This book explores the economic evidence for the settlement at Bornais on South Uist. It reports in detail on the large assemblages of material found during the excavations at mounds 2 and 2A. There is important evidence for craft activity, such as bone and antler working and this includes the only comb making workshop from a rural settlement in Britain. A large proportion of the copper alloy, bone and antler assemblages comprise pieces of personal adornment and provide important information on the dress and thereby social relations within the settlement occupation. There is a large assemblage of iron tools and fittings, which provides important information on the activities taking place at the settlement. The information derived from the artefact assemblages is complemented by that provided by the ecofactual material. Large amounts of animal, fish and bird bones plus carbonised plant remains provide detailed information on agricultural practices, and the processing, preparation and consumption of foodstuffs. It is clear that the Norse inhabitants of the settlement had access to a much richer variety of resources than had been exploited before the Viking colonisation of the region. The settlement also had a significantly wider range of connections; material culture indicates contacts to the south with the Irish Sea ports and Bristol, and to the north with Shetland and the Viking homelands of Norway. The evidence produced by these excavations is exceptional and provides an unparalleled opportunity to explore medieval life in the Scandinavian kingdoms of Western Britain.

Thinking Hinterlands – Spanning 25 years of fieldwork across a 3 sq. km swathe on the west side of Cambridge, this and its companion volume present the results of 15 sites, including seven cemeteries. The main focus is on the area’s prehistoric ‘inland’ colonization (particularly its Middle Bronze Age horizon) and the dynamics of its Roman hinterland settlements. The latter involves a variety of farmsteads, a major roadside centre and a villa-estate complex, and the excavation programme represents one of the most comprehensive studies of the Roman countryside anywhere within the lands of its former empire. Appropriately, this book also includes a review of Roman Cambridge, appraising its status as a town.

The King’s Dyke and Bradley Fen excavations occurred within the brick pits of the Fenland town of Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire. The investigations straddled the south-eastern contours of the Flag Fen Basin, a small peat-filled embayment located between Peterborough and the western limits of Whittlesey ‘island’. Renowned principally for its Bronze Age discoveries at sites such as Fengate and Flag Fen, the Flag Fen Basin also marked the point where the prehistoric River Nene debouched into the greater Fenland Basin. A henge, two round barrows, an early fieldsystem, metalwork deposition and patterns of sustained settlement along with metalworking evidence helped produce a plan similar in its configuration to that revealed at Fengate. In addition, unambiguous evidence of earlier second millennium BC settlement was identified together with large watering holes and the first burnt stone mounds to be found along Fenland’s western edge. Genuine settlement structures included three of Early Bronze Age date, one Late Bronze Age, ten Early Iron Age and three Middle Iron Age. Later Bronze Age metalwork, including single spears and a weapon hoard, was deposited in indirect association with the earlier land divisions and consistently within ground that was becoming increasingly wet. The large-scale exposure of the base of the Flag Fen Basin at Bradley Fen revealed a beneath-the-peat or pre-basin landscape related to the buried floodplain of an early River Nene. Above all, the revelation of sub-fen occupation means we can now situate the Flag Fen Basin in time as well as space.

The prehistoric, Roman, and Anglo-Saxon periods were all represented in an excavation carried out in the centre of a Worcestershire village some time ago, but with results that can now be seen in new light because of all the archaeological work that has taken place since. A deep Iron Age ditch can be set in the context of enclosures revealed, mainly by air photography, of the gravel terraces in the river valleys of the Severn and Avon. The Romano-British skeletons form a small, elderly and hard-worked group, providing a contrast to the better-known large urban cemeteries. The growing of crops on an increasingly large scale has been demonstrated for the seventh to ninth centuries A.D., and at Fladbury the complex arrangements made to dry grain on what is known to have been a large and important estate show the resources put into feeding royal, aristocratic, and ecclesiastical households.

Norfolk has a rich heritage of prehistoric metalwork from the daggers of the Early Bronze Age to the late pre-Roman Iron Age treasures of Snettisham. In recent years relatively little has been written about the Bronze Age metalwork. Individual classes, such as swords, have been recorded in Prähistorische Bronzefunde while depositional practices have been explored in a number of theses, building on earlier classification of hoards and other assemblages going all the way back to the work of Sir John Evans in the late 19th century. Weapon assemblages and their deposition have more generally been a focus of attention, especially in relation to the ritual use of water and wet places, and regional biases in distribution have been noted when compared with other classes of hoard. More recently particular attention has been paid to the practical use of weapons and their condition at deposition, quantifying combat and other damage. The discovery over a period from the 1950s of three roughly contemporary Late Bronze Age weapon assemblages from north-west Norfolk, provides the opportunity to combine a range of archaeological and technological approaches to their characterisation and interpretation. For the first time the resources were available to link a full compositional, metallographic and radiographic study of the largest of the assemblages, that from Waterden, with an assessment of combat and ritualised damage and with the more traditional archaeological approaches of typology and chronology to enhance our understanding of some important aspects of Late Bronze Age life and society. The results from Waterden are supported by archaeological field investigation, and serve to illuminate the two smaller finds, both from Fincham.

This volume examines the archaeology of the Waithe Valley as it passes through the central Lincolnshire Wolds. It concentrates on fieldwork and finds from the eastern edge of the Wolds and was undertaken as part of the Central Lincolnshire Wolds Research Project. It documents the development of human presence in and use of the valley from prehistory to recent times, reporting on geophysical survey, fieldwalking and excavations. The monograph focusses on the evidence for a late Roman settlement, field system and enclosures. Evidence of corn-drying ovens and faunal remains reflect agricultural regimes and the various finds assemblages recovered provide an understanding of the landscape and economy of a later Roman farming complex.

Excavations in Wandsworth along the riverfront to the east of the Thames (which here trends roughly south to north), have revealed details of the diverse history of this part of the borough and its fluctuating fortunes. This monograph details the results of excavations at three sites along that stretch of riverfront at Price’s Candle Factory, Regent and Groves Wharves and Bridges Wharf. A ditch and associated Middle and Late Bronze Age pottery are the only evidence for prehistoric activity here. It was not until the later 15th Century that development of the area began in earnest, with construction of a moated manor house, known as Bryggecourt, or Bridge Court, which later came to be known as York House. Initially constructed as an episcopal residence, this manor house provided a country retreat for the pleasure and relaxation of bishops of York, yet was close enough to allow a visit to London and the Royal Court whenever necessary. At Bridges Wharf evidence for the revetments which controlled and modified the waterfront was revealed, whilst at Regent and Groves wharves an 18th-century sugar plant gave way to a turpentine factory. York House suffered changing fortunes. Variously used as a prison, private residence and industrial premises, by the mid-19th century the site had become the location of one of the country’s foremost candle manufactories. Amongst various industries the site was home to the Battersea Enamelling Manufactory; only in existence for three years, between 1753 and 1756, this operation was short but highly innovative and influential. Recent development has seen the area turn full circle and return once more to residential housing.

The crannog on Llangorse Lake near Brecon in mid Wales was discovered in 1867 and first excavated in 1869 by two local antiquaries, Edgar and Henry Dumbleton, who published their findings over the next four years. In 1988 dendrochronological dates from submerged palisade planks established its construction in the ninth century, and a combined off- and on-shore investigation of the site was started as a joint project between Cardiff University and Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales. The subsequent surveys and excavation (1989-1994, 2004) resulted in the recovery of a remarkable time capsule of life in the late ninth and tenth century, on the only crannog yet identified in Wales. This publication re-examines the early investigations, describes in detail the anatomy of the crannog mound and its construction, and the material culture found. The crannog’s treasures include early medieval secular and religious metalwork, evidence for manufacture, the largest depository of early medieval carpentry in Wales and a remarkable richly embroidered silk and linen textile which is fully analysed and placed in context. The crannog’s place in Welsh history is explored, as a royal llys (‘court’) within the kingdom of Brycheiniog, as well as its subsequent significance of the crannog in local traditions and its post-medieval occupation during a riotous dispute in the reign Elizabeth I. The cultural affinities of the crannog and its material culture is assessed, as are their relationship to origin myths for the kingdom, and to probable links with early medieval Ireland. The folk tales associated with the lake are explored, in a book that brings together archaeology, history, myths and legends, underwater and terrestrial archaeology.

Sark came briefly to prominence in 1719 when the Sark hoard was found – a pot containing Gaulish coins and embossed silver plaques. It was brought to England and disappeared. The Archaeological Survey of Sark began in 2004 with a view to studying the island in the context of Atlantic maritime networks to explore the themes of remoteness and connectivity. Fieldwork organized through the School of Archaeology, University of Oxford has been carried out annually and continues. A complete gazetteer of nearly 100 sites has been compiled together with a full listing of all the artefacts recovered. Notable are the large number of Neolithic stone axes, many made from the local dolerite, and the widespread use of local serpentine to make amulets Sark: a sacred island contains full reports on eight archaeological excavations including details of an early Neolithic settlement, a middle Neolithic ritual site, a Beaker cist burial a Mid–Late Bronze Age settlement, a Gallo-Roman ritual site (from which the Sark hoard came) and an early Medieval farm. Results of surveys of a Dark Age monastery and 16th century French fortifications are also given.

Excavations by Cotswold Archaeology at Mildenhall produced evidence for human activity from the Late Bronze Age to the medieval period. A Late Bronze Age waterhole backfilled with domestic refuse was excavated on the higher ground above the floodplain of the River Lark. The Middle Iron Age was a period of intense activity on the site, when a pair of massive ditches defined the eastern part of an enclosure, possibly built to dominate the crossing point of the River Lark. A third ditch of comparable size may date to the Middle or Late Iron Age. Numerous pits were found inside the enclosure, and a pair of very large post-settings were located between the paired ditches. A possible focus for settlement beyond the excavated area was suggested by the greater density of pits towards the west. The ditches fell out of use before the Roman period when a farmstead occupied the higher ground. In this period the flood plain was utilised with a series of field ditches, although the area was prone to flooding in the later Roman period. Throughout the Saxon period, the higher ground was farmed and use of the flood plain was limited by the wet environment. The evidence suggests there was a process of deliberate land reclamation on the floodplain during the medieval period, after which the area was divided into fields. On the higher ground, a large ditch running north to south may have marked the medieval town boundary, but this association is uncertain. Excavated evidence from this period represented activities undertaken on the periphery of settlement, including crop-processing, animal husbandry, and iron-working. A well-preserved kiln base may have been used for the production of lime, using chalk quarried from the edge of the higher ground. There was a rapid decline in use of the area from the 14th century onwards, and it remained farmland until recent times. There was good preservation of environmental evidence from all periods, and the sizeable assemblages of animal bone and crop waste allowed comparisons to be made in farming practices over time. The assemblage of decorated Middle Iron Age pottery from the site is the largest found in the region to date.

This is the first book for a generation on medieval agriculture in Wales, presenting evidence which is of considerable relevance to those studying the development of the early medieval landscapes of England and Ireland. This collection of essays confronts the paradox that, though agriculture lay at the heart of medieval society, understanding of what this meant for Wales remains limited. The papers address key questions that include: how did the agricultural systems of Wales operate between c. 400 and 1600 AD? What light do they cast on the material evidence for life in the contemporary landscape? How similar or different was Wales to other areas of Britain and Ireland? Can we identify change over time? How do we go about researching early Welsh agriculture? These issues are explored through new syntheses and case studies focused on Wales, and contextualising overviews of medieval agricultural systems in Ireland and England written by leading experts. Themes covered include the use of infield-outfield systems, seasonal land use and its impact on territorial and estate structures, and regional variation, all explored using a wide array of complementary multidisciplinary approaches. The introduction, written by the editors Rhiannon Comeau and Andy Seaman, gives context to the historiography, key debates, themes and issues surrounding this topic. The book also includes an afterword written by Professor Andrew Fleming.

Excavations at Chalk Hill, Ramsgate in south-eastern Britain were primarily aimed at investigating the remains of a possible early Neolithic causewayed enclosure visible on aerial photographs. However, the monument could not in fact be categorised as a causewayed enclosure, but instead represented a type of early Neolithic ritual monument unique to the British Isles.The earliest significant features recorded on the site dated to the early Neolithic (roughly 3700–3600 cal BC). They took the form of three concentric arcs of intercutting pit clusters forming discrete ‘segments’, the fills of which produced rich assemblages of pottery, flintwork, animal bone and other material. Much of this material appeared to have been deliberately placed in the pits rather than representing casual disposal of refuse. There are indications that material placed in different pits at different times may have derived from the same source, a ‘midden’ or some such which was not located during the excavations. The pit clusters appeared to have resulted from repeated pit-digging in the same location over an extended period of time. The site therefore contributes a more nuanced understanding of the heterogeneity of monumental architecture in the early Neolithic of the British Isles.This report is therefore critical for understanding the early Neolithisation of southern Britain, the relations between Neolithic incomers and indigenous Mesolithic hunter-gatherers, the potential creolisation of different cultural groups and cross-Channel relations in the early 4th Millennium BC.The site probably went out of use in around 3600 cal BC, and subsequent use of the landscape in the Bronze Age and later periods is evocative of the perception of ‘special places’ in the landscape long after they were abandoned.With contributions by Enid Allison, Alex Bayliss, Robin Bendrey, Christopher Bronk Ramsey, Kate Clark, Alex Gibson, Chris Green, Louise Harrison, Frances Healy, Linda Hurcombe, Rob Ixer, Jacqueline McKinley, Barbara McNee, Ruth Pelling, Nicola Powell, Louise Rayner, Paula Reimer, Johannes van der Plicht, Alasdair Whittle and Tania Wilson

Details results of excavations along the A477 from St Clears to Red Roses during the Road Improvement Scheme, 2012. Finds include a Mesolithic site in the lower Tâf valley; early Neolithic pits and a post-built structure at Cildywyll; the remains of an Early Bronze Age barrow, 38 burials (some urned), a pyre site, and a Middle Bronze Age drying oven near St Clears; and A Bronze Age burnt mound near Red Roses.

During the late 1st millennium BC into the early 1st millennium AD, the small island of Unst in the far north of the Shetland (and British) Isles was home to well-established and connected farming and fishing communities. The Iron Age settlement at Milla Skerra was occupied for at least 500 years before it was covered with storm-blown sand and abandoned. Although part of it had been lost to the sea, excavation revealed many details of the life of the settlement and how it was reused over many generations. From the middle of the 1st millennium BC people were constructing stone-walled yards and filling them with hearth waste and midden material. Later inhabitants built a house on top, with a paved floor and successive hearths, and more domestic rubbish accumulated inside it. Outside were new yards and workshops for crafts and metalworking, which were remodelled several times. The buildings fell into disrepair and became a dumping ground for domestic waste until the 2nd or 3rd century AD, when sand buried the settlement. Within a few generations, a man was buried beside the ruins along with some striking objects. Thousands of artefacts and environmental remains from Milla Skerra reveal the everyday practices and seasonal rhythms of the people that lived in this windswept and remote island settlement and their connections to both land and sea.

Eight sites were excavated along the route of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route between Balmedy to Tipperty. The sites are mostly multi-period. One site on the banks of the River Dee, revealed nine phases of activity extending from the Upper Palaeolithic through to the post-Medieval. Extensive specialist analysis has been undertaken on all sites, along with a programme of radiocarbon dating, OSL dating and Bayesian analysis. During the excavations, it was apparent how the specific landscape of each site was key to the activities taking place there, the periods and duration of activity and the extent to which people were passing through or settling. This was chosen as the overarching theme for analysis and publication, and the geological and topographical background is woven through the presentation of each site. Broadly speaking, the landscape ‘units’ identified were the River Dee valley, the Dee-Don uplands, a second upland zone around one specific site, the River Don valley, and the coastal plains. In addition to the individual site- evidence, a concluding chapter expands on three themes highlighted through the work; Mobility (looking at the temporary/permanent nature of interaction), ‘Gaps’ (periods of time or parts of the landscape which seem unexpectedly blank and the reasons for this), and Methodologies (looking at the specific methods used to identify, test and excavate the sites and consider learnings for future linear projects). Full versions of all specialist reports, the original assessment reports and relevant catalogues are provided digitally through ADS and cross-referenced throughout the text.

Two enclosures were recorded – near Rodway was discovered a small Middle Bronze Age farmstead containing evidence of two roundhouses, with associated pottery and plant remains; and at Sandy Lane a Roman villa was shown to have developed from a Late Iron Age ridge-top settlement.