Monument record IPS 756 - Bronze Age Cremation and multi period ditches and Saxon pits at Ravenswood "Area T", Ipswich.

2015: The evaluation found a series of ditches, located mainly in the north and west of the site. Apart from a single residual struck flint, these contained no finds. However, based on the results of other excavations in Ravenswood, some of them may be later prehistoric (Middle Bronze Age onwards), Iron Age, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, medieval or post-medieval in date. The possibility of a later prehistoric date for at least some of the ditches is supported by the recovery of a sherd of prehistoric pottery from a ditch identified during a previous phase of trial trenching on the site. Another of the ditches matches the position and alignment of a field boundary shown on late-19th- and early-20th-century Ordnance Survey maps, so is of relatively recent origin. As the ditches are all likely to be outfield field boundaries, located away from contemporary settlement areas, the absence of associated cultural material is unsurprising. A charcoal-filled pit was present in Trench 7, towards the south-east of the site. This contained no finds, but identical pits have been identified at numerous excavated sites across the Suffolk coast and heaths and frequently return Early to Middle Saxon radiocarbon dates (c. 5th-9th century AD). Many of the ditches were visible at a high stratigraphic level, immediately below the modern topsoil. This probably reflects the heathland character of the local landscape, the non-intensive nature of historic land-use and the consequent absence of significant disturbance to
archaeological levels from agricultural processes such as ploughing, (S1).


2015:Excavation recorded several phases of a rectilinear field system, which was probably first laid out during the Middle Bronze Age. This comprised a north-east- to south-west-aligned trackway defined by parallel ditches, with field boundaries extending away from it at right angles. A pit in the corner of one field, adjacent to the trackway, contained an infant cremation in a small, plain grog-tempered pottery vessel with a slightly barrel-shaped profile, similar to examples from Ardleigh in Essex. The character of the vessel is in keeping with a Middle Bronze Age date. Another notable early feature of the field system was two small ring-ditches (2.5m diameter) which seem to have been used as markers for laying out the first trackway ditches. The trackway and field system underwent several stages of development, which, although only very broadly dated by the small assemblage of associated pottery and later prehistoric (later-2nd- to 1st-millennium BC) struck flint, are likely to date to the later Bronze Age and Iron Age. The latest ditch in the stratigraphic sequence contained charcoal which returned a radiocarbon date of cal. AD 230-385 (1746±30 BP; 95.4% probability), indicating that the field system was maintained, at least to some extent, and that the Bronze Age field alignments continued to be respected, into the later Roman period. The absence of evidence for boundary ditches after the Roman period fits the known historical character of the area as open heathland used mainly for grazing sheep, although it is possible that above-ground landscape features such as banks and hedges continued to be visible for some time after the field system ceased to be maintained. Post-Roman land use was represented by scattered (c. <1m diameter) shallow pits containing charcoal-rich fills but no finds, one of which has been radiocarbon dated to cal. AD 534-642. Identical burnt pits have now been recorded at several sites in the Ravenswood area and elsewhere across south-eastern Suffolk. Although they frequently used to be dismissed in archaeological reports as being associated with WWII and Cold War airfield fog dispersal systems (‘FIDO’) used to increase runway visibility for returning bombers, all those that have been radiocarbon dated (at least seven examples on four different sites) have returned early to middle Anglo-Saxon dates. In the absence of finds or environmental evidence, their origin/ function remains enigmatic, although similar features excavated at Mousehold Heath, Norwich, were associated with charcoal burning and the roasting of iron ore to remove impurities. Alternatively, they may simply represent one-off fires used by shepherds.Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2015 (S2).

2015: The excavation identified a trackway, extending across the site, associated with rectilinear field and enclosure boundary ditches aligned perpendicular to the trackway. The corners of the fields appear to have been of some importance, with a probable Middle Bronze Age (1600-1300 BC) cremation located in the corner of one field. Two curvilinear ditches, possibly boundary markers, were identified in the southern part of Area A and seem to have influenced the layout of the ditch system. Finds were scarce owing to the agricultural character of the field system and its location away from any focus of settlement activity. However, small quantities of pottery and struck flint, combined with stratigraphic and spatial relationships, suggest a Middle Bronze Age date to Early Iron Age date. The site adds to a growing body of evidence for the laying out of extensive subdivided agricultural landscapes across much of the Suffolk coast and river valleys during the later Bronze Age. Roman and post-medieval field boundaries were also identified. Numerous burnt pits were also scattered across the excavation area and appear to be grouped in diffuse clusters. Charcoal from one of these pits has been radiocarbon-dated and returned a date of 534-642 cal. AD. Similar burnt pits have been recorded at a number of sites in the area and also radiocarbon-dated to the Early to Middle Saxon period. At sites on Nacton Road (HER IPS 715, 718 and 719), similar Middle Saxon burnt pits contained possible evidence for iron-smithing (S3).