Site Event/Activity record ESF21570 - Evaluation and Environmental Sampling, Thelnetham Fen

In December 2008 an archaeological trench evaluation was undertaken at Thelnetham Fen, Suffolk in order to mitigate the impact resulting from the removal of up to 1m of degraded peat and peaty topsoil required for the fen restoration project being undertaken by the Little Ouse Headwaters Project (LOHP). Apart from possible drainage channels or linear peat cuttings no archaeology was found. However, environmental monolith samples were taken, and at the request of LOHP, the pollen was examined from an undisturbed section of the upper 1m of peat, and a section of the lower peat recovered from a testpit dug on a deeper section of the fen basin (1.85m deep) in June 2009. Radiocarbon dates obtained from this lower monolith show that fen mire development began here some 8000 years ago (7170 +/-50 BP), during which period peat accumulation was reasonably rapid. The pollen record is interesting in that it shows a number of increases in tree pollen (chiefly of oak and from 6000 BC of pine) with an expansion of wet meadow flora and persistence of fen aquatics in between. With the exception of one peak in Plantago lanceolata and Chenopodium around 6000 BC suggesting possible human disturbance associated with clearance, there are few obvious indicators of anthropogenic activity. Project status: Complete Yes, Validated Yes Previous/Future Work: Previous No, Future No Associated Identifiers: HER event no. THE 031 Sitecode TFN08 Sitecode TFN09 NMR No. 1559257 Project Type: Field evaluation Development Type: Not recorded, restoration of fen, Not recorded Methods and Techniques: Test Pits, Targeted Trenches, Environmental Sampling Position in the Planning Process: After full determination (eg. As a condition) Reason for Investigation: Conservation/ restoration Site status: Site of Special Scientific Importance (SSSI) Current Land use: Grassland Heathland 2 - Undisturbed Grassland, Woodland 8 - Other Monument Type(s)/Period(s): SITE Late Mesolithic , SITE Early Neolithic Artefact Type(s)/Period(s): FLINTS Late Prehistoric PROJECT LOCATION Area 5.00 Hectares Grid Reference: TM01367891 Point Height 22.00 - 22.00 metres PROJECT CREATOR(S) Brief originator: Consultant Design originator: Robin Standring Director/Manager: Robin Standring Supervisor: Jonathan Tabor PHYSICAL ARCHIVE Recipient: Cambridge Archaeological Unit ID: THE08 + THE09 BIBLIOGRAPHY Publication Type: Grey literature (unpublished document/manuscript) Title: Thelnetham Fen, Suffolk: An archaeological evaluation and palaeoenvironmental investigation Author(s)/Editor(s): Timberlake,S. and Tabor, J Other Bibliographic Details: CAU Report no.929 Date: 2010 Issuer/Publisher: Cambridge Archaeological Unit Place of Issue or Publication: Cambridge Description: 28 page unpublished grey report complete with map, site plan, section, photographs and pollen diagram. Wire bound with clear plastic front and card backplate.