As part of the standard pre-construction archaeological investigations, before any major development in the UK, some remarkable finds have been made on a housing development near Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk (UK).
     Whilst the site have provided exciting evidence of continuous settlement and use for thousands of years from the Iron Age, the Roman occupation, medieval period and more recent 20th. Century activity, the main attention has been focused firmly on the Bronze Age discoveries.
     The unusual element centres around the uncovering of two mounds comprising stones, which would have been heated up to allow the transfer of the heat to a reservoir of water, as part of the process in the preparation of animal skins. Not unusual in itself you may think but it is the location, away from a natural water course, that has caused the excitement.
     The dig is being led by Suffolk archaeology and a member of the team, Alex Fisher, is quoted as saying "The findings give us more information about how the land was used at various periods in history but the Bronze Age discoveries are particularly exciting because they are surprising. The burnt mounds were unexpected in this region and the fact that they do not follow the usual patterns also throws up yet more questions, which helps us discover more about the history of the area"".

Edited from East Anglia Daily Ti8mes (30 November 2017)