New publication on prehistoric site

AS' report on archaeological excavations at Ingham Quarry, Fornham St Genevieve, Suffolk has been published in Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History

AS undertook a phased programme of excavation work, to fit in with the programme of mineral extraction, at this site between 2008 and 2011. The work revealed an extensive multi-period site with evidence for human activity of early Neolithic to Roman date. The most important phases of activity were dated to the early Bronze Age and the middle to later Iron Age.

In the early Bronze Age, funerary activity occurred at the site. Suffolk contains a wealth of Bronze Age funerary sites and this site contributes to the body evidence regarding such practices during this period in the region.

The middle to later Iron Age site comprised a series of pit groups which may have been used for the storage of grain. Evidence of occupation was also present but no domestic structures were identified. The positioning of the pit clusters in relation to a wetland area known as Timworth Carr may indicate that there was some kind of symbolic significance to the choice of this location for these granary pits; watery contexts and striking natural features were often foci for Iron Age symbolic activity.

The paper by AS' Andrew Newton and Antony Mustchin is out now.