Prehistoric occupation at St Osyth, Lodge Farm (EHER 18332)

Multi-period site including a Neolithic causewayed enclosure, an Early Bronze Age pond barrow, a Middle Bronze Age barrow cemetery and a Middle Iron Age enclosed settlement.

Aerial photographs of the site revealed a complex array of ditches and features representing probable multi-period occupation. Prehistoric features recognised included a double ditched probable enclosure and a definite 'ring ditch'.<3> <7> Trial trenching of cropmarks revealed on AP's confirmed the general intensity and distribution of features suggested by the cropmark evidence. A large number of features of likely Middle Iron Age date were identified across the site. These were predominantly ditches representing droveways, field boundaries, trackways and enclosures. Evidence of occupation in the form of pits, postholes and industrial/oven features were also located. Two areas of intense activity were apparent either side of a depression which crosses the centre of the site from North - South. <1> Excavation has revealed a large Neolithic causewayed enclosure of three roughly concentric circuits of discontinuous ditches. Within the interior of the monument were Neolithic pits, a pond barrow, Middle Bronze Age ring-ditches and Early and Middle Bronze Age cremations. A middle Iron Age enclosed settlement consisting of roundhouses, granaries and other post-built structures was also uncovered. <4> <5> <6> Photo: 2 general shots across site during excavation <7> Information from NRHE data transfer A Neolithic causewayed enclosure at Lodge Farm, St Osyth. The site was identified during excavations in advance of mineral extraction in 2000-2003. The excavations revealed three irregular circuits. If the segments excavated formed part of a single circuit, it would be oval in plan, measuring approximately 200 metres by 300 metres. The full plan of the enclosure has not been established. The local geology means that only parts can be seen in air photography. The mineral extraction has destroyed 4.5 hectares of the enclosure, although the rest is likely to remain largely intact. The ditches were constructed of large, elongated, conjoined segments, 1-6.4 metres wide and 0.4-1.5 metres deep. They define the circuits which are 27 metres to 40 metres apart. Recuts and possible evidence for internal banks were identified in some of the excavated portions. The most substantial part of the enclosure is the inner circuit, where some of the segments are 1.5 metres deep. There was little artefactual evidence, although Mildenhall Ware and Grooved Ware sherds was recovered from some of the upper ditch fills. The site was also used in the later Neolithic, Bronze, and Iron Ages. A programme of radiocarbon dating suggests that the enclosure's main use lasted for 40 years or less, beginning in the 37th to 36th centuries cal BC. <9> The site was included in recent research into the dating of causewayed enclosures. The model constructed suggests that Neolithic activity on the site, and potentially the initial construction of the causewayed enclosure, date to 3660-3630 cal BC (70% probability) or 3565-3540 cal BC (25% probability), probably to 3655-3635 cal BC (61% probability) or 3555-3545 cal BC (7% probability). This period of activity, and the use of the enclosure, ended in 3640-3620 cal BC (69% probability) or 3550-3530 cal BC (26% probability), probably in 3640-3625 cal BC (61% probability) or 3545-3540 cal BC (7% probability). The duration of Neolithic activity on the site is estimated to have been 1-35 years (95% probability), probably 1-20 years (68% probability) - within the span of a single generation. <12>