Late Bronze Age to Middle Iron Age activity at Wivenhoe Quarry, Sunnymead Farm (EHER 80576)

Archaeological excavation revealed significant archaeological remains relating to prehistoric occupation of the site, represented by a Late Bronze Age pit containing the remains of a jar and bowl or urn, and material from a campfire, hearth or oven. Early to Middle Bronze Age pottery, vessels and loomweights suggest the nearby occupation of the site with people raising sheep for wool and processing that wool into textiles, and three four-post structures were probably granaries, proving evidence for both agricultural activity and occupation on the site or very close by. Other evidence for prehistoric activity includes a residual Mesolithic or Early Neolithic retouched flint blade, and evidence for an early Roman field boundary ditch correlates with previously recorded cropmark evidence.

October 2023. Archaeological excavation. This small phase of excavation on land at Sunnymead Farm, Wivenhoe as part of the 'Wivenhoe Quarry Eastern Extension Phase 1' project has revealed significant archaeological remains. The earliest finds recovered from the site were a residual retouched flint blade likely to date to either the Mesolithic or Early Neolithic periods, with other pieces of worked flint from the site dating from the Mesolithic to the Bronze Age. The earliest features were a series of undated three-throws to the South of the site which were sealed by two silt layers, and which must in turn predate the Late Bronze Age being cut by a pit of this period. The earliest feature that produced datable finds was the Late Bronze Age pit containing the remains of a jar and bowl or urn, and material from a campfire, hearth or oven. Pottery dating to the Early/Middle Iron Age was identified in two pits, with several Middle Iron Age vessels and loomweights recovered from a third pit. The presence of loomweights on the site by the Middle Iron Age would suggest nearby occupation of the site with people raising sheep for wool and processing that wool into textiles. Another sixteen features (pits, post holes and a stakehole) produced pottery that could not be more closely dated than prehistoric. Significantly, two of the prehistoric post holes were associated with four-post structures, and a total of three of these structures were identified on the site. The four-post structures were probably granaries, with the charred remains of barley and wheat recovered from one of the post holes. This indicates both agricultural activity and occupation on the site or very close by. An E-W ditch which produced both prehistoric and early Roman dating evidence was probably a field boundary ditch and may have been associated with four short irregular ditches to the North. It is not certain if the ditch originated within the prehistoric period and therefore if it could be contemporary with the four-post structures. The ditch had previously been recorded as a cropmark, and a cropmark plot of the immediate area shows that this ditch is part of a wider field system. See EHER 17564. <1>