NHER 65065 (Monument record) - Potentially prehistoric pits and undated ditches

March 2018. Geophysical Survey.
Magnetometer survey of land to be affected by proposed improvements to A11/A47 Thickthorn Junction (Area 8).
A large area of magnetic disturbance was found to cover more than half of the site. This represents disturbance caused by modern gravel extraction, a large quarry being shown adjacent to the A47 on late 20th-century maps.
No potentially archaeologically-significant anomalies were visible in the undisturbed area to the west. Although numerous small discrete patches of magnetic enhancement were recorded these are all thought to represent variations in the natural geology. Scattered dipolar anomalies were probably caused by ferrous material in the topsoil (most likely modern debris).
See report (S1) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 7 June 2021.

July-August 2020. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of land to be affected by proposed improvements to A11/A47 Thickthorn Junction (Trenches 77 and 78).
Two trenches were excavated in the northern corner of the site, within the area that the preceding geophysical survey suggested was unaffected by 20th-century gravel extraction. These revealed a group of eight potentially broadly contemporary pits, all of which were shallow, ovoid features with charcoal-flecked fills. Five contained pieces of burnt flint, with one producing more than 400 fragments. This pit was one of two with signs of heat scorching at their margins, which indicated these features had either seen in situ burning or received dumps of hot material. Finds recovered were mostly prehistoric, including a single small fragment of what was potentially Early Iron Age pottery and a number of worked flints. The only potentially later objects were a fragment of ceramic building material and a fragment of sandstone that had possibly been part of a whetstone. Three samples taken from the fills of these features all produced varying amounts of charcoal with one also being found to contain fragments of hazelnut shell and small fragments of animal bone.
The only other features recorded were two possible ditches, both of which were undated.
No unstratified finds were recovered.
See report (S2) for further details.
An archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2020.109).
P. Watkins (HES), 7 June 2021. Amended 27 July 2023.