Site Event/Activity record ESF21899 - Excavation, Phase 5 Liberty Village, RAF Lakenheath

PROJECT DETAILS Archaeological excavation carried out prior to the redevelopment of the Liberty Village housing estate at RAF Lakenheath identified occupation and funerary activity from the prehistoric to Anglo-Saxon periods. The earliest main phase of activity consisted of an Early Bronze Age ring ditch, set c.60m east of a similar known example (ERL 148). The ring ditch was 4.5m wide and 1.25m deep, enclosing an area c.30m in diameter, and showed two distinctive periods of infilling. Roman material consisting of two deliberately placed pig skulls and feet together with a coin scatter, was recovered from the upper fills of the ring ditch on the eastern side. A single grave, slightly off-centre to the south-east within the ring ditch contained a mature male inhumation of presumed Bronze Age date. With Roman deposits in the upper ring ditch fills the two Bronze Age barrows are presumed to have survived as visible monuments throughout the Roman period and into the Anglo-Saxon period. The final phase of activity on the site consisted of seven inhumation burials, two of which have been radiocarbon dated to the 7th-8th century middle Anglo-Saxon period. Four of these were positioned in a row, apparently inserted into the eastern side of the surviving Bronze Age barrow. The remaining three burials, consisting of two adults and a child, were on a similar alignment to the previous four, but cut into the northern part of the backfilled ditch and so post-date the final infilling of the ring ditch. Project status: Complete Yes, Validated Yes Previous/Future Work: Previous Yes, Future No Associated Identifiers: HER event no. ERL 203 Related HER No. ERL 148 Planning Application No. F/2004/092/GOV NMR No. 1431513 Project Type: Recording project Investigation Type: '''Open-area excavation''' Reason for Investigation: Direction from Local Planning Authority - PPG16 Current Land use: Other 5 - Garden Monument Type(s)/Period(s): RING DITCH Early Bronze Age , BURIAL Early Medieval , BURIAL Early Bronze Age Artefact Type(s)/Period(s): NAIL Early Medieval , HUMAN REMAINS Early Bronze Age , HUMAN REMAINS Early Medieval , BROOCH Roman, BROOCH Early Medieval , KNIFE Early Medieval , BUCKLE Early Medieval , WORKED FLINT Late Prehistoric, POTTERY Roman, POTTERY Late Prehistoric, COIN Roman PROJECT LOCATION Area 0.26 Hectares Grid Reference: TL72927988 Point PROJECT CREATOR(S) Brief originator: Local Authority Archaeologist and/or Planning Authority/advisory body Design originator: Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service, Field Team Director/Manager: Jo Caruth Supervisor: John Craven DIGITAL ARCHIVE Recipient: Suffolk County SMR Contents: 'Animal Bones', 'Ceramics', 'Environmental', 'Human Bones', 'Metal', 'Worked stone/lithics' Media: 'Database', 'GIS', 'Images raster / digital photography', 'Text' PAPER ARCHIVE Recipient: Suffolk County SMR Contents: 'Animal Bones', 'Ceramics', 'Environmental', 'Human Bones', 'Metal', 'Worked stone/lithics' Media: 'Aerial Photograph', 'Context sheet', 'Drawing', 'Photograph', 'Plan', 'Report', 'Section' PHYSICAL ARCHIVE Recipient: Suffolk County SMR Contents: 'Animal Bones', 'Ceramics', 'Environmental', 'Human Bones', 'Metal', 'Worked stone/lithics' BIBLIOGRAPHY Publication Type: Grey literature (unpublished document/manuscript) Title: Liberty Village, RAF Lakenheath, Eriswell, ERL 143, ERL 147, ERL 148 and ERL 203 Author(s)/Editor(s): Craven, J. A. Other Bibliographic Details: SCCAS Report No. 2012/038 Date: 2012 Issuer/Publisher: SCCAS Place of Issue or Publication: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk Description: SCCAS Excavation assessment report