NHER 34489 (Monument record) - Early Neolithic site, Iron Age to Roman settlement and Early Saxon settlement

Pre 1994. No details given.
Roman coin of Diocletian.
E. Rose (NLA), 25 May 1995.

Before 12 May 1999. Metal detecting.
Medieval coin.
1 sherd of medieval pottery.
Medieval/post medieval metal objects.
See lists in file.
A. Rogerson (NLA), 21 December 2001.

January 2000. Systematic Fieldwalking and Metal-detecting Survey.
Bronze Age flint.
Prehistoric potboilers.
Roman sherd, medieval to post medieval sherds.
Medieval to post medieval metalwork and jettons.
See report (S1) for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S9).
E. Rose (NLA), 10 February 2000. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 24 March 2015.

June 2000. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of south-west field (Trenches 5-16).
Towards the southern limit of the site, a cluster of Neolithic pits was revealed. These pits produced relatively large quantities of worked flints, along with an interesting assemblage of late Neolithic pottery. All of the flint contained within the pits appears to be waste produced during the manufacture of tools, with the exception of two tools.
The densest concentration of archaeological features lay towards the north-east of the site. These features represent the remains of an Iron Age to Romano-British settlement, and include ditches, several pits and a possible post trench. A large natural hollow was found to contain Roman pottery and animal bone and appears to have been used as a midden. The settlement appears to be enclosed, and its occupation spans a long period from the late Iron Age to the 4th century AD, and many of the features have been recut or appear to replace each other on a common alignment.
See report (S2) for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S10).
D. Gurney, 24 October 2000, amended by A. Cattermole (NLA), 14 August 2008.

December 2000 to June 2001. Excavation.
Excavation of Areas A and C.
The excavations carried out by the CAU revealed a nationally important Early Neolithic site, made up of over two hundred pits and pit clusters (see also NHER 37349). This is the largest collection of Early Neolithic pits that has been excavated in Britain. The pits are the only visible archaeological remains of an Early Neolithic settlement or occupation site. Most of the pits contained pottery, worked flint and burnt organic materials.
Remains associated with subsequent phases of activity included two pits containing Middle Neolithic Peterborough Ware pottery and two pits containing Late Neolithic Grooved Ware pottery. A group of six Beaker cremation burials were also excavated.
In the Late Iron Age, during the 1st century BC, a series of ditches and pits were laid out, as well as a possible four-post structure that could be interpreted as a raised granary or storeroom. In the Early Roman period, during the later part of the 1st century AD, a more extensive ditch and field system was laid out. Two post-built structures were excavated, these may have has a religious function, but are perhaps more likely to be agricultural structures. By the end of the 2nd century the settlement included a timber aisled barn and another rectangular post-built structure. The Early Roman ditched system was replaced in the 3rd and 4th centuries by a ditched system focused around a number of sub-rectangular enclosures. Three circular structures were also discovered, and one contained a pit with a wooden double-acting force pump – only the second British example to be excavated. The pump may have had many different uses, but the structure in which it was found could be interpreted as a blacksmith’s workshop, and the pump may have been used as part of the metalworking process. Evidence of metalworking was found during the excavation, and a 'blacksmith's hoard' was found in a pit. The hoard included an anvil, a sledgehammer head, tongs and other metal finds, including a number of pewter plates.
(For subsequent re-interpretation of this pump, see below and Notes).
A small Early Saxon settlement was revealed during the excavation, as well as a small cemetery to the south (NHER 37349). Ten sunken-featured buildings or grubenhauser were discovered, as well as four post-built halls and several pits.
Later features included a medieval boundary ditch within a complex of parallel ditches and pits and the crash site of a World War Two aircraft. Parts of the aircraft including cockpit dials and rounds of ammunition were recovered.
See published report (S3), archive report (S4) and publication draft (S5) for full details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S11). The pre-Iron Age pits are also considered in (S12)-(S14). See (S6) for a discussion of the blacksmith's hoard as a possible 'structured' or ritual deposit.
Note that further Early Neolithic remains were uncovered during the subsequent investigation of land immediately to the south of this site (NHER 37349).
The associated archive has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2006.391).
D. Gurney (NLA), 8 March 2002. Amended by S. Spooner (NLA) 25 April 2006 and P. Watkins (HES), 5 May 2019.

November 2001. Metal-detecting.
Found on spoil heap from archaeological excavation:
Early Saxon foot fragment of silver radiate headed brooch, ?Alemannic type. Late 6th/early 7th century.
See photographs (S7) and report (S8) on this Frankish brooch fragment by Barry Ager (BM) in file.
Also recorded on PAS database [1].
A. Rogerson (NLA), 17 January 2002 and 28 March 2002. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 5 May 2020.

2002. Metal detecting. Found on spoil heap at approximately TL 8848 8394.
Roman, Middle Saxon and medieval sherds.
See list in file.
A. Rogerson (NLA), 21 April 2003.

March-April 2002. Metal detecting.
Roman and medieval sherds.
Medieval token.
2 Late Saxon metal objects.
See list in file.
A. Rogerson (NLA), 20 May 2002.

March 2010. Norfolk NMP.
The assessment of the aerial photographs for this site as part of the Norfolk NMP project revealed no convincingly archaeological cropmarks.
S. Horlock (NMP), 24 March 2010.

For a note on the reinterpretation of the Roman force-pump, see Notes.
It is now concluded that there is no evidence to indicate the presence of a Roman pump.
D. Gurney (HES), 10 August 2011, 22 December 2011.