Monument record ING 150 - OUTLINE RECORD: Early Iron Age features at Land at Place Farm (OAE) Eval

2020: Archaeological investigation revealed pits and post-holes dating to the Early Iron Age. Two post-holes possibly formed a windshield or a drying rack structure, whilst the pits produced a moderate assemblage of Early Iron Age pottery and other finds consistent with refuse from domestic activity, suggesting close proximity to an area of settlement. In the W of the site, a post-medieval field boundary ditch and a large gravel extraction pit were uncovered. Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2020 (S1). Full report to follow.

Following on from the evaluation two excavation areas (Areas 30 and 31) were opened to investigate the Late Bronze Age remains and define their extent.nA series of pits and two post holes located in Area 31 and a single pit in Area 30 produced Late Bronze Age pottery, small fragments of animal bone, worked flint, and fragments of fired clay. All the finds were consistent with domestic type activity associated with a settlement. Results of two environmental samples were sent off for radiocarbon dating firmly securing the pits to the Late Bronze Age period. Two post holes in Area 31 might have formed a temporary structure such as windbreak or a drying rack but no other structures were identified. A post-medieval ditch, representing an earlier field boundary, was recorded parallel to the current farm track to the east. A quarry across a natural seam of gravel was recorded to the west of the ditch and is likely to be broadly contemporary. The quarry probably remained as a dew pond until it naturally silted up (S2).