The routine two-week investigation by students from the University of Sheffield of an Iron Age site at Cannings Cross (Wiltshire, England), last excavated by celebrated archaeologist Maud Cunnington in 1911, has proved surprising. Miss Cunnington's investigations established the site as of the greatest importance in defining when the Iron Age began in Britain, the site dating from about 700 BCE.
     The students visited the site to investigate the impact that early forms of excavation and modern farming practices have on known archaeological sites. John Barrett and David McOmish of English Heritage said: "The results were startling. An early Iron Age deposit survived intact, with an excellent accumulation of cultural deposits. A number of cut features, including pits and postholes, were uncovered.
     Further investigations in the immediate area have discovered another midden site less than a kilometre away, which, it is hoped, will provide more information about the transition between the Bronze Age and the Iron Age.

Source: Gazette & Herald, This is Devizes (1 July 2004)