Monument record LKH 390 - Undated ditches and disarticulated Human Remains at RAFL Refueller Facility

Archaeological monitoring revealed portions of east-west aligned ditches. Only a small part of the development area was stripped to archaeological levels with the larger part being either built-up over existing grass or stripped only into overburden. Truncation of the natural sand at the west end of the site was indicative of gradually sloping geology from west to east. It was difficult to confidently associate the fragments of ditches seen with each other, but nevertheless it is probable that the ten ditch sections excavated represent only seven ditches. Of these three were closely spaced parallel gullies filled with coarse sand, perhaps a wind deflated deposit. The site lies within the former area of Lakenheath Warren and it is speculated that these (or any of the other) ditches may be associated with that. None of the features were dated but five struck flints were recovered during the work. More significantly the recovery of the disarticulated remains from the left side of a human skeleton were recovered during excavation for an water retention basin. These seem to have come from modern disturbance, but were all part of the same individual suggesting the presence of an inhumation grave in the very near vicinity. It had been expected that the soil profile would have been destroyed where the former roads had been, but the monitoring showed that these had not reached the archaeological horizon across the eastern half of the site. Although the western c.20% of the development area is probably truncated, the construction of the current hard-standing only impacted on the archaeological horizon across this western end, and therefore archaeological deposits can be assumed to survive intact in much of the rest of the area (S1).