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