Land at Europa Way, Ipswich, Suffolk

Between the 16th January and 18th April 2023, Oxford Archaeology undertook a c.1.58ha excavation at land at Europa Way, on the northwestern edge of Ipswich (TM 1348 4570). The excavation, located in the wider Gipping valley, revealed features dating from the later prehistoric to modern periods, although the main focus comprised a Late Bronze Age settlement, field/boundary system and small cremation cemetery.
The settlement, represented by two post-built roundhouses, numerous four- and six-post structures and posthole groups, two ring-gullies and several pits, extended across the excavation area, with more than one sub-phase of activity discernible. The ditches were aligned on a northeast to southwest axis, with the small (unurned) cremation cemetery positioned in a discrete location to the south-east of the settlement.
A significant assemblage of Post Deverel-Rimbury ceramics (c. 1150-800 BC) was recovered from features associated with the settlement, alongside occasional sherds of earlier (Late Neolithic and Middle Bronze Age) and later (Middle Iron Age and Roman) date. The Late Bronze Age assemblage includes potential evidence for pottery manufacture on or near to the site. Other finds of note include several (fragmented) fired clay weights, a clay spindlewhorl, worked flint including a rare example of a flint quern, and a copper-alloy pin. Preservation of environmental remains was poor, although the assessments of the samples and faunal remains appears to show a fairly typical picture for a small and perhaps short-lived farm/homestead of this period in the region.
The Europa Way excavation has very good potential to contribute to a number of current research questions relating to Late Bronze Age settlement, land-use, ceramics, chronology and funerary practices, especially if underpinned by a suite of radiocarbon dating.