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Foxrush
Farm (Iron Age Settlement)
Foxrush
Farm was an Iron Age farming settlement, located
on the former banks of the river Tees and in close
proximity to the Eston hills. Between 2003 and
2006 there were several excavations at the site.
With the help of local volunteers several round
houses were found, as well as evidence of metal
working and a very large enclosure ditch.
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Foxrush
Farm lies within the Cleveland Community Forest
approximately 1.5 kilometres south-west from the
town of Redcar on the north-east coast of England.
Map Reference NZ 586 230.
The
archaeological site at Foxrush Farm was discovered
by aerial photography in 1990. The photographs
show the ditch of a rectangular enclosure, typical
of those surrounding Iron Age farmsteads in the
area, and also three circular cropmark features.
So it
was thought prudent to investigate the site further.
In 1995 a Geophysical survey was carried
out which produced evidence of a number of buried
features including ditches, grubbed out hedgerows,
a fired structure and a number of possible pits,
suggesting that there may have been industrial
activity at the site.
With
the evidence from both the aerial photography
and the Geophysical survey a full scale excavation
was put into action. This excavation lasted from
2002 until 2006.
In 2002,
a partnership project was established, initially
between Tees Archaeology, Redcar & Cleveland
Museum Service, Redcar & Cleveland Countryside
Service, Redcar & Cleveland Education Department
and Teesside Archaeological Society. The aim of
this project was to explore the nature of the
Iron Age settlement on the marshland fringes of
the Tees Estuary, and also to raise public awareness
of the archaeology of the area, and so the excavation
began.
During
the excavations the extent of the boundary ditch
was recorded, as were several of the round houses.
Evidence of salt production and metal working
were also found, information on which can be found
in the further information pages linked to this
project.
Throughout
the excavation the archaeologists aimed at answering
several important questions about the Iron Age
community of Foxrush Farm. These questions were:
How
did they live? To answer this they would need
to find evidence of the building construction
and diet.
What
did they do? So evidence of raw materials and
skill specialization would be needed. And finally,
how did the community interact with their neighboring
tribal groups.
These
questions have been answered as much as possible,
given the evidence that remained.
The
Foxrush community lived in typical wooden round
houses and had a diet that consisted of mainly
cattle and domesticated animals usually found
in Iron Age farming communities. However some
of their diet was supplemented with both deer
and sea food.This evidence therefore tells us
that not only did the people at Foxrush Farm and
raise animals for food, but they also hunted.
As well
as being farmers there is evidence that they also
knew how to smelt metal. Crucibles have been found
on the site and so metal working definitely took
place there. However the iron was probably traded
from a neighbouring community which lived closer
to the Eston Hills.
With
this need for good trade relations and the fact
that help was probably needed to build the boundary
ditch, it can be theorised that the community
had good relations with their neighbours.
So now
with all the aims reached and the questions the
archaeologists wanted answered, answered the Foxrush
/farm excavation has come to and end.
Tees
Archaeology would like to take this opportunity
to thank all those who participated in the excavation.
It couldn't
have been done without your help, thank you.
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