The 2-week long excavations carried out around Cresswell Pele Tower, Northumberland, at the beginning of February were a great success. One of the evaluation trenches that was excavated in Fisheries Field to the east of the tower unearthed two, early Bronze Age stone-built burial cist boxes. Unfotunately no human remains had survived due to the acidity of the soil however this is a very exciting find.
Trenches around the tower itself revealed evidence of the 18th century mansion house that was known to have been added on to the tower but that was demolished around 100 years later. Evidence of an earlier, previously unknown about building were also found as well as a small, stone-filled pit that produced chipped flint artefacts. A much larger, stone-filled pit was also revealed, the purpose of which remains unknown.