Monument record ELV 006 - Elveden Brickyard, Elveden, (Palaeolithic)

Acheulean industry found in brickearth pit 1897-1914, one of three hand- axes in Elveden Museum is marked "Elveden Brickyard, found 20 feet below the surface. Dec 1899" (S2).

Excavations 1938 in disused pit (3 sections). Numerous flakes, cores (circa 600) and 11 hand- axes and fragments found in excavations, almost all in one layer, which was argued was interglacial fluvial deposits, and fresh.
Circa 70 hand-axes found previously, also fresh.

1967: Three sections by Sieveking (unpublished) recovered over fifty artefacts in BM (S3).

1995: Two week excavation cut six sections in one test pit identified in situ flint industry set in geological and environmental context. Details in (S3).

August 1996: Four weeks further excavations. Details in (S4). For other Palaeolithic deposits at Elveden see ELV 025 & ELV Misc.

British museum excavations ran until 1999.

See also see ELV Misc Pal, ELV 006 Neolithic & Roman records.

Scientific dating report on British Aggregates by English Heritage (S5).

There is much disgreement over the provenenace of a single "Bout Coupe" handaxe or flat butted cordate, (S9)

See also (S10-S12).

During July two weeks of excavation completed the work begun at the Lower Palaeolithic site in 1995, following on from work by Paterson in 1938 (Paterson & Fagg 1942) and by Sieveking in 1967. Work over the last five seasons (see 'Archaeology in Suffolk' 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1998) has established that the geological sequence at the site consists of Lowestoft Till at the base, attributable to the Anglian cold stage, some 450,000 years ago. The surface of the till forms a depression, which is infilled with deposits from the following interglacial, some 400,000 years ago. These deposits consist of 6m of grey and black lacustrine clays (containing pollen and shells), overlain by fluvial sediments, which at the edge of the channel consist of a thin, but coarse lag gravel (caused by fluvial winnowing of the lighter sediment). These sediments are overlain by a distinct palaeosol probably marking the drying out of the channel, which in turn is capped by up to 4m of colluvially deposited brown sandy clays or ‘brickearths’. The river channel was flanked on both edges by low Chalk bluffs. Flint artefacts have been found principally at the base of the palaeosol (Areas I and III) and within the underlying lag gravel (Areas I, II and IV), although a thinner distribution has been recorded from the overlying ‘brickearth’.
The excavation: The work this season aimed to: 1. enlarge and complete the excavation of the in situ knapping floor in Area III; 2. excavate a small new area (Area V) between Areas I and III to provide a link between the two locations; 3. continue to sample and sieve the calcareous clays from the fluvial sediments that might yield a richer fauna; 4. continue to examine through augering and geophysics the area between Barnham and Elveden, to test the hypothesis of whether both sites lie on the same relict river-channel.
Area III. This area was extended by c. 6m2 on the west side. It was excavated down to the same knapping surface that had been encountered in 1998 and yielded more refitting artefacts consisting of flakes, cores, biface manufacturing flakes and a biface roughout. A final spit was taken off the 1998 area which together with the new area yielded an additional 570 artefacts. The absence of flake tools and finished bifaces, suggests that this was purely a manufacturing area, and that the completed tools were taken away for use elsewhere. Examination of the artefacts suggests that both material from the lag gravel in Area I, and fresh chalk flint were used as a raw material source.
Area V. A new area was excavated between Areas I and III consisting of c. 5m2. Over 150 artefacts, (again consisting of flakes, cores, biface manufacturing flakes and a biface) came from the base of the palaeosol, but also from within the underlying lag gravel. The geological section above Area V was continued round to join Section 7, and still further to link in with the section above Area I. This showed very clearly the relationship between Areas I, III and V.
Faunal work. Section 9 was expanded to reveal more of the calcareous clays that lie towards the top of the fluvial sequence, in the middle of the channel. About 600kg of sediment was sampled and wet-sieved through 0.5mm mesh. Some of the residues have been examined, and so far very little bone material has been recovered, other than several fish teeth, and a fragment of a water-vole molar. The remainder will be examined in the post-excavation work.
Elveden-Barnham field survey. Resistivity surveys were undertaken both at Barnham and Elveden to trace the alignment of the clay-filled river channel. Four traverses indicated that both ends of the channel could be recognised, running broadly on a WNW to ESE orientation. These results were augmented by augering at both sites. Although a large area between the two sites has been eroded down, removing direct evidence of the link, the relative height of sites together with the geophysical evidence, supports the hypothesis that Barnham and Elveden are part of the same drainage network, if not part of the same river channel.
Summary: The final season has consolidated the geological and environmental framework for Elveden, and has added to the array of human industries recovered from the site. In particular, Area III has yielded an extremely rare in situ assemblage, that through refitting presents a ‘snap-shot’ of activity that was taking place along the banks of the ancient river. The geophysics work and augering between Elveden and Barnham, has added to the picture of a palaeo-landscape, and an understanding of its environment and natural resources, in particular the flint raw material and its influence on the stone tool assemblages.
Acknowledgments: Thanks are due to the British Museum for funding the project and to Time Team for carrying out part of the work. I am also very grateful to Center Parcs, in particular Johan Bolling, the General Manager, for allowing access to the land and for fully supporting the project, and to Mick Chamberlain and the Ground Staff for their willing help and use of their facilities. I also thank Jim Rudderham, Forestry and Conservation Manager at Elveden Farms Ltd for access to the Elveden Estate. Finally as ever, I am very grateful to the Heading family for providing camping and shower facilities at East Farm, Barnham. Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 1999 (S17).