Case Studies:Case study 33

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Calcareous features from the excavations at Godmanchester, Cambridgeshire
Matthew Canti

This case study is based on Canti, M. Soil Report on Calcareous Features from the Excavations at Godmanchester, Cambridgeshire Ancient Monuments laboratory Report 4/92, English Heritage

Abstract
Neolithic/Bronze Age enclosures of ritual significance and a large Romano-British agricultural estate contained unusual calcareous features including subsoil, ditch fill and layering. These could not be explained on a gravel-based site and geoarchaeological investigation was needed to determine whether they are of an archaeological or natural origin. Samples were taken, treated with hydrochloric acid to remove the carbonates; and subjected to particle size analysis and heavy mineral analysis. The calcareous subsoil patches were probably from one depositional system and the calcareous and non-calcareous parts of the ditch fill are of one origin. The calcareous layered area from its stratigraphy, and pits found nearby supports an industrial explanation but if this rationale was applied to the subsoil features, the implication would be that vast areas of the site had been contaminated with the waste. It is impossible to reconcile this view with the richness of the archaeology and the obviously natural examples of calcium carbonate concentrations that do exist.

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[[media:Case study 33.pdf|Calcareous features from the excavations at Godmanchester, Cambridgeshire]]

Keywords: Neolithic, Bronze Age, Godmanchester, Cambridgeshire, sampling, particle size analysis, heavy mineral analysis, calcareous features, ditch fill

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