Find Spot record BOT 047 - Community Test Pitting - Botesdale and Rickinghall 2017 and 2018

2017: Six 1m2 test pits were excavated in both Rickinghall and Botesdale by 24 Year 9 and Year 12 students from Sybil Andrews Academy and the King Edward VI School. The investigation was part of the Independent Learning Archaeology Field School (ILAFS) programme. The test pits were focused in the northern extent of Rickinghall and the southern half of Botesdale. A single test pit in Botesdale produced Bronze Age pottery and three of the test pits produced pottery of high medieval date. (S3)

Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2017 (S1).

2018: Eight 1m2 archaeological test pits were excavated in both Rickinghall and Botesdale as part of the Independent Learning Archaeology Field School (ILAFS) programme. They were dug by 32 Year 7 and Year 8 students from the King Edward VI School and St Benedict’s Catholic School, Bury St Edmunds. Six of the eight pits revealed further activity dating to the high medieval period and showed the extent of the settlement at this time, not only along the main road, but also on the roads that branch off The Street, along Back Hills and Cherrytree Lane. Activity dating to the later medieval period supported the results from six test pits in 2017, with an evident shift in the settlement (S3).

Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2018. (S2)