Prehistoric Lancashire (original) (raw)
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Field Data Report: Excavations at New Laund Farm, Whitewell, Lancashire, 2014
2017
Post-excavation plan of trench P showing the rock-cut ditch [P10] 4.7 Southwest facing section of Trench P 4.8 Plan of context [Q05] after excavation 4.9 North facing section of trench Q 5.1 Gradiometer survey and interpretation for New Laund Hill showing ditch segments (red) and probable pits (blue) and the location of the 2014 excavations 5.2 Figure 5.2: Distribution of finds by material from all contexts in trench N 7 Original Research Aims Following research developments over several seasons, the Sheltering Memory Project focuses on investigating prehistoric sites situated within limestone landscapes on the southeastern fringes of the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (Peterson 2011: 2012: 2013a: 2013b). One of the project's primary aims is to excavate, record and understand prehistoric landscapes (Peterson 2011, 2). Archaeological investigations of social memory are central to this project and act as a key component in interpreting site reuse and landscape transformations (Peterson 2013c). Initially, one of the primary project aims was to identify the prehistoric use of caves, rock shelters and related natural sites (Peterson 2011, 2). The research project also acts as a training placement for University of Central Lancashire archaeology students (Peterson 2014). Historical Background 3.1 Summary of the documented History of the site The immediate landscape around the site has a documented history dating to the medieval period and the establishment of forest hunting grounds (Richards 2003, 222). The medieval Royal Forest of Bowland was owned by the Crown and exploited for deer hunting (Shirley 1867, 212). There was a historically documented royal deer park within the landscape by 1483 (Neil and Thurnhill 2013, 15). The presence of deer pales (earth and fence boundary to control the deer) indicates a long history of deer hunting from 1483-1766 (Simmons 2003, 71). The deer park ceased to function as a hunting ground following the division of fields into tenancy areas around 1766 (Richards 2003, 223).
A reassessment of the early Christian' archaeology of Cumbria
1980
The first major impact of man on the Cumbrian vegetation detectable, the ' landnajn' phase, has been dated by radiocarbon to circa 3000 B.C. (Oldfield, 1963, 30). The main characteristics of this phase are a sharp decline in elm pollen, and the first appearance of plantago lanceolata, usually interpreted as one of the weeds of cultivation, and in any case an indicator of a more open environment. These characteristics are apparent in diagrams from both lakeland ~ and lowland sites. After this phase a recovery of the forest is clearly indicated in the diagrams for the Morecambe Bay area. There is a relative increase in tree pollen and a reduction in weed pollen, and in some places the evidence for human activity disappears completely e.g. at Thrang Moss (Oldfield, 19635 33)» In the Lake District the recovery of the forest is less marked, but it has been suggested that this is a result of soil change rather than continuous human activity. Pennington (Pennington, 1965a, 322) suggests that clearance was irreversible in the uplands, and that the habitat was permanently changed by each successive phase of clearance; while in the valleys, clearance was temporary, and regeneration took place after the 'landnam' The elm itself fairly rapidly disappears from the uplands.
Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Britain is an era of prehistory permeated by notions of elaborate funerary rituals, exotic artefactual evidence, and immigrant invaders – at least to the untrained archaeological mind. However, such a simplistic and romanticised concept has still retained its potency in relevant professional scholarly circles, even up to and including the present day. As a consequence, a continued focus on rich regions and assemblages such as Orkney and Wessex and the regalia associated with them can be seen to predominate, a situation that has ultimately lead to a very skewed overall understanding of Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Britain as a whole with vast areas, such as the county of Essex, being chiefly brushed aside and neglected. Nonetheless, through collecting, synthesising, and analysing the relevant Heritage Gateway records regarding burial, monumental, and funerary evidence, this study has aimed to rectify this misalignment and with it, provide an introductory yet much needed and long overdue evaluation of the archaeology of Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Essex at large. In particular, and in despite of an overall paucity of available evidence at hand, it has demonstrated the presence not only of multiple social groups and identities as well as the overall ideologies, agencies, and dynamics surrounding them, but also that of the importance of place and memory and the dominant influence it had on each individual temporal social landscape in an overarching evolutionary trajectory. Furthermore, past interpretations have also been addressed, showing them to not only be overly simplistic but also as having been affected by internalised Western notions and assumptions. Thus, this project altogether provides a much-needed indepth introduction to prehistoric Essex on a scale that has not been seen before, with the hope that future and further research will be carried out in order to build upon the conclusions provided here and with it, secure Essex’s place and overall importance in the creation and evolution of Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Britain (and continental Europe) as a whole.
1 The Construction of Prehistoric Britain
2008
The papers in this volume cover ca. 35,000 years of prehistory within the British Isles, from the fi rst appearance of anatomically modern humans at the start of the Upper Palaeolithic to the early centuries of the fi rst millennium A.D. when Britain and Ireland were brought within the orbit of Roman and early post-Roman Europe, and so “history” of sorts. The volume is not intended as a comprehensive overview of British prehistory, nor is it organised along the lines of a linear or period-based narrative (such accounts are available, notably Hunter and Ralston 1999; Bradley 2007). Rather, it provides a theoretically informed review of current research set within a thematic format. These themes include: the interpretation of major points of social, ideological and economic transition (during the Upper Palaeolithic, Mesolithic–Neolithic and the Middle Bronze Age); landscape and inhabitation; domestic and ceremonial architecture; foodways; productive technology; exchange; identity; and...
Seeing the Sites: Survey and Excavation on the Anglezarke Uplands, Lancashire
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 1996
The Anglezarke/Rivington uplands of central Lancashire have, in recent years, suffered severe erosion. In response a programme of field survey was undertaken during 1983 and 1985, supplemented by palynological investigation, modern vegetation survey, and sample excavation. Two sites were investigated in detail, a cairn of likely Bronze Age date and a flint scatter of earlier Mesolithic type. The field survey demonstrated human activity on the upland throughout the prehistoric period and emphasised the heavy post-medieval exploitation of the moorland. Sample excavation confirmed the prehistoric activity and, in the case of the Mesolithic site at Rushy Brow, demonstrated the possibility of recognising and reconstructing periods of prehistoric activity of very short duration — perhaps only a few hours.