Phone: +44(0)121 4145563 Address: Department of Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology
College of Arts and Law
University of Birmingham
Birmingham
B15 2TT
Interpretation of archaeological landscapes has developed within two main disciplines. Social the... more Interpretation of archaeological landscapes has developed within two main disciplines. Social theory has provided a foundation for understanding cultural landscapes, and palaeoecology has provided techniques for understanding physical landscapes. Despite their potentially complementary nature, the two approaches remain polarized, and as described here, result in the incomplete studies of past landscapes.
Summary. Raised mires represent a unique resource for the study of past peoples within their chan... more Summary. Raised mires represent a unique resource for the study of past peoples within their changing landscape context. However, present palaeoecological and archaeological approaches to these landscapes within the British Isles have followed largely separate agendas. ...
ABSTRACT Whilst raised mires retain high potential for exceptional preservation of organic archae... more ABSTRACT Whilst raised mires retain high potential for exceptional preservation of organic archaeological remains, locating such features is problematic. Within dryland landscapes, Geographical Information Systems (GIS) provide a range of tools that enable the predictive modelling of site locations on the basis of observed trends in the relationships between environmental conditions and human agency. However, the formation processes of raised mires mean that this is apparently not feasible due to considerable spatial and temporal complexity. This paper re-defines this position arguing that predictive modelling of archaeological site locations within raised mires is possible through four-dimensional landscape reconstruction and analysis, using multiple strands of archaeo-environmental data.
Bog bodies are among the best-known archaeological finds worldwide. Much of the work on these oft... more Bog bodies are among the best-known archaeological finds worldwide. Much of the work on these often extremely well-preserved human remains has focused on forensics, whereas the environmental setting of the finds has been largely overlooked. This applies to both the ‘physical’ and ‘cultural’ landscape and constitutes a significant problem since the vast spatial and temporal scales over which the practice appeared demonstrate that contextual assessments are of the utmost importance for our explanatory frameworks. In this article we develop best practice guidelines for the contextual analysis of bog bodies, after assessing the current state of research and presenting the results of three recent case studies including the well-known finds of Lindow Man in the United Kingdom, Bjældskovdal (Tollund Man and Elling Woman) in Denmark, and Yde Girl in the Netherlands. Three spatial and chronological scales are distinguished and linked to specific research questions and methods. This provides ...
This project describes the results of the large-scale excavations undertaken here between 1998 an... more This project describes the results of the large-scale excavations undertaken here between 1998 and 2003, which have provided unparalleled insights into the function and meaning of this 4th-century BC "marsh-fort". Sutton Common is described as a place where the social identity of the local community was reinforced through the construction of the physical representation of the idea of community, using a bank-and-ditch arrangement that resembles the defences used elsewhere, particularly at hillforts. No houses were found within the enclosure, but some 150 four-post structures were excavated, many containing deposits of charred grain in one or two of their postholes. This well-dated site makes significant contributions to the debates on prehistoric enclosure, cosmology, food storage, and mortuary practices in prehistoric Britain and Europe
– Electromagnetic induction survey was used to investigate the prehistoric landscape at Stoneheng... more – Electromagnetic induction survey was used to investigate the prehistoric landscape at Stonehenge. – Borehole logs and forward modelling were used to develop a semi-automated interpretation scheme. – Twenty excavations enabled the potential and limitations of the approach to be evaluated.
A series of massive geophysical anomalies, located south of the Durrington Walls henge monument, ... more A series of massive geophysical anomalies, located south of the Durrington Walls henge monument, were identified during fluxgate gradiometer survey undertaken by the Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project (SHLP). Initially interpreted as dewponds, these data have been re-evaluated, along with information on similar features revealed by archaeological contractors undertaking survey and excavation to the north of the Durrington Walls henge. Analysis of the available data identified a total of 20 comparable features, which align within a series of arcs adjacent to Durrington Walls. Further geophysical survey, supported by mechanical coring, was undertaken on several geophysical anomalies to assess their nature, and to provide dating and environmental evidence. The results of fieldwork demonstrate that some of these features, at least, were massive, circular pits with a surface diameter of 20m or more and a depth of at least 5m. Struck flint and bone were recovered from primary silts and ...
Interpretation of archaeological landscapes has developed within two main disciplines. Social the... more Interpretation of archaeological landscapes has developed within two main disciplines. Social theory has provided a foundation for understanding cultural landscapes, and palaeoecology has provided techniques for understanding physical landscapes. Despite their potentially complementary nature, the two approaches remain polarized, and as described here, result in the incomplete studies of past landscapes.
Summary. Raised mires represent a unique resource for the study of past peoples within their chan... more Summary. Raised mires represent a unique resource for the study of past peoples within their changing landscape context. However, present palaeoecological and archaeological approaches to these landscapes within the British Isles have followed largely separate agendas. ...
ABSTRACT Whilst raised mires retain high potential for exceptional preservation of organic archae... more ABSTRACT Whilst raised mires retain high potential for exceptional preservation of organic archaeological remains, locating such features is problematic. Within dryland landscapes, Geographical Information Systems (GIS) provide a range of tools that enable the predictive modelling of site locations on the basis of observed trends in the relationships between environmental conditions and human agency. However, the formation processes of raised mires mean that this is apparently not feasible due to considerable spatial and temporal complexity. This paper re-defines this position arguing that predictive modelling of archaeological site locations within raised mires is possible through four-dimensional landscape reconstruction and analysis, using multiple strands of archaeo-environmental data.
Bog bodies are among the best-known archaeological finds worldwide. Much of the work on these oft... more Bog bodies are among the best-known archaeological finds worldwide. Much of the work on these often extremely well-preserved human remains has focused on forensics, whereas the environmental setting of the finds has been largely overlooked. This applies to both the ‘physical’ and ‘cultural’ landscape and constitutes a significant problem since the vast spatial and temporal scales over which the practice appeared demonstrate that contextual assessments are of the utmost importance for our explanatory frameworks. In this article we develop best practice guidelines for the contextual analysis of bog bodies, after assessing the current state of research and presenting the results of three recent case studies including the well-known finds of Lindow Man in the United Kingdom, Bjældskovdal (Tollund Man and Elling Woman) in Denmark, and Yde Girl in the Netherlands. Three spatial and chronological scales are distinguished and linked to specific research questions and methods. This provides ...
This project describes the results of the large-scale excavations undertaken here between 1998 an... more This project describes the results of the large-scale excavations undertaken here between 1998 and 2003, which have provided unparalleled insights into the function and meaning of this 4th-century BC "marsh-fort". Sutton Common is described as a place where the social identity of the local community was reinforced through the construction of the physical representation of the idea of community, using a bank-and-ditch arrangement that resembles the defences used elsewhere, particularly at hillforts. No houses were found within the enclosure, but some 150 four-post structures were excavated, many containing deposits of charred grain in one or two of their postholes. This well-dated site makes significant contributions to the debates on prehistoric enclosure, cosmology, food storage, and mortuary practices in prehistoric Britain and Europe
– Electromagnetic induction survey was used to investigate the prehistoric landscape at Stoneheng... more – Electromagnetic induction survey was used to investigate the prehistoric landscape at Stonehenge. – Borehole logs and forward modelling were used to develop a semi-automated interpretation scheme. – Twenty excavations enabled the potential and limitations of the approach to be evaluated.
A series of massive geophysical anomalies, located south of the Durrington Walls henge monument, ... more A series of massive geophysical anomalies, located south of the Durrington Walls henge monument, were identified during fluxgate gradiometer survey undertaken by the Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project (SHLP). Initially interpreted as dewponds, these data have been re-evaluated, along with information on similar features revealed by archaeological contractors undertaking survey and excavation to the north of the Durrington Walls henge. Analysis of the available data identified a total of 20 comparable features, which align within a series of arcs adjacent to Durrington Walls. Further geophysical survey, supported by mechanical coring, was undertaken on several geophysical anomalies to assess their nature, and to provide dating and environmental evidence. The results of fieldwork demonstrate that some of these features, at least, were massive, circular pits with a surface diameter of 20m or more and a depth of at least 5m. Struck flint and bone were recovered from primary silts and ...
In terms of their interpretation, cursus monuments remain arguably the most enigmatic class of Ne... more In terms of their interpretation, cursus monuments remain arguably the most enigmatic class of Neolithic landscape monument. This paper reconsiders this ‘cursus problem’ through the study of the complex of cursuses that surrounds the village of Rudston, East Yorkshire. Using a GIS-based analysis, it is argued that two distinct forms of architecture can be recognised. In the earlier phase it is possible to recognise the importance of somatic experience generated through movement along the interior of the monuments, incorporating elements of visual surprise in addition to constant visual relationships with earlier monuments. By the later phase, somatic experience becomes less important, with the cursus forming a more naturalised role in harmony with the natural landscape and less structured for movement. The results of this analysis have wider implications for the study of both cursus landscapes elsewhere and prehistoric landscape archaeology more generally.
Teasing out the separate strands of influence that created the Saharan qusūr is hardly an easy ta... more Teasing out the separate strands of influence that created the Saharan qusūr is hardly an easy task, and with the exception of the eleventh-century foundations in the Mzab, firm chronological data are absent. Chekhab-Abudaya rightly sees the expanding concentric circles with radial streets that characterise the plans of many of the qusūr as the result of a series of new arrivals, settling outside the walls and then building new ones. She contrasts these concentric plans with those that contain rough grids, which she judges to be later. But none of these is easily dated. No excavations have ever taken place (except in the deserted Ibadi town of Sedrata) and, to my knowledge, no radiocarbon dating has been carried out on a qsar outside Libya (although radiocarbon dates for the qusūr of the Wadi Draa in Morocco are underway; Corisande Fenwick pers. comm.). Chekhab-Abudaya’s investigation thus serves the very useful purpose of pulling together all the available information, creating numerous and beautifully clear comparative plans, and asking a series of questions that certainly remain to be answered. New data could, and should, come from future archaeological work on these sites and, indeed, on the whole of the northern Sahara.
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