FOXHALL ROAD, IPSWICH A RE-INVESTIGATION AND RE-ASSESSMENT OF AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE

Page 1

26

Suffolk Natural History, Vol. 43

FOXHALL ROAD, IPSWICH A RE-INVESTIGATION AND RE-ASSESSMENT OF AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE P. ALLEN, D. BRIDGLAND, A. HAGGART, J-L. SCHWENNINGER, M. WHITE and D. WILSON Abstract New investigations at this important locality in 2005 indicated that humans occupied a favoured lakeside locale in the upper Mill River valley about 425,000 years ago during the transition from the Anglian glacial period to the Hoxnian temperate period. Background The site lies in the eastern part of Ipswich, on the south side of Foxhall Road, centred on TM186440, at about 35 m O.D., sitting in a shallow valley forming the upper part of the Mill River drainage system. The site was originally worked on by Layard (1903–1905) (Fig. 1), Smith (1914) and Moir (1921) and the results reported in Layard (1902, 1903, 1904, 1906a, b), Smith (1921) and Boswell & Moir (1923). This work was summarised by Wymer (1985) and re-appraised in detail by White & Plunkett (2004). The site was redeveloped in 2005 by Barratt Homes who commissioned and funded an investigation of the early archaeological work, which was carried out by the Essex County Council Field Archaeology Unit. The study involved using literature and maps of the period when the excavations were carried out. This was followed up by using borehole and trial pit information, including analyses of samples collected from the site in 2005. Geological Background The surface landscape of eastern Suffolk comprises a series of flat plateau-like elements, thought to be underlain by glacial gravel (e.g. Boswell, 1913; 1931), but Rose & Allen (1977) redefined them in part as early Thames gravels of the Kesgrave Formation. Mathers et al. (2007) showed the glacial gravel to have a lobe-like distribution spreading out from the Gipping Valley at Ipswich, possibly as a pro-glacial outwash fan. Site Geology At the site, a borehole sunk by Layard proved till at a depth of 8·5 m below the ground surface at least one metre thick; it was not bottomed. From examination of the till and the sands and gravels above, Layard (1904, 1906b) and Boswell (1931) listed fossils (Gryphea and Belemnites) and erratics (Chalk, Red Chalk, Jurassic oolite and volcanic tuff) which are characteristic of the Anglian glaciogenic material. Layard (1906b) also noted the presence of striated flint and that one face of the oolite had been smoothed by abrasion to show sections through the oolites. Within the heavy mineral suite (Boswell & Moir, 1923), a number of ‘softer’ heavy minerals occur, such as kyanite and apatite. Such material is absent from earlier deposits and some is sufficiently fragile that it rarely survives reworking into younger deposits in any quantity. Above this is brickearth, predominantly a silty-clay or sandy-silty-clay, with fine to medium sand or even gravel interbeds (Boswell & Moir, 1923). The brickearth reflects deposition in quiet water, such as a lake. This, in turn is overlain by sands and gravels, often clay-rich or interbedded with the upper

Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 43 (2007)


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
FOXHALL ROAD, IPSWICH A RE-INVESTIGATION AND RE-ASSESSMENT OF AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE by Suffolk Naturalists' Society - Issuu