NHER 36218 (Monument record) - Neolithic and Bronze Age features and Iron Age settlement at Honeypots Plantation

July 2001. Geophysical survey.
A magnetometer survey located two probable parallel ditches were located, possibly indicating the location of field boundaries, as well as two disturbances indicating the position of possible pits.
Information from (S1).
D. Gurney (NLA) 12 December 2001.

July 2001. Evaluation by NAU. Contexts .
Excavation of eight evaluation trenches revealed several linear features, pits, post holes, and a possible roundhouse gully containing Iron Age pottery in the western half of the field.
Information from (S2).
The results of this work are also summarised in (S8).
H. Hamilton (NLA), 17 March 2008.

July 2001 - October 2003. Excavation and Watching Briefs.
Four phases of excavation in advance of mineral extraction have recorded a dense concentration of Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age activity.
Over 800 worked flints were recovered from the site and although the bulk of these are likely to be of later prehistoric date there are a number of pieces that suggest at least a degree of activity during earlier periods. One of the larger blades recovered has possible use damage to its edges and may be a bruised blade of Upper Palaeolithic date. A single Mesolithic microlith was also recovered and a number of pieces, including thin neat flakes and blades, display evidence of having been soft-hammer struck - indicative of a Mesolithic or Early Neolithic date. A number of blade cores were also found and the presence of three piece from deliberate core preparation (two crested blades and a flake from a blade core) also suggests that part of this assemblage is of Mesolithic or Early Neolithic date.
P. Watkins (HES), 12 April 2013.

Neolithic and Bronze Age occupation was primarily represented by pits, and many of these contained structured deposits. Several undated features, including large, scattered post settings representing buildings and structures and two land boundaries which appear to confine the area of Bronze Age activity, are likely contemporary. Many of these early features may have been graves or pits deliberately dug to bury burnt material, and the hilltop may have been a ceremonial focal point. Evidence for Neolithic structures has only been recorded at approximately five other locations.
Occupation of the hilltop intensified in the Early Iron Age, and both ritual and settlement activities appear to have continued to intensify throughout this period. Three of the excavated features in the southwestern corner of the site have been interpreted as small barrows (likely dated to the Early Iron Age), and associated trapezoidal structures are believed to be associated with mortuary activity. Several of the Iron Age pits appear to continue the style of those dated to the Neolithic and Bronze Age, also suggesting a continuation of ritual activity at the site. A large number of undated post holes and pits have been assigned to the undated Iron Age, but a few features have been more closely dated. A large, square enclosure in the western third of the site has been tentatvely dated to the Middle Iron Age, while a large, bisected sub-rectangular enclosure at the southern edge of the excavation area is likely a Late Iron Age construction. Other occupation evidence includes smaller undated enclosures, four small ring ditches of uncertain function (one likely of Middle Iron Age date), linear features potentially associated with structures, a possible trackway, and a large number of two and four-post structures. Many of the latter yielded Early Iron Age pottery. Metal working debris was present in several of the Middle and Late Iron Age pits. Evidence for textile production was recorded in Middle and Late Iron Age contexts.
Roman pottery recorded in seven pits and three ditches indicate that limited activity continued into this period, after which the site was used for agricultural purposes. A possible medieval to post medieval strip-field system was recorded.
Evidence of a previously noted World War Two searchlight battery was also recorded (NHER 32925).
See assessment report (S2), publication synopsis (S3) and draft publication reports (S4) and (S5) for further details.
The results of this work are also summarised in (S8) and (S9).
The associated archive has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2016.437).
H. Hamilton (NLA), 17 March 2008.

It should be noted that many of the interpretations presented in (S4) and (S5) (summarised above) are no longer believed to be correct. See (S10) for a more recent overview of the features uncovered on this site.
P. Watkins (HES), 12 April 2013.

2006. Excavation.
Additional Neolithic and Bronze age features were recorded during excavations in the field immediately north of this site. See NHER 38228 for details.
H. Hamilton (NLA), 26 March 2008.

April 2008. Outline publication synopsis.
This site will be included in a forthcoming monograph investigating Iron Age sites in Norfolk.
See (S6) and (S7) for further details.
S. Howard (NLA), 5 January 2010.