Monument record BCC 043 - Beccles Trackway, Beccles Marshes

2006: An excavation in April 2006 across the floodplain of the River Waveney, as part of bank refurbishment works, uncovered upright posts and associated wooden remains. The nature of the tool marks on the timbers suggested a prehistoric date. After an initial evaluation a full excavation of 20 x 5m area was undertaken by a joint team of archaeologists from the University of Birmingham and Suffolk County Council Archaeology Service. Well-preserved worked timbers including large upright posts, planked wood, working debris and brushwood were collected. The wet environment also required full palaeoenvironmental analyses (pollen, plant macrofossil, diatom and coleoptera), with an auger survey to establish the depth and character of the sediments around the site. An Assessment Report (Chapman et al. 2007) has already been completed, and it is hoped that full report will be completed by the end of 2007.
Preliminary results indicate that the earliest structure was a narrow brushwood trackway constructed of coppiced rods with associated pegs, orientated east to west across the site. The depth of this feature (-1.5m AOD) means that it is located within one of the lower peat units, which represent a sedge, grass and reed dominated marsh type environment with evidence for grazing activity. The next construction was a large causeway or trackway formed from three parallel rows of posts orientated on a north-west to south-east alignment (Fig. 5). These posts were all of Quercus spp. (oak), possibly derived from overgrown coppice, and were sharpened using iron tools prior to use. A number of the posts submitted for assessment displayed ‘halving lap joints’ at their upper ends. These notches may have been cut to facilitate transportation, but it is also thought that that they were designed to support a superstructure, however in only one location on the eastern edge of the trench, was there a structural relationship between a vertical post and a horizontal plank. In addition, a large quantity of worked wood was situated between the post alignments. Preliminary tool-mark analysis and radiocarbon dating (Beta-216739, 2150+40BP, cal.BC 360-280 and 240-60 and Beta-216738; 1940+40 BP cal.BC 30-cal.AD 130) has indicated an Iron Age or Roman date, but this is being refined by dendrochronology as part of the full report. Early results (I. Tyers, pers. comm.) suggest that the construction of the triple post row could be as late as 75 BC, making this site one of the latest dated Iron Age trackway structures in Britain. Similarly to the earlier brushwood trackway, the wood remains were located within a reed swamp or reed fen environment, but one which was apparently somewhat wetter than the previous peat unit. By the Roman period in situ tree trunks were recorded suggesting that the surface of the peat had been dry enough to permit tree growth. A substantial proportion of a single Roman pottery vessel was collected from within this context. The vessel, a narrow-mouthed flask or bottle of mid or late 1st to early 2nd century may have been deposited deliberately as part of a religious/votive offering on the water’s edge (Tester and Goffin 2007).
Although brushwood trackways are relatively common in both the Britain and Ireland timber causeways are less frequent, and other examples e.g. Flag Fen, Peterborough (Pryor 2001) or the causeway at Fiskerton, Lincolnshire (Field and Parker Pearson 2004) do not provide convincing or direct structural parallels. The site however does fall into a general pattern of prehistoric post alignments and associated walkways from later prehistory, with use extending into the Roman period.
Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2006 (S5). Full report to follow.

2007: Students from the University of Birmingham’s Institute of Archaeology, in conjunction with S.C.C.A.S. and local volunteers, excavated a 20m x 5m trench immediately to the south of the post alignment discovered in 2006. This revealed 25 wooden posts in a replication of previous pattern, that is three lines of single or double posts, approximately a metre apart. Along the length of the feature however it is apparent that there is much more spatial variation in the interval between the posts. Large amounts of worked timber, and wood-working debris have also been recovered, and several of the new posts were fully excavated, to enable the tool marks to be recorded and an analysis made of the woodworking methodology.
Alongside the excavation, a program of public events was undertaken, including a public lecture in Beccles and a site open day. Work has also continued from the previous year in the analysis of the form, date and function of the trackway, and it is hope to publish these results fully in 2008. The feature can now be traced for over 100m and the dating of the timbers presents a strong case for a single-phase construction in the spring of 75BC. Some worked wooden material has been recovered that is thought to represent an earlier phase of activity at the site, and a range of Iron Age and Roman pottery has also been identified. It is clear that although the structure was built in a single phase there was activity at the site that both precedes and post-dates construction of the post alignment. In spite of the success of the dating and timber analysis, it is still proving difficult to establish the function of the feature: a more complex walkway or bridge structure has been ruled out as no evidence of supporting material or structural timbers has yet been identified. A timber post alignment or causeway is currently the favoured interpretation, but the wider significance and purpose of the construction is still being debated. Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2007 (S4). Full report to follow.