Monument record RGH 044 - Suffolk Business Park

2005:An archaeological evaluation was carried out at site B, Suffolk Business Park, Kempson Way in advance of the construction of a postal sorting and delivery office. A buried, prehistoric occupation layer, sealing postholes and further soil spread was found. This produced hand-made, flint-tempered pottery, the most datable sherds from an early Neolithic Carinated Bowl, and later possibly of Iron Age pottery. An undated burnt clay lined pit, filled with charcoal was also found (S1).
2006: An archaeological excavation was carried out at site B, Suffolk Business Park, Kempson Way in advance of the construction of a postal sorting and delivery office. A total of twenty features were located, excavated and recorded, the most notable of which was a buried prehistoric occupation layer preserved within a natural hollow in the south-western corner of the site. This feature produced exceptional quantities of prehistoric pottery, dating to the earlier Neolithic (c.4000-3000BC), along with significant quantities of worked flint. A further group of features, mainly small pits, lay immediately to the north. These features produced less in terms of finds, although pit 0038 contained a fabricator, a large flint implement, thought to have been used for retouching other flint objects. Small numbers of shatter pieces, spalls and chips were also among the assemblage, possibly indicating that flint knapping took place at the site. The site also adds support to theories regarding a preference for hill-top settlement locations during the prehistoric period (Martin 1993). (S2)

Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2005 (S3).