Haverhill's 'big dig' catches public interest
Thursday, 9th May 2013.
Around 70 people packed in to hear the results of Haverhill's archaeological dig, carried out last year before construction of the research park at Hanchet End.
Evidence of occupation from the late Iron Age, through the Roman period and into Anglo-Saxon times was found, including Roman burials and a small Anglo-Saxon hall.
Michelle Collings, a senior archaeologits with Headland Archaeology, who were contracted to carry out the dig by Suffolk County Council, gave preliminary details yesterday evening of the results, although more analysis is still being carried out.
The evening was arranged at Days Inn by Carisbrooke, the developers, who had to pay £150,000 for the dig after test trenches discovered there was something important to be investigated.
Michelle explained the landscape was purely agricultural, with no evidence of fighting or invasion.
Until the Anglo-Saxon period there was also little evidence of settlement, with the land probably being farmed by people who lived nearby, probably closer to a water source.
In the late Iron Age, a track was created leading to a small enclosure on the ridge, and this was then expanded by further ditches and enclosure in Roman times.
Pottery finds and an almost complete Roman vase showed the absorption of Roman culture by the people, and there wewre two burials and a cremation from the Roman period on the site.
One burial was an elderly male and was in situ, although in poor condition. The bones are still being studied.
The other had been disturbed by ploughing, but was probably also a male. The cremation was of an adult female.
Evidence of a round house was found, but Michelle said this was not of high quality and was probably some sort of temporary storage building.
But finds included spinning whorls and a quernstone, indicating agricultural activity.
The lines of the Anglo-Saxon hall - similar to the houses reconstructed at West Stow - respected the lines of the Roman occupation, possibly indicating continuous occupation.
An 'assemblage' of finds from the early Anglo-Saxon period - late fifth or early sixth century - was also discovered, thought to be linked to a burial which has been ploughed out.
This included brooches, beads and a key and indicated they had belonged to a female.
The site showed peaceful transition from Roman to Anglo-Saxon occupation, an important addition to scant knowledge of the period.
How the site relates to other nearby evidence such as the possible Roman road Worsted Street from Cambridge to Colchester, the Iron Age evidence found at Hazel Stub, Rowley Hill tumulus and later Saxon settlement at Burton End will all be the subject of wider study now to be undertaken.
Nic Rumsey of Carisbrooke said when the central building of the research park, a proposed innovation centre, was built, it would include a place for the results of the dig to be permanently displayed, including the finds, for the public to visit.
He was taken aback by the level of public interest in the results of the dig, shown by the numbers attending - Michelle said a similar event for a dig in Woburn recently attracted just half a dozen people - and said its significance helped make up for the extra cash Carisbrooke had had to find for the work before they could develop the site.
Evidence of occupation from the late Iron Age, through the Roman period and into Anglo-Saxon times was found, including Roman burials and a small Anglo-Saxon hall.
Michelle Collings, a senior archaeologits with Headland Archaeology, who were contracted to carry out the dig by Suffolk County Council, gave preliminary details yesterday evening of the results, although more analysis is still being carried out.
The evening was arranged at Days Inn by Carisbrooke, the developers, who had to pay £150,000 for the dig after test trenches discovered there was something important to be investigated.
Michelle explained the landscape was purely agricultural, with no evidence of fighting or invasion.
Until the Anglo-Saxon period there was also little evidence of settlement, with the land probably being farmed by people who lived nearby, probably closer to a water source.
In the late Iron Age, a track was created leading to a small enclosure on the ridge, and this was then expanded by further ditches and enclosure in Roman times.
Pottery finds and an almost complete Roman vase showed the absorption of Roman culture by the people, and there wewre two burials and a cremation from the Roman period on the site.
One burial was an elderly male and was in situ, although in poor condition. The bones are still being studied.
The other had been disturbed by ploughing, but was probably also a male. The cremation was of an adult female.
Evidence of a round house was found, but Michelle said this was not of high quality and was probably some sort of temporary storage building.
But finds included spinning whorls and a quernstone, indicating agricultural activity.
The lines of the Anglo-Saxon hall - similar to the houses reconstructed at West Stow - respected the lines of the Roman occupation, possibly indicating continuous occupation.
An 'assemblage' of finds from the early Anglo-Saxon period - late fifth or early sixth century - was also discovered, thought to be linked to a burial which has been ploughed out.
This included brooches, beads and a key and indicated they had belonged to a female.
The site showed peaceful transition from Roman to Anglo-Saxon occupation, an important addition to scant knowledge of the period.
How the site relates to other nearby evidence such as the possible Roman road Worsted Street from Cambridge to Colchester, the Iron Age evidence found at Hazel Stub, Rowley Hill tumulus and later Saxon settlement at Burton End will all be the subject of wider study now to be undertaken.
Nic Rumsey of Carisbrooke said when the central building of the research park, a proposed innovation centre, was built, it would include a place for the results of the dig to be permanently displayed, including the finds, for the public to visit.
He was taken aback by the level of public interest in the results of the dig, shown by the numbers attending - Michelle said a similar event for a dig in Woburn recently attracted just half a dozen people - and said its significance helped make up for the extra cash Carisbrooke had had to find for the work before they could develop the site.
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