Archaeology News in Suffolk
A collection of archaeological news, projects and events in Suffolk from Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service
Welcome to our e-newsletter for April 2024
Upcoming Events
Celebration Event: Rendlesham Revealed
📅 When: Thursday 16th May 2024
🕚 Time: Drop in anytime between 11am-3pm
📍 Where: Ipswich Corn Exchange
💰 Price: FREE admission, no booking required!
Mark your calendars and join us for a day of discovery, exploration, and celebration at the Rendlesham Revealed event.
Dive into the past and enjoy captivating displays showcasing the incredible archaeological results from the past 4 years thanks to our amazing volunteers. Marvel at some of the excavated artefacts dating back over 1,400 years old with Cotswold Archaeology. Immerse yourself in the world of Anglo-Saxon crafts with pottery demonstrations and learn about the experimental Ipswich Ware kiln.
But that's not all. Discover more with stalls from: Ipswich Museum, Suffolk Archaeological Field Group, Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History, Sutton Hoo Society, National Trust textile costume group and Suffolk Mind.
🎤Join us for informal short talks repeated throughout the day:
🕦11:30am and 1:30pm - Discovering Rendlesham and Community Fieldwork by Faye Minter (Archives and Projects Manager, Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service)
🕦11:45am and 1:45pm - Rendlesham Excavations: Summary of Results 2021 – 2023 by Professor Christopher Scull (Principal Academic Advisor, Rendlesham Revealed)
The Suffolk Show
📅 When: Wednesday 29th and Thursday 30th May 2024
🕚 Time: 8.30am - 6pm
📍 Where: The Suffolk Show Ground, Trinity Park, Ipswich
💰 Price: Tickets required (£13 - £38, under 15s Free) includes parking.
Come along and see us at The Suffolk Show - a fun family day out. Want to know more about archaeology in Suffolk? The team will be there with a variety of archaeological objects to look at and to answer your questions.
The Rendlesham Show
📅 When: Saturday 8th June 2024
🕚 Time: Drop in anytime between 11am-5pm
📍 Where: Jubilee Park, Rendlesham
💰 Price: FREE admission, no booking required!
We will be at the Rendlesham Show to share the archaeological results as part of the Rendlesham Revealed project. Have you recently found any archaeological objects? Bring them along and our finds recording team can help to identify them.
Dragon Fest
📅 When: Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23th June 2024
🕚 Time: 11am-4pm
📍 Where: West Stow Country Park
💰 Price: Tickets required (£various) includes parking
We will be at Dragon Fest 2024 with our handling collection and updates on the Rendlesham Revealed project.
Featured Projects - Rendlesham Revealed
Image: Rendlesham Revealed 360 Virtual Exhibition (© Suffolk County Council)
New Virtual Online Exhibition
A brand new virtual online tour of the popular exhibition Rendlesham Revealed: The Heart of a Kingdom AD 400-800, previously on display last year at National Trust’s Sutton Hoo, is now available online for everyone to explore. This virtual tour gives a 360° experience to digitally walk around the exhibition, view the exhibits and artefacts, and interact with audio and video interviews by the archaeologists themselves. Created in partnership with Vortex Visual Ltd, this interactive tour is freely accessible online in perpetuity for all to explore at their leisure.
Image: Glass vessel fragment found in the refuse disposal area excavated from Rendlesham (© Suffolk County Council)
Rendlesham Behind the Scenes: Post-Excavation 2023
Following the final season of excavation at Rendlesham in 2023, a team of volunteers continued the post-excavation work on the excavated material and the specialists have completed their initial analysis, revealing some interesting discoveries.
Explore this new blog series, written by the specialists, to learn more about the zooarchaeology with Matilda Holmes, metal objects with Faye Minter, Glass with Rose Broadly and Metal working with Eleanor Blakelock.
Finds Recording in Suffolk
Image: Medieval Lead papal bulla (© Suffolk County Council)
Featured Find - Medieval Lead papal bulla, Ashbocking
This object, identified by our Finds Recording team, was recovered by a local metal detector user near Ashbocking in 2021. It is made of lead and is circular in plan. It is bifacial, meaning both its faces carry decoration or an inscription. Papal bullae were attached to official documents produced by the papal chancellery by a ribbon of linen or silk and were used to authenticate the document to which they were attached.
If you have recently found an archaeological object in Suffolk which you'd like identified and recorded, our Finds Recording Team can help. Find out more about Finds Recording here.
Archaeology in Development
Image: Incomplete cast strap distributor or harness link from a bridle bit (c.AD 1000-1100) (© Cotswold Archaeology)
Iron Age, Roman and Medieval settlement above the Gipping Valley
In 2020, archaeological excavation in Stowupland revealed evidence of Iron Age, Roman and medieval remains in this area of clay lands, adding to our understanding of the origins of roadside and green-edge settlements in Suffolk.
The work was commissioned by Linden Homes and the excavations were undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology, ahead of a proposed residential development. Suffolk County Council’s archaeological officers monitored the project to ensure that the site was excavated and recorded to a high standard.
From the Vaults
Image: Book cover for “An Early Medieval Craft. Antler and Bone Working from Ipswich Excavations 1974-1994” (© Suffolk County Council)
Viking combs put Ipswich at the heart of the early medieval world.
“An Early Medieval Craft. Antler and Bone Working from Ipswich Excavations 1974-1994” has been published by Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service (SCCAS) in partnership with Historic England, on 27 March 2024. 20 years of excavations by SCCAS in the historic core of Ipswich between 1974-1994 generated an amazing 2,400 fragments of antler and bone waste and over 1,300 objects – most dating back to the 7th to 12th century. It is the range of objects which is so rich, especially for the Viking material, which surpasses all other English sites for its quantity and quality.
Thank you for joining our e-newsletter, for those who are new, here's a brief summary of what we do.
We are the main provider of archaeological advice in Suffolk and to promote the conservation, enhancement and understanding of Suffolk's distinctive historic environment, we:
- maintain a record of archaeology and heritage assets, the Historic Environment Record
- provide advice to planners, developers and farmers
- identify and record finds made by members of the public
- curate an archive for fieldwork projects carried out in the county
- publish the results of fieldwork and other research into Suffolk's past