Monument record LKH 207 - RAF Lakenheath, Hospital Zone Maintenance Building, (Prehistoric)

Excavation along the lines of footings and services for a new Hospital Zone Maintenance building revealed ditches and pits dating to Iron Age, Roman and Early Saxon periods. These were sealed by a dark soil occupation layer containing Roman and Saxon finds. This represents a continuation of the intense IA, Rom & ESax settlement activity seen in nearby excavations, e.g. LKH 146, 192, 160 etc. Details in (S1-S2).
Also see Rom and Sax.

2001:Excavation identified Early Anglo-Saxon feautres including three sunken-featured buildings. Pottery and animal bone of both Roman and Early Anglo-Saxon was recovered from features and surviving buried soil layers. A broad line of east-west aligned ditches ran across the south end of the site and appeared to be first dug in the later Roman period and maintained into the fifth century AD. This band of ditches was found on other sites and seems to represent the northern edge of the Roman Settlement. A shallow circular pit on the extreme north eastern corner of the site contian3ed three horses heads carefully placed in a triangular arrangement. These have no associated dating evidence but are presumed to be a religious or superstitious ritual. The heads will be radiocarbon dated once fully analysed (S3).

A limited excavation was carried out within the Roman settlement area in advance of building construction. The footing and service trenches were excavated, but the main area of the building footprint was left intact under existing tarmac. The excavation revealed that although the site had previously been levelled and covered with tarmac the base of the Roman soil layer survived over most of the site and the features were intact, with the exception of small service trench intrusions. The now familiar pattern of ditches was seen, most dating to the Roman period but with some earlier ones dating to the Iron Age. It was clear from the very limited view afforded by this method of excavation that the Roman settlement continues into this area. The features seemed to thin out to the west edge of the site and it may be that this is near the edge of the settlement. Work on the service trenches showed Roman features N.W. of the site. Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 1999 (S4).