Resource Assessment, Research Agenda and Strategy Cover Illustration: Iron Age Or Roman Period Enclosures at Dean and Shelton in 1986
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Research and Archaeology: Resource Assessment, Research Agenda and Strategy Cover illustration: Iron Age or Roman period enclosures at Dean and Shelton in 1986. Rear Cover: Excavation of the Roman cemetery at Kempston. Bedfordshire Archaeology Research and Archaeology: Resource Assessment, Research Agenda and Strategy by Martin Oake, Mike Luke, Michael Dawson, Matthew Edgeworth and Peter Murphy Contributors S Coleman, D Shotliff Illustrations by C A Marshall Bedfordshire Archaeology Monograph 9 2007 Published by BEDFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL THE BEDFORDSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL COUNCIL Copyright © 2007 Bedfordshire Archaeological Council All rights reserved ISBN 987-0-9531531-6-9 Bedfordshire Archaeological Council Contributions to the monograph series should be sent to: Michael Dawson, Ragsdale, 1 Church Lane, Great Cransley, Kettering NN14 1PX Members of the Bedfordshire Archaeological Council Editorial Committee for Bedfordshire Archaeology and monographs: Michael Dawson (Editor Monograph Series), Hester Cooper Reade (Editor Bedfordshire Archaeology), John Hutchings, David Hall Printed in England by Short Run Press, Exeter, Devon Contents List of Illustrations vii 1 Introduction and Background – Martin K Oake 1 2 Research Agenda and Strategy – Martin K Oake 7 Introduction 7 Lower and Middle Palaeolithic 8 Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic 8 Neolithic and early Bronze Age 9 Late Bronze Age to Roman Period 10 Anglo-Saxon and Medieval 12 Post Medieval Industrial and Modern 15 Archaeological Science 16 Research Strategy 18 3 Palaeolithic to early Bronze Age – Mike Luke 21 Introduction 21 Nature of the evidence 21 Lower and Middle Palaeolithic 23 Upper Palaeolithic 24 Mesolithic 25 Earlier Mesolithic (post-glacial) (8,300-6,500 bc) 25 Later Mesolithic (6,500-3,500 bc) 25 Environment and Economy, Palaeoecology – Peter Murphy 28 Later Neolithic/Early Bronze Age 38 Environment and Economy Peter Murphy 51 4 Late Age Bronze Age to Roman – Michael Dawson 59 Introduction 59 Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age Transition and Early Iron Age 59 Middle Iron Age c.400–150 bc 63 The Late Iron Age c.150 bc–ad 43 65 Environment and Economy – Peter Murphy 70 The Roman Period Landscape 71 Environment and economy – Peter Murphy 79 5 ‘Anglo-Saxon’ and Medieval Bedfordshire – Matt Edgeworth 87 Introduction 87 The ‘Anglo-Saxon’ period 87 The Medieval Period 98 Environment and Economy – Peter Murphy 109 6 Post Medieval, Industrial and Modern Periods –Matt Edgeworth 119 with Stephen Coleman, Drew Shotliff and Peter Murphy Introduction 119 Sources 121 The Post Medieval Period 1550-1850 121 The Industrial Period 1850-1950 131 List of Illustrations 1.1 Plan showing the location of Bedfordshire based on the 1974 historic county boundary 6 3.1 Location plan of places mentioned in the text: Palaeolithic to Bronze Age 22 3.2 Middle Palaeolithic Bout coupé type hand axe from the Biddenham Loop (Luke forthcoming) 23 3.3 Mesolithic/early Neolithic fl int concentrations on the Biddenham Loop (Luke forthcoming) 26 3.4 Cardington-Cople-Willington monument complex (after Pinder 1986a, Dawson 1996, Malim 2000, Albion in prep.) (Cambridge University Collection of Air Photographs: Copyright reserved) 30 3.5 Cardington causewayed camp looking north 32 3.6 Part of the Biggleswade cursus ditch excavated in 2004 (Abrams forthcoming) 33 3.7 Possible long and oval barrows/enclosures on the Biddenham Loop (Luke forthcoming) 35 3.8 Square barrow/enclosure at Plantation Quarry, Willington (Dawson 1996) 36 3.9 Ring ditch under excavation in 1996 on the Biddenham Loop (Luke in prep) 42 3.10 Sequence of ring ditches at Barton Cutting (Clark 1991) 44 3.11 Henge monument at Goldington, Bedford (Mustoe 1988) 46 3.12 C-ditch monument at Broom (Mortimer 1999) 47 3.13 Beaker, bone toggle, stone bracer and copper pin from a fl at grave at Sewell, Houghton Regis (Kinnes 1985) 49 4.1 Location of places mentioned in the text: Late Bronze Age to Roman Period 60 4.2 General view of the Iron Age settlement at Salford 63 4.3 Iron Age or possibly early Roman enclosures visible from the air during the 1990s in the area of Roxton in the River Great Ouse valley (© Beds CC) 66 4.4 Late Iron Age ritual. Reconstruction of a late Iron Age burial at Stagsden where a neonate child was buried on a neonate foal in a wide shallow pit accompanied by a single pot neatly broken in half (Dawson 2000, fi g 36, 45) 69 4.5 The Roman small town at Sandy as it may have appeared in the late 3rd century (reconstruction by Peter Froste) 72 4.6 A large stone relief from the Roman town of Sandy. It is a votive piece containing Classical and Celtic elements possibly representing a goddess and two fl anking offerants. Sculpted in local ironstone 1.10m x 1.20m. (from Atherstone and Dawson 1995, ills M Trevarthen) 75 4.7 Decapitated burials from the Roman cemetery at Kempston (Dawson 2004, Figs 5.123 and 5.140, inhumations renumbered in post-fi eldwork analysis as 3903 and 3977, photographs by permission of Albion Archaeology) 77 5.1 Location of places mentioned in the text: Anglo-Saxon and Medieval AD 400-1550 88 5.2 Sunken featured building next to a late Roman corn-drying oven at Oakley Road, Clapham (© Albion Archaeology) 92 5.3 A probable 8th to 9th century cross-shaft fragment which can be seen in the jamb of a Saxon doorway St Peters Church, Bedford 95 5.4 Excavation of a pre-10th century cemetery under the Bull Nosed Bat, St Paul’s Square, Bedford (© Albion Archaeology) 96 5.5 Excavations at Grove Priory showing a an early long barn (a) and a dovecote (b) 105 5.6 The Stratton Helmet (© Albion Archaeology) 107 5.7 Yielden Castle earthworks (© Northamptonshire County Council) 109 6.1 Location of places mentioned in the text: Post-Medieval, Industrial and Modern Periods 120 6.2 Wooden work bench or stool from a cobblers workshop found in waterlogged pits at Stratton, near Biggleswade (© Albion Archaeology) 122 6.3 Discovery of an internal wooden building within the early 19th century aviary at Swiss Garden, Old Warden (© Albion Archaeology) 125 6.4 Howard’s Agricultural Implement Manufactory, Bedford in the 1860s, with wharves and railway sidings (Bedford Museum) 132 6.5 Industrialisation of the countryside with fi elds enlarged to fi t the machines – advertisement from the Agricultural Gazette 1878 135 6.6 Cardington Hanger at Shortstown 137 6.7 Ridgmont Brickworks in the 20th century (© Bedfordshire County Council) 139 NOTE. All reports for sites in Bedfordshire cited below as unpublished (BCAS, Albion Archaeology) are held in the Historic Environment Record, County Hall, Bedford, and are available for public consultation. Acknowledgements We would like to thank English Heritage for their support for this project. Adrian Olivier encouraged the preparation of a stand alone Research Framework for Bedfordshire so that the county could catch up with the rest of the East of England Region and provided funding for the project. Kathy Perrin later took over management of the project on behalf of English Heritage and saw it to completion; Barney Sloane supported a publication grant for this volume. We would also like to thank Bedfordshire County Council for their support by providing both grant aid and staff time to work on the project. Consultation drafts of the Research Framework were sent out to a number of institutions and individuals, the responses of Mark Maltby, Angela Simco, Kevan Fadden, Ren Hudspith and Colin Pendleton were particularly helpful. Cecily Marshall prepared the maps. 1 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND Martin K. Oake The development of regional archaeological research The other five counties of the Eastern Region had frameworks is now well established and actively a long and well established regional co-ordination promoted by English Heritage (2003 and Olivier committee with sub-groups covering such matters 1996). Throughout England the regions used for the as SMR’s and development control. During the mid development of such frameworks are generally the to late 1990’s Bedfordshire began to be involved government regions which have also been adopted in these groups at first with observer status and by English Heritage and form the basis for ALGAO later, as the East of England Region became an regional committees. These regions are largely established entity including Bedfordshire along with administrative constructs rather than geographic or the other counties, as a full member. Subsequently historic entities. In contrast to this there have been this co-ordination group became the ALGAO East some research frameworks based on geographically of England Committee. David Buckley (1997) has defined areas, for example the Greater Thames described the origin of the Eastern Counties regional Estuary (Williams and Brown 1999). Against this research framework in 1994; before Bedfordshire background the apparent anomaly of publishing a was established as part of the region. By the time research framework for a single county needs some Bedfordshire was fully included in the regional explanation. archaeological set up the development of the regional research framework, particularly the Resource Bedfordshire lies on the western edge of what is now Assessment (Glazebrook 1997) was well underway the East of England Region which comprises the and it was not possible to integrate Bedfordshire into counties of Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, the process. It was, therefore, agreed with English Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. Traditionally Heritage that Bedfordshire would prepare a separate Bedfordshire has not seen itself or been seen as county based research framework that would, in part of an eastern region or “East Anglia.” In fact effect, be a supplement to the framework for the other the county occupies a border position with no very five counties (Wade and Brown 2000). It is clear that strong regional affiliations. It had claims to be part research frameworks cannot be static documents and of a south or south east midlands region through that they will require periodic review to maintain their geographical links with Buckinghamshire and value (Wade and Brown 2000).