Archaeological Monitoring Report

Transcription

1 Archaeological Monitoring Report High Lodge, Santon Downham SMR Nos. STN 067, STN 068 A REPORT ON THE ARCHAEOLOGCAL MONTORNG, 2002 Andrew Tester Field Team Suffolk C.C. Archaeological Service November 2002 PJ Thompson MSc CEng FCE County Director of Environment and Transport St Edmund House, County Hall, pswich, P4 1LZ. SCCAS Report No. 2002/120

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3 Contents List of Contributors Summary ntroduction Methodology Results Finds Conclusion/Discussion List of Figures 1. High Lodge, Site Location Plan 2. Site Plan 3. Detail of Topographic Survey 4. STN 068 Profile 5. Sections 6. Matrix of section across STN 068 List of Contributors All Suffolk C.C. Archaeological Service unless otherwise stated. Andrew Tester Sue Anderson Kelly Powell John Duffy Senior Project Officer Finds Manager Project Assistant Supervisor and site surveyer SMR information Planning application no. Date of fieldwork: November 2002 Grid Reference: TL Funding body: Forest Enterprise and Suffolk County Council 3

4 , Figure 1 High Lodge, Site Location Plan m Suffolk County Council ~ Environment & Transport PRODUCED BY 1:30000 CHECKED BY DRAWNG No. P. J. Thompson, MSc. CEng FCE County Director of Environment & Transport St. Edmund house, County Hall, pswich, Suffolk. Crown Copyright. All rights reserved. Suffolk County Council Licence No. LA /11/2002

5 Summary Two trenches were excavated by machine across two separate systems of banks at High Lodge Country Park, Santon Downham, in order to establish their archaeological potential before they were levelled. One system is thought to be associated with a Warreners lodge and be medieval in origin (STN 068). A sequence of ditches and banks were recorded at this site the earliest of which may be medieval although there was no clear dating evidence. Beneath this was a well preserved buried soil layer, which included archaeological features, that is dated to the Late Bronze Age/Early ron Age. The second bank and ditch, STN 067, was found to be modern although it may have followed an earlier system which was not located due to the limited scale of the trenching. ntroduction A programme of archaeological work was carried out at High Lodge Country Park, Santon Downham in order to record the effects of landscaping on upstanding earthworks. The work involved the levelling of a bank close to the High Lodge Visitor Centre, and the levelling of a separate bank and ditch. The work was carried out to make areas of the park safe for cyclists and children. nterest in the earthworks is based around the suggestion that they may be the fossilised remains of much earlier banks and ditches associated with the extensive warrens known to have existed from medieval times in this area. Methodology A machine-excavated section was made across each earthwork (Fig. 2). A topographical survey and a profile was made of STN 068 using a Total Station Theodolite (Fig. 3) and limited hand excavation was carried out at the base of the machined trench. Results Trench 1. (STN 067) A machine-excavated section was dug acrosss the bank and a separate section was dug across the ditch c. 20m to the south. A composite section was drawn of the two which is thought to be representative of this section of bank (Fig. 5). The Bank was aligned north to south and the eastwest section consists of a bank 6m wide and 2m high in the centre with a ditch 2.5m wide and 1m deep. The ditch was about half full of loose sand and leaf mould with numerous bottles of c.20 th century date within the fill. The natural subsoil consisted of yellow clay with chalk inclusions. The bank also contained modern finds and the sand make-up was loose; this suggests the bank was also modern. Following the levelling of the bank a small section was dug through what appeared to be a buried grey sand soil. Trench 2. (STN068) This section was cut across two visible banks with a ditch and taken down to natural subsoil (Fig.5). The section was 16.5m long and c.1.2m wide. Running the length of the section was a buried brown sand layer 0004 which overlay orange and white natural sand. This layer was intermittently excavated by machine and by hand against the eastern baulk. Scattered throughout this layer was a number of struck and burnt flints and flint tempered pottery (below). There were also patches of darker soil which it is suggested were cut features. One of these was shovel excavated, 0005, and although it was impractical to record the feature in detail finds were collected from the fill. 5

6 At the western end of the trench, layer 0004 was cut by two ditches, 0006 and These were filled with brown sand, 0007, and grey-white sand, 0009, respectively. The fills were sealed by a buried soil layer 0010, a homogeneous grey sand, 0011 and layers Layer 0011 was cut by a third ditch and sealed by layer This layer was sealed by modern debris layers 0013 and At the eastern end of the section these modern layers seal a grey sand layer 0016 which appears to mirror layer 0012 from the western side. Layer 0012 extended to the eastern end of the section where it was reduced to a thickness of c. 0.1m but formed a bank 0.6m high which is marked by the line of a modern timber fence. East of the bank, 0012 sealed a buried turf line 0020 which contained organic material. Below this was grey brown sand 0021 which gradually changed into Extensive root systems appeared in both of these layers. Topographic survey Three lines were surveyed, marking the tops of the visible banks and the bottom of the ditch (Fig. 3). A contour profile was also taken across the ditch to the north of the excavated section (Fig. 4). A full context list is recorded below Context Site dentifier Description code STN Unstratified finds Layer Layer beneath bank from which crockery, bottles and paint cans were noted but discarded Layer Bottom fill of ditch from which bottles were recovered and discarded Layer Mottled brown sand soil, patches of charcoal Feature cut Small pit? Dark sandy charcoal fill appeared within Was seen in the dark! Ditch cut Ditch c. 2m wide and 0.8m deep. Cutting Ditch fill Brown sand, very consolidated with, cut line between this and 0004 difficult to see. Also fill of possible much reduced bank Ditch cut 1.4m wide x 0.6m deep. Pale grey sand Ditch fill Pale grey sand Layer Buried surface, black organic fill Layer Homogeneous brown sand, bank material. Suggest recent Layer Grey sand bank material Layer Organic fill and leaf mould Ditch cut Cut line, relatively modern Layer Modern disturbed soil with clay Layer Grey sand, bank material Layer Modern disturbed soil with clay Ditch cut Cut line relatively modern black organic line Layer Continuation of 0016 grey sand Layer Buried modern soil line Layer Grey brown sand with indistinct interface with 0004 below Layer Grey brown sand with indistinct interface with 0004 below, similar to 0021 but at west end of trench. 6

7 The Finds Sue Anderson, November ntroduction Finds were collected from two contexts, as shown in the table below. OP Pottery Flint Burnt flint Spotdate No. Wt/g No. Wt/g No. Wt/g LBA/EA LBA/EA Total Pottery Twelve sherds of pottery were collected from a buried soil layer (0004) and a feature (0005). Ten sherds (nine from 0004, one from 0005) were probably part of a single vessel, in a hard reduced fabric tempered with moderate coarse and very coarse flint. One rim sherd was present, an upright flat-topped type with finger-nail impressions in the flat surface. The vessel was sooted and contained burnt food residue. One small sherd from 0004 contained abundant fine and coarse flint and was oxidised to a brick red inside and out. A large sherd from 0005 had an oxidised brown external surface and black interior and contained common coarse and very coarse flint. A Late Bronze Age/Early ron Age date is suggested (E. Martin, pers. comm.). Flint Four flakes and three cores were collected from All were poorly formed, there were signs of hinge fractures on one of the cores, and the flakes were squat. This suggests the same date range as the pottery (C. Pendleton, pers. comm.). One of the cores from 0004 was burnt. Four other burnt flints, two heavily calcined and two fire-reddened, were collected from The fire-reddened pieces may have been a flake and a core, although again they were very poorly worked. Discussion Finds collected from two features indicated Late Bronze/Early ron Age activity in the area. Conclusions/Discussion The evidence from the levelling carried out on STN 067 and the excavated sections suggests the visible bank and ditch are of 20 th century date (although earlier ditch cuts may have been removed by constant recutting). A deep section through the subsoil was not dug and it is still possible that an earlier ditch survives, although not directly beneath the line of the upstanding bank. Three periods are represented at Site STN 068. The earliest dates from the Late Bronze Age/ Early ron Age and consists of a buried soil layer with a high concentration of pottery and evidence of contemporary cut features. This layer was excavated under very poor light and it is impossible to do more than generalise, but the findings suggest a surprisingly well preserved deposits from this period exists approximately 0.45m below the ground surface in this area of the Park. 7

8 The second period is represented by two ditch cuts, 0006 and t was noticeable that the cut of 0006 was barely visible through brown soil 0004, although the cut of 0008 was much clearer. On the basis of the stratigraphic position of 0006 and the appearance of the fill it can be suggested that it is a ditch of some antiquity. No finds were recovered so we can only speculate on its date but it may be medieval in origin. Ditch 0008 is likely to be much later but marks the same boundary. There was no evidence to suggest these were part of a double bank and ditch system. The third period is represented by the main part of the upstanding earthwork and appears to be quite recent. Bank 0016 supports a modern fence and is probably the result of modern landscaping as are the ditch and bank fills 0012 and t is possible, indeed probable, that these earthworks were based on the earlier ditches although here the evidence is for double banks with a wide ditch between. n the light of this rather limited programme of trenching it is suggested that future landscaping, programmes take into account the strong evidence for well-preserved prehistoric deposits close to the modern ground surface in this area. Andrew Tester, November

9 f,_,~ ,..., ~, ~ _ / -,, Car Park 1----, ) ,,., /.~;"! ~ " r _slrno6s :,,, t lrencli : _...-- :...--,,, -- -, - / / / _. ~ / rm Suffolk County Council ~Environment & Transport P. J. Thompson, MS!;. CEng FCE County Director of Environment & Transport St. Edmund house, County Hall, pswich, Suffolk. Figure 2 Site Plan 1:1200 Visitor Centre Bank Ditch Crown Copyright. All rights reserved. Suffolk County Council Licence No. LA /11/ STN067 S~ct 0002 (coni-) 1 PRODUCED BY CHECKED BY DRAWNG No.

10 ---,, ) Car Park :_ _ / / ark Site /, _../.) / ~-- 1 ~ / -" ~ ~ :,....../ :, , Figure 3 Detail of Topographic Survey fij." ~ Suffolk County Council ~ Environment & Transport P. J. Thompson, MSc. CEng FCE County Director of Environment & Transport St. Edmund house, County Hall, pswich, Suffolk. 1:750 crown Copyright. All rights reserved. Suffolk County Council Licence No. LA PRODUCED BY CHECKED BY DRAWNG No. 27/11/2002

11 W+E N s + + 1:50,, ~Suffolk County_ Council Scale 1:50 Environment & Transport Figure 4 STN 068 Profile PRODUCED BY CHECKED BY DRAWNG No. Director of Environment & Copyright. All rights reserved. St Edmund House, County Hall, pswich, Suffolk Suffolk County Council Licence No. LA DATE

12 0 2m E STN067 : 0002 STN 068 Figure 5. Sections ~~~~~~~-~:~o0~2~o~ - ~-:~: ~ oo~ ~1ig~ ~2-~ B..q.-~-~ * ~-~-~:~.- ~-~-~-~-~-~-~~~s. CJ Sand ~Modern EJ Organic Material ~ Root Disturbance 0 Burnt Sand

13 - -~ _ Modern t post medievart medieval? Late t:sronze Age/t:.arly ron Age Figure 6 Matrix of section across STN.068