Monument record IPS 2119 - OUTLINE RECORD: Multi-period archaeological remains, Ipswich Northern Fringe (land south of the railway line) Ipswich (ASE) EXC

Open area excavations were undertaken at the Ipswich Northern Fringe site, near Westerfield, following on from earlier evaluation works. Eight areas were investigated, identifying multi-period remains. Early/Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age use of the site was occasional and probably transient. Remains comprised a few widely dispersed pits containing small amounts of distinctive Plain Bowl and Beaker pottery and (for the Early Neolithic) struck flints. Early Bronze Age funerary activity was represented by two adjacent pits, one containing an un-urned cremation and the other a ritually deposited, inverted Collared Urn. Middle Bronze Age funerary remains were also identified; two closely spaced pits in another area of the site each contained a cremation in an inverted Barrel Urn. The Early Iron Age continuing into the Middle Iron Age saw increased occupation with the establishment of two possible roundhouses, a ditched trackway and various pits and postholes. Part of a probable enclosure ditch was also identified. Pottery dating suggests a shift in the focus of the settlement in the Early/Middle Iron Age transition and may also have seen a shift from open to enclosed settlement. Following a period of disuse in the Late Iron Age it was reoccupied in the early Roman period by a small, and probably short lived, rural settlement. Medieval settlement was identified by the roadside at the north end of the site. Structural remains likely lay outside the excavation area but pitting, postholes and cobbled surfaces were identified in what would have been their rear. In the wider landscape enclosure and boundary ditches and quarrying were recorded. Post-medieval agricultural land use (17th–19th century) was demonstrated by some field boundary ditches and quarry pits or sumps.
Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2022 (S1)