Monument record BRH 066 - OUTLINE RECORD: Geophysical survey recorded potential settlement activity at Land North of Church Lane, Barham and Claydon (SA) EVAL and GEO (PCA) EXC

2016: In August and September 2016 Suffolk Archaeology Community Interest Company (SACIC) undertook a detailed fluxgate gradiometer survey on land off Norwich Road, Barham, Suffolk. One open field comprising 17.73 hectares of arable land was prospected for anomalies of archaeological derivation. The detailed fluxgate gradiometer survey recorded a variety of geophysical anomalies, including potential settlement activity in the form of pits and ditches within the eastern half of the field. Intrusive archaeological investigations to be undertaken across the site will target geophysical anomalies recorded by the fluxgate gradiometer and also blank areas of the dataset to determine whether archaeological features remain undetected beneath the ploughsoil. (S1)

An archaeological evaluation was undertaken prior to submission of an application for the residential development of the site. The evaluation was carried out in conjunction with a geophysical survey (see above). 116 trenches were excavated, 55 of which contained archaeological features. Systematic metal detecting over a number of years along with previous work to the east of the site had shown prehistoric, Roman and Anglo Saxon activity in the area, potentially of high status, and features dating to each of these periods were identified during the evaluation. While a number of postholes and potential beam slots suggested the possibility of the presence of Anglo Saxon buildings on the site, a single confirmed sunken featured building was identified. Unusually, interred within the backfill of this building were the remains a middle aged man, possibly the victim of execution (Fig 7). The skeleton was articulated with the exception of the skull which had been placed on the knees and the lower legs which were upside down and the wrong way around, the left foot was next to the right thigh and vice versa. Deliberate decapitation was evident with cut marks present on the neck vertebrae, however, no cut marks were present on the knees suggesting time had passed between death and deposition, with the possibility that the body had been left on display. It is currently unclear whether this inhumation represents a so-called deviant burial or the disposal of a victim of execution. Radiocarbon testing of the skeleton returned a date range of 555 to 646AD. Further evidence of potential Anglo Saxon settlement was shown by the presence of sherds of both Ipswich ware and Thetford ware pottery and also a layer of dark earth within some of the trenches.

Occupation of the site in prehistory was evident with dispersed pits containing pottery and flintwork dating from the later Neolithic to Early Bronze Age while Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age pottery was recovered from two ditches and one pit. Middle to Late Iron Age pottery was recovered from both pits and ditches, including two large pits which were not fully excavated due to their depth and may parallel similar examples recorded nearby at both Barham and Coddenham quarries. A possible double ditched enclosure was identified by the geophysical survey, targeted by the trenching and shown to date from the Late Iron Age to the early Roman period. Three further ditches and a large pit could also be dated to this transitional Iron Age to Roman period (S3).


2022: Excavation of two open areas identified a localised cluster of five small pits containing Late Bronze Age pottery, in addition to Late Iron Age and Roman field boundary ditches. Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2022 (S2).