Land South of Red House Lane, Leiston, Suffolk

Between the 22nd January and 16th February 2018 Oxford Archaeology East (OA East) carried out excavations at Land South of Red House Lane, Leiston, Suffolk. In total 0.44ha was investigated by two areas of excavation (Areas 1 and 2) along with two additional 40m trenches (Trenches 28 and 29) to the east and south of Area 2. As archaeological features were encountered in Trench 28, the Area 2 excavation was extended eastwards to encompass these remains.
Part of a Middle Bronze Age settlement in the form of two separate ditched enclosures (Enclosures 1 and 2) were revealed by the excavation along with evidence for an earlier division of the landscape of the period (Ditches 1 and 2). The feature fills yielded almost exclusively sherds of Deverel-Rimbury pottery that were radiocarbon dated by associated short-lived species charcoal to the 14-13th century cal BC. Residual Early Bronze Age pottery and flintwork produced by the feature fills also demonstrate earlier occupation in the environs of the site, a period that witnessed the raising of barrows in the local landscape. There was almost complete lack of datable evidence for the settlement's continuation into the Late Bronze Age, suggesting the site was either abandoned or shifted to a new location by this period.
The excavation has revealed an important example of Middle Bronze Age settlement rarely encountered along the Suffolk coastal belt. The associated assemblage of securely dated Deverel-Rimbury tradition pottery recovered from the site, and especially the key group recovered from Enclosure 2, comprise an important group of domestic pottery for further study within its local and regional context.