NHER 45355 (Monument record) - Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age pits, post holes, possible hearth and flint-working site

July 2006. Strip Map and Sample Excavation.
Excavation prior to aggregate extraction. Contexts 1-260 used.
This work exposed 77 pits, 32 of which yielded Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age flint. Just over half of the pits contained evidence of burning, including burnt flint/stone and charcoal. Many of the charcoal fragments are relatively large, suggesting the charred remains of fires were deposited in these pits. Hazelnut shell was also present in all of the pits, suggesting that nuts were eaten beside the fire and their shells discarded into the fire. Further evidence of burning was provided by a burnt surface that is the remains of a possible hearth.
Pottery was recovered from nine of the pits and was exclusively Beaker (Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age). The pottery was all broken prior to deposition, but the assemblage was in good condition. The assemblage includes sherds from the same vessel deposited in different pits, suggesting a close temporal relationship between several of the pit features. However, none of the sherds refitted, suggesting a delay between breakage and deposition. The flint assemblage is dominated by flint-working waste.
Thirteen post holes were also excavated, eight of which were in pairs, although none formed a clear structure.
Four tree throws containing further evidence of Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age activity were also excavated. All of these contained Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age worked flint and one also contained Beaker pottery.
The archaeological finds and features recorded on this site indicate domestic activity, of an apparently episodic nature, focused around fires. There is no evidence for settled, agricultural existence, and samples taken from deposits within the pits indicate the exploitation of wild resources, in particular hazelnuts, elder and sloes. This site is typical of Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age East Anglian sites: it is situated on the lighter soils on the edge of the Breckland, an area which appears to have been a focus of activity at this time, and its pits, post holes and hearth are seemingly randomly laid out, with no traces of structures or any permanent settlement features.
See report (S1) for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S2).
A. Cattermole (NLA), 4 December 2007. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 22 July 2015.