Preliminary Report on the Excavations and Field Walking and Excavations at Oldbury Farm, Worcester. Worcester, March 8 and 15, 2016, March 7 and 14, 2017 Data Structure Report

Archaeology and Forensic Science students of the School of Science and the Environment, at the University of Worcester conducted archaeological investigations at Oldbury Farm, SO 827 554, on March 8 and 15, 2016 and March 7 and 14, 2017. In 2016 systematic fieldwalking and artefact pickup produced over 2000 finds; dates of the finds spanned the Middle Palaeolithic, late Neolithic/Bronze Age, Iron Age/Roman periods, Mediaeval, Post-Mediaeval, Modern and 20th century.
In 2017 test pits were placed in an area in which Middle Palaeolithic and Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age flints as well as fire cracked rock were recovered. Excavation and further surface pick-up identified an area of fire cracked rock which coincides with an area of ferrous dipolar anomalies revealed by a gradiometer survey conducted by CsMg associates (Thomas 2016). These results suggest the presence of prehistoric activity, which invites further investigation.
Analysis of the distribution of late post-medieval and modern artefacts revealed potential differences in disposal behaviour over time. Episodes of domestic rubbish deposition identified appear to be related to historic field boundaries and variable access to fields. Industrial waste from porcelain production appears to represent separate disposal episodes, unrelated to domestic dumping.