The Final Week at Rendlesham 2022 (Week 7)

Featured image: children from Wickham Market primary school excavating animal bone from the rubbish dump.

During the seventh and final week of the Rendlesham Revealed excavations the volunteers finished digging and recording the archaeology before cleaning it for final photographs. We also continued processing the finds and completing the fieldwalking.

Over three days, we welcomed 54 children to site from the Year 3 and 4 classes of Wickham Market and Eyke Primary Schools. The children all helped to wash the finds, field walk and excavate the remaining squares of the rubbish dump and take samples. An interesting tiny glass bead was found in the rubbish dump and was very well spotted!

7 people in trench excavating — children from Eyke Primary School excavating the rubbish dump (left) and sieving the soil (right © Katie Everard/Suffolk County Council)

group of children with swing sieves — children from Eyke Primary School excavating the rubbish dump (left) and sieving the soil (right © Katie Everard/Suffolk County Council)

girl holding small bead — school children finding tiny bead (left) and animal bone (right © Katie Everard/Suffolk County Council)

boy holding animal bone — school children finding tiny bead (left) and animal bone (right © Katie Everard/Suffolk County Council)

girl sitting holding object — school children learning about artefacts in a finds handling session (left) and with Kendra the Anglo-Saxon and Anna West (Environmental Officer, Cotswold Archaeology) (right)

lady in anglo-saxon costume — school children learning about artefacts in a finds handling session (left) and with Kendra the Anglo-Saxon and Anna West (Environmental Officer, Cotswold Archaeology) (right)

Over the week, the volunteers finished excavating and recording all the archaeological features and processing the finds. Next to the rubbish dump remains, we uncovered the foundations of a sunken-featured building and a smaller group of rubbish pits. Although we will not know for certain until post excavation work is completed these features are likely to be evidence of earlier Anglo-Saxon activity, predating the adjacent late 6th to 7th century timber hall.

person kneeling in trench — Professor Chris Scull excavating a group of rubbish pits (left) and photograph of fully excavated sunken featured building (right © Graham Allen/Suffolk County Council)

excavated feature — Professor Chris Scull excavating a group of rubbish pits (left) and photograph of fully excavated sunken featured building (right © Graham Allen/Suffolk County Council)

group of people at tables — volunteers sorting and marking the excavated animal bone in the finds processing tent ( © Graham Allen/Suffolk County Council)

On the final day, volunteers were hard at work to clean both trenches ready for the final post-excavation photographs and drone shots.

people in a line in trench — volunteers cleaning the trench with hoes ready for photography ( © Graham Allen/Suffolk County Council)

view of people working in trench — volunteers cleaning the trench with hoes ready for photography ( © Graham Allen/Suffolk County Council)

group of people standing outside trench — the team on the final day!

Over the course of the weekend, we welcomed 180 people who attended the public site tours.

The trenches are now being filled in, but keep an eye out for our next blog where we will reveal more about the archaeology discovered, with some amazing drone shots, and we will explain what this tells us about royal Rendlesham and the first Kings of East Anglia.

group of people looking at trench — Faye Minter and Chris Scull giving the public site tour (left) and digger back filling the trenches (right)

digger in field — Faye Minter and Chris Scull giving the public site tour (left) and digger back filling the trenches (right)

Find out more

Read about the Rendlesham Revealed project

Explore last year’s community fieldwork discoveries

Learn about the previous archaeological investigations since 2008

The excavation season for 2022 is now finished, however if you are interested in volunteering for the next season of fieldwork, you can join our e-newsletter mailing list to receive updates.

This fieldwork is part of the community archaeology project Rendlesham Revealed: Anglo-Saxon Life in South-East Suffolk, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. We are very grateful to our many local and national partners who have made this project possible, and for the support of our volunteers and of the landowners and farmers who work and manage this historic landscape.

If you want to get involved with the Rendlesham Revealed project and future fieldwork, you can sign up to our e-newsletter for updates.