Tiny trench yields rare finds in Newbury park

The rare finds include pieces of bone used as tools, as well as charcoal that indicates the presence of hunter gatherers from the Early Mesolithic period – between 10,000 and 13,000 years ago.
The artefacts were discovered by a team comprising members of Reading University, West Berkshire Council and Wessex Archaeology, including Phil Harding well-known for his appearances on the Channel 4 TV series Time Team, as part of a project to map historical sites across the country.
Principal archaeological scientist at Wessex Archaeology, Dr Catherine Barnett, said that the team came to Victoria Park as it was one of a few green spaces in Newbury where they could try and find sediment from the period.
She said: “Not only did the methodologies work but from one tiny hole, we’ve come straight down onto an early Mesolithic site. It’s chocca with human occupation material.
“As soon as we got down to it we were finding big lumps of charcoal, so we’re talking about burning things in situ, a lot of artefacts, and also extremely pleasant surprises. We’ve not only got bone but some worked bone and these are very rare.
“This is really a kind of special find and just to emphasise, this is a tiny little hole in one place and to come down onto is very exciting indeed. On a local level, we’re dealing with a proper archeological site.”
The activity generated a lot of interest among people in the park.
Newbury resident Emma Guite said: ”I’m surprised that they found so much and it’s not as deep down as they expected it to be. You don’t realise there’s so much to be found on the doorstep. You expect it on the battle sites and at Shaw but not here.”
The finds followed an archeological survey of a ‘trench’ in the park last year, and the archeologists said they were lucky to discover the site.
Dr Jennifer Foster from Reading University said: “Half the trench didn’t have very much in it. If we’d been a metre away we may not have got anything. We are very lucky to get so many artefacts.”
Archeology officer at West Berkshire Council, Alex Godden, said that the data would be used in council policies, including planning, as well as letting people know about local heritage.
The project is being funded by English Heritage for their Heritage Environment Record, which maps historic sites across the country.
Its science advisor for the south east, Jane Corcoran, said: “We’re funding it because the Mesolithic is is a neglected part of heritage and archeology and it’s often deeply broad and hard to find.
“It’s hard to predict where it is because it’s very ephemeral. This seemed like an ideal area to predict where Mesolithic archeology could be found.”