WEST ROW, MILDENHALL, SUFFOLK (MNL 165): ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC STUDIES OF A BRONZE AGE FEN-EDGE SITE.

Author(s): P Murphy

Excavations between 1982 and 1986 revealed settlement features mainly of early-middle Bronze Age date on a sand hummock with adjacent peat-filled hollows. A probable clearance phase indicated by a partly burnt in-situ oak root system and burnt shells of woodland molluscs is dated to 1700bc. A charcoal-filled linear feature dated to 2070bc is interpreted as a charcoal- burning pit from an earlier phase of activity on the site. Over part of the site a buried soil survived and distributions of biota within this soil permitted definition of a midden area. Cereals (Triticum dicoccumTriticum spelta, Hordeum sp) and flax (Linum usitatissimum) were grown and hazelnuts (Corylus avellana) intensively collected. Deep water-filled pitswere used as wells, and for industrial activities (soaking antler, possibly flax-retting). Studies of mollusca, small vertebrates, fruits, seeds and wood indicate a locally open environment with wet tussocky grassland and alder woodland nearby. Evidence for small-scale freshwater fishing is presented.

Report Number:
87/1988
Series:
AML Reports (New Series)
Pages:
88
Keywords:
Environmental Studies Plant Remains

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