Excavation Of Later Prehistoric And Roman Sites Along The Route Of The Newquay Strategic Road Corridor Cornwall

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.

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.

This first volume, presenting research carried out through the Exeter: A Place in Time project, provides a synthesis of the development of Exeter within its local, regional, national and international hinterlands. Exeter began life in c. AD 55 as one of the most important legionary bases within early Roman Britain, and for two brief periods in the early and late 60s AD, Exeter was a critical centre of Roman power within the new province. When the legion moved to Wales the fortress was converted into the civitas capital for the Dumnonii. Its development as a town was, however, relatively slow, reflecting the gradual pace at which the region as a whole adapted to being part of the Roman world. The only evidence we have for occupation within Exeter between the 5th and 8th centuries is for a church in what was later to become the Cathedral Close. In the late 9th century, however, Exeter became a defended burh, and this was followed by the revival of urban life. Exeter’s wealth was in part derived from its central role in the south-west’s tin industry, and by the late 10th century Exeter was the fifth most productive mint in England. Exeter’s importance continued to grow as it became an episcopal and royal centre, and excavations within Exeter have revealed important material culture assemblages that reflect its role as an international port.

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.

Between 2018 and 2019, Cornwall Archaeological Unit undertook two projects at Mount’s 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 Michael’s 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 Mount’s 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 Mount’s 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.

Charles Thomas (1928-2016) was a Cornishman and archaeologist, whose career from the 1950s spanned nearly seven decades. This period saw major developments that underpin the structures of archaeology in Britain today, in many of which he played a pivotal part.

In 1993, the construction of the A5300 road provided the opportunity for archaeologists from Liverpool Museum to investigate a corridor of land through the townships of Tarbock, Ditton and Halewood, Merseyside. The first part of this book provides detailed accounts of the resulting excavations at three Mesolithic sites, a late prehistoric double-ditched enclosure and two Romano-British and medieval farmsteads. These have produced valuable evidence for wider regional research, particularly for the nature of Romano-British settlement. The late prehistoric settlement is an important addition to the meagre number of such sites in the region, while artefact studies make a significant contribution to an understanding of prehistoric hunter-gatherer settlement patterns and medieval pottery use. The second part of the book draws on this new evidence to provide in-depth regional accounts of current research and theories on settlement and land use for these periods.

"This volume is the first in a series that will cover the extensive and significant archaeological deposits recorded at Flixton quarry on the south side of the Waveney Valley. Volume I is largely funded by an ALSF grant, and describes remains of prehistoric, Late Iron Age/Early Roman and Early Anglo-Saxon date. The prehistoric archaeology is dominated by three monumental structures. The earliest, dating to the Late Neolithic, is a post-hole circle 18m in diameter, with an entrance to the north-west and containing a rectangular post-hole structure. Various interpretations are explored including the possibility that astronomical alignments were invested in the monument. The site of the Late Neolithic structure was subsequently overlain by an Early Bronze Age unurned cremation and its surrounding ring-ditch. A second ring-ditch subsequently became the focus for burial in the Early Anglo-Saxon period (Flixton I), and its central mound was re-used as the site of a windmill in the later medieval or early post-medieval periods. An enigmatic palisaded enclosure, describing a near-perfect circle of 27m diameter, was dated by pottery to around the time of the Roman Conquest. Various possible uses of the post-hole circle have been explored, and it may have been associated with a rectangular post-hole structure of similar date that was recorded in a later phase of the quarry. The Anglo-Saxon period is represented at Flixton by two burial grounds (Flixton I and II) and a settlement; the cemeteries are described in this volume. Flixton I seems to have been a small plot associated with a prehistoric barrow: only one grave has been excavated, but metal-detected finds indicate some further burials. Flixton II was larger and at first contained within a rectangular plot close to another barrow. Fifty-one of an estimated 200 or more graves have been excavated there. Burial at Flixton II shifted southwards on to the barrow itself, where eleven more graves were identified. The date range of the excavated graves in Flixton II is c.500 AD to the middle of the 7th century and the plot at Flixton I is likely to have been contemporary with its earliest phase. The material evidence has been used as a base from which to discuss the social make-up of the community who buried their dead there. The role of this community in the southern marches of the former Iceni territory has also been explored. Later volumes will cover excavations elsewhere in the quarry, revealing Neolithic and Bronze Age funerary monuments, occupation evidence of prehistoric, Roman and Early Anglo-Saxon date, and a large assemblage of finds. More recent remains include those associated with Flixton Hall and its surrounding parklands, and evidence for First World War training activity."--Publisher's website.