to post-medieval (B1).
One sherd from the TCAST trenches (possibly Trench 3) was a decorated sherd, dating to the 5th/6th century AD, amongst the earliest pottery from the area. A total of 2613 sherds were recovered from the TCAST trenches, 2175 of which were scanned for comparison with the assemblage from the Taplow Court excavations by Oxford Archaeology. A total of 40 Early Bronze Age sherds, including a sherd decorated with a single bone-impressed line. The Late Bronze Age and Late Bronze Age-Early Iron Age sherds included a higher quantity of recognisable forms. Although to a large extent there was a high degree of similarity in fabric and form between this and the assemblage from the OA excavations, there were some significant differences. Although little is known of the disturbed contexts from which this assemblage was recovered, a wider variety of material was recovered from these trenches than from within the hillfort. The Roman pottery was poorly preserved. Sherds were small and chronologically mixed. It seems to have been a redeposited assemblage, much disturbed through later activity. However, the material nevertheless points to the presence of a Late Iron Age and Roman settlement in the vicnity of the site (B3).