Andrew B. Powell

This volume brings together the results from the excavations at the former Imperial College Sports Ground, RMC Land and Land East of Wall Garden Farm, near the villages of Harlington and Sipson in the London Borough of Hillingdon. The excavations revealed parts of an archaeological landscape with a rich history of development from before 4000 BC to the post-medieval period. The opportunity to investigate two large areas of this landscape provided evidence for possible settlement continuity and shift over a period of 6000 years. Early to Middle Neolithic occupation was represented by a rectangular ditched mortuary enclosure and a large spread of pits, many containing deposits of Peterborough Ware pottery, flint and charred plant remains. A possible dispersed monument complex of three hengiform enclosures was associated with the rare remains of cremation burials radiocarbon dated to the Middle Neolithic. Limited Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age activity was identified, which is in stark contrast to the Middle to Late Bronze Age when a formalised landscape of extensive rectangular fields, enclosures, wells and pits was established. This major reorganised land division can be traced across the two sites and over large parts of the adjacent Heathrow terraces. A small, Iron Age and Romano-British nucleated settlement was constructed, with associated enclosures flanking a trackway. There were wayside inhumations, cremation burials and middens and more widely dispersed wells and quarries. Two possible sunken-featured buildings of early Saxon date were found. There was also a small cemetery. Subsequently, a middle Saxon and medieval field system of small enclosures and wells was established.

Excavations and built heritage recording on the site of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games have revealed evidence dating from the last Ice Age up to the modern period. Extensive geoarchaeological and palaeo-environmenal studies, coupled with a comprehensive radiocarbon dating programme, have enabled the valley's past environments to be reconstructed. As well as significant Neolithic finds, the excavations revealed Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements, and some evidence for Roman, Saxon and medieval activity. Aspects of post-medieval industry are examined, as are features relating to Victorian infrastructure developments and the rapid industrialisation of the lower Lea Valley.