Evaluation at Bures Road and Land Rear of 158 to 188, Great Cornard, Suffolk

A design brief issued by Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service (SCCAS) (Rolfe, J. 3rd November 2021) requires a programme of linear trial trenching to sample the area threatened by development for houses. This will be achieved by excavating 15 trenches measuring 30.00m x 1.80m. The trenches will be excavated using a 360o tracked, mechanical excavator fitted with a toothless ditching bucket. The potential for finds and features relating to the prehistoric period was high. Activity relating to the medieval/post-medieval period was considered moderate as was Saxon activity. All other periods had a low potential for finds and features on the site. The evaluation was successful in revealing two main phases of activity on the site. The first phase is broadly assigned to the Mesolithic or earlier Neolithic periods. There is a clear concentration of activity of this date in the centre to centre-south area of the site. The concentration of lithic material recovered showed a relatively high number of cores suggestive of knapping taking place at the site. The main significance of the assemblage and the related features lies in its demonstration of human activity, including flint knapping, at the site. The second phase relates to post medieval activity at the site relating to former tithe / agricultural boundaries. Overall, the evaluation was successful in characterising the archaeology at the site and revealing a concentrated assemblage of prehistoric evidence to tie it in to the surrounding historic landscape.