An Early Beaker funerary monument at Porton Down, Wiltshire

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

Redefining the timing and circumstances of the chicken's introduction to Europe and north-west Africa

Little is known about the early history of the chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus), including the timing and circumstances of its introduction into new cultural environments. To evaluate its spatio-temporal spread across Eurasia and north-west Africa, the authors radiocarbon dated 23 chicken bones from presumed early contexts. Three-quarters returned dates later than those suggested by stratigraphy, indicating the importance of direct dating. The results indicate that chickens did not arrive in Europe until the first millennium BC. Moreover, a consistent time-lag between the introduction of chickens and their consumption by humans suggests that these animals were initially regarded as exotica and only several centuries later recognised as a source of ‘food’

The J J Wymer Archive

This dataset comprises page-by-page scans of John Wymer's eight Field Notebooks, which include his records of field visits made throughout his career, from 1949 to 2003, many comprising visits to working quarry sites to observe Quaternary stratigraphy and to search for artefacts. The records are hand-written and also include water-coloured sketches of site locations and sections, line drawings of flint artefacts, and photographs. The scans can be used in conjunction with the database compiled from the Notebook entries

TERPS - The English Rivers Project

The JJ Wymer Archive Project was commissioned by English Heritage (EH code 5088) with the support of the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF), with the intention of securing the Wymer archive and making selected elements of it accessible to public and professional audiences. One of these elements comprised John Wymer's card index of every known Lower and Middle Palaeolithic artefact from Britain. These formed the basis of first the Southern Rivers Palaeolithic Project and then the English Rivers Palaeolithic Project (TERPS), the results of which were published in 1999 as The Lower Palaeolithic Occupation of Britain. Wymer's work on the Southern Rivers Project and TERPS between 1993 and 1997 was conducted in conjunction with Wessex Archaeology, who also undertook the work on the Wymer Archive Project. As part of the development of the Wymer archive, the data gathered for TERPS have been used to create a database, which is available to search or download here. PDF versions of the two volumes of The Lower Palaeolithic Occupation of Britain, for many years out of print, are also available to read or download

Archaeological excavation and watching brief at St Mary's Church, Southampton, Hampshire (SOU1503)

Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by Stephen Cox Associates to undertake an archaeological excavation and watching brief during works at St Mary's Church, St Mary Street, Southampton. The works comprised the construction of a new car parking area and access ramp, trenching for new external lighting and CCTV surveillance, and drainage repairs around the perimeter of the church building. The access ramp for the car park occupied an area of 81square meters and was excavated by hand to the required formation level after the machine removal of topsoil. In the deeper portion of the ramp flanking the existing road, a considerable number of inhumation burials and several funerary structures were revealed. The remains of 14 in situ burials were investigated, 11 of which were exhumed and reburied within the churchyard. The remainder were not lifted as they were below the formation level within brick-lined graves. Six funerary structures were encountered, four of which were brick-lined graves. There was a significant quantity of disarticulated human remains present in all excavated deposits on the site, especially in the graveyard soils. This is suggestive of a considerable density of burials, with a substantial amount of reworking and recutting of the cemetery soil. This is supported by the partial and truncated nature of a number of the in situ skeletons, and is to be expected in an urban graveyard with a prolonged period of use. Remains of further burials were visible below the formation level of the ramp, within the bases of the excavated graves. It is highly probable that there are considerably more remains within the ramp area below the finished level. All of the coffined burials appear to have been made in the later half of the 18th and first half of the 19th century. It is possible that some of the graves without coffin furniture are earlier in date. The assemblage within this area of the cemetery appears to represent a normal, domestic population, with a slightly higher proportion of immature individuals than comparative contemporary populations that have been analysed. The two male skeletons for which stature was estimated were both well above the mean for the period. Whilst caution must be applied to such limited data, this, together with other observations on skeletal morphology and the absence of evidence for childhood stress-related illnesses, suggest the individuals were not living in poverty and did not represent the lowest social strata. They generally appear to have been well nourished, and the large size and robusticity of the male skeletons suggest many of the men were involved in strenuous physical work, perhaps in the dockyards nearby. The results of the osteoarchaeological analysis, although limited by the small sample size, highlights the high potential of the cemetery population for future analysis should any further work be done within the cemetery

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

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

A Romano-British settlement with ovens and field system at Theobalds Road, Wivelsfield, East Sussex

Excavation west of Wivelsfield, East Sussex, revealed part of an early Romano-British settlement. One of the round-houses may have had a non-domestic, possibly ritual, function. The settlement appears to have been subsequently incorporated within a rectilinear arrangement of field/enclosure ditches. Along the edge of one of these ditches were built a series of features interpreted as ovens, of varying form and likely use, from which charred waste from cereal processing and charcoal from coppiced woodland were recovered

Results of an archaeological watching brief on land adjacent to Warnford Road, Corhampton, Hampshire

An archaeological watching brief undertaken during the redevelopment of land adjacent to Warnford Road, Corhampton, Hampshire revealed Early Holocene stratigraphic sequences including a palaeosol within which molluscs and pollen were preserved. A radiocarbon date of 9160–8790 cal BC was obtained on charcoal from the palaeosol. A Middle Iron Age ditch into which an apparently in situ inhumation burial, radiocarbon dated to 400–230 cal BC, had been placed at its base, was also found