9 research outputs found

    An Early Beaker funerary monument at Porton Down, Wiltshire

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    Excavation of an Early Beaker-Early Bronze Age funerary monument at Porton Down revealed an unusually complex burial sequence of 12 individuals, spanning four centuries, including eight neonates or infants and only one probable male, surrounded by a segmented ring-ditch. In the centre was a large grave which contained the disturbed remains of an adult female, accompanied by a Beaker, which had probably been placed within a timber chamber and later ‘revisited’ on one or more occasions. This primary burial and an antler pick from the base of the ring-ditch provided identical Early Beaker radiocarbon dates. Two burials were accompanied by a Food Vessel and a miniature Collared Urn respectively, others were unaccompanied, and there was a single and a double cremation burial, both within inverted Collared Urns. A C-shaped enclosure nearby may have been contemporary with the funerary monument, but its date and function are uncertain. Other features included an Early Neolithic pit which contained a significant assemblage of worked flint, and several Middle Bronze Age ditches and a Late Bronze Age ‘Wessex Linear’ ditch that reflect later prehistoric land divisions probably related to stock control

    The Army Basing Programme, Stonehenge and the Emergence of the Sacred Landscape of Wessex

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    Recent excavations for the Army Basing Programme on the periphery of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site have revealed extensive evidence of Early, Middle and Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age activity, including a causewayed enclosure, burials, occupation, pit groups, henges, post alignments and circles. Several of these either incorporate or refer to features of the landscape such as solution hollows, dry valleys, hilltops and rivers, as well as to astronomical phenomena. An appraisal of this evidence alongside other recent programmes of research around Stonehenge suggest an accreting pattern of development of this landscape that begins in the 38th century BC, and which throws new light on the location and meaning of several of the ceremonial earthworks, including Stonehenge itself

    Late prehistoric settlement and post-medieval industrial activity on the route of the A3 Hindhead Improvement Scheme

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    A programme of archaeological works, undertaken in advance of improvements to the A3 London to Portsmouth road at Hindhead, Surrey, saw the investigation of 21 mitigation sites along the proposed 6.7km route between Bramshott Common and Thursley.Although archaeological remains were relatively sparse along much of the route, a number of discoveries were made that add to the known archaeology of this part of Surrey. These included residual Neolithic finds, and the discovery of a small Middle/Late Bronze Age settlement towards the northern end of the route.The examination of peat deposits in Boundless Copse demonstrates initial formation in the Early–Middle Saxon period, and contains a record of local heathland expansion, development of beech woodland and increase of pastoral activity during the Late Saxon/medieval period. Field boundaries and land use divisions of probable post-medieval date were examined at various points along the route, and a number of lime kilns, shown to date from the early 17th to early 18th centuries, were excavated

    Prehistoric to post-medieval occupation at Dowd’s Farm, Hedge End, Hampshire

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    Excavation at Dowd’s Farm, Hedge End, revealed evidence for Mesolithic to post-medieval activity. Mesolithic and Neolithic activity is attested by a small flint assemblage. A concentration of Bronze Age pits provides the first evidence for permanent occupation and an associated burnt tree-throw hole may suggest that tree clearance was being undertaken. Late Iron Age activity centred on two large ditched enclosures and an associated activity area, together with drainage, boundary and trackway ditches. Early medieval occupation focused on an area to the north of the existing farmhouse. Possible continuation of the field system established in the medieval period into the post-medieval period is suggested. Work on documentary sources has provided further evidence for occupation at Dowd’s Farm during the medieval and post-medieval periods

    Environment and land use in the Lower Lea Valley c.12,500 BC – c.600 AD: Innova Park and the former Royal Ordnance Factory, Enfield

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    Excavations revealed aspects of the changing environment of the floodplain of the Lower Lea Valley from the Late Glacial to the early historic periods. Evidence for land use mostly related to activity along the western bank of a former stream. Wooden revetments (the earliest dated one being Early Bronze Age), ditches, gullies, pits, a droveway, land surfaces and associated ‘midden-like’ deposits provided evidence for seasonal or periodic use and, arguably, habitation, dating principally from the Middle to Late Bronze Age. The economy of the site was focused on stock rearing, grazing and the exploitation of river resources. The ‘midden-like’ deposits, identified as interleaved layers of silt, sand and gravel containing pottery, human and animal bone, as well as flint and bone tools, and other objects, may be compared with similar, more extensive deposits from sites such as Runnymede Bridge, Surrey. There was no evidence of further activity until the Late Iron Age to early Romano-British period, when a series of fish-traps, pits and a structure within an enclosure indicate renewed, again possibly seasonal, use of the area. An evaluation on the site of the former Royal Ordnance Factory produced evidence for the continuing importance of waterfront management in this floodplain environment, in the form of the wooden revetment of another stream channel, radiocarbon dated to the late or post-Roman period

    Large-scale migration into Britain during the Middle to Late Bronze Age

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    Present-day people from England and Wales harbour more ancestry derived from Early European Farmers (EEF) than people of the Early Bronze Age . To understand this, we generated genome-wide data from 793 individuals, increasing data from the Middle to Late Bronze and Iron Age in Britain by 12-fold, and Western and Central Europe by 3.5-fold. Between 1000 and 875 BC, EEF ancestry increased in southern Britain (England and Wales) but not northern Britain (Scotland) due to incorporation of migrants who arrived at this time and over previous centuries, and who were genetically most similar to ancient individuals from France. These migrants contributed about half the ancestry of Iron Age people of England and Wales, thereby creating a plausible vector for the spread of early Celtic languages into Britain. These patterns are part of a broader trend of EEF ancestry becoming more similar across central and western Europe in the Middle to Late Bronze Age, coincident with archaeological evidence of intensified cultural exchange . There was comparatively less gene flow from continental Europe during the Iron Age, and Britain's independent genetic trajectory is also reflected in the rise of the allele conferring lactase persistence to ~50% by this time compared to ~7% in central Europe where it rose rapidly in frequency only a millennium later. This suggests that dairy products were used in qualitatively different ways in Britain and in central Europe over this period. [Abstract copyright: © 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.
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