Charred plant remains from The Magistrate's Court Excavation, Chesterfield, Derbyshire (DRE-01)

Excavations were carried out by Archaeological Investigations Ltd. directed by Kath Crooks. Samples were taken for the recovery of charred plants or other remains in order to investigate the activities represented by three contexts on the site. A sample from a Roman ditch contained only a couple of charred seeds. Samples from two medieval contexts included a kiln lining and the later reuse of the kiln as a cesspit. The sample from the kiln produced a good group of charred grains and seeds suggesting cereal processing possibly malting of barley, little was found in the possible cesspit. The remains were compared with medieval pits from another site in the town excavated by Foundations Archaeology (Appendix 1, site LS-98E) and other sites in the area. [Taken from introduction]