REMAINS of five Iron Age round houses have been discovered at an archaeological dig in Winnersh. 

The ancient discovery was made as part of the archaeological survey at the Hatch Farm development, south west of Winnersh.

Archaeologists opened up the site to the public on Sunday to see the pottery and other features unearthed on the site.

James Norbury, project manager for Thames Valley Archaeological Services, said the mystery of how many people lived at the site wouldn't be revealed until further tests were done and more artefacts discovered.

"We found a late Iron Age or Early Roman farmstead," he said. "We found a number of enclosures used for keeping animals.

"We haven't found any animal remains but that's not too surprising, bones don't always survive well.

"We found five round houses where people would have been living.

"We don't know if they were living there at the same time or if it is five generations, it's difficult to tell at this point."

A team of six have been working on a number of separate excavations across the site with the main area being a 300m by 100m pit.

Mr Norbury continued: "The roundhouses are quite large. They built there houses up on the hill and farmed down on the flood plane.

"We'll take the finds back to the office where they will be processed and cleaned.

"They will go to a specialist who will give us a detailed report with their age and date of the pottery."

He said the site hadn't revealed any metalwork remnants yet but further excavations are ongoing.