Monument record CLY 021 - 'Taimoshan', Church Lane

Contractor's excavation for a house basement revealed a large prehistoric pit in section. Subsequent archaeological investigation showed this feature to be nearly 3m in depth, with a wide upper weathering cone of c.5m diameter, but below this the sides were nearly vertical with a diameter of c.2.5m. Given the loose nature of the sand subsoil, it is likely that this pit had a revetment. Pottery recovered from near the base of the pit consisted of Grooved Ware, so a LNeo date is anticipated for this feature.
Higher up the fill a definite break in the stratigraphy suggests a later recut or possibly a higher section of revetment. Pottery recovered from the fill of this part of the pit suggests an EBA and fragmentary pieces of undiagnostic burnt bone might belong to a dispersed cremation. Neo pits from Broome Heath in Norfolk contained square wooden containers and a similar interpretation might be possible for this Claydon example.
Deep pits and shafts are known from the EBA becoming more common in the IA. The Claydon pit might be an early example of this long established Preh tradition. Alternatively it might be the product of natural processes, chalk probably being present at a lower level. Whether natural or not, it seems likely that this feature was carefully prepared, revetted and was used for the deposition of carefully structured deposits.
Thetford Ware pottery was recovered from a nearby usntratified context, suggesting that the adjacent St Peter's Church, of likely Saxon foundation, could have been the focus of a Saxon/EMed settlement in this area (S1).

Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2007 (S2).