Iron Age Maritime Nodes on the English Channel Coast. an Investigation Into the Location, Nature and Context of Early Ports and Harbours
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IRON AGE MARITIME NODES ON THE ENGLISH CHANNEL COAST. AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE LOCATION, NATURE AND CONTEXT OF EARLY PORTS AND HARBOURS. EILEEN WILKES- A thesis submitted in two volumes in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Bournemouth University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Volume I October 2004 Bournemouth University Abstract Studies of Iron Age coastal sites in southernBritain have previously concentratedon Hengistbury Head, Dorset and Mount Batten, Devon. These sites have coloured our understandingof late Iron Age cross-Channelinteractions. The possibility of many other coastal sites being identified has been dismissed due to the assumption that they would be archaeologically unrecognisable. This study was established to review this question on the southern coast of England. The aim was to determine the criteria and method by which Iron Age coastal sites might be identified, to apply that method, and to model how the suggestedsites might have interacted. The physical nature of the English Channel coast in the Iron Age, contemporary vessels, and their port or harbour requirements are considered, and related to referencesin classical literature to Britain, the Channel and seafaring. Information from the coastal county Sites and Monuments Records, excavation records and published sourcesthen provides an overview of the English Channel in the Iron Age. The characteristics of Iron Age coastal sites are determined and a list of key physical traits is developed. The list is applied to the Iron Age coast and 40 possible sites identified. Each is then classified as `definite', `probable', or `potential'. A gazetteerof all the sites is presentedin Appendix One. The sites are considered as `nodes' - interface points on the maritime network - between sea-ways and their hinterland. Other key elements commonly found within a five kilometre radius of the coast are identified as components within the `coastal node complex'. Three of the sites (Hengistbury Head, Poole Harbour, and Bigbury Bay) are examined in detail as case studies, including original fieldwork which provides new data to compare with previous investigations. A model of `nodal interactions' is presented representing different scales of operation amongst the coastal nodes. Their relationship with other sites and with their hinterlands is discussed. This draws upon `port of trade' and `central place' theory and from social and economic models of gateway communities. The study is approached through a combination of maritime and terrestrial perspectives. It is concluded that coastal sites are identifiable in the archaeological record at a variety of scales. The conclusion provides a model for coastal interaction, trade and other relationships along and across the Channel in later prehistory and presents suggestions for future work. 2 List of Contents Volume I Abstract 2 List of illustrations 7 List of tables 14 Acknowledgements 15 Declaration and Definitions 16 Chapter One Defining the research 1.1 Introduction 18 1.2 Methodology 21 1.2.1 Desk-basedresearch 21 1.2.2 Fieldwork 27 1.3 Thesis structure 29 Chapter Two The earlier study of interactions along and acrossthe English Channel 2.1 Introduction 33 34 2.2 The sourcematerial 35 2.2.1 Origins: late nineteenth early twentieth centuries - 37 2.2.2 Invaders or traders: c. 1915 1950s - 43 2.2.3 Economy and society: 1950s 1970s - 49 2.2.4 New perspectives:late 1970s 1980s - 52 2.2.5 The current picture 58 2.2.6 Emerging maritime perspectives 2.3 Summary 60 Chapter Three Defining the English Channel and its use in later prehistory 3.1 Introduction: the English Channel defined 62 3.2 Physical development of the English Channel 63 3.2.1 The English Channel today 64 3.2.2 The formation and developmentof the English Channel 65 3.3 From the land and from the sea:the evidencefor later prehistoric 68 use of the English Channel 3.3.1 The English Channel and seafaringin classical literature 68 3.3.2 Artefact distributions and stray fords 72 3.3.3 Wrecks and offshore finds 76 3.3.4 The evidence of excavatedsites 78 3.3.5 Waterbome transport: craft and waterside facilities 79 3.3.6 On the water: navigation and pilotage in and around the 87 English Channel 3.3.7 Rivers and nodes: prehistoric "arteries of movement and 90 traffic" 3.3.8 Routes and places 92 ChapterFour Nodes and arenas:modelling sites of coastal interactions 4.1 Introduction 99 4.2 Physical characteristicsof Iron Age coastal sites 100 4.2.1 Access from the seaand inland 100 4.2.2 Visibility and prominence 101 4.2.3 Safety, security and defence on land and water 102 4.2.4 Accommodating vessels,people, livestock and goods 103 4.2.5 The physical traits 104 4.3 Hinterland elementsnear Iron Age coastal sites 105 4.3.1 The primary coastal site 105 4.3.2 Local enclosures 106 4.3.3 Offshore island 107 4.3.4 High ground enclosures 108 4.4 Summary 109 Chapter Five Iron Age coastal sites: introduction to possible site locations on the south coast of Britain 5.1 Introduction 111 5.2 South-eastsector 111 5.2.1 Kent: topography and archaeology 113 5.2.2 East and West Sussex:topography and archaeology 117 5.3 Central coastal sector 122 5.3.1 Hampshire: topography and archaeology 123 5.3.2 Dorset: topography and archaeology 128 5.4 South-west sector 132 5.4.1 Devon: topography and archaeology 133 5.4.2 Cornwall: topography and archaeology 140 5.5 Extended analysis of the site locations 145 5.5.1 Coastal nodes and high ground enclosures 145 5.5.2 Types of coastal node in the south coast sectors 146 Chapter Six Casestudy 1: Hengistbury Head, Dorset 6.1 Introduction 148 6.2 Hengistbury Head as a coastal node 149 6.2.1 Position and topography 149 6.2.2 Maritime evidence, sea-level changeand their implications 150 6.2.3 Imports and material culture 152 6.3 Hengistbury Head in the wider complex of elements 158 6.4 Fieldwork 161 6.4.1 Survey aim 163 6.4.2 Survey summary 164 6.5 Summary 167 Chapter Seven Case study 2: Poole Harbour, Dorset 7.1 Introduction: the researchquestions 169 7.2 Physical description of Poole Harbour 171 7.2.1 Sealevels in Poole Harbour during the Iron Age 172 4 7.3 Previous archaeologicalwork 175 7.3.1 Generalbackground 175 7.3.2 Ower Peninsula 177 7.3.3 Brownsea Island 180 7.3.4 Furzey Island 181 7.3.5 Green Island 183 7.3.6 The `GreenIsland causeway' 184 7.3.7 Bulbury Hill 189 7.4 Primary researchat Ower Peninsulaand Green Island 191 7.4.1 Geophysicalsurvey at Ower 192 7.4.2 Channelbottom survey between Green Island and Furzey 195 Island 7.4.3 Fieldwork on Green Island 196 7.5 Discussion: the Iron Age complex of Poole Harbour 205 7.5.1 The nodal elementsof Poole Harbour 205 7.5.2 SouthernPoole Harbour 206 7.5.3 The Poole Harbour hinterland 208 7.5.4 Jetties and control points 210 7.6 Summary 214 Chapter Eight Casestudy 3: Bigbury Bay, Devon 216 8.1 Introduction: the researchquestion 217 8.2 The physical setting 8.2.1 Sealevel change 218 8.3 The coastal complex of Bigbury Bay 220 8.4 The coastalnode in Bigbury Bay 225 8.4.1 Bantham 226 8.4.2 Mothecombe 228 8.4.3 High ground enclosures 230 8.5 Fieldwork at Mount Folly 232 8.5.1 Background to the fieldwork programme 232 8.5.2 Geophysical survey at Mount Folly 235 8.5.3 Excavation at Mount Folly 239 8.5.4 Summary of results of fieldwork at Mount Folly 245 8.6 Summary 246 Chapter Nine Iron Age coastal nodeson the south coast of Britain 9.1 Introduction 248 9.2 Interrogation of the physical model 250 9.2.1 Origins of the coastal sites 251 9.2.2 Assessmentof the componentsand their relationships 252 within the `nodal complex' 9.3 Iron Age coastalnodes: a model of interactions 256 9.3.1 The origin of site interactions 256 9.3.2 Models of interactions in the Iron Age 258 9.4 The application of gateway theory 258 9.4.1 From the physical to the theoretical 261 9.4.2 Poole Harbour and Hengistbury Head: neighbouring nodes 265 5 Chapter Ten Conclusions 10.1 Introduction 267 10.2 Summary of the study process 268 10.3 The physical arenaof coastal interactions 269 10.4 The conceptualarena of coastal interactions 271 10.5 Future research 272 10.5.1 Researchderived directly from this project 272 10.5.2 Wider areasfor research 273 10.6 Concluding remarks 275 Volume II List of contents 277 List of illustrations 278 List of tables 285 Figures 286 Tables 362 Appendix One Gazetteerof sites identified as possible Iron 389 Age maritime nodes on the English Channel coast Appendix Two Extract from The Antiquary 1910 482 Appendix Three Geophysical survey at Hengistbury Head 483 Appendix Four Geophysical survey at Ower Peninsula, 490 Poole Harbour Appendix Five Geophysical survey at Mount Folly, Devon 498 Appendix Six Pottery from Mount Folly, Bigbury, Devon 509 by Roger Taylor Bibliography 513 6 List of Illustrations Illustration number Map of the English Channel showing the counties of the 1 England, departments 287 south-coast of and of the north-west coast of France. 2 The sea-routesto Britain. 288 3 Burgess'distribution of Breton palstavesof Portrieux type 289 in the British Isles. 4 Outline of the valley inlet prior to the flooding and 290 formation of the English Channel. Locations mentioned in the text of artefactsretrieved from 291 5 off the coast or shore of southernBritain, interpreted as cargo from wrecked vessels.