Settlement Patterns from the Late Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age
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Settlement patterns from the Late Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age: The central Welsh border region in context PhD for the University of Birmingham J.C. Halsted 2011 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Abstract The thesis explores themes of settlement location, settlement form and settlement mobility from the Late Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age in north-east Powys and Shropshire. The study utilises existing finds and monument data, and incorporates new data from targeted field survey and excavation. It incorporates comparative evidence from other regions of Britain and detailed comparative data from studies in neighbouring regions. The study examines the evidence for settlement sites, the distribution of lithics in the landscape and the potential relationship between round barrows and settlement. The relationship between metalwork and settlement is examined as is the evidence for the presence of land division. A potential greater frequency of activity in the vicinity of lowland ring ditches is suggested through lithic distributions within a transitory pattern of occupation. This is supported with new excavation evidence for ephemeral settlement activity. At a broader level a greater intensity of activity is apparent in lowland gravel terraces than in neighbouring wetland areas of Shropshire and that the study area is part of a wider region characterised by low lithic densities in contrast to neighbouring regions to the south. Subtle spatial separations may have existed between settlement activity and monuments and the siting of monuments may have reflected existing axes of movement through the landscape. The distribution of upland monuments suggests that activities may have been relatively focussed and localised, whilst close conceptual links may have been maintained with lowland and distant landscapes. The distribution of metalwork emphasises rivers, floodplains and wetland contexts which may have been at the margins of settlement space. At a broader level the presence of metalwork in lowland landscapes serves to complement limited evidence for Middle Bronze Age occupation and places Late Bronze Age hilltop enclosures into a wider context. Targeted excavation has provided new dating evidence from pit alignment features in the study area which may indicate localised areas of land division closely post-dated ring ditch monuments in the Early Bronze Age. This may have implications for the interpretation of similar land divisions in other regions. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost I would like to thank Paul Garwood, IAA, University of Birmingham, for all his advice and encouragement over many years, and Bryony Halsted for all her support and help with fieldwork. Thanks are due to the administrators of the John Paggett research fund at the Telford and Wrekin Archaeological society for a generous grant which helped enormously in the completion of the research and to Roger White for his continued interest and support. I would like to thank all the people involved in fieldwork as part of the project, in particular Heather Hidden at the Oswestry Historical Archaeological Society and Wynn Griffiths for permission to access land for two excavations. Many other people contributed as part of the fieldwork and with advice regarding HER data, technical equipment, and computing. I would therefore like to thank: Elaine Brown, Paul Brown, Bob Bracken, Dereck Moscrop, Kate Bain, Mark Kincey, Keith Challis, Ann Woodward, Emily Edwards, Jeff Spencer, Mark Walters, the late Laurence Barfield, Andy Howard, Students of the IAA, Suzy Blake, Emma Hancox, Hugo Lamdin-Whymark, Penny Ward, Dan Pett and Peter Reavill. Apologies to anyone I have missed off this list. Contents Chapter 1: Introduction, Aims and Methods .......................................................................... .........1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 1 Research Agenda in Late Neolithic and Bronze Age Settlement Studies ............................................ 3 Late Neolithic and Bronze Age Settlement Studies in the Welsh Marches .................................. 10 The physical environment and land use in the study area ........................................................... 14 Research Aims ................................................................................................................................... 23 Research Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 24 GIS methodology........................................................................................................................30 Base mapping..........................................................................................................................31 Viewshed and other analyses..................................................................................................32 Thesis Structure ................................................................................................................................ 32 Chapter 2: Identifying and interpreting settlement sites in the study area ....................................34 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 34 The Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age (c.2500-1500 BC).............................................................. 34 Background ................................................................................................................................... 34 The Welsh border region, English midlands and the north-west of England ............................... 36 The upper Severn valley ................................................................................................................ 38 The evidence for settlement at Four Crosses, Powys, and the size range of Early to Middle Bronze Age roundhouses in Britain..........................................................................................45 Interpreting modes of settlement in the Later Neolithic and Earlier Bronze Age ........................ 53 Middle Bronze Age (c. 1500-1100 BC) .............................................................................................. 54 Background ................................................................................................................................... 54 The Welsh border region .............................................................................................................. 58 Burnt Mounds in Wales and the west midlands regions .............................................................. 61 Conclusion: Middle Bronze Age settlement.................................................................................. 63 The Late Bronze Age (1100-800 BC) ................................................................................................. 64 Background ................................................................................................................................... 64 The Welsh border region .............................................................................................................. 66 The evidence for settlement at Late Bronze Age hilltop sites..................................................69 The function and landscape context of Late Bronze Age hilltop sites......................................72 Conclusion: settlement sites from the Late Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age ................................. 78 Chapter 3: The distribution of lithics in the landscape ...................................................................80 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 80 Methodology ..................................................................................................................................... 81 Test Pitting .................................................................................................................................... 82 Fieldwalking .................................................................................................................................. 82 Results ............................................................................................................................................... 83 Test pitting .................................................................................................................................... 83 Fieldwalking .................................................................................................................................. 86 Topography and geology .............................................................................................................. 88 Potential biases in the