Bronze Age Settlement Excavated in England

News April 23, 2025

Oxford Archaeology
SHARE:

CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND—Archaeologists have discovered a 3,000-year-old farm settlement in the town of Ipswich ahead of road construction, according to a report from BBC News. At the site, they have uncovered a cremation cemetery including 18 burials along with a substantial amount of pottery, two roundhouses, and several other structures. The discovery of the cemetery marks a shift in burial practices from earlier in the Bronze Age, when people were interred in monuments and barrows. Radiocarbon dating has established that the settlement was used for at least 400 years, from roughly 1200 to 800 B.C. “This means many generations of people were living within that landscape,” said Chris Thatcher of Oxford Archaeology. “We can also see shifting cultural practices and that's why sites like this, with a decent block of evidence that we can confidently date, are so significant.” Other discoveries at the site include a clay spindle whorl used to spin yarn and a rare flint quern used to hand-grind grain into flour. To read in-depth about another Bronze Age settlement in England, go to “Fire in the Fens.”

  • Features March/April 2025

    The Shell Seekers

    How hunter-gatherers in northern Florida facing an uncertain future revived a powerful symbol of their past

    Read Article
    © Majka Media
  • Features March/April 2025

    Unearthing an Elusive Empire

    Archaeologists have discovered rare evidence of an enlightened medieval dynasty that ruled much of Central Asia

    Read Article
    Photo by Kubatbek Tabaldiev and Kunbolot Akmatov
  • Features March/April 2025

    The Secrets of Porvenir

    Remembering the victims of a 1918 massacre that shook a Texas border community

    Read Article
    Courtesy David Keller
  • Features March/April 2025

    Ahead of Their Time

    Excavations reveal the surprising sophistication of Copper Age villagers in southwestern Iran 6,000 years ago

    Read Article
    Zohreh Prehistoric Project Archive