Proc Suffolk Inst Archaeol 32 (1)

[TL 8564]. No dating evidence was recovered for the construction of the rampart, either from the rampart itself or from beneath it. However, the excavation showed that the medieval defences along this stretch of the boundary had never been provided with a stone wall in spite of the documentary evidence which suggests the sacrist Hervey's wall ran right round the town. It remains a possibility that Willlam of Malmesbury may have been right in quoting the tradition that Cnut built a ditch round the town. An assemblage of over 500 flints from the gravel core of the rampart is of Sauveterrian character; graphs show their lengths, breadths and length-breadth ratios. A tanged flint was among those found. Au(amp)

[TM 4770]. All of Roman Dunwich and most of the prosperous medieval port has been lost by marine erosion, and a last chance was taken to test the surviving rampart and an occupation area on the W edge of the medieval town. Although the documentary evidence implies an effective defence by 1173, archaeological results suggest a somewhat later date; sealed by the rampart were timber buildings with late 12th/early 13th century pottery. The ditch was 5 ft deeper than the 1935 report had suggested. In the second area examined, postholes and sill beams were accompanied by Pingsdorf and Andenne wares illustrating the wide connections of the medieval town. Norman Scarfe (pp 34-7) discusses the scanty historical records relating to the defences.

TM 335377. The piece is of jet carved with interlace and a cruciform pattern, probably of mid-10th century date. R Page has found no evidence for chess as such in Anglo-Saxon England, but a game of two unequal sides appears to have been played. Numerous pieces are cited in the discussion of the Bawdsey example, which presumably came from a two-colour board game and may have been made in Yorkshire (see also 72/1474).