New Ipswich link road uncovers 3,000-year-old settlement

It can now be revealed that 3,000-year-old finds of a Late Bronze Age settlement and cremation cemetery were uncovered during archaeology which took place during the road’s development.

The cemetery contained 18 burials, with radiocarbon dating confirming Late Bronze Age activity (c.1200 BC).

The postholes of two roundhouses, numerous four and six-post structures, and two ring-gullies were found at the site near Bramford and Sproughton, along with multiple pottery finds.

Other interesting objects which were excavated included:

• Post Deverel-Rimbury ceramics (c.1150-800 BC)
• Fragmented fired clay weights
• Clay spindlewhorl
• Cremation urns
• Copper-alloy pin
• Worked flint - including a rare example of a flint quern, used for hand-grinding grain into flour

This evidence indicates a settlement with a mixed agricultural economy including cereal production, and breeding and raising cattle.

Chris Thatcher, Senior Project Manager, Oxford Archaeology said:

“The Bronze Age remains at Europa Way have been an important discovery to the understanding prehistoric activity along this stretch of the Gipping valley.

“Some aspects of the settlement remains are of considerable significance in the wider regional context, especially the substantial pottery finds, the cremation cemetery, and the way that the agricultural landscape was organised.

“One distinctive feature of this cremation cemetery, is how close it was to the buildings and daily life - the inference being that the inhabitants of the settlement were likely buried close by. This is part of an emerging pattern of Late Bronze Age burial activity, and appears to mark a shift from the Middle Bronze Age preference for major cemeteries, typically within extensive field systems, or the deceased being interred at earlier-established ancestral monuments.”

Intensive Late Bronze Age activity at Europa Way was located on the glacial outwash gravels which outcrop on the lower slopes of the northern side of the valley of the River Gipping.

There is a rich record of prehistoric land use on the lighter soils of the terrace and outwash gravels, which flank the River Gipping’s course upstream of Ipswich.

Other archaeological finds at the Europa Way site provide evidence pointing to activity from other periods:

• Neolithic [4300 BC to 2000 BC]: Small quantities of residual Neolithic pottery and worked flint
• Iron Age [800 BC to AD 43]: Gold Iron Age coin
• Post-medieval: Two ditches produced finds and correlate with boundaries shown on 19th century maps of the area.

Councillor Philip Faircloth-Mutton, Suffolk County Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment, Communities and Equality, said:

“Suffolk has once again revealed its unique history, and added another layer to our understanding of what life was like for previous generations in our part of the world.

“This is why it is important that the council’s Archaeological Service is here to help record and preserve our past. As important and interesting as finds are today, who knows how significant this information might be in generations to come.”

Initial evaluations were undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology, with further archaeological fieldwork by Oxford Archaeology, and all activity monitored by Suffolk County Council’s Archaeological Service.

The full archive of finds will be deposited with the Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service, where it will be curated for the future and accessible to researchers of all levels.