Highlights of the 1999 Season
In 1998 we had confirmed the presence of a large fortified, ditched enclosure, similar in style and size to neighbouring Iron Age Hillforts in Derbyshire. A single sherd of Iron Age pottery but plenty of typical fire cracked pebbles supported this. Artifacts in the upper fills of the ditch suggested that the
site was still occupied during the Roman period. Ten trenches were excavated in 1999 to confirm this, nine positioned where the ditch was thought to surround the site and one placed within the enclosure over an anomalous feature detected by Geophysics. Graham Eyre-Morgan from the University of Manchester continued to direct the excavations in 1999 with support from Stuart Holden.
Further excavation of Trench 1 yielded more artefacts, most surprising of which were Flint Tools thought to be from the Bronze Age. Trench 2 in the corner of the garden near the West end of the Church exposed a possible palisade slot cut into the bedrock behind the ditch.Trench 3 opened over the 'anomalous feature' revealed a large posthole with Mesolithic flints, Iron Age Pottery and Roman Pottery This was therefore extended into a large open area excavation revealing a complex series of stratified layers with intersecting features dating right through from the Mesolithic to the Romano British periods.
Trench 4 and Trench 5 were unsuccessful attempts to locate the edges of the ditch in the SE cormer of the field and the Church Car park, reaching Bedrock with no archaeological finds.
Trench 6 and Trench 10 however, confirmed the line of the ditch to the North, revealing that the fortified enclosure could well have been much larger than previously anticipated, possibly up to an area of 15 or 16 acres, making it comparable to the largest Derbyshire Hillfort discovered so far at Mam Tor.
Artefacts discovered in 1999 included:A number of High quality Iron Age Pottery sherds, possible late Bronze Age flints,
a bronze boss (possibly a piece of horse furniture)and most surprisingly an assemblage of Mesolithic flint work.
and a moderate amount of Late Medieval pottery.
Read the full 1999 UMAU Archaeological Report
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