Library
Publishing is a core part of the CAU's work so results from our excavations can be read and used by archaeologists, students, planners and the general public.
For over 30 years the CAU has published twenty monographs along with over 150 articles in academic journals. Many are available to download for free.
All of our site reports produced before October 2022 are available to download for free. Search for them by text or using the map. All our reports and our growing collection of digital archives are permanently accessible at the University of Cambridge's digital repository, Apollo.
Browse the results below
1222
Mayton Wood (Phase 6), Buxton with Lammas, Norfolk. A 'Strip, Map & Sample' Excavation.
Middleton, E. (2013). Mayton Wood (Phase 6), Buxton with Lammas, Norfolk. A 'Strip, Map & Sample' Excavation.. Cambridge Archaeological Unit report no. 1222
An Archaeological 'Strip, Map and Sample' Excavation was carried out at Mayton Wood, Buxton with Lammas, Norfolk, between 25th April- 30th May 2013 by the Cambridge Archaeological Unit (CAU). It was commissioned by Frimstone Ltd in response to a brief set out by Norfolk County Council (Gurney 2004). The proposed development area (PDA) lies to the southeast of Buxton, 11.1km north of the centre of Norwich at TG 24125 21407, totalling an area of 9.3 hectares. This phase of excavation was 0.68 hectares. The aim of the excavation was to determine the presence/absence and character of archaeological remains within the proposed development area (PDA) and add to the activity identified within previous phases of excavation. The programme of works followed on from a field survey (Beadsmoore, E. and Hall, A.2003) and five previous phases of excavation (Murrell,K. 2010, Hutton, J. 2008, Beadsmoore, E. 2007, Bishop, B.2005, Patten, R. 2004). Previous excavations identified prehistoric, Romano-British, Middle Saxon, Medieval and post-Medieval activity. This excavation revealed a Late Neolithic Ring Ditch, Early Bronze Age Pits and Middle Saxon charcoal burning pits and a post-Medieval northwest/southeast furrow. A total of fifty features were revealed in this phase of the excavation.
1223
Worts Meadow, Landbeach. Archaeological Monitoring of Drainage Refurbishment
Webb, D. (2014). Worts Meadow, Landbeach. Archaeological Monitoring of Drainage Refurbishment. Cambridge Archaeological Unit report no. 1223
An archaeological watching brief was undertaken by the Cambridge Archaeological Unit at Worts Meadow, Landbeach, Cambridgeshire (TL 4746 6505), during groundworks to refurbish a drain and culvert. All works were contained within previously disturbed ground and no archaeology was revealed.
1224
Hughes Hall College, Gresham Road, Cambridge. An Archaeological Desk Top Assessment
Dickens, A. and Appleby, G. (2014). Hughes Hall College, Gresham Road, Cambridge. An Archaeological Desk Top Assessment. Cambridge Archaeological Unit report no. 1224
This archaeological desk based assessment was commissioned by Bidwells on behalf of Hughes Hall College to assess the potential impact of proposed development on the site of the University Health Centre, Gresham Road, Cambridge. The site lies in an area of Cambridge that was rural in character until the early 19th century and since the 1840s located on the southern boundary of Fenner�s Cricket Ground and sports facilities. Stray finds indicate a level of activity in the prehistoric and Roman periods, but at a very low level. The building history of the proposed development indicates a very low probability of encountering archaeological remains.
1225
North West Cambridge Archaeology. University of Cambridge 2012-2013 Excavations.
Cessford, C. and Evans, C. (2014). North West Cambridge Archaeology. University of Cambridge 2012-2013 Excavations. . Cambridge Archaeological Unit report no. 1225
Excavations tool place between October 2012 and May 2013 over 13.6ha. Continuing work from an earlier evaluation in 2009 palaeolithic artefacts were recovered and evidence of an Upper Palaeolithic flint knapping episode. In addition there was evdence of small-scale landscape usage during the Mesolithic and EBA. Subtantial MBA activity was found, including open settlement, enclosures, four ring ditches, two with cremations, isolated cremations and a single crouched inhumation. During the LBA there was dispersed unenclosed settlement with wells, four/six poster structures. The area appears to have been abandoned in the EIA until the LIA, when a single settlement was established. During the Roman period several routes were established along with several burial areas. The area of settlment peaked in the mid 2C AD, with one settlement abandoned after this time and and second declining in the 4C AD. There is no evidence for medieval occupation and with substantial evidence of gravel quarrying from the 16c AD onwards.
1226
169-173 High Street, Chesterton, Cambridge. An Archaeological Excavation.
Newman, R. (2014). 169-173 High Street, Chesterton, Cambridge. An Archaeological Excavation.. Cambridge Archaeological Unit report no. 1226
Following on from an initial trench-based evaluation, an open-area excavation extending over 307sqm was conducted at the Chesterton High Street site. This encountered an intensive and long-lived archaeological sequence. Firstly, during the Roman and Middle-Late Saxon periods the site appears to have been situated within a broader agricultural hinterland. Then, c. 1200, three long-lived burgage-type plots were established (only one of which lay predominately within the area of investigation). Linear in form, and with a distinctive bend or twist at their head, each of these plots appears to represent the occupation of two amalgamated strips within the preceding open field. Their establishment marks the culmination of a wider process of village nucleation, whereby an earlier pattern of dispersed, polyfocal nuclei was gradually superseded by a linear settlement focused along the route of the present High Street. Occupation continued in this form until c. 1550, when an extensive redevelopment was undertaken; this was most probably precipitated by the dissolution of Barnwell Priory and the sale of its former demesne land. As part of this redevelopment the ground-surface was raised and eight narrow tenements constructed. These were then occupied in turn until c. 1875, when a much more substantial brick-built structure was erected. Finally, in 1891 this building was converted into the Dog and Pheasant public house.
1227
Downing College, Regent Street. An Archaeological Evaluation.
Timberlake, S. (2014). Downing College, Regent Street. An Archaeological Evaluation.. Cambridge Archaeological Unit report no. 1227
Between 8-9th April 2014 an archaeological evaluation was undertaken at Downing College, Cambridge in advance of the redevelopment of part of the Maintenance Yard. Two 6m long northeast-southwest trenches were dug approximately 5m apart beneath the existing car park as part of an attempt to locate a possible Roman road believed to lie somewhere within this area on the south side of Regent Street. No archaeology was encountered within the easternmost Trench 1, although the underlying marly sand and gravel was reached at a depth of about 1.45m, but in Trench 2 a single shallow NNE-SSW ditch dating most probably to the early-mid 19th century was encountered. From this an assortment of late 17th to early 19th century ceramics, bottle glass, tile and brick were recovered. The ditch was sealed by a 19th century garden soil and also cut by an old tree bole which pre-dated all the late 20th-century redevelopment in this area. No trace of the projected road, or for that matter any trace of Roman pottery was found during the evaluation of this site.
1228
Dry Drayton School, Cambridgeshire. An Archaeological Evaluation.
Middleton, E. (2014). Dry Drayton School, Cambridgeshire. An Archaeological Evaluation.. Cambridge Archaeological Unit report no. 1228
An Archaeological Evaluation was carried out at Dry Drayton Primary School, Dry Drayton on 9th and 10th April 2014 by the Cambridge Archaeological Unit (CAU). The work was commissioned by Coulsan on behalf of the Cambridgeshire County Council. The work was undertaken ahead of the construction of a new classroom with associated services and drainage and an access road. The work revealed one Medieval ditch aligned north-south.
1229
Swavesey Primary School, Swavesey, Cambridgeshire. An Archaeological Evaluation.
Middleton, E. (2014). Swavesey Primary School, Swavesey, Cambridgeshire. An Archaeological Evaluation.. Cambridge Archaeological Unit report no. 1229
An Archaeological Evaluation was carried out at Swavesey Primary School, Swavesey on 14th April 2014 by the Cambridge Archaeological Unit (CAU). The work was commissioned by Martindales on behalf of Cambridgeshire County Council. Two trial trenches were cut to evaluate the land to the east and west of the main block of school buildings in zones currently laid to grass. The work was undertaken ahead of the construction of new classrooms and associated facilities. The trial trenching revealed no archaeological features or deposits.
1230
Babraham Research Campus, Cambridge: R and D 2. An Archaeological Evaluation.
Collins, M. (2014). Babraham Research Campus, Cambridge: R and D 2. An Archaeological Evaluation.. Cambridge Archaeological Unit report no. 1230
Cambridge Archaeological Unit undertook a metal detecting survey and trenched evaluation at Babraham Research Campus prior to the potential development of this area. The trenching revealed the probable western boundary to the Romano-British settlement identified in previous excavations, together with continuing activity dating through to the post-medieval period close to the River Granta. The evaluation also identified a large number of periglacial silt hollows which contained varying quantities of worked flint primarily dating to the Neolithic period.
1231
Girton College, West Field, Cambridge. An Archaeological Evaluation.
Brittain, M. (2014). Girton College, West Field, Cambridge. An Archaeological Evaluation.. Cambridge Archaeological Unit report no. 1231
In April 2014 the Cambridge Archaeological Unit excavated nine evaluation trenches with a total length of 260.5m within the West Field of Girton College. With the exception of residual finds of worked flint and Late Bronze-Early Iron Age pottery, prehistoric activity was not represented by any features. This was also the case for the Roman evidence, illustrated by four small abraded sherds of 1st-2nd century AD pottery. This, along with a complete absence of Anglo-Saxon activity, confirms the western limit for the Roman and Saxon cemetery found during the construction of College buildings in the later 19th century, and a northern limit for equivalent prehistoric activity recently exposed in the North West Cambridge development project. Overall, the study area's archaeology is comprised of the partial survival of a regular furrow system preceding a a rectilinear cluster of pits containing a small amount of both Roman and Late Medieval pottery. Certainly by the 16th-17th centuries the furrow system is in disuse, although linear slots for drainage continue to be cut in subsequent centuries along the same east-west course as the furrows, and thereby maximising the natural south-eastern landfall. Early 20th century service mains and garden bedding plots represent the most recent features. Undated features include two pits or postholes and a gully terminus, all within the northern half of the study area.
1232
Marston Pit, Cavenham, Suffolk. An Archaeological Investigation.
Brittain, M. (2014). Marston Pit, Cavenham, Suffolk. An Archaeological Investigation.. Cambridge Archaeological Unit report no. 1232
The 3.3 hectare site lies upon second river terrace sand and gravel at a height of between 15m and 18m AOD, and is situated in an area noted for the density of its prehistoric settlement and burial, along with Roman and subsequent historic sequences culminating with the site's use during the Second World War as part of Tuddenham airfield. Prehistoric activity was largely contained within the north half of the site area, with the earliest human presence represented by seventeen worked flints dating between the Early Neolithic and Early Iron Age recovered from the subsoil and as intrusive items within later features. Two pairs of pits contained refitting pottery sherds and organic midden waste and could be dated to the second half of the Early Iron Age. These possibly represent settlement margins from a timeline that has hitherto been absent from the broader landscape picture. Twenty-five additional pits and postholes could not be assigned by period, although eighteen of these containing fills with burnt flint or in proximity to the paired pits may also be prehistoric. Historic-era evidence comprised of two ditches that appear to have bounded a nineteenth century oak plantation, perhaps in response to soil reduction resultant from long-term intensive rabbit burrowing evinced across the site. Lastly, wartime activities were illustrated by two large pits that contained clearance debris including fragments of mortar rounds.
1233
Proposed Premier Inn Site, Victoria Road, Chelmsford, Essex. An Archaeological Evaluation.
Newman, R. (2014). Proposed Premier Inn Site, Victoria Road, Chelmsford, Essex. An Archaeological Evaluation.. Cambridge Archaeological Unit report no. 1233
A trench-based evaluation, comprising four trenches covering a combined total of 99sqm, was undertaken within a former car park situated in Chelmsford, Essex. Despite being located only 190m from the Cathedral, 500m from the core of the Medieval city and 1km from the regionally significant Roman centre of Caesaromagus, little evidence of anthropogenic activity was encountered at the site. Although the archaeological sequence was relatively well-preserved, the only features to be identified were Post-Medieval in origin. These were associated with two phases of horticultural activity. The first, which probably commenced during the mid-late 18th century, consisted of a series of closely adjacent sub-rectangular planting beds; thirteen examples of this feature-type were encountered. The second was late 19th-mid 20th century in date. At this time, the area was utilised as an allotment and an extensive layer of 'garden-soil' was generated. Finally, during the 1950s this material was capped by the present car park surface.
