Micromorphological study of ridge-and-furrow remains at Watson's Lane, Little Thetford, Cambridgeshire

The Watson’s Lane site included part of a relatively well-preserved ridge-and-furrow field from the Medieval and post-Medieval periods (SMR 09873). The ridge-and-furrow area investigated included 12 ridges spaced c. 4 m apart, and standing up to 1 m (Gdaniec and Butler 1994, 6). Trial trenching of the area was carried out by the Cambridge Archaeological Unit in 1995. Trench 10 (see Figure 1) cut across the line of the ridge and furrow system, exposing Ridges 3-10 in section (see Figure 2 - ridges are numbered from north to south). This trench was opened to allow detailed study of the field system, with the ultimate aim being reconstruction of the processes involved in its development. In addition to field description, the system was studied through soil micromorphology as forms part of doctoral research on the characterisation of ancient tillage practices through field and soil micromorphological analyses (Lewis 1998).