Professional Documents
Culture Documents
6 . p e r i o d s u m m a r y: t h e pa l a e o l i t h i c 17
f i s h b o u r n e r e s e a r c h a n d c o n s e r va t i o n f r a m e w o r k 17
6 . 1 . T h e P a l a e o l i t h i c o f T h e
W e s t S u s s e x C o a s t a l P l a i n i n history of its study, and both current and future
n at i o n a l c o n t e x t directions in its research.
Nationally there are currently two major new
I
t is important to note at the outset that the initiatives guiding the overall study of Palaeolithic
geographical area covered by the FRCF en- archaeology: the Ancient Human Origins of Britain
compasses much the most critically important Project and the National Ice Age Network. The
series of Quaternary deposits in southern Britain. Leverhulme-funded Ancient Human Occupation
The target area not only includes the globally of Britain project (AHOB) is currently undertak-
important Palaeolithic site of Boxgrove (Roberts ing a systematic reassessment of key Palaeolithic
1986) and the bulk of preserved sediments dating localities throughout Britain. While co-ordinated
to Boxgrove interglacial period (MIS 13), but also by the Natural History Museum, this project utilizes
incorporates wide areas of later Quaternary land- expertise from Universities, Museum Services and
scapes and associated artefacts (Bates et al. 1997; Field Units to undertake targeted fieldwork and
ApSimon et al. 1977). In this section the nature of post-excavation analysis. While yet to report, the
this unique record will be outlined as well as the project looks set to change our ideas about the
timing of colonization and previous interpretations the enormous potential for further detailed ar-
of key-locales. chaeological investigations.
In addition, the rolling out of the National
Ice Age Network (NIAN) has commenced. This is 6 . 2 . O v e r v i e w o f t h e
an initiative funded through the Aggregates Levy Pa l a e o l i t h i c r e c o r d
Sustainability Fund (ALSF) which is aimed at pro- o f t h e FRCF a r e a
viding a coherent but regionally based approach
to the conservation and research of Palaeolithic Some 43 separate findspots are listed on the SMR
archaeology. The ALSF also continues to fund for the FRCF study area (Fig. 7). For the most part
targeted research projects such as the excavation these tend to comprise surface finds, recovered
of the nationally important Neanderthal butchery out of context and sometimes without clear prov-
site of Lyndford (Norfolk) and, in 2006, the Valdoe enance. However, included within these findspots
Assessment Survey within the FRCF area. are locales such as Boxgrove and Slindon where
The FRCF area has itself been the focus for thousands of stone tools and associated debitage
intensive study and front-line Palaeolithic re- have been recovered from in situ deposits. On-go-
search during the past 20 years. Between the ing research by the Boxgrove Project, through both
UCL-based Boxgrove Project team (Figs. 7 & 8) the Raised Beach Mapping Project (Fig. 9) and the
and the ALSF-funded Coastal Corridor Project Valdoe Assessment Survey, has sought to determine
run from Southampton and Lampeter Universi- the wider limits of the preserved palaeolandsurfaces
ties, the Pleistocene geology of the West Sussex so well documented at the Boxgrove site. Similar
Coastal Plain has been comprehensively mapped. work is being undertaken for the younger raised
However, this work has only sought to establish beaches of the Lower Coastal Plain through the
6 . p e r i o d s u m m a r y: t h e pa l a e o l i t h i c 19
ALSF funded Coastal-Corridor Mapping Project to the south of Chichester in addition to the de-
(Lampeter/Southampton). The results of these tailed mapping of the interplay between the Lavant
projects are starting to build up a coherent picture terrace gravels and beaches of the Upper Coastal
of the sedimentology of the West Sussex Coastal Plain to the north of the city. In addition, there has
plain and offer the opportunity to understand yet to be a systematic reassessment of key surface
the surface finds in context of the wider history finds in light of our improved understanding of the
of deposition. underlying geological record of the area. For this
In some cases it has even been possible to use reason a more considered assessment of the SMR
the SMR database of surface finds to successfully record is now timely.
track subcrops of intact Palaeolithic landsurface
with in situ artefact scatters. Within the FRCF 6 . 3 . T h e P a l a e o l i t h i c r e c o r d o f
area we therefore know that there are substantial t h e FRCF a r e a
tracts of unexplored in situ landsurface, covering a
variety of landscape types. Yet in addition to push- Finds from the FRCF area can be divided into
ing ahead with direct archaeological excavation those from three major zones: The Lower Coastal
in these area there is still some uncertainty over Plain and foreshore, The Upper Coastal Plain and
the basic geological framework of the West Sussex The Chalk Escarpment. While it is impossible to
Coastal Plain. These more obscure parts of the generalize about the artefactual material from
geological record will be addressed in detail later in any of these individual contexts it is possible to
this document but they include the fine mapping discuss the archaeology of each of the zones in
of the younger beaches of the Lower Coastal Plain, broad terms.
20 6 . p e r i o d s u m m a r y: t h e pa l a e o l i t h i c
Fig. 6. Soils, labelled with soil series numbers; see Appendix 3 for key.
Neolithic polished axe pre-forms. This is a problem This is, of course, only a brief summary of a
that is especially acute in the study area given the wide and varied record of occupation covering
local presence of Neolithic flint mines. However, over 500,000 years and a variety of climatic and
there can be little doubt that the Downs were ecological conditions. Therefore it should not be
intensively occupied during the Middle Pleisto- surprising that an equally varied range of preser-
cene given the vast quantities of tools recovered vational conditions should exist in the study area
from the Head Gravels which cover their flank- and this is reflected in the quality of the material.
ing slopes and the Upper Coastal Plain. Indeed While the value of excavated assemblages from Box-
it must be remembered that Downland erosion grove and Slindon requires no further elaboration,
has been so extensive during the Pleistocene that it is important to note that many finds classified
more evidence for their occupation now exists on as ‘surface’ are sometimes found in a remarkably
the margins of the Plateau and in the dissecting excellent state of preservation suggesting only re-
valleys than within the impoverished subsoil of cent disturbance from high-quality preservational
their summits. The possibility exists, however, for contexts. These finds undoubtedly are indications
solution features on the plateau to have preserved of local, important sites currently under threat from
in situ remnants of Pleistocene landsurface (Scott- either the plough or on-going erosional processes.
Jackson 1996; Pope 2001). These should be actively It is the context of these finds which should now
prospected for and investigated. be targeted in future research plans.
22 6 . p e r i o d s u m m a r y: t h e pa l a e o l i t h i c
6 . 5 . F u t u r e d i r e c t i o n f o r
P a l a e o l i t h i c R e s e a r c h i n t h e
FRCF a r e a
O
wing to the lack of material culture, apart has been succinctly summarized by Holgate (2003).
from worked flint and stone and the oc- Drawing on the work of early archaeologists whose
casional feature, on the vast majority of excavation of important sites, predominantly lo-
Mesolithic sites in southern Britain, there has been cated on the Greensand to the north of the South
little to help us understand the settlement patterns, Downs, including an initial summary by Jacobi
economic systems and social organization of these (1978), and incorporating more recent discoveries,
communities. It has been assumed until recently Holgate proposed different settlement patterns for
that all Mesolithic communities were engaged in the earlier and later Mesolithic periods. During the
exploiting local resources by hunting and gather- earlier Mesolithic period the settlement pattern
ing, without having any significant impact on their was of a traditional nomadic way of life, with the
local environments. Certainly the evidence from seasonal exploitation of resources taking place over
sites such as Star Carr in Yorkshire and Mount San- a large area from a sequence of temporary residence
dal in Ireland have provided models for temporary locations occupied on more than one occasion
seasonal camps, on which most later studies have (Jacobi 1987). In the later Mesolithic period a new
been based. pattern of settlement and resource exploitation ap-
The Mesolithic period has recently been subject peared with short-stay temporary hunting camps,
to some major re-evaluation (Young 2000). The na- and inland task-specific, seasonally occupied sites
ture of the evidence recovered from Mesolithic sites suggesting that a sedentary pattern of settlement
makes interpretation difficult. A good example of could not be ruled out (Holgate 2003, 36). It is
this is the numerous re-evaluations of Star Carr (e.g. also likely that there was extensive exploitation
Legge & Rowley-Conwy 1988), which have seen the of coastal resources, however the effect of coastal
interpretation change from a winter base camp to a erosion and sea-level change means that this infor-
summer hunting camp — all employing the same mation has been largely lost (Woodcock 2003).
evidence (Bewley 2003). In addition, a number of
discoveries have been made both in Britain and on 7 . 2 . M e s o l i th i c s i t e s i n th e
the Continent, which have suggested that Meso- F i shb o u r n e F r am e w o r k a r e a
lithic communities may have been more sedentary
than we had thought. The recent discovery of a per- An SMR search has produced a total of 145 records
manent hut structure at Howick in Northumberland of Mesolithic date from the Fishbourne framework
(Waddington et al. 2003), and the numerous sites area. Of these, 38 are located on the Coastal Plain,
in Denmark (Grøn 1995) suggest more permanent 72 on Downland, 13 in the Weald, and 22 are
settlement during the later Mesolithic period, even unclassified (Fig. 12).
if they were only seasonally occupied. These records are derived from a wide variety
Some recent major studies of Mesolithic settle- of sources, with many of them being findspots
ment in landscape settings from northern England for single flint artefacts of diagnostic Mesolithic
have considered not only the material culture, date, such as tranchet adzes, picks, microliths and
but also environmental evidence, and have taken blades/bladelets (Fig. 10). Other records relate to
into account ethnographic data (Spikins 1999; chance finds of groups of Mesolithic flintwork,
Waddington 1999). From these studies models for whilst a small number have come from excava-
the use of a landscape have been proposed, which tions, or during the course of PPG16 fieldwork.
with some adaptations may also be applicable to It is possible to determine broadly the type
southern Britain. of activity going on in the Mesolithic period by
26 7 . p e r i o d s u mma r y: th e m e s o l i th i c
tered around the 5 m contour, as subsequent sea sites on the Lower Greensand to the north of the
level change has resulted in any lower sites being South Downs belong to a group of early Mesolithic
covered with peat (Woodcock 2003). Around the sites stretching from here through into East Sussex
Pevensey Levels the known Mesolithic sites have that appear to favour this location (Jacobi 1978).
produced both tranchet adzes and microliths,
indicating that there may not be the same type of The Weald
task specialization here (Butler 2002). A small number of Mesolithic sites are classified
on the SMR as coming from the Weald, and are
The Downland probably too far north to be considered within the
Almost half of the known Mesolithic sites recorded Fishbourne Framework area. Wealden Mesolithic
on the SMR from within the Fishbourne Frame- sites tend to fall into two types of site. In the central
work area are located on Downland, although this and eastern part of the Sussex Weald there are nu-
category also appears to include sites on the Green- merous rock-shelter sites associated with microliths
sand, to the north of the South Downs. Many of the and microlith production, which can probably be
sites comprise just a few pieces of flintwork, whilst interpreted as short-stay hunting camps. The second
others were recorded during the excavation of sites type of site is found in streamside locations across
dating to other periods. The Knowles collection of the Weald, and they appear to be associated with
flintwork, amounting to some 300 pieces, derives a broader range of implements, including both mi-
from a number of locations around Midhurst. croliths (frequently Horsham Points) and tranchet
The flintwork that has been found normally adzes; these may be longer-stay camps.
comprises diagnostic pieces such as cores, blades
and bladelets, together with the occasional tranchet 7 . 3 . Q u al i ty o f th e a r ch i v e an d
adze and microlith. In addition to the flintwork, a r cha e o l o g i cal r e c o r d
three quartzite pebble maceheads, of probable
Mesolithic date, have also been found. As the majority of the sites listed on the SMR (Fig.
None of the sites or findspots on the chalk 12) relate to single, or small groups of, artefacts,
South Downs appears to have come from any many of which may be in private hands or local
systematic work. Further west near Brighton, museums, a full re-evaluation of these may not
systematic fieldwalking and other fieldwork has be possible, although many of the earlier finds
associated Mesolithic sites with clay-with-flints will have been included in Wymer’s Gazetteer of
outcrops (e.g. Butler 2001; Butler & Holgate 2002), Mesolithic Sites (1977).
and it does seem that this pattern may be repeated Most of the major sites discovered during the
within the Framework area, although further work course of excavation or other fieldwork have been
is required to confirm this. published and the archive should be available from
A number of Mesolithic sites have been in- one of the local museums. An increasing number
vestigated on the Lower Greensand to the north of sites have been discovered during the course
of the Downs. At West Heath a pit sealed below a of PPG16 work along the Coastal Plain, and in
Bronze Age barrow produced a radiocarbon date most cases the reports are available in the ‘grey
of 8100±70 bp, whilst the excavations produced a literature’, and the archives should be accessible in
quantity of Mesolithic flintwork including a small local museums. However, in the majority of these
number of microliths (Drewett 1976). Pollen analy- cases the quantity of Mesolithic material is small,
sis at this site suggested that partial clearance of and is derived from residual contexts. It is possible
the forest was taking place in the Mesolithic period that a small number of sites remain unpublished,
(Scaife 1988). Surface flint collection at Graffham although it has not been possible to identify these
Common produced an assemblage of almost 2000 from the SMR information provided.
pieces of Mesolithic flintwork from three dense Some re-evaluation of the data is essential, and
scatters (Holgate et al. 1986), which included cores, it cannot necessarily be taken at face value; for
blade and bladelet debitage, and a small number example in one published report some pieces are
of implements including microliths. At Minsted, classified and described as microliths, but from the
an assemblage of Mesolithic flintwork was found published drawings and descriptions appear to be
below a Bronze Age barrow (Drewett 1975). These simply retouched bladelets.
7 . p e r i o d s u mma r y: th e m e s o l i th i c 29
T
he Neolithic (c. 4500–2500/250 bc) has
always been a somewhat difficult period Surviving monuments of the Neolithic are gener-
to define. Even in Stuart Piggott’s seminal ally within areas of lower agricultural potential
work on the Neolithic Cultures of the British Isles in later periods. Hence causewayed enclosures
(1954) he noted the ‘dubious validity’ of the term survive as earthworks on the chalk Downs but
but accepted that it marked the arrival of agricul- only as cropmark sites in the Thames Valley.
ture into Britain. He suggested that the area of Within this study area all monuments survive on
lowland Britain south of the Wash formed a homo- the Downs and none on the Coastal Plain. Is this
geneous unit, his ‘Windmill Hill Culture’. Defining a true distribution or an artefact of preservation?
features of the Neolithic were seen as agriculture, Given the considerable amount of developer-
permanent settlements, causewayed enclosures, funded archaeological assessment on the Coastal
long barrows, flint mines, polished stone tools and Plain one suspects in this case the distribution
pottery. As these elements were thought to have may be real. Within this study area key Neolithic
been brought by immigrants from the continent monuments, causewayed enclosures, long bar-
then the model of settlement should match that of rows and flint mines are all present. The Trundle
Continental Europe. The fact that permanent set- causewayed enclosure (Figs 13 & 15) was clearly a
tlements remained elusive in lowland Britain and focal point for the Neolithic peoples in this area,
that evidence for crop cultivation is often missing together with the possibly associated enclosures of
in the early stages of the Neolithic was generally Court Hill to its northeast and Halnaker Hill to its
assumed to result from lack of evidence rather southeast. The field system apparently associated
than suggesting something rather different in the with the Halnaker Hill enclosure is more likely to
English Neolithic. The last twenty years has seen be Later Bronze Age, or certainly later than the
a shift away from the idea of a single Neolithic in Neolithic date hitherto suggested. The Trundle was
lowland Britain to a greater emphasis on regional re-constructed over a period of perhaps 1000 years
variation (e.g. Thomas 1993). Instead of permanent
settlements we should perhaps be looking for ter-
ritories of use where ‘permanence’ comes in the
siting of monuments rather than settlements. This
may be more associated with herding of domesti-
cated cattle than cultivation of crops. In many ways
the Fishbourne Research and Conservation study
area presents a ‘typical’ lowland British ‘Neolithic’
with its monuments (causewayed enclosures, long
barrows and flint mines), polished stone tools,
pottery, lithic spreads and isolated pits but lack of
evidence for ‘permanent’ settlements and conclu-
sive evidence for crop growth early in the period.
It is therefore an ideal area for testing some of the
alternative ‘neolithics’ being proposed (e.g. in Cot-
ton & Field 2004). Fig. 13. Carved chalk block from the Trundle, north of
Chichester.
32 8 . p e r i o d s u m m a r y: th e N e o l i th i c
8. A further seven pits containing Late Neolithic The exact number of lithic scatters and
(but also Early Bronze Age) material were found findspots within the Fishbourne Research and
at Chalkpit Lane and another pit (also containing Conservation study area which can be certainly
Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age material) at dated to the Neolithic remains uncertain although
Graylingwell (Chichester). The mixture of Late the Sites and Monuments Record includes some
Neolithic and Early Bronze Age material perhaps 162 locations from fairly large assemblages to just
underlines the possibility that these pits contain one or two artefacts. Early records often refer to
structured depositions including curated items. flints as ‘Neolithic’ when in fact many are Bronze
If all these pits in the landscape have more to do Age. This particularly applies to rather indetermi-
with symbolism than direct economic activities on nate clusters of flakes (including a number around
settlement sites then the problem of where people Chichester Harbour where association with burnt
actually lived remains. flint spreads may suggest a Later Bronze Age date).
Although house-like structures akin to the Eu- Having said that, of the more certain Neolithic
ropean Neolithic long houses have been found on flint scatters and spot finds (both early and late)
the chalklands of north Kent (White Horse Stone there appears to be a general spread across all
site in the Medway Valley) none have been found in geologies. Apparent clustering around Chichester
Sussex and it remains uncertain as to whether these Harbour and Selsey probably suggest discovery
structures are the remains of domestic houses or are after erosion rather than real concentrations.
related to the (mortuary) structures found under Likewise apparent concentrations in the built-
long barrows elsewhere in England. Lithic spreads up areas of Chichester and Bognor may result
on the Downs and Coastal Plain of the study area more from development led discovery than real
together with polished flint and other stone axes concentration.
and leaf-shaped arrowheads across the whole area The Fishbourne Research and Conservation
indicate activity across all geologies. A simplistic study area contains a number of spot finds of com-
attempt to divide these lithic scatters into Strand plete polished flint and stone axes spread across all
and Salt Marsh Resource Utilization Camps (on the geologies. These are mainly unassociated findspots
Coastal Plain and particularly Chichester Harbour), perhaps suggesting deliberate deposition in the
Open Agricultural Settlements (on the chalk Downs) landscape. At least two examples were however,
and Woodland Camps (in the Weald) was an at- found in well-dated medieval or post-medieval
tempt to create some (Processual) order out of this contexts (one for example was found incorporated
scanty evidence (Drewett et al. 1988, 44–7). What into a timber-framed house at Walderton) empha-
these lithic concentrations and broad landscape sizing the significance of these ‘thunderbolts’ in
spreads do show, however, is the extensive use of all the superstitions of later periods (and the fact that
resource zones available in the Neolithic. they may have been moved around the landscape
Lithic scatters in the wetter coastal areas prob- much later than the Neolithic period).
ably do represent some specific range of activities.
The site at Chidham in what is now Chichester 8 . 3 . C o ncl u s i o ns
Harbour, produced a high percentage of hollow
scrapers and notched flakes together with three in- The Fishbourne Research and Conservation area in
complete leaf-shaped arrowheads (Bedwin 1980). many ways represents a ‘classic’ lowland English
This assemblage may represent the preparation of ‘neolithic’ with its distinct sites and many uncer-
osiers to be plaited into wicker fish traps and the tainties. Monuments are represented by major and
manufacture of arrowshafts and spears for fishing minor enclosed spaces with a clear ritual focus (the
and fowling. Lithic scatters on the chalk Downs causewayed enclosures) and long and oval mounds
create a greater problem of interpretation. Some with some burial evidence (the barrows) (Fig. 15).
probably represent surface flint-working sites Industrial sites (the flint mines) also see processes
while those with a greater range of tool types may of extraction, and perhaps preliminary knapping,
represent some form of settlement, but perhaps embedded within forms of ritual behaviour. Pits
shifting following herds of domesticated cattle may represent a wider use of the landscape than
rather than permanent settlements with agricul- purely at the spot where they were dug. They may
tural plots. therefore not represent actual settlement sites but
34 8 . p e r i o d s u m m a r y: th e N e o l i th i c
wider ‘occupation’ of their landscape. The many than the Later Bronze Age with its characteristic de-
lithic spreads and findspots perhaps represent a shift fined landscape. As the period progresses, however,
in land use, including herding, rather than discrete collecting planted crops replaces collecting wild
settlement sites. The use of the landscape in the crops and humanly defined special spaces replace
Neolithic perhaps was more akin to the Mesolithic naturally defined special spaces.
f i s h bou r n e r e s e a r c h and cons e r vat i on f r a m e w o r k 35
E
uropean communities three to four-and- farmlands, including the loess of Sussex, formed
a-half thousand years ago are said to have the core areas of Bronze Age settlement. It now
experienced the first golden or international seems that Early Bronze Age pits may have marked
age. The period of time between 2500–700 bc saw out the first land plots. These became formalized
exceptionally rapid economic developments and by digging permanent field boundaries, particularly
social changes in comparison with anything that in the Later Bronze Age (Knight 2002; Chapman
had gone on before. During the Bronze Age,2 widely- et al. 2005, 19). Some Early Bronze Age barrows
spaced parts of the continent were drawn together may have been constructed as clearance cairns at
by an expanding communications network result- the edges of fields.
ing in the rapid spread of new ideas, technological The field banks and ditches defined large areas
advances and material wealth. In England, a politi- of ground in which the farming communities lived
cally dominant English Channel–North Sea region out their daily lives, toiling to make a success of
developed with concentrated settlements along their existence. Researchers now recognize that
the Thames, the East Anglian Fenlands and the certain dominant elements of farm life (those
South Coast (Fig. 16). Access to the wider European critical to the perpetual success of the community)
exchange and alliance network was important and were associated with acts of ritualization (Bradley
a farming surplus funded the accumulating scale 2003). There is increasing evidence to show that
of bronze metalwork found in the archaeological field systems and farmsteads were associated with
record. It was a time of profound changes in the way particular depositional practices. Critical points in
land was managed with rectilinear fields, pasture the fields and the settlement were marked by the
plots and straight droveways creating an imposing deposition of artefact concentrations or the plac-
landscape. Within this working landscape burial ing of special single finds including quernstones,
practices changed. The dead increasingly became bronze objects, curated curios and token human
incorporated into the landscape of the living, buried cremations (Brück 2001, 151; Dunkin 2001; Gutt-
within settlements or within the farmed grounds. mann & Last 2000, 155). Offerings in watering
Widespread social dislocation in southern England holes, in particular, show concern for the contin-
at the end of the Bronze Age reflected a significant ued welfare of the breeding herd (Bradley 2003;
shift in the patterns of long-distance exchange in Barrett et al. 2001). Decommissioning rites marking
Europe and the collapse of the bronze-based prestige the abrupt erasure of a settlement (Nowakowski
goods economy. 1991) or formal closure of a watering hole have
also been recorded. All such actions provide clues
9 . 2 . W h at ’ s N e w to the complexity of a cultural landscape in which
formal land tenure was not solely an impersonal
Until the advent of developer-funded archaeology expression of demographic and economic forces
in 1990, Bronze Age studies were largely confined (Fokkens 1999, 41). The construction of field sys-
to investigation of upland earthworks especially tems and roundhouses aligned on the rising sun
the surviving downland barrows, earthen banks appears to have created a spatial setting in which
and ditches. Large-scale commercial archaeol- people, their livestock and cultivated land were
ogy has transformed that narrow focus and has closely linked in a complex cosmology.
revealed the hidden legacy of Bronze Age activity Research suggests a drive to maximize output
on lowland river terraces and coastal brick-earths during the Bronze Age that is quite independent
36 9 . p e r i od su m m a r y: t h e b r on z e ag e
of population pressure. Intensified production may to ensure the perpetuation of the farming cycle
have been adopted to meet social demands for (Brück 2001).
feasting, exchange and alliance formation. Fierce Research into marine transgression has high-
competition between political economies puts lighted the scale of coastal erosion during the
pressure on the most valued land, i.e. that ground Holocene (Long & Shennan 1993; Long & Roberts
with the greatest fertility or strategic advantage. It 1997). Large stretches of Bronze Age coastline along
was in those locations that innovations in livestock the North Sea, in the Thames estuary and the
management and plant species were pursued. There English Channel are now submerged. Increasing
is more evidence of manuring on the lowland sites data on relative sea levels provide a context for the
to add to the existing evidence from the uplands. surviving archaeological record.
The discovery of massive Later Bronze Age middens
at East Chisenbury and Potterne (McOmish et al. 9 . 3 . T h e Ea r ly B r on z e A g e D ata
2002, 73; Lawson 2000; Guttmann 2005) on the i n t h e S tudy A r e a
Wessex Chalklands has significant implications for
future research in Sussex. There are signs of spiritual Barrows on the Downs and Coastal Plain
replenishment. Work in Cornwall and Cambridge- The most visible form of evidence in the study area
shire suggests that field shrines were incorporated for the Early Bronze Age is the barrow. These have
into the farmlands (Nowakowski 1991; Bender et al. been, until recently, almost exclusively confined
1997, 173; Pollard 2002) and the discovery of hu- to the downland block. The majority of these
man bones within manure matrices (Nowakowski are ‘Bowl’ barrows though there are a number of
pers. comm.) suggests a special emphasis on soil ‘Bell’ and ‘Pond/Saucer’ barrows which lie within
enrichment. It signals the continued participation the Kingley Vale/Bow Hill enclave. The Devil’s
of the dead in the life-giving land in an attempt Jumps on Bow Hill (Fig. 17) contain a number of
9 . p e r i od su m m a r y: t h e b r on z e ag e 37
the latter and these are very much in the Wessex oval barrows at North Marden (Drewett 1986) and
tradition. This has been further emphasized by the Stoughton respectively, may provide an important
discovery of a ‘whetstone pendant’ from Barrow sequence.
3 on Bow Hill (Garwood 2003). The discovery of There is a great diversity of funereal and ritual
two barrows (‘ring-ditches’) on the Westhampnett expression encompassed within the tradition of
Bypass excavations (Allen & Gardiner 2000, 12) lie barrow construction (Garwood 2003, 57). Each bar-
within the study area and add to the only other row and/or barrow group will have its own unique
known barrow on the Coastal Plain, the ‘Hove history. A continuum of change must be expected
Barrow,’ which was destroyed in the nineteenth in a tradition which lasted for at least a thousand
century. The Westhampnett discoveries suggest years. Furthermore, the re-use of these monuments
that further barrows, perhaps in ‘ring-ditch’ form, over a much longer time-frame (Bradley 2002)
await discovery on the Coastal Plain. informs us that there are still many more strands
Other clusters of barrows within the study area of evidence that research into barrows needs to
which lie on the Chalk to the north and northwest consider and unravel.
of Chichester, are in the vicinity of Goodwood,
the Mardens and Chalton. The Bow Hill and the Other Forms of Evidence
Goodwood Group overlook the upper reaches of The other main body of evidence for the early
the Lavant on the west and east sides respectively. period is the artefact scatters, in particular the char-
The Chalton Valley Group on the Chalk, in the acteristic flintwork and distinctive Beaker pottery.
extreme northwest of the study area, now over- The latter has been identified on both the Chalk
looks what is essentially a dry valley. Research (e.g. Stoke Clump) and the Coastal Plain at Selsey
may show that the Marden and Bow Hill Groups and North Bersted. Early Bronze Age metalwork
demonstrate a continuity of funerary expression has been recorded at a number of locations on the
and other activities from the later Neolithic. The Chalk, the Coastal Plain and the Upper Coastal
proximity of these two groups to Late Neolithic Plain. Some of the finds include a flanged axe from
38 9 . p e r i od su m m a r y: t h e b r on z e ag e
Bracklesham Bay and flat axes from Selsey, West- At Bracklesham Bay two Later Bronze Age hoards
hampnett and West Stoke (Trumley Copse). and a gold ring are recorded from coastal deposits.
The virtual absence of Early Bronze Age To the immediate east of Selsey in the vicinity of
structures is in marked contrast to the developed Bognor Regis, another important enclave of Late
farmscape of the later period (from c. 1500 bc). The Bronze Age activity is centred on the Aldingbourne
study area contains much evidence of continuity Rife. At North Bersted a recent evaluation (Worrall
from the earlier to the later period. In the Stoke 2005) identified a Later Bronze Age land surface
Down/Bow Hill area Early Bronze Age barrows are containing burnt-flint concentrations, capped by
juxtaposed with late prehistoric field systems, lin- an alluvial sequence provisionally dated to the
ear boundaries (cross ridge dykes) and Later Bronze Early Iron Age. Further work here should identify
Age settlement (below). The landscape around Bow significant environmental data for the period. The
Hill therefore provides possibilities for researching proximity of further hoard sites (Flansham, Bilsham,
the transitional period where this apparent shift to Yapton, Bognor) and a settlement focus at Wester-
a settled lifestyle took place. gate (Stevens 2000) indicates that the western fringes
of the Sussex Coastal Plain were central to the overall
9 . 4 . M i ddl e and L at e emerging picture of the region.
B r on z e A g e D ata
The River Valleys
Selsey and The Coastal Region of the Distribution of Later Bronze Age activity shows a
Study Area marked coastal/riverine/valley orientation and the
It has been conjectured that the Bronze Age Lavant and the Bosham Stream are of particular
coastline was 1–2 kilometres further south of the significance.
present-day foreshore and perhaps as far south as The upper and middle parts of the Lavant, north
the Mixon Reef (Woodcock 2003, 4). Considerable and east of Chichester have evidence for occupation
erosion of the shoreline at Selsey has occurred and and significant metalwork. At Mid Lavant a Late
continues to do so. This is hastened by the fact that Bronze Age spearhead was discovered close to the
the tidal effects of long-shore drift, both to the east river and at East Dean at the river’s head a hoard
and the west of Selsey Bill (Woodcock 2003, 4), containing two Sussex loops and three quoit-headed
cause a greatly increased scouring effect. This has pins were discovered in 1936 (Anon. 1936).
recently resulted in deposits of Later Bronze Age The development of Chichester and subsequent
date being uncovered (Seager-Thomas 1998). There gravel quarrying to the south and east of the city
is a large and growing body of evidence of Late have seen many changes to the former courses of
Bronze Age occupation and high-status metalwork the lower reaches of the Lavant. In Chichester itself
known from the Selsey peninsula. This together occupation evidence was identified at Graylingwell
with evidence of land division and cremation sug- and burnt mound material was discovered in a
gests an important farming and settlement focus palaeochannel during an evaluation just to the
within the region. west of the cathedral (Priestley-Bell pers. comm.).
The coastal region of the study area has pro- In the north of the city close to the Lavant a frag-
duced significant concentrations of Later Bronze ment of Late Bronze Age cauldron was identified.
Age activity. On Hayling Island in particular, Other metalwork finds are known in the vicinity.
there are a number of hoard sites; for example a Some of the most important discoveries to date on
Middle Bronze Age hoard of c. 20 palstaves from the Coastal Plain, and investigated prior to gravel
central Hayling and another MBA palstave hoard extraction, are centred on the Drayton/Oving
from Gable Head, have been identified. At North area to the east of the city. Droveways, ditches,
Hayling a putative burnt mound has been located cremation cemeteries and settlement foci indicate
(Bradley pers. comm.) and these may have a hoard that this area was intensively occupied during the
association (Dunkin 2001). At the northern tip of Later Bronze Age. At Drayton South a number of
Hayling Island a possible timber platform site has elements of the Late Bronze Age landscape came
been recorded with a radiocarbon date centring on together with two burnt mounds, cremation de-
the Early Bronze Age/Middle Bronze Age transition posits, and metalwork immediately abutting the
and at South Hayling Late Bronze Age hearths sug- line of a braided stream which formerly fed into
gest occupation. the Lavant south of the city.
9 . p e r i od su m m a r y: t h e b r on z e ag e 39
Table 2. Published/Unpublished reports for the Later Bronze Age within the study area.
Location Author(s)/Reference Evidence found
Published articles
Knapp Farm, Bosham Hamilton & Gardiner 1997 Late Bronze Age pits
Lavant Kenny 1994 Unenclosed Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age settlement
Selsey West Beach Seager-Thomas 1998; 2001 Late Bronze Age wells/settlement
Westhampnett Fitzpatrick 1997 (vol. 2); Middle Bronze Age houses/pits/pottery/fence-lines
vol. 1 forthcoming
Unpublished client reports
Main Road, Birdham Stevens 2003 Late Bronze Age pottery/ditches
Westergate Community College Stevens 2000 Late Bronze Age ditch/post-hole/occupation deposits
N. Bersted Worrall 2005 Late Bronze Age land surface/occupation deposits
Thomas à Becket Church, Pagham Kirk 1996 Middle Bronze Age pottery/3 x cremation urns
Drayton/Oving Priestley-Bell 2000; 2002 Palimpsest of LBA activity
Claypit Lane, Westhampnett Wessex Archaeology 2000; Intense Middle Bronze Age activity; Late Bronze Age
2002 trackway/field system
Chichester Road, Selsey Preston 2002 Late Bronze Age pits/post-holes/field boundaries
on the coastal plain (Bedwin 1978). Much of the during the Later Bronze Age (e.g. Drewett 1989).
region is characterized by deep deposits of topsoil/ This continuing work is going to be invaluable to
subsoil/alluvium which mask the identification of placing the new archaeological data into an envi-
sites from the air. Also, for this reason, prehistoric ronmental context.
pottery is not commonly found in the ploughsoil
and this fact is further compounded by the acidic 9 . 7 . C onclus i on
nature of the ‘brick-earth’ soils.
The view perpetuated by Curwen (1954) that The Bronze Age communities were well placed to
metalwork deposition (single finds and hoards) benefit from major changes affecting southern
could be accounted for by casual loss or the delib- England. They had clear advantages in a new
erate burial for later retrieval, by smiths (founder’s outward-looking world where social standing was
hoard) or merchants for example, is no longer ten- increasingly defined in terms of long-distance alli-
able. The term ‘structured deposition’ has gained ances and the ability to compete for prestige goods.
widespread acceptance and the work of Richard The shorelines gave direct access to coastal and
Bradley in particular (Bradley 1990; Barber 2003), cross-channel traffic. The loess deposits forming
has clearly shown the ritual significance of the the plain were rich, inexhaustible soils — habitats
burial or placement of bronze artefacts during the which were capable of agricultural intensification
Later Bronze Age. — sustaining a burgeoning political economy.
Environmental archaeology has begun to al- This would explain the siting of Wessex Tradition
low some fine tuning regarding the chronology conspicuous barrows on Bow Hill with their out-
of woodland clearance. Many studies indicate that looks over this rich territory and the abundance of
the first major prolonged sequences in the opening Later Bronze Age finds which signal the political
up of parts of the landscape specifically occurred ascendancy of this region.