Event/Activity EPM86 - Watching brief at Qinetiq, Portsdown Technology Park, Portsdown Hill, Portsmouth

Watching brief undertaken during the construction of two new cabins, an antenna and a mast at Qinetiq, Portsdown Technology Park. The site is within an area of archaeological potential, defined principally as one of importance for prehistoric archaeology. Sixteen small trenches were excavated by mechanical digger. These exposed natural chalk, which had a shallow feature of uncertain date cut into it, a layer of uncertain date, a 19th/20th century deposit and modern contexts. A layer, thought to be modern topsoil, contained material including a burnt flint, a fragment of Purbeck stone, 19th century brick and tile, 19th and 20th century bottle glass and pottery. No finds dating to earlier than the 19th century were recovered. It is possible that signficant remains survive but were not revealed by these groundworks, as the trenches were small and not every trench reached natural deposits. Accession number 2006/1493