31/08/2026
Nuclear site dig will change prehistory, says archaeologist, Richard Mortimer in a new BBC report...
The huge archaeological project at Sizewell C is giving experts an extraordinary opportunity to piece together thousands of years of life on the Suffolk coast – and one archaeologist has described the scale of the work as a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity.
Excavations across the enormous site around neighbouring town Leiston have uncovered evidence spanning different periods of Suffolk’s past, including more than 1,000 Neolithic pits, offering fascinating clues about some of the area’s earliest farming communities.
Among the discoveries are traces of an early Bronze Age building, while medieval ovens could provide new insights into the industries and crops that once supported communities in this part of Suffolk. Archaeologists are also getting the rare chance to investigate the wider landscapes surrounding historic monastic sites – helping them understand not just where people lived, but how they worked and used the land around them.
What makes the Sizewell C archaeology particularly exciting is its sheer scale. Rather than looking at isolated finds, experts can examine a huge landscape and begin connecting the dots between discoveries – potentially transforming their understanding of how people lived here over thousands of years.
It’s another incredible reminder that beneath the landscape we know so well today lies thousands of years of Suffolk history just waiting to be discovered.
Read the original BBC report: https://bit.ly/4wEAenc
