Beccles Timber Alignment
Apr 24, 2007 by Michael Bamforth
Part of a Prehistoric post alignment was discovered by Suffolk County Council Archaeology Service during improvement works to the River Waveney’s floodplain by Broadlands Environmental Services Limited (partnership between Halcrow and Edmund Nuttalls Ltd) for the Environment Agency’s Broadland Flood Alleviation Project.
Due to the national importance and excellent preservation of the Prehistoric wooden structure, a 20 metre section was fully excavated by SCCAS and Birmingham Archaeology.
L – P : Archaeology’s Wood Specialist was contracted to record (digitise, illustrate and photograph), catalogue, clean and analyse the wooden remains. L – P also coordinated a programme of dendrochronological dating, which initially suggested a very late Iron Age to Early Romano British date (c. 200 BC-100 AD) for the structure.
Through L – P ’s close links with Flag Fen Archaeology Park in Peterborough, wet storage for the timber during the post excavation process was provided.
By working closely with the client L – P was able to provide a comprehensive and speedy service for the fragile waterlogged remains of this complex site. A second season of investigation has now been completed for which L – P : Archaeology’s wood specialist provided on-site sampling and recording advice.
| Client: | Suffolk County Council Archaeology Service and Birmingham Archaeology |
| Site: | Beccles, Suffolk |