This volume is the first in a series that will cover the extensive and
significant archaeological deposits recorded at this quarry on the south
side of the Waveney Valley. It includes evidence of prehistoric, late
Iron Age/early Roman and early Anglo-Saxon date. The prehistoric
archaeology is dominated by three monumental structures. The earliest,
dating to the late Neolithic, is a post-hole circle of approximately 18m
diameter, with an entrance to the north-west. Various interpretations
are explored including the possibility that astronomical alignments were
invested in the monument. The circle was subsequently overlain by an
early Bronze Age ring ditch and un-urned cremation. A second ring-ditch
nearby subsequently became the focus for burial in the early Anglo-Saxon
period (Flixton I). Its central mound was re-used in turn as the site of
a windmill in the late medieval or early post-medieval period. The Iron
Age/Roman archaeology included an enigmatic palisaded enclosure -
closely-spaced posts in a series of slots and individual post-holes
describing a near-perfect circle 27m diameter. Direct dating evidence
was sparse, but pottery from adjacent pits suggested activity dated
around the time of the Conquest. Various functions for the post-hole
circle are explored. Two Anglo-Saxon burial grounds were found: Flixton
I, a small plot associated with a prehistoric barrow: and Flixton II,
larger and at first contained within a rectangular plot close to another
barrow. Fifty-one of an estimated 200 or more graves have been
excavated. Burial at Flixton II later shifted southwards onto the barrow
itself, where eleven more graves were identified. The excavated graves
in Flixton II date from c.500 AD to the middle of the 7th century, and
Flixton I is likely to have been contemporary with its earliest phase.
The material evidence has been used as a base from which to discuss the
social make-up of the community who buried their dead in the two burial
grounds. The role of this community in the southern marches of the
former Iceni territory has also been explored.
