Archaeologists find 'lost village' in Nottinghamshire, England
Archaeologists have found cobbled surfaces and medieval pottery beneath the town of Southwell in Nottinghamshire, England, and believe they are the remains of a “lost village”.
The presence of cobbled stone and medieval pottery could suggest that a community existed there prior to the Norman conquest of England in the 11 th-cenutry by an army of Norman, Breton and French soldiers led by Duke William II of Normandy, later William the Conqueror.
Archaeologist Matt Beresford, who worked on the project said: "Seven of our nine test pits on the small part of the green had this surface, and medieval pottery dating to 1100 through to early 1200s was found within the surface itself, giving us a nice date for our site of just after the Norman conquest and through into the 1300s.
The dig, which was initiated by the Southwell Community Archaeology Group and backed by a £5,800 Heritage Lottery grant, also revealed a number of prehistoric flint tools, which are the first found in Southwell. The findings suggest habitation in the region earlier than previously believed.
The team of researchers and archaeologists believe that the site once had an entire village, surrounded by cottages, smallholdings and a medieval chapel. However, excavation work which is still ongoing, will hopefully provide more conclusive evidence.
