Oxford Cotswold Archaeology field archaeologists excavating the long enclosure using tools such as shovels, wheelbarrows and hoesOxford Cotswold Archaeology.

British Archeologists Find 5,800-Year-Old Neolithic Monument in Suffolk

by · ARTnews

British archeologists have uncovered a type of Neolithic earthwork called a long enclosure on England’s Suffolk coast. The news was first reported by Heritage Daily, following an announcement by Oxford Cotswold Archeology (OCA). A charity that conducts archeological research, OCA has been excavating in the area ahead of the construction of the Sizewell C nuclear power station.

The Neolithic period in Britain spanned roughly 4000 to 2500 BCE. During this time, humans shifted from nomadic hunting and gathering to farming, producing pottery, and, most remarkably, building monumental structures like Stonehenge.

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Long enclosures—rectangular open spaces defined by ditches—are among the earliest of these structures and quite rare. They are believed to have served a ceremonial or communal function for the communities that built them; because they were not dwelling places or burial sites, they usually yield few artifacts.

The long enclosure at the Sizewell C site measures approximately 165 feet by 65 feet. Over millennia, its outline had blurred, and excavators had to rely on subtle changes in the soil to ascertain its size and shape.

Using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), the archeologists were able to tell that the enclosure’s ditches were first cut in the Early to Middle Neolithic period, around 3800 BCE. The upper layers of fill in the ditches date to the much later Beaker period (2450–1800 BCE), indicating that the monument was part of the landscape long after its initial construction.

Additional proof of the structure’s age came from a small collection of pottery recovered from the ditches. A number of worked flints were also uncovered, but these could not be dated.

“This Neolithic long enclosure is a rare and significant find,” OCA notes on its website, “showing us how people over 5000 years ago shaped the same landscape now being used to build modern technology for Sizewell C.”