Monument record LVT 023 - Concentric ring ditch, part of a complex of four Bronze Age barrows

Ring ditch. Part of LVT 010 complex. Internal area on N side suggests possibly concentric. E of LVT 022, NW of LVT 024. S side skirted by ditch/ path (S1).
September - December 1978: Excavated prior to destruction by Ipswich southern bypass. Geophysical surveys carried out but no information added. Excavation demonstrated circular ditch 26m in diameter, circa 4m wide and 1. 5m deep. In centre was burnt area of sand circa 1m in diameter. Finds of pottery, mainly collared urn type. Further burnt patch found in situ in ditch section. IA & Rom sherds were also found in the upper levels of the ditch. Cremation found outside ditch, circa 4m to E. C14 samples were taken (S2).
Analysis of bone fragments from 003 and 013 has been unable to confirm them as being human. C14 date from the upper fill of the ditch 1950+/-70bp (HAR.3706) 35-120 cal.BC (S3).
The ring ditch is clearly visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs, taken both before and after the excavation decribed above (see S1, S5), centred on TM 23704086, in Levington parish. On the aerial photographs the diameter of the ring ditch appears to range from 24 to 25 metres and a possible central feature is visible as a darker cropmark. A linear cropmark (see LVT 010), possibly a field or land boundary, appears to respect the barrow on its southern side, possibly taking advantage of the ditch.