Dinnington, Fox Covert, enclosure ditch

HER Number:
13283

District:
Newcastle

Site Name:
Dinnington, Fox Covert, enclosure ditch

Place:
Dinnington

Map Sheet:
NZ17SE

Class:
Monument

Site Type: Broad:

Site Type: Specific:
Ditch

General Period:
Early Medieval

Specific Period:
C9-C11

Form of Evidence:
Physical Evidence

Description:
During excavations in 2005, a curvilinear ditch was recorded. The fill did not contain any dateable artefacts, but a pig jaw from the base from the ditch was radiocarbon dated to 900 - 1030. The ditch may have represented a boundary or enclosure with an entrance from the south. The eastern limit of the ditch respected or at least did not transgress the prehistoric pit alignment (HER 13282). After the pig mandible was deposited, the ditch had silted naturally. The lack of artefacts within the feature suggests that the ditch was not located in close proximity to occupation.

Easting:
1972

Northing:
7490

Grid Reference:
NZ19727490

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
Gary Brogan and Steve Speak, 2006, Fox Covert, Archaeology in Northumberland, Northumberland County Council/Northumberland National Park, Vol. 16, page 12; Timescape Surveys, May 2002, A Geophysical Survey at Fox Covert, Dinnington, Newcastle upon Tyne; Timescape Surveys, September 2002 Phase 2, A Geophysical Survey at Fox Covert, Dinnington, Newcastle upon Tyne; Warren Muncaster, Tyne and Wear Museums, September 2007, Archive Report, Fox Covert OCCS, Dinnington, Tyne and Wear - Archaeological Excavation