Ancient settlement discovered at Rolls-Royce Bristol site
A small prehistoric settlement has been uncovered at the Rolls-Royce site in Bristol as part of ongoing site infrastructure improvements.
The archaeologists assigned to the Filton site – AOC Archaeology Group supported by AECOM - have undertaken trial trenching, a means of investigating a sample of a site to check for anything of archaeological significance before construction activities.
During this work, they have identified a double ditched enclosure that defines the northern end of the settlement along with several post holes and various small shards of basic pottery – suggesting one or more simple small buildings of some kind.
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Several pits and a small enclosure, likely used for keeping animals, have also been located within this settlement.
Archaeologists also discovered evidence of an individual thought to be living sometime during the Roman settlement of the wider area, with the remains being found to the north of the double ditched settlement.
Based on the very small ‘grave’ located just outside the settlement area where the individual’s remains were found, archaeologists suggested that the person was not well known to the people who had settled in the area or might have even been criminal due to the quick and impersonal nature of the burial.
All findings – including the human remains – are currently with the archaeologists for cleaning and processing and will ultimately be stored in a local museum.
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Vice President – Infrastructure, UK&I Early Lifecycle Defence George Mitchell said:
"The discovery of both the small prehistoric settlement and the buried human remains have been a fascinating arc to our ongoing Bristol site infrastructure improvements and have sparked the imaginations of our team.
“It was during ground remediation work – which includes cleaning to remove any pollutants that have built up over decades of engine building and testing – that the remarkable discoveries were uncovered.”
