Land at Eaton Leys, Milton Keynes (OASIS ID: cotswold2-315838)

In October 2017, Cotswold Archaeology carried out an archaeological evaluation of land at Eaton Leys, Milton Keynes. The evaluation comprised the excavation of one hundred and eight trenches, including fourteen double width trenches. Forty-eight of the one hundred and eight trenches were blank and in total only twenty-five trenches revealed features producing dating evidence. The earliest feature recorded was a single small pit or posthole which contained a sherd of prehistoric pottery. All other datable features dated to either the Late Iron Age/Early Roman period or Roman period. The evaluation revealed a concentration of features of Late Iron Age/ Early Roman date in the north-west part of the site, c.330m to the south of the Roman settlement of Magiovinium. The majority of the archaeological remains centred around two possible trackways running from the south the south of the settlement of Magiovinium and traversing site on a north-north-east/south-south-west axis. Possible small enclosures were identified lining these possible trackways in the north developing into larger enclosures to the south and east, considered likely to be the remains of paddocks and field systems. Two separate possible pit clusters were recorded d in the northern half of site as well as two other possible pits from which environmental sampling produced domestic waste. Nine possible cremations were exposed within eight trenches dispersed across the site. The possible cremations were not excavated at this stage but covered and left in-situ pending further archaeological works. No dating evidence was recovered.