Northamptonshire Archaeology, 37, 2012, 19-28 19 A Middle Neolithic enclosure and mortuary deposit at Banbury Lane, Northampton: an interim report by ADAM YATES, MARK HOLMES, ANDY CHAPMAN AND YVONNE WOLFRAMM-MURRAY SUMMARY A triple-ditched circular enclosure, 23m in diameter with a central space 7.8m in diameter, was excavated in advance of new housing. The outer two ditches had single entrances to the north-west. A possible narrow entrance through the inner ditch had been blocked by an elongated pit, which was packed from bottom to top with a dense mass of disarticulated human bone, from perhaps 130 individuals. Only selected bones, particularly the femur with lesser quantities of the other major limb bones, had been collected for deposition in the pit. Fragments of skull are present in some quantity but vertebra and ribs are rare, and there are no hand or foot bones. Initial examination of the bone has recorded the presence of frequent lesions around the major limb joints, suggesting that the deposited material may have come from partially decayed corpses that had been forcibly dismembered to separate the major long bone joints. However, it will require much further analysis before the full story of the burial rite and the treatment of the individuals will be more fully understood. Initial radiocarbon dates indicate that the bone deposit was the product of a single event occurring in the Middle Neolithic (3360-3100 cal BC), although a more extensive programme of dating will be needed to establish the chronology of the whole monument in relation to the mortuary deposit. INTRODUCTION The Banbury Lane site lies to the south-west of North- ampton, at the foot of the western slope of Hunsbury Hill within a loop of Wootton Brook, which joins the River Nene 700m to the north (Fig 1: NGR SP 725 582). The development site covers 6.9ha and is bounded by Banbury Lane to the north, Wootton Brook to the south, the modern A43 dual carriageway to the east and the Northampton Arm of the Grand Union Canal to the west. Ground levels within the site lie between 65m and 70m aOD, with Hunsbury Hill to the east at 115m aOD. The proposed development site was subject to desk- based assessment (Flitcroft 2010). This was followed by a geophysical survey, which located a triple-ditched monument near the northern boundary of the site, alongside Banbury Lane, and linear ditch systems to the south (Simmonds and Butler 2011). These features were subject to evaluation by trial trenching in early 2011 (Albion 2011), which confrmed that the triple-ditch system dated to at least the Early Bronze Age. Open area excavation was carried out in July and August 2011. The excavated area around the circular monument measured 119m east-west by 45m north-south, 0.47ha, and the work here comprised the excavation of the triple ditch system, the mortuary pit containing the mass of human bone and other features in the environs of the monument. A later complex of ditch systems to the south was examined in a second open area, measuring 1.92ha, the two totalling 2.39ha. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The work at Banbury Lane refects the collaborative, as well as the competitive nature of present day commercial archaeology. The project is managed by Myk Flitcroft of CgMs Consulting, acting on behalf of the developer, David Wilson Homes, and while the geophysical survey and the open area excavation were carried out by North- amptonshire Archaeology, the intervening trial trench evaluation was by Albion Archaeology, from Bedford. For Northamptonshire Archaeology the project is being managed by Adam Yates and Mark Holmes, and the feldwork team was supervised by Yvonne Wolframm- Murray. Particular mention should be made of Rob Smith who excavated the pit containing the disarticulated human bone. Andy Chapman has drafted the interim report in consultation with the project managers. Anwen Caffell and Malin Holst of York Osteoarch- aeology have carried out the initial assessment of the human bone to establish its analytical potential. The next stage will be the production of a full assessment report and an updated project design to guide the process of analysis and reporting. As the project progresses there is likely to be input from a wide range of specialists. BACKGROUND The Hunsbury Hill area, fanking the south side of the River Nene to the south of Northampton, has a long history of archaeological investigation. In the late 19th century much of the interior of the Hunsbury Iron Age hillfort, which lies 1.2km to the east of Banbury Lane, was lost to ironstone quarrying, but large quantities of fnds, largely derived from numerous pits, were recovered, and there have been various further small scale investigations of the site up to the present day (Dryden 1885; Jackson and Tingle this volume). In the 1970s during the planned development of the southern district of Northampton across farmland on 02 Banbury Lane.indd 19 11/09/2012 11:54:51