In 1998 a circle of timber posts within the intertidal zone on the north Norfolk coast was brought to the attention of the Norfolk County Council Archaeological Service. A subsequent programme of archaeological recording and dating revealed that the structure was constructed in the spring or early summer of 2049 BC, during the Early Bronze Age. Because of the perceived threat of damage and erosion from the sea a rescue excavation was undertaken during the summer months of 1999. The structure was entirely excavated, involving the removal of the timbers and a programme of stratigraphic recording and environmental analysis. A survey was also undertaken within the environs of the site which has identified further timber structures dating from the Bronze Age. Detailed examination of the timber from the circle has produced a wealth of unexpected information which has added greatly to our understanding of Early Bronze Age woodworking, organisation of labour and the layout and construction of timber ritual monuments.

This paper offers a summary of our present archaeological knowledge of the modern county of Norfolk, a large and geographically diverse tract of northern East Anglia, during the 5th-2nd millennia BC. It concludes by listing some topics deserving of future research.

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND TO THE SITE I n 1992 a remarkable collection of metalwork was discovered at Quidney Farm by Jim McLean a local metal detectorist. The finds came from two discrete areas of a field which is c. 8 hectares in size and located to the north of the farm in Saham Toney parish (FIGS 1 and 2). From a small area (Findspot A, FIG. 3) four complete bronze terrets or harness rings and a fifth broken and incomplete terret, an enamelled roundel, a plate brooch, and an iron axe head were found. The other group of artefacts, found together (Findspot B, FIG. 3), consisted of two copperalloy horse bits, an iron and copper-alloy linch pin, a pair of iron manacles, and other fragments of metal, mainly iron, some possibly from a griddle. The finds form part of a rich collection of late Iron Age/ early Roman material found by Mr McLean at Quidney Farm between 1990 and 1993. Recorded under the same site number (County Site 29429) are a miniature terret found approximately 100 m to the west of Findspot A and an Icenian silver coin, boar/horse C type (0.69 g) 1 which was found approximately 150 m to the northwest of the terrets. Also from the site are five Romano-British brooches 2 which date to between A.D. 40 and 60/65. From the southwest end of the same field (recorded as County Site 28294) a total of eight brooches of Romano-British date 3 and an Icenian early Freckenham type gold stater (5.35 g) 4 have been found (FIG. 2a). Other finds of Iron Age or early Romano-British date from the immediate area of Quidney Farm include a silver finger-ring, 5 brooches, 6 another Icenian silver coin, boar/horse C type (0.70 g) 7 and an iron axe (FIG. 2a). 8 Further large amounts of metalwork and coinage dating to the period have been recovered from 1

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