Monument record BNH 013 - East Farm Brick Pit, Barnham, (Palaeolithic)

Clactonian (Flake based tools) industry overlain by Acheulean (Including Handaxes) Industry, (S3,S14)

Pre 1914: artefacts including handaxes mentioned by Clarke, (S6)

c. 1933: Excavation by Paterson and Fagg, (S1, S2)

1979: Small Excavation bu Wymer, (S9).

1989-94: Excavations have demonstrated contemporaneity of Clactonian and Acheulean flint industries, (S5,S7,S8,S10,S12,S15).

Scientific dating report on British Aggregates by English Heritage (S11)

2013-2018: Excavations of the Lower Palaeolithic site have been ongoing since 2013. A primary aim of the excavations in 2013-2017 was to investigate the relationship between the two different archaeological assemblages present at the site. A new area (Area 6 VI) positioned between Area 1I and Area IV (4) has provided increased geological resolution and archaeological data that has enabled the relationship between the Clactonian and Acheulean assemblages to be resolved. The two assemblages represent two culturally distinct populations, a first group with lithic technology that did not include the manufacture of hand axes followed sometime later by a second group with hand axes. The excavations in Area VI also recovered evidence for burning in the form of large quantities of burnt flint, including small numbers of burnt flint artefacts. The majority of the burnt material has been recovered from the palaeosol (S13, S14).

2020: No excavation due to Covid 19

2021:Excavation resumed
2022:Excavation resumed

2023: Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2023. Ongoing excavations have been investigating the Lower Palaeolithic site contained within the sediments of the old clay pit to the S of the farm. The site is one of several in the Breckland that date to the Hoxnian interglacial (c.400,000 years ago) and that collectively are making a major contribution to the understanding of human occupation in Europe during this period. This work has shown that the clay pit is composed of Pleistocene deposits that occupy a small basin, formed as a glacial channel cut into chalk bedrock during the Anglian glaciation (c.450,000 years ago). The glacial sediments (units 1-3) are overlain by interglacial sediments which, at the edge of the basin (Areas I, IV(4) and VI), are decalcified and formed of a coarse lag gravel (unit 4), a thin grey silt (unit 5e) with a palaeosol (unit 6). Towards the middle of the basin, the grey silt thickens to over 5m in depth (Area III), where it contains rich organic remains, including pollen, molluscs, and vertebrates. Together they suggest that the basin is formed of a small pond, fed by an ephemeral stream or springs, surrounded by grass and deciduous woodland. As the basin became choked with sediment at the peak of the interglacial, the pond dried out, vegetation encroached and the palaeosol formed across the basin, which was then gradually overlain by a thick sequence of colluvial brown silty-clay (unit 7, ‘brickearth’). The site was occupied by two successive human groups, the first represented by a simple assemblage of cores, flakes and flake tools from the top of the lag gravel and grey silt, while the second assemblage from the palaeosol includes handaxes and flakes from their manufacture. This change in human occupation of the site seems to have occurred at the peak of the interglacial and may be part of a more regional signal as a similar succession of lithic assemblages has been identified at Devereux’s Pit, near Icklingham, 10km to the SW (see IKL 043). More broadly this pattern can be seen in Thames Valley at Swanscombe.
Since 2021, the excavations have completed the work to support this interpretation, but have also focused on the evidence of burning. Previously, concentrations of burnt flint were found in Area VI, with occasional charcoal found in Areas I and III. The aim has been to try and distinguish human from natural fire, which at this age range is complex, and with the problems of post-depositional movement of flint and charcoal. However, a new area to the E of Area I was identified in 2021, where there is an isolated patch of reddened clay within the palaeosol, which appears to be burnt sediment, indicative of an in-situ fire. Geochemical analyses are underway to test whether the sediment is actually burnt, the likely duration of the fire, and what sort of temperatures were attained; more sustained burning with high temperatures is more likely to indicate human fire use, rather than a forest fire. The new excavated area has also revealed occasional burnt flints, including a heat-shattered handaxe. If the analyses support human fire use, then this would be one of several sites in Europe, including the nearby site of Beeches Pit, with earliest evidence of this technology at c.400,000 years ago. Excavations in 2024 will resume to try and complete this work. (S19).

2015:New excavations have been undertaken at East Farm, Barnham, since 2013. The site is in an old clay pit, which has been known since the turn of the 20th century to contain Lower Palaeolithic artefacts. The first excavations were in the 1930s by T.T. Paterson and a section was cut in 1978 by John Wymer (Paterson 1937; Wymer 1985). Larger-scale excavations were undertaken between 1989 and 1994, which provided our current understanding of the geological succession, artefact assemblages and floral and faunal remains (Ashton et al. 1998). The site consists of silts and clays that infill a depression, interpreted as a fluvial channel, cut into Anglian glacial sediments that date to c. 450,000 years ago. At the edge of the basin the sediments consist of a coarse lag gravel overlain by a fluvially-deposited silt. The silt thickens towards the middle of the basin, where the top 2 m preserve pollen, molluscs and vertebrate remains. The environmental evidence suggests a slow-moving stream that flowed through the basin, surrounded by grass and deciduous vegetation. The channel sediments are sealed by a palaeosol at the margins and probably in the middle of the basin, showing the drying out of the river and the whole sequence is overlain by 2-3m of brickearth. The channel deposits and the artefact assemblages date to the Hoxnian Interglacial, c. 400,000 years ago.

The main artefact assemblages were found on the lag gravel on the southern margins of the channel. In one area (Area I) the flint artefacts consisted of simple cores and flakes with occasional scrapers, which have traditionally been termed a ‘Clactonian’ assemblage. Less than 50 m to the east Area IV(4) contained both cores and flakes, but also evidence of handaxe manufacture, traditionally termed ‘Acheulian’ . The interpretation put forward from this work was that the same group of people were responsible for both assemblages, but with different activities and tools in the two areas, rather than being culturally distinct.

The current project is reinvestigating this conclusion by opening up new archaeological areas and geological sections between Areas I and IV(4). It is hoped that this will provide improved understanding of the relationship between the assemblages. A second aim is to investigate the evidence of burning. Abundant quantities of burnt flint have been found in the palaeosol, but it is not clear whether this from a natural forest fire, or from the controlled use of fire by humans. Some of the earliest evidence of human fire-use in Europe was found at Beeches Pit near Icklingham, which also dates to c. 400,000 years ago (Preece et al. 2007) and if the new work at Barnham provides evidence of more widespread use of fire, this may shed more light on what is a major turning point in early human evolution. A final aim is to increase our knowledge of the floral, molluscan and vertebrate assemblages recovered from the middle of the channel and new areas have been excavated and sampled in Area III. It is the richest site for the variety of amphibians and reptiles in Britain, with exotic species such as tree frogs and European pond terrapin. It also has exotic mammals, including remains of extinct forms of rhinoceros and elephant, but also of lion. The new work is adding to understanding of the vertebrate and molluscan assemblages and will also provide improved understanding of the local vegetation from fresh analysis of the pollen. The excavations will continue in 2016. Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2015 (S20),