Monument record BRS 014 - Triple post alignment, Barsham Marshes

Excavations of a soke dyke as part of flood alleviation works uncovered a number of worked timber posts, preserved within floodplain peat deposits at the edge of the River Waveney. Full excavation of an area of 25 x 8m was undertaken, revealing a total of 29 upright posts on a NNE to SSW alignment. A quantity of horse bones were also recovered to the south of the excavation area together with small quantities of burnt flint. A single radiocarbon date has shown the structure to be of Romano-British date, although the function remains unclear (S1).
Similar alignment found across river in Norfolk - see Norfolk HER for details.

The site is a triple post alignment of oak stakes built at the edgoe of a palaeochannel of the River Waveney. The alignment has been traced for over 30m but neither terminus of the site has been excavated. Dendrochronological dating of the timber has produced a range of felling dates between 8 BC and 8 AD indicating a late Iron Age date fro the structure. Palaeoenvironmenal analyses of the associated deposits indicate that the site was located at the edge of a shallow channel of the River Waveney with local aquatic and alder carr vegetation and evidence of more open scrub and pastoral environments in the wider landscape. This channel appears to have been infilled by the 11th century AD and is overlain by a thin layer of humified peat, corresponding to the uppermost level of preservation of the stakes. It is likely that any superstructure originally supported by the stakes had finally decomposed or been dismatled by this time (S2).

A timber post-row or alignment of Roman date was exposed during the excavation of a soke dyke as part of flood alleviation works. The timbers were preserved within a complex floodplain matrix consisting of riverine alluvium and peat deposits in a former channel of the River Waveney. Following preliminary assessment, a joint team from Suffolk County Council Archaeology Service and Birmingham Archaeo-Environmental undertook a full archaeological excavation of the 25m x 8m ‘development footprint’. A total of 30 upright posts in 3 rows, on an approximate north-south alignment, were identified in a 30m x 4m band running diagonally across the excavated area. Much of the upper timber of the posts had decayed leaving only the lower ends and points preserved in situ. The timbers, which have yielded a radiocarbon date of cal.AD 130-240, all show clear signs of woodworking and there is evidence for the use of timber from coppiced woodland. It is clear the posts continue outside of the excavation but the full extent of the feature is unknown. Its importance lies in the fact that it is without parallel in the Roman period, and in the relatively good state of preservation of the tool marks and the lower parts of the timbers. Sections were excavated across the alignment and individual posts were recorded and removed. No other finds or features were identified. In addition to the excavation, an auger survey was carried out to assess the stratigraphy across the site, and a single ‘master sequence’ was sampled from the edge of the trench for palaeoenvironmental assessment (pollen, diatoms, beetles and plant macrofossil). Further palaeoenvironmental analyses, including radiocarbon dating of the stratigraphic sequence, and full analysis of the structure is being undertaken.
The coring survey identified the presence of a large natural gravel island to the south of the site, which may have been more a prominent feature in the past, particularly before the river was canalised. The post alignment appears to be originating from, or heading towards this feature. Unlike the post alignment recently discovered at Beccles (see ‘Archaeology in Suffolk 2006’ and below) only episodic estuarine inundation was identified this far up the Waveney. Floodplain sedimentation accumulating from riverine processes is likely to have been responsible for the development of the matrix in which the site was found.
The function of the feature is unclear but interpretations have been suggested which range from functional, such as a fish trap, bank revetment or waterfront structure, to the more exotic, such as a ‘ritual’ causeway or ceremonial monument. The proximity and similarity to the site at Beccles is significant, for although the two structures have some key differences and are separated in date by several centuries, this new site appears to represent continuity of the monument form and type. Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2007 (S3)