Site Event/Activity record ECH4439 - Danes Moss, Macclesfield, Cheshire: Watching Brief (2002) & Palaeoecology Report (2005)

An archaeological watching brief was undertaken at Danes Moss, Macclesfield, in June 2002, following the earlier identification of an intact section through the peat deposits and the collection of a sample of the peat. The watching brief monitored the excavations for a new lagoon within the area of the Danes Moss landfill site. The peat deposits recorded survived to a depth in excess of 3.5m. Samples (10 litre) were taken from distinct horizons within the peat for palaeoenvironmental assessment (see source 2 below). (1) Ten litre bulk sediment samples were collected from 14 of 16 distinct layers exposed during the watching brief. These were subjected to palaeoenvironmental assessment and analysis. Seven flots containing insect remains were examined to provide data on the ancient environment; plant remains from two of the deposits were radiocarbon dated. Preservation of insect material was rather poor in the flot from the lowest sample, however, substantial well preserved assemblages of beetles and bugs were recovered from the rest. The assemblages provide a consistent picture throughout the sequence of well vegetated acid bog conditions. There also appeared to have been trees providing dead and rotten wood habitats. A fauna associated with heathland plants was present in the upper parts of the sequence implying localised drying, however, the continuing abundance of aquatic and marshland insects indicated that the area remained substantially wet. Some of the beetles and bugs identified indicate that the climate may have been a little warmer which accords well with the radiocarbon dates which place the sequence in the warmer period of the early Holocene, with the earliest deposit dated being almost immediately post-glacial. (2)