Monument record BSE 340 - Neolithic activity and Bronze Age ring ditch, 15 Sicklesmere Road, Bury St Edmunds

Evaluation identified a scatter of features belonging to two distinct phases of activity in the Mesolithic/Neolithic and middle Bronze Age-Early Iron Age periods, which have been dated by the recovery of small flint assemblages (S2).

A program of archaeological excavation and monitoring was carried out in advance of housing development at 15 Sicklesmere Road, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. The excavation identified low-level activity on the site in the Neolithic period, followed by a ring ditch, c.23m in diameter, of probable Early Bronze Age date which may have been dug for the construction of a burial mound or barrow overlooking the valley of the River Lark. The site subsequently had a likely agricultural use through the medieval and post-medieval periods. Although no evidence of a burial was identified the absence of cut features or finds material indicating contemporary occupation may suggest that the site forms part of a funerary landscape. The ring ditch and possible barrow appears to have then acted as a focus for temporary, passing activity in the later Bronze or Iron Age (S1).