Monument record ERL 046 - Lakenheath Airfield; Skills Centre

May 1979 (?): three inhumations with Anglo Saxon grave goods, found during excavation of a pipe trench. Finds include:- annular brooches, square head brooch, beads (amber, glass & crystal), wrist clasp, shield boss, with gilded stud rings (S1). Three partial skeletons and grave goods, including annular brooches, a square-headed brooch, beads, a wrist clasp and a shield boss, were recovered from a building trench on the fringe of a known Anglo-Saxon inhumation cemetery (S3).
Probably an extension of ERL 008 & ERL 058. Full details in site report of September (?) 1981 - stolen Autumn 1981.
1999: Excavation of part of cemetery area prior to re-development located 59 further burials plus ring ditches, one containing a horse burial (and adult male with sword). Summary in PSIAH 39 (2000), 520-521. Details to follow see backlog to be HER'd(S2).

Excavation work in advance of redevelopment at RAF Lakenheath has uncovered fifty-nine more Early Anglo-Saxon burials from an area where the remains of four burials were uncovered during pipe work in 1980. The site lies within c.80m of the cemetery (ERL104) excavated in 1997 and c.50m S.W. of the cemetery (ERL008) excavated by Grace Lady Briscoe in 1959. The alignment of this cemetery and its continuation east under the present Plymouth Road suggest that this may be the western end of the 1959 cemetery rather than a separate group of burials. Southern and western edges to the cemetery were identified as the point where the burials suddenly stopped but no actual physical boundary could be seen.
Although contemporary with the 1997 cemetery (ERL104) several differences between the cemeteries were noticeable. This cemetery seemed to be more consciously ordered than ERL104 with the majority of the graves conforming to a row pattern and an apparent grouping of the wealthier burials together at the west end of the cemetery. The subsoil was more uniformly sandy, with only small areas of chalk, with the result that the skeletons were generally in a poorer condition than those of ERL104, although some complete remains in good condition were recovered. The first impression of the finds is that, despite the presence of some wealthy burials, the grave-goods were in general less rich than those from ERL104. Some of the brooch types are completely absent and there is a lower proportion of shields and spears. There was also another horse and warrior burial which although very similar in style to that in ERL104, importantly lacked the fine bridle. There were two ring ditches, both surrounding a pair of graves: one pair an adult and a child and the other the horse and warrior grave and a child. A fully crouched burial was also found; this is not a usual Anglo-Saxon style of burial and it contained no grave-goods. Other unusual, although Saxon, burials were of a young person buried face down and a pair of women buried side by side. Cataloguing of this site is underway and it is intended to publish the results of this cemetery with that of ERL104.
Once again there was great co-operation and help from the Ministry of Defence (Defence Estates), who also funded the work, U.S.A.F. personnel, the contract project managers Pick Everard and the site contractors John Sisk and Son, all of whom played a large part in ensuring the success of the excavation.
Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 1999 (S5).

2005 PXA: The site lies within an area where Early Saxon burials were found during trench works in 1980 and between the known Early Saxon cemetery sites of ERL 104 and ERL 008. Excavation revealed 59 Anglo-Saxon graves primiarily in the western half of the site. The grave layout of ERL 114 around a Bronze Age mound suggests this cemetery is separate. Almost all graves were E-W alligned with the head at the west and in a supine extended of flexed position (one was prone and two crouched). Wealthier burials were concentrated to the west end of the site. There were 2 small ring ditches on the site each surrounding a pair of graves, and adult male and a child. The larger ring ditch also contained a horse burial in the adult male grave who was buried with a sword, spear and shield. Other grave goods from across the site included beads, brooches, knives, finger rings and girdle hangers, and further swords, spears and shields.

The PXA forms an assessment of the potential for analysis for 3 important Early Saxon cemeteries: ERL 046 ERL 114 ERL 104. In total, 426 inhumations and 17 cremations have been excavated and current evidence suggests that most were buried between c.475AD and 625AD. Many of the burials are furnished with personal items characteristic of the period; spears and shields with the men, beads and brooches with the women. As well as a profusion of material representing typical day-to-day life, more spectacular finds include two horses, one adorned with a splendid gilded bridle, four swords, shears, buckets and imported brooches. These sites represent the largest and best preserved Anglo-Saxon cemetery group available for modern analysis. Local geological conditions ensured that more that half the burials had good preservation of the skeletal remains and the sheer quantity and quality of artefacts recovered suggests that these people belonged to a thriving settlement. (S4)