Later prehistoric settlement in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly reports on the excavation between 1996 and 2014 of five later prehistoric and Roman period settlements. All the sites were multi-phased, revealing similar and contrasting occupational patterns stretching from the Bronze Age into the Iron Age and beyond.
Later Prehistoric Settlement in Cornwall and the Isles of Scillyreports on the excavation between 1996 and 2014 of five later prehistoric and Roman period settlements. Three of the mainland sites - Killigrew, Nancemere and Higher Besore - are located in central Cornwall, near Truro, with the fourth, at Porthleven, situated on the south coast in west Cornwall. The fifth settlement, Porth Killier, is on the island of St Agnes on the Isles of Scilly. All the sites were multi-phased, revealing both similar and contrasting patterns of occupation stretching from the Bronze Age into the Iron Age and beyond. Despite having broadly comparable chronological sequences, there are considerable differences in both the tempo and intensity of occupation, and significant contrasts in practices associated with them. Significantly, all four mainland sequences culminate with an enclosed settlement in the Late Iron Age and especially during the Roman period, a time of significant economic and social change following the conquest. During this period there continued to be differences in the character of occupation. Notably two of the enclosures seem to have been strongly associated with industrial activities, including metalworking at Killigrew, suggesting that the working of iron may have been a controlled or ritualized activity undertaken within a dedicated space.The volume presents the results from each of the five settlement sites, before reviewing the key themes which have emerged from the investigations.
Between 2018 and 2019, Cornwall Archaeological Unit undertook two projects at Mounts Bay, Penwith. The first involved the excavation of a Bronze Age barrow and the second, environmental augur core sampling in Marazion Marsh. Both sites lie within an area of coastal hinterland, which has been subject to incursions by rising sea levels. Since the Mesolithic, an area of approximately 1 kilometer in extent between the current shoreline and St Michaels Mount has been lost to gradually rising sea levels. With current climate change, this process is likely to occur at an increasing rate. Given their proximity, the opportunity was taken to draw the results from the two projects together along with all available existing environmental data from the area. For the first time, the results from all previous palaeoenvironmental projects in the Mounts Bay area have been brought together. Evidence for coastal change and sea level rise is discussed and a model for the drowning landscape presented. In addition to modeling the loss of land and describing the environment over time, social responses including the wider context of the Bronze Age barrow and later Bronze Age metalwork deposition in the Mounts Bay environs are considered. The effects of the gradual loss of land are discussed in terms of how change is perceived, its effects on community resilience, and the construction of social memory and narratives of place. The volume presents the potential for nationally significant environmental data to survive, which demonstrates the long-term effects of climate change and rising sea levels, and peoples responses to these over time.
This collection of essays by leading researchers in the archaeology of the European Iron Age pays tribute to Professor John Collis who, since the 1960s, has been involved in investigating and enriching our understanding of Iron Age society and, crucially, questioning the status quo of our narratives about the past.
The destruction and deposition of metalwork is a widely recognised phenomenon across Bronze Age Europe. Weapons were decommissioned and thrown into rivers; axes were fragmented and piled in hoards; and ornaments were crushed, contorted and placed in certain landscapes. Interpretation of this material is often considered in terms of whether such acts should be considered ritual offerings, or functional acts for storing, scrapping and recycling the metal. This book approaches this debate from a fresh perspective, by focusing on how the metalwork was destroyed and deposited as a means to understand the reasons behind the process. To achieve this, this study draws on experimental archaeology, as well as developing a framework for assessing what can be considered deliberate destruction. Understanding these processes not only helps us to recognise how destruction happened, but also gives us insights into the individuals involved in these practices. Through an examination of metalwork from south-west Britain, it is possible to observe the complexities involved at a localised level in the acts of destruction and deposition, as well as how they were linked to people and places. This case study is used to consider the social role of destruction and deposition more broadly in the Bronze Age, highlighting how it transformed over time and space.
This volume reports on a series of fieldwork projects carried out in the Tregurra Valley, to the east of Truro, Cornwall between 2009-2015. The fieldwork led to the identification of a large number of pits and hearths across the site, the majority of which that have proved dateable spanning the Early Neolithic to the end of the Early Bronze Age.
This volume presents the results of archaeological investigations on the Newquay Strategic Road and goes on to discuss the complexity of the archaeology, review the evidence for ‘special’ deposits and explore evidence for the deliberate closure of buildings especially in later prehistoric and Roman period Cornwall.
This new collection of papers from leading experts provides an overview of cutting-edge research in Old World zooarchaeology. The research presented here spans various areas across Europe, Western Asia and North Africa – from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. Several chapters focus on Iberia, but the eastern Mediterranean and Britain are also featured. Thematically, the book covers many of the research areas where zooarchaeology can provide a significant contribution. These include animal domestication, bone modifications, fishing, fowling, economic and social status, as well as adaptation and improvement. The investigation of these topics is carried out using a diversity of approaches, thus making the book also a useful compendium of traditional as well as more recently developed methodological applications. All contributions aim to present zooarchaeology as a discipline that studies animals to understand people, and their richly diversified past histories. This will be a valuable source of information not just for specialists, but also for general archaeologists and, potentially, also historians, palaeontologists and geographers, who have an interest for the research themes discussed in the book. The book is dedicated to Simon Davis, who has been a genuine pioneer in the development of modern zooarchaeology. It presents hugely stimulating case studies from the core areas where Davis has worked in the course of his career.
This volume is derived, in concept, from a conference held in honour of John Evans by the School of History and Archaeology and The Prehistoric Society at Cardiff University in March 2006. It brings together papers that address themes and landscapes on a variety of levels. They cover geographical, methodological and thematic areas that were of interest to, and had been studied by, John Evans. The volume is divided into five sections, which echo themes of importance in British prehistory. They include papers on aspects of environmental archaeology, experiments and philosophy; new research on the nature of woodland on the chalklands of southern England; coasts and islands; people, process and social order, and snails and shells - a strong part of John Evans' career. This volume presents a range of papers examining people's interaction with the landscape in all its forms. The papers provide a diverse but cohesive picture of how archaeological landscapes are viewed within current research frameworks and approaches, while also paying tribute to the innovative and inspirational work of one of the leading protagonists of environmental archaeology and the holistic approach to landscape interpretation.
