Two Late Bronze Age Settlements on the Kennet Gravels: Excavations at Aldermaston Wharf and Knight's Farm, Burghfield, Berkshire

One of the major problems of British prehistory has been the contrast between the mass of Late Bronze Age metalwork and the rarity of contemporary settlements. The Berkshire river gravels are one area in which a high proportion of bronze objects is recorded in apparent isolation. With the increasing recognition of Late Bronze Age pottery, however, it has been possible to identify domestic finds of this period among the artefacts from gravel pits around Reading. Part of the gap in the settlement record has also been closed by the excavation of two sites on the Berkshire Downs, the earthwork enclosure at Rams Hill, and an open site at Beedon Manor Farm (Bradley and Ellison 1975; Richards in press). But it was not until 1974 that a Bronze Age settlement on the gravels could be examinedin situ, and since the formation of the Berkshire Archaeological Unit a series of five sites have been sampled or more extensively investigated. This paper is concerned with the two most extensive sites, those at Aldermaston Wharf and Knight's Farm, Burghfield, but will make cross reference to the other work where necessary, in particular to a more recently recorded site at Pingewood.It is now clear why this evidence was so difficult to find. The pottery is extremely friable and would not survive on the surface; and the gravel sites contain very few worked flints. The main features are small pits under 50 cm deep, and for this reason the sites cannot be detected from the air; and, even if they could be recognized, there would be nothing to distinguish them from Iron Age open sites, like those in the Upper Thames Basin.

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Neolithic Pits, a Bronze Age Cremation and an Early Iron Age Ring-Ditch at Newton Farm, Cambuslang, Lanarkshire

Scottish Archaeological Journal ◽

10.3366/saj.2010.0002 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 31 (1-2) ◽

pp. 1-31

Author(s):

Leonora O'Brien ◽

Victoria Clements ◽

Mike Roy ◽

Neil Macnab

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Iron Age ◽

Housing Development ◽

Early Iron Age ◽

Small Ring ◽

Late Bronze Age ◽

River Terraces

Fieldwork at Newton Farm, Cambuslang (NGR NS 672 610) was undertaken in advance of housing development in 2005–6. A cluster of six shallow Neolithic pits were excavated, and a collection of 157 round-based, carinated bowl sherds and a quern fragment were recovered from them. The pits produced a date range of 3700 to 3360 cal BC. Most of the pits yielded burnt material, and one of the pits showed evidence of in situ burning. The pottery may form ‘structured deposits’. A Bronze Age adult cremation placed in a Food Vessel dated to 3610±30 BP (2040–1880 cal BC) was set in a wider landscape of single and multiple cremations and inhumations on the river terraces overlooking the Clyde. A possible unurned cremation was also identified. This was cut by the course of a small ring-ditch dated to the very late Bronze Age or early Iron Age 2520±30 BP (800–530cal BC).

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A Summary Report on Excavation at Marnel Park (Phase 2), Popley, Basingstoke, 2018

Hampshire Studies ◽

10.24202/hs2020013 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 75 (1) ◽

pp. 175-190

Author(s):

Jeremy Clutterbuck ◽

Richard Massey ◽

Sheila Boardman ◽

Katie Marsden ◽

E.R. McSloy ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Iron Age ◽

Single Phase ◽

Phase 1 ◽

Early Iron Age ◽

Late Bronze Age ◽

Phase 2 ◽

Plant Remains ◽

Rise Phase

An archaeological excavation was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology in February 2018, at Marnel Park (Phase 2 area), Popley, Basingstoke. The excavation was targeted on a group of later prehistoric pits identified by evaluation. Excavation confirmed a single phase of Late Bronze Age /Early Iron Age activity, represented by a group of eight pits, some of which were intercutting. Three pit fills were notably rich in charcoal and charred plant remains, while others may represent backfill deposits. One pit contained quantities of fired clay, together with quern fragments and remains of pottery vessels which appeared to have been broken in situ. These finds appear to represent a structured deposit. A small assemblage of worked flint is largely redeposited. The Marnel Park (Phase 2) site has produced evidence of peripheral Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age activity around the excavated Marnel Park/Merton Rise Phase 1 site, to the south and west.

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A Later Prehistoric Settlement and Metalworking Site at Seafield West, near Inverness, Highland

Scottish Archaeological Internet Reports ◽

10.9750/issn.1773-3803.2011.47 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 47 ◽

Author(s):

Michael Cressey ◽

Sue Anderson ◽

Ann Clarke ◽

Trevor Cowie ◽

Fraser Hunter ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Iron Age ◽

Copper Alloy ◽

Late Bronze Age ◽

Archaeological Remains ◽

Burial Site ◽

Retail Development ◽

Development Site ◽

The Subject

Construction in 1996 at a major retail development site close to Inverness, Highland resulted in the destruction of two known cropmark sites. One set of cropmarks was found to be associated with a Bronze Age log-boat burial site and the results of the ensuing excavation are published elsewhere (Cressey & Sheridan 2003). The excavation of a second area of cropmarks forms the subject of this publication. The archaeological remains consisted of a series of negative features, post-holes and annular ditches which form parts of at least nine separate structures of a later prehistoric unenclosed settlement. A mould fragment indicated Late Bronze Age sword production in the vicinity. A palisaded enclosure produced a copper-alloy brooch that is a rare find for the region. Evidence of copper-alloy objects and metalworking from a smelting hearth and slags show that the occupants were of some status. Some of the structural and artefactual evidence compellingly points to an in situ ironworking workshop. A large cache of smithing charcoal found in association with a smelting hearth was radiocarbon dated to 180BC-AD70 and represents one of the few dated in situ Iron Age ironworking episodes in Scotland.

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Flint Use in England after the Bronze Age: Time for a Re-evaluation?

Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society ◽

10.1017/s0079497x00002000 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 65 ◽

pp. 231-242 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

R. Young ◽

J. Humphrey

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Iron Age ◽

Morphological Features ◽

The Other ◽

Late Bronze Age ◽

Lithic Assemblages ◽

The Bronze Age

Lithic assemblages from a variety of English later Bronze and Iron Age contexts are examined here in an effort to stimulate debate about the later prehistoric exploitation of flint. It is suggested that a variety of technological and morphological features, supporting the idea of discrete later industries, can be identified. A special plea is made to excavators of Late Bronze Age and Iron Age settlement sites to pay greater attention to the contexts of deposition (and to the other artefactual associations), of recovered lithic material. Flint finds should not automatically be written off as residual from earlier activity on settlements.

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The chronology and periodization of the Bronze and the early Iron Age burial ground in Domasław, Wrocław district, based on radiocarbon dating

Przegląd Archeologiczny ◽

10.23858/pa67.2067.2019.002 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 67 ◽

pp. 31-48

Author(s):

Tomasz Goslar

Keyword(s):

Bayesian Analysis ◽

Bronze Age ◽

Iron Age ◽

Radiocarbon Dating ◽

The Other ◽

Early Iron Age ◽

Burial Ground ◽

Late Bronze Age ◽

Relative Chronology ◽

Characteristic Features

The article presents the results of the radiocarbon dating and Bayesian analysis of 14C dates of bones from the burial ground in Domasław. The Bayesian analysis used the relative chronology obtained based on the characteristic features of grave goods and the assigning of individual burials to specific periods of the late Bronze Age (III EB – V EB ) or the early Iron Age (HC – LtA). A coherent chronological model of the burial ground was accepted after assuming that graves with transitional features, attributable to two subsequent periods, could have been contemporary of graves from one or the other period. The temporal frames of particular periods calculated by the model allow us to improve previously published chronological diagrams of the late Bronze Age and the early Iron Age in the region.

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THE BEGINNING OF THE IRON AGE AT ARSLANTEPE: A 14C PERSPECTIVE

Radiocarbon ◽

10.1017/rdc.2021.19 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-19

Author(s):

Federico Manuelli ◽

Cristiano Vignola ◽

Fabio Marzaioli ◽

Isabella Passariello ◽

Filippo Terrasi

Keyword(s):

Mass Spectrometry ◽

Bronze Age ◽

High Precision ◽

Iron Age ◽

Accelerator Mass Spectrometry ◽

Late Bronze Age ◽

13Th Century ◽

Historical Events ◽

Preliminary Results ◽

Archaeological Data

ABSTRACT The Iron Age chronology at Arslantepe is the result of the interpretation of Luwian hieroglyphic inscriptions and archaeological data coming from the site and its surrounding region. A new round of investigations of the Iron Age levels has been conducted at the site over the last 10 years. Preliminary results allowed the combination of the archaeological sequence with the historical events that extended from the collapse of the Late Bronze Age empires to the formation and development of the new Iron Age kingdoms. The integration into this picture of a new set of radiocarbon (14C) dates is aimed at establishing a more solid local chronology. High precision 14C dating by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) and its correlation with archaeobotanical analysis and stratigraphic data are presented here with the purpose of improving our knowledge of the site’s history and to build a reliable absolute chronology of the Iron Age. The results show that the earliest level of the sequence dates to ca. the mid-13th century BC, implying that the site started developing a new set of relationships with the Levant already before the breakdown of the Hittite empire, entailing important historical implications for the Syro-Anatolian region at the end of the 2nd millennium BC.

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Cremated animal remains and shattered pottery. Rare ritual deposits from the Middle to Late Bronze Age at Aalst – Siesegemkouter (Belgium)

Praehistorische Zeitschrift ◽

10.1515/pz-2021-0017 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 0 (0) ◽

Author(s):

Arne Verbrugge ◽

Maaike Groot ◽

Koen Deforce ◽

Guy De Mulder ◽

Wouter Van der Meer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Iron Age ◽

Multidisciplinary Approach ◽

Late Bronze Age ◽

Low Countries ◽

Early Date ◽

Animal Remains ◽

Animal Bone ◽

Maintenance Practice ◽

Organic Remains

Abstract Archaeological research at Aalst – Siesegemkouter revealed several pits within a Middle to Late Bronze Age settlement. Most of them hardly contained any artefacts, but one exception showed a structured stratigraphy with an abundance of finds, including a large amount of shattered pottery, charcoal and calcined animal bone. The study of this assemblage, and comparison with two other pits showing similarities, provides strong indications of a closing deposit or another type of ‘site maintenance practice’. In the Low Countries, comparable contexts generally date from the Iron Age, suggesting that the finds from Aalst – Siesegemkouter represent early forerunners of this ritual practice. On top of this early date, the large volume of cremated animal bone represents an almost unique characteristic for which, until now, parallels from the Metal Ages have hardly been found, even on a Northwestern European scale. In general, the role played by organic remains in ritual contexts from these periods and regions is poorly understood, often due to bad preservation conditions or the lack of a multidisciplinary approach.

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