In 1995 a second phase of excavations was undertaken by Oxford
Archaeological Unit (OAU) at Reading Business Park in advance of
development. This volume reports on the occupation evidence they found
dating to the Neolithic, Bronze Age and medieval periods. The Neolithic
features included an unusual segmented ring ditch, and a number of pits
and postholes, with associated flint assemblages dating to the late
Neolithic. A field system, composed of rectangular boundary ditches, was
laid out in the area prior to the establishment of the late Bronze Age
settlement. The evidence for the late Bronze Age settlement included
five roundhouses, and a number of post-built structures. The excavators
also found numerous deposits of burnt flint that were made in one area
in the later Bronze Age, and over time these grew into a substantial and
unusually large elongated burnt mound. The authors discuss the origin of
these deposits, together with the management of the overall landscape in
the later Bronze Age.