Books in the British Archaeological Reports British Series series

The Comet Lode Opencast and the surrounding prehistoric-modern archaeological landscape on Copa Hill has been the subject of a major long-term investigation by the Early Mines Research Group. This Early Bronze Age opencast is one of 12 now identified within Central Wales Orefield, but is almost certainly the best preserved, and probably the most fully excavated example of this class of upland primitive trench mines within the British Isles. More than 10 years of excavations here have revealed an intact 5-6 metre deep Early Bronze Age mining stratigraphy preserved under semi-waterlogged conditions within the base of the working, with an abundance of stone, antler, and wooden mining artifacts in situ, including some of the earliest recognized examples of mine drainage equipment (wooden launders) ever found. It appears that the earliest exploitation of the copper-lead ores may have begun sometime before 2000 BC, following prospection activity within the Ystwyth Valley, with activity reaching its maximum almost 150 years later, thereafter continuing intermittently up to the point of its final abandonment around 1600 BC. Of particular interest is evidence which suggests that lead ores were also being systematically removed from the veins, and that in some cases these ores were being crushed and separated, but also apparently discarded. This raises important questions about metallurgical experimentation, and/or the first use of lead, or leaded bronze alloying in Britain. Important palaeo-environmental data has also been obtained from an examination of the sequence of infilling peats and silts which seal these early mining deposits, as well as from cores taken from the blanket peat above the mine. These have provided hitherto unavailable evidence as to the history of local woodland clearance, agriculture, and the record of prehistoric-modern mining and metallurgical activity within an area of the uplands sparse in extant archaeological remains. With contributions by T. Mighall, S. Clark, A. Caseldine, N. Nayling, D.M. Goodburn, B. Craddock, J. Ambers, A.E. Annel and R.A. Ixer

The complex archaeological and geological legacy that North Somerset boasts often means that certain periods may be ignored.

Focusing on evidence from northern England, this book addresses the idea of gradual population increase and related concepts of Mesolithic settlements. Critically assessed are both the nature of the archaeological and environmental evidence for Mesolithic adaptations. A possible different approach is suggested, which acknowledges the importance of ecological changes in a large scale model of changing vegetation, but attempting to avoid static and deterministic interpretations.

This book examines the evidence for the land use, settlement, economy and ritual activities of the Black Mountains area during prehistory and identifies both the density and chronological depth of prehistoric human activity. It also attempts to identify distinct Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Age territories.

The three counties of mainland northern Scotland (Ross-shire, Sutherland, and Caithness) have some of the most dramatic, varied and isolated landscapes in Britain. And these remarkable settings are matched by their Neolithic and Bronze Age remains.This extensive study contains sections on the monuments and their methods of construction, the research history, the landscape, field methodology, and settlements. As well as its importance to academics, this book will interest all those fascinated by the Scottish past and landscape.

The author has undertaken a study of the construction of the Saxon Shore Forts, a series of late Roman coastal installations built on the south and east coasts of Britain during the 3rd century AD. It takes the reader through the generating process involved in the creation of these monuments, from design, through the extraction and transport of the raw materials, to the actual building of the fort defences. Geoarchaeology plays a major part in the study. The 11 forts considered were but a small part of a much larger phenomenon of building in Britain and the Continent during the late Roman period, both of a military and civilian nature, but they constituted a crucial part of the coastal infrastructure, and the imposing ruins of some of their ancient defences still persist in the present landscape - from Brancaster to Portchester.

Between 1993 and 1997 excavations were carried out on the south side of Bonners Lane, Leicester. The excavation preceded construction on the site of a new De Montfort University building. This report presents a detailed account of the findings of the excavation and attempts to integrate this information with the results of four other excavations undertaken in the same general area. The excavation site (National Grid Reference: SK 5852 0395) encompassed an area of c. 0.16 hectares on the south side of Bonners Lane, at its junction with Oxford Street (the medieval Southgates), approximately 250m south of the Roman and medieval walled town.The excavation area was dictated by the footprint of the planned new building and excluded an area in the south of the site and the eastern part of the Oxford Street frontage.This eastern area was subsequently excavated, in order to fully investigate the remains of an Anglo-Saxon building discovered in this part of the site. The total area excavated archaeologically amounted to c. 0.1 hectare. The range of finds included Prehistoric (of particular note was a Neolithic polished stone axe), Roman, Anglo-Saxon, Medieval, Post-Medieval, Post-Civil War, and Modern material.With contributions by Ian L. Baxter, Paul Blinkhorn, Peter Boyer, Lynden Cooper, Siân Davies, Brenda M. Dickinson, Kay Hartley, Dawn Harvey, Mark Hassall, D. A. Higgins, Patrick Marsden, Angela Monckton, Graham Morgan, Rebecca A. Nicholson, Richard Pollard, R. A. Rutland, Deborah Sawday and Irene Schrüfer-Kolb

This study investigates the symbolic role of the domestic dog in Iron Age and Roman Britain through contextual analysis of their faunal remains and interpretation of their representations in iconography. Previous studies have highlighted linkages between the species and ideas about death, healing and regeneration. Although these connections clearly did exist in the cosmologies of Britain and the Western provinces of Rome, this detailed examination of the evidence seeks to identify reasons why this might have been so. The work also highlights previously unnoticed patterns in the dataset that might add a further dimension to our understanding of how the domestic dog was perceived at a symbolic level. It has been established for some time that dogs appear instatistically significant numbers, compared to other species, in the special animal deposits that are a feature of certain Iron Age pits. Dramatic evidence for ritual practice involving animals found at a Romano-British temple complex in Springhead, Kent, and comparable finds from both sacred and secular sites, suggest that domestic dogs were also a favoured sacrifice during this period. As well as analysing such archaeological evidence, this study draws on anthropological, psychological and historical writings about human relationships with the domestic dog in an attempt to forward our understanding of religious expression during antiquity.

With contributions on the flintwork by Daryl Garton.On behalf of Trent & Peak Archaeology, University of Nottingham.

King Æthelred II (978-1016), known as 'the Unready', is a relatively unknown English monarch. The exploration of Æthelred's reign in this volume complements a study undertaken by the author in an earlier book about the Scandinavian invasions of England during Æthelred's reign; a study which followed the careers of the Danish warlords Swein Forkbeard and Thorkell the Tall to explain the complex relationship between Scandinavian armies and the English establishment. The Ætheling Æthelred, who was to reign as 'Æthelred II, king of the English, emperor of all the peoples of Britain' from 978 until 1016, was born c.968. Chronicle evidence suggests a date between March and July of that year. Although it is convenient to use the word 'England' to describe the territory ruled directly by King Æthelred and his father, Edgar, it is worth remembering that Æthelred regarded himself as the ruler of 'peoples'; hence he was king of the English and emperor [basileus] of all the peoples of Britain.

This study discusses a poorly understood period of late prehistory, the Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age transition, in a little researched area of central southern Britain where there seems to be an unusual concentration of sites, many anomalous, the Vale of Pewsey in central eastern Wiltshire. The aims of this research include: To identify the spatial and temporal distribution of prehistoric human activity in the Vale of Pewsey by non intrusive fieldwork techniques; To analyse the scale and character of LBA/EIA activity in the Vale and critically compare those findings to evidence of contemporary activity from other areas of Southern England. Within this analysis to assess whether or not the Vale, with its massive middens/settlements of the period, constituted an exceptional area within Southern England; To characterize the changing nature and form of interaction between the groups active in the Vale and those present in the neighbouring chalklands of Salisbury Plain and the Marlborough Downs during the 2nd and early 1st millennia BC; To define the relationship between the various types of LBA/EIA site found in the Vale in terms of chronology, activity and meaning.

This work follows the study of the ecclesiastical geology of almost all Anglo-Saxon religious sites throughout England. There, it proved possible to both understand and distinguish clearly obvious patterns in the use of stonework, to determine the use and value of specific rock types, and to illustrate diagnostic features which could be used to identify building of that period. Subsequent studies of ecclesiastical sites, in Scotland and the Scottish Islands, the Isle of Man and Ireland expanded the value of the English studies by revealing closely analogous examples of the same indicative features. Beyond the domain of the Anglo-Saxons but of the same age, they were shown to follow a fashion; to this fashion the name 'Patterned' was applied.

Assessment of the Roman Iron Age in the Central Scottish Borders and the relationship between Roman and native is based primarily on an inventory of relevant archaeological material from Roman and native sites including a significant number of finds hitherto unpublished. The introduction highlights the limitations of literary and archaeological evidence and stresses the need to reassess our understanding of the nature of contact between Roman and native in the Central Scottish Borders. The traditional association of the Selgovae with this area is investigated bearing in mind our limited knowledge of their existence and location. The political geography and socio-political and economic structure of the Roman Iron Age in the Central Scottish Borders is then examined. The narrative of Roman occupation is reviewed and also the aftermath of Roman withdrawal, the eventual emergence of new British kingdoms in southern Scotland and the spread of Christianity. The inventory comprises a record not of all finds from Roman and native sites in the Central Scottish Borders but only those relevant for the assessment of native culture, lifestyle and economy, the impact of Rome and the aftermath of Roman occupation. The presence of Roman and Romano-British material on native sites in the Central Scottish Borders and the likelihood of contemporaneous Roman and native occupation on Eildon Hill North adjacent to the Roman fort at Newstead, may suggest a workable coexistence between Roman and native within this area rather than confrontation.

The aim of this book is to provide a regional component to the study of the early medieval economy (Middle Saxon England), and from this, to re-assess trade during the period. The work looks at the archaeology of trade in middle Saxon eastern England, based around the regional analysis of a range of data intended to reflect different aspects of the Anglo-Saxon economy. In broad terms the aims are twofold. Primarily, the book works towards a new understanding of the operation of trade on a regional basis andat all levels, i.e. local to international networks of trade. Secondly, it critiques and challenges traditionally held views of an urban-centred economy based around the long-distance trade in prestige goods. These central aims are further refined into a number of research questions that are explored through the project. These are: To what level were rural regions involved in trade? How was trade organised in middle Saxon eastern England, and how might any regional differences be explained? What was the nature of the involvement of royalty and the church in early medieval trade? These questions form the core of the aims for the book. It is divided into six chapters, each chapter designed to examine an aspect of early medieval trade.

This volume explores the possibilities of using coarse stone assemblages from the Northern Isles of Scotland to observe aspects of social change throughout the prehistoric period. It draws together the available data on coarse stone artefacts, much of which is rather disparate, with a view to providing a standard work of reference for use to those excavators in the Northern Isles who, faced with a large coarse stone assemblage, require a description of the types of artefacts which occur as well as background information on their context and chronology. This is in part a synthesis as it combines proposals for standardised definitions of the various artefact types together with a record of occurrence. Of greater interest, however, is the use to which this information can then be put. By comparing the various artefacts with reference to their form, manufacture, use and deposition it is possible to perceive certain aspects of continuity and change within and between assemblages. This variability within the artefactual record is interpreted at a broader organisational level in order to assess the social implications that these patterns may represent. The period under investigation is from the Neolithic to the end of the Iron Age: from the beginning of the fourth millennium cal BC to 800 cal AD. The main part of this work is concerned with the Neolithic and Bronze Age, particularly the transition period between the two as, during this time, the use of stone for tools and other objects was at its peak.

In the early 16th century Weobley was described as 'a market town in Herefordshire, where is a goodly castell, but somewhat in decay'. Less than a century later, and based on a plan made by Silas Taylor, all that remained of the castle were a few walls, a series of robbed construction trenches and, maybe two substantial timber framed buildings referred to by Taylor as 'dwellings anciently'. As time passed, the history of the castle was lost, albeit temporarily. Between 2001 and 2004, a project to uncover many unsolved questions concerning the origins, use and demise of the castle was undertaken by a multi-disciplinary team led by the editors of this volume. The project, funded by the Local Heritage Initiative and supported by volunteers, undertook a series of non-intrusive investigations as well as detailed studies into the history and development of this once medieval town. Following the results of the surveys, strategic trenching was located in various locations in and around the castle. From this excavation was found an array of objects such as medieval pottery, coinage and metalwork along with significant structures 'including the foundations of a number of medieval buildings'. 'Looking beyond the Castle Walls' provides a detailed account of the methodology of each of the survey and excavation programmes that assisted in the unravelling some of the answers to this most complex of histories.

Birmingham Archaeology Monograph Series 1This report provides the results of archaeological investigations undertaken by Birmingham University Field Archaeology Unit (BUFAU, now Birmingham Archaeology) in advance of a major residential and employment development at Grange Park, Courteenhall, Northamptonshire (NGR SP 760550). The investigations, of an extensive area of Iron Age, Roman and Saxon landscape containing several settlement foci, were undertaken between January and September 1999. The 1999 investigations followed a programme of archaeological evaluation of the 193 hectare site in 1997 and 1998, comprising a desk-based assessment, aerial photographic assessment, extensive fieldwalking, geophysical survey and trial trenching. The site lies at the interface between the higher quality agricultural land and permeable geologies of Upper Nene Valley at Northampton and the boulder clay uplands of the Salcey and Whittlewood Forest areas. From the early prehistoric period onwards the sands and gravels had been favoured for settlement, a situation seen in microcosm at Grange Park, with the claylands probably remaining heavily wooded until they were largely cleared in the Iron Age and Roman periods. The Iron Age settlements at Grange Park may be seen as outliers of the concentration of settlements in the Upper Nene Valley around Hunsbury hillfort. In the Early and Middle Saxon periods the claylands appear to have been largely abandoned for agriculture, with resultant regeneration of woodland, before in the Late Saxon and medieval periods intensive arable exploitation expanded over most of the claylands from nucleated villages generally located on the permeable geologies. Again the site at Grange Park reflects this broader pattern in microcosm, with the whole of the 193 hectare site being brought into ridge-and-furrow cultivation during the medieval period, as evidenced by documentary and cartographic sources, aerial photographs and surviving earthworks.With contributions by Lynne Bevan, Megan Brickley, Marina Ciaraldi, Jane Cowgill, Lucie Dingwall, Chris Gaffney, Rowena Gale, James Greig, Annette Hancocks, Kay Hartley, Rob Ixer, Erica Macey Bracken, Emily Murray, Stephanie Rátkai, Val Rigby, David Smith, Roger Tomlin, Roger White and Steven WillisIllustrations by Mark Breedon, Nigel Dodds, John Halsted, and Bryony Ryder

Detailed reports of the excavations carried out by Peter Gelling between 1963 and 1981. Five locations have been investigated, revealing a sequence of settlement from the Late Bronze Age to the post-medieval period. Published in the association with Historic Scotland.With contributions by Enid Allison, Jane Bellam, Sally Brooks, Judson Chesterman, Rachel Edwards, Peter Gelling, Raymond Lamb, Susan Limbrey, Jessica Lloyd-Jones, Gerry McDonnell, Rebecca Nicholson, Barbara Noddle and Deborah Porter.Illustrations by Jane Bellam, Sally Brooks, Mark Breedon, Henry Buglass, Nigel Dodds and Jessica Lloyd-Jones.The University of Birmingham 1997.

Over the course of the years 2000 to 2004, a series of archaeological investigations were undertaken by Birmingham University Field Archaeology Unit, BUFAU (now Birmingham Archaeology) in advance of quarrying at Whitemoor Haye Quarry, Alrewas, Staffordshire. Investigations followed earlier work at the quarry also undertaken by BUFAU, between 1997 and 1999. The most recent campaign of excavation provided evidence of the Late Neolithic/ Early Bronze Age funerary landscape toward the north of the concession, alongside a predominantly Iron Age and Romano-British agrarian landscape towards the south. In several ways, the archaeological findings reiterate those recorded previously, however, key discoveries have also greatly expanded our knowledge and understanding of this significant landscape. Significantly, during this series of excavations, discoveries were made of Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age funerary monuments and cremations. These have reinforced the contention that the northernmost region of what is now the quarry concession, situated nearer the confluence of the Rivers Tame, Trent and Mease, was a focus of great symbolic and cultural importance during these periods. Whilst the recovered archaeobotanical material from the site proved to be limited, the assemblage remains one of the earliest recovered in Staffordshire and provides valuable information on possible funerary practices associated with the cremations. Just a few kilometres to the north, the site of the Catholme Ceremonial Complex may well have acted as a central place in this ritual landscape, with the henge monument in the vicinity of the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas located between the two areas. It is possible that the northernmost part of Whitemoor Haye provided the southern boundary of the ritual landscape at this significant river confluence. This volume is the second in Birmingham Archaeology's new Monograph Series.

The Isles of Scilly are located 48km south-west of Lands End (Cornwall) England, and comprise a small archipelago of granite islands. The interpretation of the islands' archaeology has received no recent detailed consideration and has therefore not been studied within a contemporary archaeological framework. This research seeks to redress this by considering the prehistory of Scilly from the earliest evidence for a human presence on the islands until the end of the 1st century BC (Mesolithic until Iron Age). It will draw upon recent approaches to the study of landscapes, seascapes and islands and from within archaeology and anthropology, as well as other approaches developed within the broader social sciences. The study provides the first detailed chronological framework for Scillonian prehistory and reconsiders evidence for the prehistoric environmental background of the islands. The analysis of the archaeological record of the islands are based upon data collected through fieldwork and from published and unpublished sources. The archaeology is examined through a detailed study of the distribution and configuration of prehistoric settlements, monuments and material culture and their significance within the island landscape. Exploring changes and continuities within the archaeological record of the islands the study will provide insights into how prehistoric societies may have transformed and sustained their use and perception of the island landscape.

In 1933, R. G. Collingwood forwarded a four-headed approach for the advancement of knowledge of Cumbrian prehistory; office work, fieldwork, excavation and publication. The office work included three main tasks. The first task, the cataloguing and classification of sites and finds. This present study draws on Collingwood's ideas in a number of ways, not least in that in order to interpret Cumbria's prehistoric record at a regional scale, it has been necessary to analyse and interpret many disparate strands of evidence. Only through setting out and discussing previously available evidence and adding to it through new fieldwork and excavation is it possible to construct, then forward an holistic and integrated regional sequence in line with contemporary academic schema. The analyses undertaken for this study have included the examination of environmental data, the collection and characterisation of lithic scatters, interpretation of the distributions, settings and architecture of monuments and the analysis of burial and depositional practices. Chapter one provides an introduction to Cumbrian landscapes and demonstrates the need for a regional approach towards the county's prehistoric record. Drawing on the use of theoretically informed landscape perspectives in the interpretation of prehistoric occupation, chapter two sets out the methodological and interpretative frameworks forming the basis of this study. Chapter three outlines the character and distribution of environmental and lithic data and develops a model of the likely nature of land use and occupation these represent. Chapter four introduces the monument record and outlines methodological approaches to particular monument types. Chapter five discusses the classification and interpretation of stone circles and chapter six interprets the character and distribution of all Neolithic and Early Bronze Age monuments. Analysis of the landscape settings of monuments (chapter seven) and evidence for burial and deposition (chapter eight) illustrate the social and geographical scales at which communities operated over the Neolithic and Bronze Age and how they drew on and appropriated aspects of the natural world. Demonstrating the articulation of themes discussed in earlier chapters, chapter nine takes the form of an integrated case study of occupation, monument use and depositional practice across the Furness Peninsula. The final chapter discusses the nature and identification of regional traditions, forwards an integrated regional narrative and concludes with suggestions for further work.

This study characterises deposition practices in the Middle Thames Valley (England) from the late Mesolithic to early Bronze Age. All available in situ contexts of deposition are considered, such as pits, tree-throw holes, middens, rivers and various monument forms. The study highlights variations in the formality of deposition within contemporary contexts and considers how this relates to ritual activity. Developments in deposition practices are also considered through time from the late Mesolithic to early Bronze Age and processes of ritualisation are explored. This contextual analysis is used as a basis to explore several pertinent issues in Neolithic studies. Deposition practices are used to explore chronological changes in the temporal rhythms of occupation and economy and also variation and developments in funerary and mortuary activity. The use and perception of landscapes in the Middle Thames Valley during the Neolithic are also considered and distinct conceptual changes in relation to these landscapes are highlighted. Deposition practices in the Middle Thames Valley are contrasted with surrounding regions to demonstrate distinct regional patterns. It is argued that differences in deposition practices reflect how aspects of the environment were perceived and the role they held in achieving social reproduction.

This report concentrates on the hitherto unpublished 1936-39 and 1964 excavations at Pevensey (southern England) with re-assessments of some of the findings from earlier work there.

The aim of this book is to further our understanding of Iron Age animal husbandry regimes in Britain by undertaking a comparative study of faunal assemblages. A uniform methodology for comparing existing faunal data was developed. This will allow recognition of intra- and inter-regional patterns among faunal assemblages.

Contributions by Kenneth D. Thomas, Myfanwie Stewart, John D. Gale, Helen Keeley and Beverley Collinson.Report on the excavations undertaken by the author at the Culverwell site in Dorset. Finds of virtually every period of the past have been found, but the emphasis is on the Mesolithic period. Alongside tools and other artefacts, small deposits of midden have been found. The book includes specialists' reports and examines the nature of the site and its place in the wider context of later Mesolithic.

This work on personal ornament in Roman Britain began as an analysis of, and a comparison between, the types of and styles of jewellery favoured by the people of Roman Britain of differing social classes and areas. It soon became clear that many of these artifacts had a deeper significance than that of mere adornment. Furthermore, the majority of these items were recovered from places with ritual or religious connotations. The author proposes that such personal ornamentation appears to have a definite ritual aspect. Because of the religious or superstitious nature of these sites, artifacts deliberately deposited there can be linked to a belief in an afterlife and an intervention by the gods in the lives of mortals. The find-sites indicate that the items probably had a common significance which would have been linked mainly to women, for the majority of these items were articles of feminine adornment. This led to the supposition that the votive artifacts were associated with health and fertility, the mainconcerns of most women in the ancient world.

It is often assumed that, in Britain, archaeology has always been a university-inspired course. However, the identification of qualified scientific archaeology with a formal education is a twentieth-century phenomenon. Archaeology as a waged, educated, vocational pursuit is a recent development. At the beginning of the twentieth century, there were no degree courses in archaeology, no profession or professionals, no formal controls over recruitment, nor institutionalised avenues of entry, nor established examination-based qualifying standards, certainly no faculties, textbooks, lectures, practicals, nor archaeological libraries. British universities have produced great lineages of descendants who practise archaeological specialisations the world over. Yet, it is not known why or how archaeology became a university option. There are no specific histories of how archaeology was institutionalised as a university degree subject in Great Britain and Eire. The entire history of all twentieth-century archaeologies, not just prehistoric, but classical, Romano-British, Anglo-Saxon, mediaeval and historic, can be viewed through the lens of amateur versus university professional and how these terms became defined and used. A university-based group emerged during the twentieth century, whose members gainfully asserted that anyone who was not university centred, or at least university-trained, was an amateur. It is widely accepted today that if you do not have a degree you are not a professional archaeologist. How did this happen? Who considered themselves professionals? Who preferred to be defined as amateur and how did the self-identity of archaeologists change? This work focuses on one small crucial beginning of this fascinating evolutionary process. It is the first history of its kind and is intended to be a block for the building of a broader informed history of British academic archaeology. It will hopefully set an example for other historians of archaeological institutions to follow.

Edited by Sally Worrell, Geoff Egan, John Naylor, Kevin Leahy and Michael Lewis.In 2007 the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) marked its tenth anniversary by holding a conference at which speakers, both from within the Scheme and outside gave a series of papers that demonstrated the research potential of recording finds of archaeological objects made by members of the public. This volume contains papers given at that conference together with a number of other contributions. PAS started as six pilot schemes in 1997 and became a national network across England and Wales in 2003. The core aim of PAS has always been to minimise the loss to our heritage caused by the failure to record systematically objects found by the public - metal-detector users, amateur field-walkers and chance finders. The reason for recording these objects is to create a resource that can be used at many different levels as a resource for school projects purposes, for studying the history of one's local area, or for academic research.

The purpose of castles - their position and their symbolic nature - is the main focus of this study, which takes into account the importance of their context in the medieval world, as part of a many-faceted society.

This study looks at Early Mesolithic Britain, and in particular the assemblage types known as 'Star Carr', 'Deepcar', and 'Horsham', from the point of view of six independent areas of research: typology, technology, chronology, environment, settlement and origins. The discussions highlight what are considered to be the most relevant results of the analyses and offer one or more interpretations of their meaning for the Early Mesolithic.