Bronze Age Britain

This paper considers the under-explored experiential aspect of transhumance through two people, one interpreted from archaeological evidence as being a young woman, the other known and named. The first lived around 3700 years ago and has recently been made visible by painstaking archaeological examination of an Early Bronze Age burial on Dartmoor; the other, Kenina Morrison, still living in Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides in 2014, made audible by a recorded structured conversation.

The transition from the Bronze Age (BA) to the Iron Age (IA) on the Northeastern Iberian Peninsula is characterized by the emergence of cremation as the main funerary practice. Cultural attributes of a group, known as the Urnfield Culture, expanded from Central Europe to Northeastern Iberia during the Final Bronze Age (FBA), from ~1300 to ~850 cal BCE. Various hypotheses on the group’s emergence exist, but cremations hinder DNA preservation. Here, we present genome-wide data from 24 inhumed individuals from a collective burial mound at the site of Los Castellets II (Spain), where inhumations and cremations co-occurred during the FBA, and one Early Iron Age (EIA) individual from Los Piojos
(Spain). The results show that two source populations are required to explain the ancestry at Los Castellets II: one enriched in steppe-related ancestry and distantly related to Central European BA populations, and a second source similar to local Southeastern Iberian BA. Additionally, two-thirds of the individuals from the same collective tumulus were closely biologically related from 1st to >6th degree, with a man having the highest number of genetic relatives. We detected signs of inbreeding within the family group, all together suggesting the tumulus was used as a family mausoleum.

He is the former editor of 3rd Stone magazine, has been a columnist for British Archaeology and Fortean Times, and has published two books about the 18th-century antiquarian, William Stukeley. He is also behind the psychedelic drone metal band Urthona.

The later Neolithic period saw the emergence of Grooved Ware pottery within Britain and Ireland. The three styles are often associated with henge monuments, pit groups or passage graves and accompanied by unusual or complex deposits. However, it is not clear whether the depositional practices of all three styles of Grooved Ware pottery followed the same pattern, or were treated differently. In the Upper Thames Valley many of the known Grooved Ware sites are situated on the lower gravel terraces and although this distribution may be a reflection of where developer-led archaeology has occurred, it does not help to explain why they were placed there initially and why other areas were avoided, such as the large henge monuments within the Upper Thames Valley. This thesis analyses the depositional contexts of all three styles of Grooved Ware pottery within the Upper Thames Valley and evaluates these from a landscape perspective, to determine whether all three styles were deposited in similar contexts to each other. Their distinctive decorative designs are also examined in an attempt to ascertain whether they held any iconological significance, thereby influencing how the pottery was treated and therefore governing both choice of location and manner of deposition iii to Dr Paul Middleton, a source of inspiration

Earlier objects are frequently identified in later contexts, though rarely form the focus of discussion. This paper presents 34 sites where earlier Bronze Age metalwork has been found in later Bronze Age contexts in southern Britain, including hoards and nonhoard contexts. These 'out-of-time' objects follow complex trajectories and can inform us about the potential ways past societies conceived their own pasts, especially when contextualized in broader integrated landscapes. Out-of-time objects might be deposited singly or within hoards to reinforce community boundaries and legitimize links with past communities. The form, wear and treatment of these objects pre-deposition (e.g. curation and/or deformation) as well as the places in which they were buried represent indicators of prehistoric processes of commemoration and/or forgetting.

Linear earthworks of a monumental character are an enigmatic part of the British landscape. Research in Britain suggests that such features range in date from the early 1st millennium BC to the Early Middle Ages. While the  roles of these monuments in past societies cannot be understated, they remain a relatively under-researched phenomenon. This article introduces the Leverhulme Trust-funded ‘Monumentality and Landscape: Linear Earthworks in Britain’ project, which aims to provide a comparative study of linear earthworks focusing on those dating to the Iron Age and early medieval period. This contribution reviews our approach and shares preliminary results from the project’s first year, identifying wider implications for the study of linear earthworks.

The Bronze Age in Europe is marked by a great volume of metal, consisting of many thousands of copper, bronze and gold objects. The success of bronze metallurgy is partly linked to the wide availability of copper ores.  Prehistoric copper mines have been found in many countries, most notably the Balkans, Austria and Spain.  Britain and Ireland, long regarded as prolific centres of Bronze Age metallurgy, were also major sources of copper.  This short account outlines the evidence for Bronze Age copper mining in these islands, its technology and the many important discoveries in this field in recent times.

The earliest textiles in Scotland belong to a period called the Bronze Age dated 2400 BCE to 700 BCE. Since its conception in the early 19th century, the story of the Bronze Age has been dominated by the societal effects of early metals. However, the Bronze Age is also a time of innovation in textiles and the societal impacts they engendered. In August 2024, a one-year Personal Research Fellowship Uncovering Scotland’s Earliest Textiles started for Susanna Harris at the University of Glasgow. It is funded by The Royal Society of Edinburgh. 1). The project will use scientific and archaeological approaches to reveal new evidence for the start of Scotland’s iconic textile industry.

Geophysical survey and trial excavations were carried out on two fields, Hanglands and Fairmile, at Townsend Farm, Poyntington, Dorset. Gradiometry was carried out across the entirely of Hanglands. Despite having been seriously affected by ploughing it produced evidence of linear cut features and included curvilinear anomalies possibly representing roundhouses. Three evaluation trenches were positioned with the aim of characterising the geophysical anomalies, understanding the quality, preservation, and gaining some chronological understanding. Despite considerable truncation by ploughing, an enclosure ditch and a curvilinear gully of later prehistoric date were identified as well as an undated terrace along the break in slope on the eastern side of the field, which could be Romano-British or medieval. Gradiometry over a small area at the north end of Fairmile, identified anomalies on a rectilinear alignment where Romano-British pottery had been recovered from the surface, including a South East Dorset Orange Wiped Ware sherd of the late 4 th -early 5 th century AD. The anomalies are suggestive of a substantial Romano-British building and associated features. The limited investigations have demonstrated an area of later Iron Age occupation adjacent to what appears to be a a previously unrecorded villa.

Contents

Elisa Roma:
Old Irish pronominal objects and their use in verbal pro-forms . . . 7

Alistair J. P. Sims;
Celtic obsession in modern fantasy literature . . . 21

George Broderick
Prof. Sir John Rhŷs in the Isle of Man (1886–1893): Linguistic material and texts . . . 35

Tatyana A. Mikhailova:
Geneta Viscara: the element caro- in Gaulish compound names and inscriptions . . . 71

Marcel Bubert:
Transcultural history and early medieval Ireland. Some reflections on European diversity, cultural transfer, and the history of knowledge . . . 87

Mary Leenane;
Character creation in the Ulster Cycle . . . 103

James January-McCann;
‘Y gwsanaeth prydwysaidd yn y gwledydd yma’: Portrayals of Continental and English catholicism in sixteenth century Wales . . . 119

Doris Edel:
What did Ailill and Medb really quarrel about? A legal approach to the ‘Pillow Talk’  . . . 131

Marco Budassi:
The development of Insular Celtic double system of inflection . . . 141

Raimund Karl:
Social changes in Late Bronze and Early Iron Age Wales: The beginning of Celtic Wales? . . . 159

The discovery in 2001 by a metal detectorist of the now famous gold cup from Ringlemere Farm in east Kent prompted a four-year survey and excavation project led by the British Museum. This volume provides a detailed assessment of M1, the barrow where the gold cup was found, focusing particularly on the extraordinary Late Neolithic ritual and occupation site that lay preserved beneath the barrow. Readers will no doubt have bells ringing in their memories – has this site not been published before? A preliminary account of the site was published in 2006 (Needham et al. 2006), once freely available online but now seemingly only through the National Archive web archive service since the British Museum revamped their website. That volume included a chapter on excavations at the barrow, with a detailed comparison to other similar Late Neolithic henge sites. However, this new volume presents the site for the first time in detail, superseding the account and discussion in that earlier volume...

This publication from the British museum reviews-in the light of the crushed, corrugated, gold cup recently (2001) found on ringlemere farm, near Sandwich-the nature of western europe's precious cups, unique and distinctive vessels. Investigation of the Ringlemere cup's find-spot showed that it was likely to have been ploughed from a huge barrow, 150m in diameter, which had been sited upon a single-entranced henge. This remarkable discovery, made by a responsible metal detectorist, has now been definitively published. The A4 sized, glossy-backed publication is entitled The Ringlemere Cup, Precious Cups and the beginning of the Channel Bronze Age. It has been edited by Stuart Needham, Keith Parfitt and gill varndell. They are joined by Aaron Birchenough, Chris Butler, Caroline Cartwright and Susan la niece. The illustrations are by Barry Corke and Stephen Crummy. following upon the introductory apparatus there are nine comprehensive chapters, the work of the principals. Thus The Background and Survey Work (1) and The Excavations 2002-2005 (2) are the work of Keith Parfitt. The Gold Cup (3) has been studied by Stuart needham, supported by Susan la niece, and Other Prehistoric Material (4) together with some radiocarbon dates are the province of Stuart needham, gillian varndell, Chris Butler and Keith Parfitt, who also examines Ringlemere and Ritual and Burial Landscapes of Kent (5). Thereafter Stuart needham discusses the Precious Cups of the Early Bronze Age (6), Precious Cups: Concept, Context and Custodianship (7), Networks of Contact and Meaning: The Beginning of the Channel Bronze Age (8) and, with gill varndell, has set down a catalogue of Early Bronze Age Precious Cups in north west Europe (9). There is a modest but effective bibliography with lists of figures, Tables, Plates and remarkable colour Plates. The catalogue is of considerable value to all concerned with the series of cups termed 'precious'. The Ringlemere cup, found in a plough-crushed condition, takes pride of place with an 'ideal reconstruction', a computer

Early Iron Age bronze socketed axes of the 
‘Armorican’ type are inspired by the Late Bronze
Age socketed axes and have previously been con
fused with them. However, they do not conform
to Late Bronze Age standards but are skeuo
morphic objects. Huge quantities of those axes
have been discovered in Brittany and Normandy,
where they were traditionally attributed to end
of the Late Bronze Age (Ha B2–B3) and thought
to have persisted throughout the Early Iron Age.
However, a critical review of alleged Late Bronze
Age hoards containing those axes proves this idea
wrong. Their contexts date to the Ha D phase, per
haps as early as Ha C. Both objects and contexts 
differ from their Late Bronze Age parallels and
hint at new concepts of metal use and circulation.
The deposition of Armorican socketed axes con
trasts with Late Bronze Age hoarding practices
and must be understood against a broader West
ern European context of transition. Hoards were
frequent during the Late Bronze Age, (nearly)
disappeared during the Ha C phase, and became
more frequent again during the Ha D phase. It is
argued that the Early Iron Age, the bronze sock
eted axes’ ‘uselessness’ is a key aspect to the un
derstanding of how their social role differs from
that of Late Bronze Age examples, but also of how
new standards were established during a period
of change. Often considered as evidence of conti
nuity, they might also inform us about how tradi
tional objects and practices were reused in new
scial contexts.
Carp’s Tongue sword phase; Early Iron Age; Hallstatt D

Background: New Pieces is a small (c. 0.7ha) hillslope enclosure that lies on the southern side of the Breiddin Hill, c. 200m south of the Iron Age hillfort (SJ297139). It is described in the HER as a 'Roman defended enclosure', but early medieval activity is also well evidenced. In 1933-35 B.H.St. John O'Neil led small-scale trial trenching at New Pieces as part of his larger campaign focused on the Breiddin hillfort. O'Neil reported sherds of what he thought were Roman pottery and glass, iron objects, including two styli, and a quantity of metalworking debris. Revaluation of the finds in the 1980/90s confirmed the pottery as Roman but suggested that the glass was early medieval, and subsequently Chris Arnold and Jeremy Huggett partially reopened and expanded O'Neil's trench between 1996 and 2000. Arnold and Huggett's excavation recovered a substantial assemblage of early medieval material, and preliminary assessment by Ewan Campbell (2000) identified sherds of Derivées sigillées paléochrétienne Atlantique, Phocaean red-slipped ware, and Types C and D Atlantic tradition glass. On this basis New Pieces can be identified as the richest early medieval 'settlement' in the Welsh Marches, but the excavations were not published.

SUMMARY Excavations by Cotswold Archaeology (CA) in advance of the Thames Water mains reinforcement between Kirtlington and Ardley reservoir examined parts of three Iron-Age farming settlements near Aves Ditch. The remains included pits and ditches dating mostly to the middle Iron Age and extending into the late Iron Age; three young child burials were present. Wider aerial and geophysical surveys indicate that two of the settlements were enclosed, and are similar to a number of examples in the vicinity. An opportunity was also taken to examine a section through Aves Ditch where the pipeline crossed the monument.

The results of the excavation of a length of the Iron Age hillfort rampart at Hunsbury Hill in 1988 are reviewed, with the original plan and sections now shown at consistent scales and with consistent orientations. A number of colour images of the excavations are also presented for the first time. In addition, the three radiocarbon dates have been recalibrated to enable a restatement of the date of construction of the original box rampart as, most probably, c.550-400 cal BC. A radiocarbon date from the continuous inner palisade slot, is slightly later, c.420-350 cal BC, and this provides no support for the suggestion that it was an initial standalone construction, pre-dating the box rampart. In fact, it may indicate that this revetment was an integral part of the box rampart construction that was subject to later refurbishment.

During 2012-2013 two sites were subject to investigation: the first the West Kennet Avenue 'occupation site' initially recognised during Alexander Keiller's work on the avenue in 1934-5; the second a flint scatter on the foot of Avebury Down, to the east of the Avebury henge (Figure 1). Both are locations where significant quantities of Neolithic worked flintrecovered through excavation and surface collection respectivelywere recognised during the first half of the 20th century. While each exceeds 0.5-1.0ha in extent, they are discrete scatters whose artefactual component suggests they span the early 4th to early 3rd millennia BC. Occupying different landscape zones-foot of slope/valley and upper slopetheir investigation offers a routeway into understanding the character of settlement, aggregation, place-making and routine life during the region's Neolithic. Geoarchaeology of the soils along the Avebury Avenue, 2013 (WKA-13) Michael J. Allen question is premature. What is clear is that the soil development history will provide information the local vegetation status (any former woodland soils / duration of grassland conditions) which itself is of direct relevance to the activity not just at the Avenue, but at Avebury itself (cf. Allen & Gardiner 2009).

Place name mapping ………………………………………………………………………. Field names ………………………………………………………………………………... 12 Settlement typology ……..………………………………………………………………… 1) Large nucleations 2) Smaller nucleations 3) Service nucleations 4) Compact hamlets 5) Loose hamlets 6) Directly adjacent farms with/without a common name element 7) Multiple spread farms with common name element 8) Other farms Definition: Designed landscapes consisting of gardens or parkland usually surrounding a large house. Land characterised on Ordnance Survey maps by a stipple convention. Key characteristics: Stipple convention on Ordnance Survey maps; landscape features such as roads and field boundaries frequently show evidence of alteration or have been removed. Interpretation: Designed landscapes associated with elite residences maintained principally for their amenity or aesthetic value. Descriptive analysis Topography: This type tends to be located on lower ground, though not on flood plains. Field morphology and boundaries: In most cases morphology and boundaries have been altered and reflect meanings inherent in the parkland, not the historic landscape it has replaced. Roads: Not applicable. Settlements: Settlements consist of a large house, sometimes with associated housing for servants. Woodland: Most of these areas incorporate areas of woodland plantation maintained partly for economic and partly for aesthetic reasons. Land holding: It can be expected that these landscapes were owned and occupied by the same individuals, who are also likely to have been major landowners in the locality. Mineral extraction: Not applicable.

The site consists of two fields immediately north of Membury Court, an historic farm complex situated one and a half kilometres northwest of the hamlet of Membury in East Devon. The site occupies a southwest-facing slope overlooking the valley of the River Yarty between 80m and 125m AOD. The fields are believed to contain the traces of a Roman villa, 'excavated' in 1914 by a local vicar. Surface-finds of tegulae and scored flue tiles (Fox 1949) made in the smaller of the two fields nearest to Membury Court provide supporting evidence. A gradiometer survey undertaken in July 2010 (Smart 2010) indicated a sub-rectangular enclosure surrounded by at least three rectilinear enclosures, and within which were a number of probable robbed wall footings, supporting the previous suggestions. Three evaluation trenches excavated in 2011 (Smart and Pearce 2011) confirmed the character of the ditches associated with the rectilinear and sub-rectangular enclosures, and indicated a date for these within the Roman period. The robbed wall footings were also confirmed, and in situ plastered walls revealed, indicating the presence of a well-appointed Roman building. A resistivity survey refined the plan of this structure, but also revealed other features, including ditches. An unnatural, broad rectilinear area of high resistance was the focus of the evaluation in 2013. It was conceived that this anomaly may indicate the presence of the site of another building. The fields in which the site lay are both used for grazing and cropped for hay. Geology and soils: The site is located upon Triassic mudstone of the Branscombe Mudstone Formation overlain by deposits of Quaternary Head (Undifferentiated), consisting of clay, silt, sand and gravel (British Geological Survey 2010) Investigation type: Trench evaluation Number of trenches: 1 (Trench 4 = 45 m long, 1.4 m wide) Area evaluated: 63 m 2 The evaluation was done in accordance with an existing Devon County Council 'Brief for Archaeological Evaluation' (DCC reference ARCH/AE/ED 17777), as well as English Heritage and Institute for Archaeologists guidelines. Results: A 45 m-long trench was positioned to investigate a substantial rectilinear anomaly identified during the resistivity survey conducted in 2011 (Smart and Pearce 2011). Excavation revealed a broad compacted deposit of clay and chert. This material was devoid of finds and appeared to represent a single episode of deposition. The material sealed a number of ditches and these related to enclosures identified by magnetic and resistivity survey, and previously evaluated in 2011. The scant pottery recovered from these ditches suggests that they were infilled during the Roman period. The purpose of the extensive deposit was not identified during this evaluation but, given its shape and extent, it could be proposed that the hill slope was levelled to receive a building or be used as a yard, and there is no evidence to refute the suggestion that it relates to occupation of the site during the Roman period. It is possible that the material filled a shallow terrace dug into the hillside, but no clear cut was observed in the confines of the trench. The site appears to be that of a rural farmstead which has progressively expanded to include a rectilinear enclosure system and has adopted the trappings of Roman Britain. The earliest confirmed feature, which was sealed by Roman building debris, was a pit or ditch containing unabraded flint flakes of Late Bronze Age or Early Neolithic date.

From the north the High Speed 1 (HS1) route extends from the Ebbsfleet Valley at Springhead south-eastwards across the dip slope of the North Downs (see Fig. 2.1 below). The first 15km of the route south-east of Fawkham Junction to the River Medway is, apart from Scalers Hill, predominantly through Upper Chalk overlain in the deeper cuts by Thanet Beds and/or Head. East of Scalers Hill there are extensive solution features in the top of the chalk. Scalers Hill is an outcrop of the Lower London Tertiaries consisting of Harwich Formation/Blackheath Beds sands and gravels over Woolwich and Reading Beds clay (BGS 2010). After crossing the River Medway on a 1.3km bridge and viaduct the HS1 runs up the Nashenden Valley mainly through Upper Chalk and then into the 3.2km North Downs Tunnel under Blue Bell Hill. The crest of the North Downs escarpment, overlooking the Weald, reaches a height of c 200m OD and is frequently capped by surface deposits of Clay-with-Flints or Tertiary deposits. E...

The six archaeological investigations published in this volume were excavated by Archaeology South-East (ASE; UCL Institute of Archaeology), in and around Hawkinge in south-east Kent, where work has been taking place since 1993. The study area is largely focussed on the site of the former aerodrome at Hawkinge, for which a major programme of redevelopment was proposed comprising both residential and industrial areas. Subsequently, further sites in the vicinity of Hawkinge were also proposed for redevelopment resulting in the six excavations presented in this volume. The sites were all located relatively close together, scattered across an area c 1.5km2. The historic village of Hawkinge is located less than a mile to the east of the modern, expanded town of Hawkinge. The large coastal town of Folkestone is located approximately 1km to the south. The excavations uncovered archaeological remains from a wide range of chronological periods, from the Neolithic to modern era. The majority of the activity identified relates to the prehistoric development of the landscape (mainly Bronze Age to Late Iron Age) and Romano-British settlement. A scatter of Mesolithic and early Neolithic flints was also uncovered evidencing an earlier presence in the landscape. The features excavated include a Bronze Age ring ditch, a number of cremation cemeteries of prehistoric and Roman date, as well as settlements comprising buildings, ovens and hearths, set within enclosures. The Late Iron Age-Roman funerary evidence was particularly significant comprising four different small cremation cemeteries, and several burials with ceramic containers and accessory vessels. One of the cremations was buried in a re-used amphora vessel, which is an increasingly recognised features of Roman funerary practice in Kent and south-east England more generally. Evidence for post-Roman activity was much more limited and comprised only a handful of features and finds, suggesting this area of Hawkinge was apparently left as open ground or pasture at this time. The original historic core of Hawkinge village developed on the higher ground c 800m to the east.

This paper examines some of the arguments used by archaeologists in favour of collaborating with artefact hunters and collectors who claim that these activities produce information that is useful for archaeological research and is a form of public engagement with archaeology. It takes as a case study records of 48 600 medieval artefacts removed from archaeological contexts by artefact hunters and recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme in England and Wales. The past and potential uses of these records as an archaeological source are objectively reviewed, together with an assessment of the degree to which they provide mitigation of the damage caused to the otherwise unthreatened archaeological record. It is concluded that, although information can be obtained by studying records of findspots of addressed artefacts such as coins, in general the claims made in support of professional archaeological collaboration with this kind of activity prove to be false.

This paper summarises 80 years of 'henge' studies. It considers the range of monuments originally considered henges and how more diverse sites became added to the original list. It examines the diversity of monuments considered to be henges, their origins, their associated monument types and their dates. Since the introduction of the term, archaeologists have often been uncomfortable with it. It was introduced in inverted commas and those commas continued to be used for over 30 years. With the introduction of the term 'hengiform' the strictures of definition that characterised the monument class collapsed and an increased variety of circular and oval monuments were included under the henge aegis. It is suggested here that the term 'henge' has outlived its usefulness as we no longer know what we mean by it. Instead we should adopt an objective viewpoint and recognise these earth circles as just one manifestation of the tradition of circularity that pervades the third and second millennia BC.

In February 2000, ploughing disturbed the capstone of a cist, located on the side of a prominent knowe at Rameldry Farm, near Kingskettle in central Fife. Excavation by Headland Archaeology Ltd on behalf of Historic Scotland revealed a short cist which contained the crouched inhumation of a man aged 40–50, who had suffered from arthritis, some tooth loss and possibly Paget’s Disease. He had been buried wearing a garment adorned with six V-perforated buttons. Five of these are of Whitby jet (including one with unique decoration including inlaid tin); the sixth is of the mineral lizardite, and has an enigmatic coating, possibly a glaze. Behind his shoulder was a dagger, of ‘Milston type (East Kennet variant)’; it had had a fancy horn hilt and a scabbard lined with animal skin. The scabbard yielded two AMS radiocarbon dates, with a mean value of 2280–1970 cal BC at 2s.

Present-day populations from England and Wales harbour more ancestry derived from Early European Farmers (EEF) than did people of the Early Bronze Age. To study how this occurred, we generated genome-wide data from 803 individuals, almost all from the Middle to Late Bronze Age and the Iron Age, increasing data in this period from Britain by 12-fold, and from Western and Central Europe by more than twofold. Between 1000-875 BCE, EEF ancestry increased in southern Britain (England and Wales) but not in northern Britain (Scotland), due to incorporation into the population of a stream of migrants who arrived at this time and in previous centuries and who were genetically most similar to ancient individuals from France. These migrants cumulatively contributed about half the ancestry of Iron Age people of England and Wales, thereby documenting a previously unknown demographic process that is a plausible vector for the spread of early Celtic languages into Britain. These patterns are part of a broader trend of EEF ancestry

Studies of early fourth-millennium BC Britain have typically focused on the Early Neolithic sites of Wessex and Orkney; what can the investigation of sites located in areas beyond these core regions add? The authors report on excavations (2011–2019) at Dorstone Hill in Herefordshire, which have revealed a remarkable complex of Early Neolithic monuments: three long barrows constructed on the footprints of three timber buildings that had been deliberately burned, plus a nearby causewayed enclosure. A Bayesian chronological model demonstrates the precocious character of many of the site's elements and strengthens the evidence for the role of tombs and houses/halls in the creation and commemoration of foundational social groups in Neolithic Britain.

Small quantities of biological remains recovered from the processing of bulk sediment samples from deposits encountered during works in advance of the construction of the Tipperary Civic Offices, Limerick Road, Nenagh, County Tipperary in the Republic of Ireland, were submitted for analysis. The cremation burials dated to the late Bronze Age and were thought to be part of a significant ritual prehistoric landscape. Osteological analysis found that three of the burials contained adults, while the small quantity of bone in the fourth burial may represent a pyre deposit or accessory burial. All four burials were unurned, but two contained probable grave goods in the form of fossils and a pottery sherd. Palaeopathology was noted on bone fragments from two of the burials. The plant material consisted mainly of wood charcoal presumably from the cremation pyres. This small group of burials appears to have been reserved for adults and may represent a family plot.

Between 1980 and 1984 a number of finds of EBA metalwork were recovered via metal-detecting from an area of rough ground at the head of a small disused quarry. This report considers the character of the metalwork and the context in which that material was deposited. It concludes that the entire assemblage could have resulted from more than one period of votive deposition, and that these activities focused upon a prominent, but natural, long mound and occurred in an area which may have been demarcated by other natural points of reference.

Summary Excavations at numerous sites in the vicinity of the Glaxo-Wellcome factory produced small assemblages of animal bone. Although most of the material is of limited interpretative value, several points are worthy of note. The presence of burnt cattle mandibles complements evidence from the late Roman waterfront sites in Lincoln where a large proportion of cattle jaws had been deliberately scorched around the area of the diastema. These have been interpreted as waste from liquid marrow extraction. Characteristic 'hook' damage and other butchery practises were noted on cattle scapulae from several of the Ware sites. These butchery techniques have also been recorded from other Roman sites in Britain and mainland Europe and are regarded as evidence for salting, smoking or drying shoulder joints. The occurrence of butchery marks on a small number of horse bones suggests that horse meat may have been an occasional element of the diet. Alternatively these marks may represent ...

This paper focuses upon the web of practices and transformations bound up in the extraction and movement of megaliths during the Neolithic of southern Britain. The focus is on the Avebury landscape of Wiltshire, where over 700 individual megaliths were employed in the construction of ceremonial and funerary monuments. Locally sourced, little consideration has been given to the process of acquisition and movement of sarsen stones that make up key monuments such as the Avebury henge and its avenues, attention instead focusing on the middle-distance transportation of sarsen out of this region to Stonehenge. Though stone movements were local, we argue they were far from lacking in significance, as indicated by the subsequent monumentalization of at least two locations from which they were likely acquired. We argue that since such stones embodied place(s), their removal, movement and resetting represented a remarkably dynamic and potentially disruptive reconfiguration of the world as it ...

The South West contains a wealth and diversity of Neolithic and Early Bronze Age archaeology, much of it of national and international significance. Its quality and character are dictated by differential survival and histories of research, as well as reflecting real variation in the nature of prehistoric activity. One of the major topographic divides is that between the Wessex chalk and the different and diverse terrains of the south-west peninsula. The complementary resources of these two major areas are reflected in diverse modes and media of exchange between them throughout and beyond this period. The uplands of the west, principally Dartmoor and Bodmin Moor, include relict prehistoric landscapes where the relative absence of later cultivation has ensured excellent survival of stone monuments, settlement features and early fieldsystems. In the region’s centre, work within the peats of the Somerset Levels has produced an unparalleled range of prehistoric timber trackways and artef...

A new sequence of Holocene landscape change has been discovered through an investigation of sediment sequences, palaeosols, pollen and molluscan data discovered during the Stonehenge Riverside Project. The early post-glacial vegetational succession in the Avon valley at Durrington Walls was apparently slow and partial, with intermittent woodland modification and the opening-up of this landscape in the later Mesolithic and earlier Neolithic, though a strong element of pine lingered into the third millennium bc. There appears to have been a major hiatus around 2900 cal bc, coincident with the beginnings of demonstrable human activities at Durrington Walls, but slightly after activity started at Stonehenge. This was reflected in episodic increases in channel sedimentation and tree and shrub clearance, leading to a more open downland, with greater indications of anthropogenic activity, and an increasingly wet floodplain with sedges and alder along the river's edge. Nonetheless, a lo...

Present-day populations from England and Wales harbour more ancestry derived from Early European Farmers (EEF) than did people of the Early Bronze Age. To study how this occurred, we generated genome-wide data from 803 individuals, almost all from the Middle to Late Bronze Age and the Iron Age, increasing data in this period from Britain by 12-fold, and from Western and Central Europe by more than twofold. Between 1000-875 BCE, EEF ancestry increased in southern Britain (England and Wales) but not in northern Britain (Scotland), due to incorporation into the population of a stream of migrants who arrived at this time and in previous centuries and who were genetically most similar to ancient individuals from France. These migrants cumulatively contributed about half the ancestry of Iron Age people of England and Wales, thereby documenting a previously unknown demographic process that is a plausible vector for the spread of early Celtic languages into Britain. These patterns are part of a broader trend of EEF ancestry

the county archaeology service at Herefordshire Council. The remains of three rectangular timbered longhouses (or 'halls'), dating from the (very) early 4th millenium BCE, represented the earliest activity on the site. These buildings had been built endto-end in a line, which was interrupted, between the central and eastern halls, by a linear burial chamber on the same alignment. Following the dismantling of the burial chamber and the deliberate destruction of the halls by fire, mortuary-associated earthen and stone long mounds were raised over the footprint of each of the early structures. To the south of these mounds, a single circuit of segmented ditches, forming a causewayed enclosure, was discovered by geophysical survey on the summit of the hill, and was then extensively excavated. These repeatedly recut ditch segments contained bones of domesticated animals, worked flints, and stone items, and also potsherds from early vessels. Radiocarbon dates indicate that it is among the earliest such enclosure sites so far identified in western Britain. Nonetheless, Dorstone Hill is, for the authors, most remarkable for the extremely rare survival of traces of the timber superstructures of the early hall buildings and for the glimpses it has also provided of a consciousness of corporate history among the communities concerned.

Rescue excavations on an extensive cropmark site at the confluence of the Lyne Water and Meldon Burn in the 1970s revealed several episodes of activity. A limited Mesolithic presence is indicated by the stone finds, but more intensive use is attested from the early/mid fourth millennium BC. Widely scattered groups of pits contained Impressed Ware of the local style. Radiocarbon dates chart this activity down to the early/mid third millennium BC, when a massive timber wall, 600 m long and up to 4 m in height, was constructed to shut off the 8 ha promontory between the Lyne Water and Meldon Burn. A timber avenue led into the enclosure on the north-west; standing posts and stones and settings of posts and stakes were erected; and cremation burials took place in the interior. No cultural material can certainly be associated with this phase and it probably lasted a century or less. A large stockade within the main enclosure could not be dated with certainty. A disturbed cist burial, yiel...

Total excavation revealed a later prehistoric multi-ditched and multi-palisaded enclosure succeeded by unenclosed settlement. Despite the obvious investment of time and labour in the construction of the numerous palisades and three large concentric ditches episodic, seasonal use of the site is strongly indicated. Total artefact retrieval produced a cannel coal assemblage which has thrown light on the manufacture of the cannel coal bracelets so typical of later prehistoric sites in west-central Scotland.

Drawing on his own early experiences as a surveyor the author presents an introduction to the history, principles and methods of ancient rope pulling, Le., surveying geometry, as manifested in Megalithic monuments. Concentrating on some likely field teclmiques dating back to Neolithic builders, this paper assesses similarities and contrasts between the focus of class~c geometry on axiomatic proofs and compass and straightedge construction and the propensity of rope pulling toward canonical principles of mensuration and mechanical construction.

In pre-literate contexts, diverse knowledge was accumulated, processed and communicated orally. Recent research demonstrates that observations of memorable events were transferred in this way for sometimes thousands of years. Much of this information was eventually written down to reach literate audiences, which commonly judge such 'myths and legends' to be cultural inventions rather than ancient memories. This study examines 15 'submergence stories' from northwest European coasts and argues that they plausibly represent memories of postglacial sea-level rise which, in this region, was spatially and temporally variable owing to the interaction of sea-level rise with glacial isostatic adjustment. This study combines culture history and knowledge of earth rheology to argue that memories of the effects of postglacial land submergence in northwest Europe have endured for 5000-15,000 years. This requires a longevity of memory, orally communicated, that is not unprecedented yet surprises many. It also shows that scientists might benefit from trying to better understand oral traditions from cultures elsewhere in the world which may have preserved observations of memorable events.