Neolithic campsite Traditional Cache

On the gated road

The nearby area was recently excavated for a archaeological in advance of a house building project.

This location was thought to have been a Saxon burial ground but the excavation didn't find any evidence of this.

The earliest activity was dated to the Early Neolithic. Around 150 pits containing pottery and struck flint were excavated across the site and indicate probable seasonal occupation of the area. Some environmental evidence from the pits suggests that people were probably underrating some cultivation in the vicinity (including wheat, oats and barley). Apple pips and fragments of hazelnut shells indicate people collected foodstuffs to compliment their diet. The nature of Early Neolithic pit sites is generally poorly understood and to date, there is still some ambiguity about how these sites were occupied (i.e. how long for, whether people were semi nomadic and returned to certain areas seasonally for crop cultivation and to hunt moving herds), and also whether or not there is an element of ceremonial behaviour in the way in which people dug these pits and deposited material within them.

The Hopton site will add a great deal to current thinking and debate about settlement in the Early Neolithic.

Following this, there was no activity on site until the 1st Century AD, when a Roman farmstead, complete with enclosures and paddocks was established. This farmstead was modified during the late 1st and early 2nd century to include an area of metalworking (most likely small-scale melting and re-working of metal objects). A series of new enclosures was established and several larger fields were created. There is some evidence for cattle-feeders or hay-ricks indicating they held livestock there and although the sandy soils have not allowed for good bone preservation, we can assume they were processing animals there for meat and possible hides. There is some evidence for crop processing in the environmental remains although at this stage, the initial analysis is just an outline and further study will be undertaken. It appears that the farmstead was abandoned by the late 2nd century and the inhabitants likely relocated to a larger settlement elsewhere. The area was still used as large outfields likely serving this larger settlement.