Monument record LKH 394 - Prehistoric features at RAF Lakenheath F35 expansion (SA) MON + EVAL + EXC

Summary Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2018. (S1)

Archaeological Monitoring of several geotechnical ground investigaiton The works recorded no features or finds, but generally the soil profiles appeared well preserved, with any significant levels of modern truncation being isolated. It is likely that this apparent lack of archaeological remains relates to the limited areas exposed in this phase of groundworks (S2).

2018 evaluation: Archaeological features were infrequently encountered, but the presence of late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age pottery in buried soil at the eastern end of the development area suggests the potential for well-preserved archaeology of that date across part of the site. Evidence of undated cremation burial was recovered in the form of a small quantity of redeposited pyre debris in one pit in Trench 1, and a single undated ditch following the natural slope of the land was found on the western side of the development area in trenches 17, 19 and 20. Both these features were found sealed beneath windblown sand. Otherwise features were shallow and appeared to have naturally occurring fills; these may represent undulations and disturbances in the natural geology rather than archaeological activity. (S3)

Excavations identifiedarchaeological horizons which were well preserved. Underlying these was a deposit of windblown sand, likely built up during the medieval and post-medieval periods. Underlying the windblown material was a deposit of humose-enriched coversand, which contained concentrations of Beaker pottery and worked flint, particularly in its lower horizon, alongside heat altered flint and stone, and very low levels of calcinated bone and snail shell. The finds assemblage was composed of material that suggested domestic dumps of material that had been transported from its primary production and use areas, but was unlikely to have been moved far, suggesting nearby occupation. Environmental and soil analysis suggested that the soil was the result of deforestation of the landscape, with heathland taking over, indicated by the pollen profile and podsolisation of the coversand. There was a suggestion from the soil structure, pollen and macrofossils that there was tillage/ cultivation occurring locally and that soil was being imported to the site. Natural features, interpreted as root hollows, were excavated and found to also contain artefacts and ecofacts similar in composition to the soil layers, and it is interpreted that this suggests deliberate deforestation, or at least management and levelling of the soil horizons, possibly further indicating agricultural practices. It has been difficult to directly tie the possible tillage/land management to the Beaker occupation, but it is considered likely that they are associated. Excavations to the north-west uncovered a freeze thaw deposit and natural hollow/mere (S4).

See also LKH 393