The remains of a Late Bronze Age settlement “of considerable significance” were uncovered during the development of a new road, archaeologists said.
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A RARE piece of treasure which is believed to date back to pre-historic times could be the first find of its kind in Suffolk.
The British Museum said the gold personal ornament, which was found in Glemsford, near Sudbury, was an “important item”.
It is currently in the hands of the British Museum, which carried out the report into the object, but it could come home to Suffolk.
Janina Parol, assistant treasure registrar at the British Museum, said Moyse’s Hall Museum in Bury St Edmunds, Colchester and Ipswich Museum Service and the British Museum were all interested in the ornament, which is thought to be from the Bronze Age.
In his report, Ben Roberts, curator of European Bronze Age at the British Museum, said: “The probable bead is very rare for Britain and Ireland though a necklace of similar beads from Ireland is in the British Museum.”
The ornament was classified as treasure at a treasure trove inquest in Bury St Edmunds yesterday.
Faye Minter, senior finds recording officer at Suffolk County Council, said it was discovered by Lindsey Holland, from Liverpool, who was at a metal detecting rally in cultivated land in Glemsford on September 25.
She said there had been some deliberation over its date, but the unusual object is believed to be late Bronze Age, from 1,100 to 800 BC.
The ornament, which is probably a bead, is cylindrical in shape with decoration across it.
Speaking after the inquest, Jude Plouviez, archaeological officer at Suffolk County Council, said: “I don’t think we have found anything similar in Suffolk for example. It is quite an unusual one.”
Miss Parol said if the local museums could not acquire the item, then it would remain at the British Museum.
No comment could be made on the value of the ornament as the valuation is yet to take place.
A rare silver Eadmund penny of early medieval date, which was found near Mildenhall, was also deemed to be treasure at yesterday’s inquest.
Miss Minter said it was found by metal detectorist Steve Foster on October 30 and he reported it to Suffolk County Council.
The coin, which is thought to be part of a previous hoard, dates to between 850 and 870.
Picture and story here:
eadt.co.uk/news/possible_prehistoric_bead_is_found_in_suffolk_1_761704
One of the UK’s largest hauls of Iron Age gold coins, which would have been worth in today’s money up to £1m, has been found in Suffolk.
“Iron-Age timbers which once formed part of a causeway across marshes in Suffolk are to go on public display for the first time.
Contractors working on the Environment Agency’s excavation of a new dyke on Beccles town marshes found timber remains which had been hand-sculpted. The 2,000-year-old pieces of wood, found last year, were perfectly preserved in waterlogged conditions.
They can be seen from 1100 to 1500 BST on Saturday at Beccles Town Marshes. Entrance is free and there will be students and archaeologists on hand to guide people through the site.
Archaeologists said the wooden causeway was used from the Bronze Age in about 1000 BC, through the Iron Age to Roman times and the 4th Century AD. Results suggest the more than 2,624ft (800m) long wooden causeway may have run from dry land on the edge of Beccles, across a swamp to a spot on the River Waveney. The 16ft-wide (5m) causeway would have carried carts and was the Bronze Age equivalent of a motorway. The wet conditions of the site mean that organic material such as wood has been well preserved.”
From the BBC website
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/suffolk/6919314.stm
Evidence of a prehistoric causeway has been uncovered during flood defence work on the marshes of Suffolk.
Contractors working on the Environment Agency’s excavation of a new dyke on Beccles town marshes found timber remains which had been hand-sculpted.
Archaeologists said the wooden causeway was used from the Bronze Age in about 1000BC, through the Iron Age to Roman times and the 4th century AD.
The site will now be analysed and dated with the results published this year.
Archaeologists from the University of Birmingham and Suffolk County Council Archaeological Field Services Team were called in to investigate the find.
Results suggest the more than 2,624ft (800m) long wooden causeway may have run from dry land on the edge of Beccles, across a swamp to a spot on the River Waveney.
A 98ft-long (30m) section of the causeway has been recorded with more than 40 in-situ timber posts uncovered.
The 16ft-wide (5m) causeway would have carried carts and was the Bronze Age equivalent of a motorway.
The wet conditions of the site mean that organic material such as wood has been well preserved.
Jane Sidell, from English Heritage, said: “This is the first such structure to have been discovered within Suffolk, and is one of only a few in Britain, and as such is a nationally important find.
“It gives us an excellent opportunity to examine ancient, possibly ritual, use of the marshland, and how the marshes have developed over time.”
Dr Henry Chapman, from the University of Birmingham, said: “You have got a causeway which has been used for a tremendous amount of time, which is unique – we haven’t got something like that.
“It has been added to over time to preserve it, which shows its importance to early Beccles.”
From 24Hour Museum:
Timbers unearthed during flood defence work on the Norfolk-Suffolk border have been dated to between 3,000 and 4,000 years ago, archaeologists have revealed.
The very well preserved finds are the first of their kind in the region – it is thought they may have belonged to a walkway across the marshland in the Iron Age.
“This is the first such structure to have been discovered within Suffolk and is one of only a few in Britain,” said Jane Sidell, English Heritage Archaeological Science Advisor, “and as such is a nationally important find.” ,,,,continues....
Hundreds of thousands of years ago, stones were washed down to East Anglia with a vast river that cut through the middle of England. But what the experts are puzzling over today is where this river ran its course. If they can plot its course and date it accurately, they could prove there were humans living in Britain 500,000 years ago and fill a gap in the prehistoric knowledge. And a hand-axe discovered at Lakenheath in the 1800s could be the vital link they need.
This is part of an historical puzzle being pieced together by British archaeologists as part of the national Ancient Human Occupation of Britain (AHOB) survey. Members of AHOB were at Maidscross Heath, Lakenheath in Suffolk, taking samples from the site of the ancient riverbed to help them track its course. The site was chosen mainly because antiquarian geologist RW Flower found a hand-axe on the heath in 1869. In three pits, scientists have already found gravel deposits, which prove the river ran from the West Midlands down through Suffolk and Norfolk.
Archaeologist Nick Ashton, the British Museum’s senior curator in the department of pre-history and Europe, said they are trying to look at when humans were here and what kind of climate they were living in. The evidence suggests the hand-axe found at Lakenheath was probably carried onto the site by the river from somewhere else in England. “There is a huge gap in human occupation between 250,000 and 60,000 years ago. There seems to be a complete absence of humans in Britain – probably because of the creation of the English Channel” said Ashton. “We are looking at dating this site. The hand-axe found by Flower is slightly rolled smooth, caused by it rolling in river gravel. This (site) would not have been where it was made. The axe could have been eroded out of an even earlier deposit, which means it is at least 0.5 million years old, possibly even 600,000 years old,” he added.
Simon Lewis, a lecturer at Queen Mary College of London, said this river bed was an exciting find. “Drainage altered beyond recognition during glaciation 450,000 years ago.” At that time the River Thames flowed through Suffolk and Essex, but it was diverted to its present course by the pressure of the ice. At Lakenheath there is evidence of quartzite and quartz that has travelled from a very old deposit in the West Midlands. “Lakenheath is a fragment of this river’s story. It flowed out across to Great Yarmouth and out to a massive delta where it met the Rhine and other large continental rivers,” he said.
Source: EDP24 (28 January 2004)
The skeleton of a muscular 30-year-old, who could have been an ancient Iceni warrior, was found buried face down in earth that was part of rich Fen lands (Suffolk, England) and now is behind the fortified fence of an American base.
These human remains are only one of five that have so far been unearthed during a dig that has produced remnants of buildings, pottery, animal bones and flint tools, dating to between 2500 BCE and 410 CE.
Archaeologists say finds made at the 25,000 sqm site at RAF Mildenhall reveal significant detail about how different peoples co-existed in the turbulent times of the late Iron Age and early Roman era, when the conquerors brought their new culture and religions into the country.
Suffolk County Council’s archaeological service’s senior project officer for the dig, Andrew Tester, said it was an important excavation. “It has been a settlement from pre-history; particularly, it was well-used through the Iron Age and Roman times. They used to herd cattle here through the Iron Age and Bronze Age,” he said.
The team of 15 has found a pear-shaped corral and a watering hole, in which they found cattle bones. “We have excavated three burials – two were crouch burials, which are more traditional to Bronze Age and Iron Age. We found one that is a proper interment, and he was buried face down. According to our bone specialist, Sue Anderson, he was aged 30 and had a lot of muscle.” said Andrew Tester.
“In the early Roman, late Iron, Age there were many changes in religious practice and ideas.” added Mr Tester, “People were choosing to be buried in different ways. He was almost certainly Iceni and he could have been an Iceni warrior. This was an Iceni area and they were a traditional people. The Romans adapted and adopted other religions.”
Within a few weeks, the dig will be over and work will start on turning the site into a baseball pitch for USAF servicemen.
Source: EDP24 News (10 October 2003)
Article about the two amateur archaeologists, Mr Mutch and Mr Durbidge, whose discoveries at Pakefield in Suffolk led to the known date of arrival of early humans in northern Europe being pushed back by 200,000 years (to 700,000 years ago). Bravo!
