Monument record SAL 092 - Outline Record- Iron Age to Roman Settlement features and medieval features The Street, Stonham Aspal (EVAL) PCA

A c.2.5ha area was excavated in advance of residential development. This revealed 11 Late Iron Age to Roman roundhouses, some of which showed evidence of at least one phase of rebuilding during their use. The roundhouses were occupied at varying times, the earliest being Late Iron Age (perhaps as early as c.50 BC), others being occupied up to the middle of the second century AD. The latest identifiable Roman coin from the site was struck in AD 163. A multiphase ditched field and enclosure systems attests to the shifting focus of occupation around the site. A system of cultivation beds in the N part of the site suggests arable farming during at least one phase, while two ditches in the central part of the site appeared to form a livestock funnel from a more open area to the N. In some cases, certain phases of field/enclosure boundaries truncated earlier roundhouse remains. Almost all the Romano-British features produced finds, typically pottery, animal bone, tile and fired clay fragments (probably from oven structures), with other finds including shards of window and vessel glass, fragments of quern stones, and bulk metalwork such as iron nails. Other notable finds include a 1st-century copper-alloy vessel recovered from a roundhouse ditch, a 2nd-century Samian ware vessel decorated with chickens, and enameled zoomorphic brooches. Other objects, including an iron axe, whetstone, a key and a copper-alloy spoon, reflect more everyday life in a farming settlement. After this intensive activity, the site appears to have fallen out of use until it became part of the agricultural landscape surrounding Stonham Aspal village. Medieval (c.11th to 15th century) features were restricted to the E end of site and appeared to be on the periphery of an area of occupation around a small green to the N and E of the site. Metal-detecting of the site’s subsoil prior to its removal produced an assemblage of medieval and post-medieval metalwork that is typical of domestic rubbish scattered on arable fields during manuring. The assemblage includes approximately 50 medieval coins, a silver brooch and a late medieval gold ring that had unfortunately been severely damaged by ploughing, as well as buckles, harness fittings and other objects typical of medieval and post-medieval rural life (S1).