A sub-rectangular posthole structure has been tentatively identified as being Bronze Age in date due to its form and pottery retrieved from adjacent features. There is at present no clear picture of activity in the early/middle Bronze Age. Occasional sherds of Bronze Age pottery have been identified within some contexts (from the upper buried soil in the main dry valley) and comprehensive dating of all contexts may reveal a continuity of settlement between the main Neolithic and late Bronze Age/ early Iron Age phases.

The late Bronze Age/ early Iron Age settlement was found on the chalk spur forming the western side of the dry valley, on the White Horse Stone site. Patterns of postholes indicate possible roundhouses and numerous four-post structures, and there were a considerable number of pits, probably originally used for storage. No occupation horizons were preserved in this area however, due to the thinness of the soil cover and subsequent ploughing. The pits, however, were rich in pottery, animal bones, flint and charred remains, suggestive of domestic refuse, and three human pit burials were also recorded. The bone was generally well preserved and in some cases suggested ritual deposition. The single cremation deposit produced an exceptional group of Iron Artefacts, including an iron knife, four iron awls, a whetstone, a small curved iron blade and a group of at least six pottery vessels, one of which was a large urn containing a deposit of grain. A metalworking area located on the eastern side of the settlement produced furnace bases and pits containing large quantities of slag.

No clear phase of activity has been ascribed ot ht emmiddle Iron Age. The items in the cremation described above are suggestive of this period (although this contrasts with the pottery dating and may be due to the rarity of comparisons for metalwork in the early Iron Age). Spot dating from contexts within the late Bronze Age/early Iron Age settlement has identified occasional sherds of middle Iron Age pottery that may suggest (in the light of further analysis) a dimishing intensity of settlement activity extending into this period(1).

(See TQ 76 SE 58, TQ 76 SE 60 and TQ 76 SE 61)

Additional bibliography. (3-4)

<1> Oxford Archaeological Unit, 1999, White Horse Stone, Pilgrims Way and West of Boarley Farm Detailed Archaeological Works Interim Repor (Unpublished document). SKE7043.

<2> Oxford Archaeological Unit, 1999, White Horse Stone, Pilgrims Way and West of Boarley Farm Archaeological Works Interim Report Final (Unpublished document). SKE7079.

<3> Oxford Wessex Archaeology Joint Venture, 2005, The Late Prehistoric Pottery from Excavations Along Section 1 of the CTRL (Unpublished document). SKE16555.

<4> Oxford Wessex Archaeology Joint Venture, 2006, Prehistoric Worked Flint from Section 1 of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (Unpublished document). SKE16596.