Monument record ACT 045 - Late Iron Age enclosure and pits at Land South Of Tamage Road (SUMO) GEO

2018: A geophysical survey did not identify any definite archaeological anomalies. Linear anomalies of uncertain origin were detected, along with land drains and evidence of ploughing activity. The remaining responses included areas of natural magnetic variation and disturbance from nearby boundary fences. (S1)

2020: Evaluation revealed Late Iron Age ditches in the N part of the site and a small assemblage of Neolithic flint from a natural feature in the S. Targeted excavation of the Iron Age remains revealed that the ditches defined the S side of a rectilinear enclosure, which contained four small pits arranged in a line along the enclosure’s S boundary and one larger pit, a chalk quarry containing worked deer antler. From the subsoil, a Roman brooch overlying a natural solution hollow was also found. More recent activity was evident from a set of poorly dated linear ditches, which respect the layout of surrounding fields depicted on 19th-century maps. Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2020 (S2). Full report to follow.

2021: The evaluation uncovered ditches within the northern part of the development area, adjacent to Tamage Road, which produced pottery spot dated to the Late Iron Age along with a few earlier Iron Age sherds. A small assemblage of narrow flakes that refitted to a core of Early Neolithic origin was also recovered from a natural tree throw feature. The subsequent excavation targeted the area of Iron Age remains. This work revealed that the ditches partly defined the southern extent of a rectilinear enclosure which encompassed a watering hole and four small pits, possibly representing ad hoc hearths. These features produced material generated from the presumed nearby core of a domestic farmstead setting including: pottery, animal bone, a fragmentary loomweight, wall-surface daub and, significantly, an assemblage of Iron Age worked flint, including cores and other tool forms. In addition, a Colchester derivative Romano-British brooch was recovered from the fill of a natural solution hollow. These investigations also uncovered a set of poorly dated former field boundary ditches whose alignment respected the layout of the surrounding fields shown on 19th century maps of the site. The excavation has revealed a locally significant group of Middle to Late Iron Age remains in a rural setting rarely excavated in this part of mid Suffolk. The watering hole and its surrounding features probably represent peripheral pastoral activity associated with a farmstead whose origins possibly lay in the Early Iron Age period (S3).