Neolithic and Early Bronze Age

Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Cornwall Archaeological Unit Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Author Charlie Johns Derivation Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research agenda Origination date 18/12/2012 Revisers CJ, PD Date of last revision 19/03/2019 Version Rev v01 Status Final Summary of changes 2012 document updated with results of recent research Client Historic England CAU Project number 146812 Approved by Andy Jones Cornwall Archaeological Unit, Cornwall Council Fal Building, County Hall, Treyew Road, Truro, Cornwall, TR1 3AY tel (01872) 323603 E-mail enquiries@cau.org.uk www.cau.org.uk 2 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Acknowledgements The 2010–2012 Research Framework was commissioned by English Heritage (now Historic England; the Project Assurance Officers were Helen Keeley and Dave Hooley. Kathy Perrin, formerly Local Authority Historic Environment Liaison, English Heritage, provided advice and guidance during the early stages of the project which was continued by the Project Advisory Group and the many contributors, who are listed and acknowledged in the report. Within Historic Environment, Cornwall Council, the Project Manager was Charles Johns, Jane Powning produced the distribution maps and Bryn Tapper, Pete Dudley and Francis Shepherd produced the sea-level rise maps. The 2018 Research Framework Update was commissioned by Historic England; the Project Assurance Officers were Helen Keeley and Jenni Butterworth. Guidance and advice was provided by Dan Miles, etc. This updated Research Framework for the historic environment of the Isles of Scilly is dedicated to the late Sarnia Butcher. The views and recommendations expressed in this report are those of Cornwall Archaeological Unit and are presented in good faith on the basis of professional judgement and on information currently available. Freedom of Information Act As Cornwall Council is a public authority it is subject to the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, which came into effect from 1st January 2005. Cornwall Archaeological Unit, Cornwall Council is a Registered Organisation with the Institute for Archaeologists Cover illustration Bant’s Carn entrance grave, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly (photo: Cornwall Council) © Cornwall Council 2019 No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the publisher. 3 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Contents 1 Executive summary 15 2 Introduction to the Project and the Islands 17 2.1 Introduction to the Project 2.1.1 Project background 2.1.2 Aims and objectives 2.1.3 Methodology 2.1.4 Note on radiocarbon dates in this report 17 17 17 18 18 2.2 Introduction to the Islands 2.2.1 Geology 2.2.2 Topography 19 20 20 2.3 History of local government in the Islands 23 2.4 Tenure 24 4 2.5 Past and present work in Scilly 2.5.1 Antiquarians and archaeologists 2.5.2 Geophysical survey 2.5.3 Osteological faunal remains 2.5.4 Palaeoenvironmental work 2.5.5 Maritime 2.5.6 Unpublished fieldwork 24 24 27 27 28 28 28 2.6 Sources 2.6.1 Published sources 2.6.2 Cartographic sources 2.6.3 Pictorial sources 2.6.4 Photographic sources 29 29 30 31 31 2.7 Historic Environment designations 2.7.1 World Heritage Sites 2.7.2 Scheduled Monuments 2.7.3 English Heritage Guardianship sites 2.7.4 Listed Buildings 2.7.5 Registered Parks and Gardens 2.7.6 Registered Battlefields 2.7.7 Protected Wrecks 32 32 32 32 33 34 34 34 2.8 35 Other Designations 2.9 Other Historic England National Programmes 2.9.1 Extensive Urban Surveys 2.9.2 Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Surveys 2.9.3 Historic Landscape Characterisation 2.9.4 Historic Seascape Characterisation 2.9.5 National Mapping Programme 35 35 36 36 36 36 2.10 Air photographs and LIDAR 36 2.11 Portable Antiquities Scheme 36 2.12 Historic Environment Records 2.12.1 The Cornwall and Scilly Historic Environment Record 2.12.2 The National Monument Record 2.12.3 The United Kingdom Hydrographic Office 36 36 37 37 2.13 Museums and archives 2.13.1 The Isles of Scilly Museum 2.13.2 The Royal Cornwall Museum 37 37 38 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 2.13.3 2.14 Other archives Approaches to the study of the historic environment of islands 39 39 2.15 Palaeoenvironmental studies 42 2.15.1 Introduction 42 2.15.2 William Borlase and O G S Crawford 42 2.15.3 Exploration of a drowned landscape 43 2.15.4 Assessment and sampling programme 1989–1993 44 2.15.5 Other palaeoenvironmental work 45 2.15.6 Related research and fieldwork 47 2.15.7 The Lyonesse Project 48 2.15.8 Summary of vegetation change on Scilly from the Lateglacial to present 50 2.16 Climate change research topic 2.16.1 Research Theme: Past Environments 2.16.2 Research recommendations 2.16.3 Survey recommendations 2.16.4 Monitoring and management recommendations 3 Palaeolithic and Mesolithic 3.1 4 Introduction 53 53 53 54 55 56 56 3.2 Palaeolithic (c 700,000 – 10,000 BP) 3.2.1 Landscape and environmental background 3.2.2 Palaeolithic archaeology 3.2.3 The Isles of Scilly resource: aspects and prospects 56 56 56 57 3.3 Mesolithic (c 10,000-6000 BP) 3.3.1 Landscape 3.3.2 Environmental background 3.3.3 Lithic evidence 3.3.4 Animals 3.3.5 Economy and subsistence 3.3.6 Transport 3.3.7 The Isles of Scilly lithics resource: aspects and prospects 3.3.8 Radiocarbon dates 3.3.9 OSL dating 57 57 58 60 63 63 64 64 65 70 Neolithic and Early Bronze Age 71 4.1 Introduction 71 4.2 Chronology 71 4.3 Environmental background 73 4.4 Landscape 4.4.1 Changes in land area 4.4.2 The landscape context of monuments 4.4.3 The appropriation of natural topographic features 4.4.4 Settlement 74 74 74 76 77 4.5 The 4.5.1 4.5.2 4.5.3 4.5.4 4.5.5 78 78 79 84 85 86 material world Material culture Material extraction and artefact production Art Subsistence Transport 4.6 Social relations 87 4.7 Monumentality, ritual and burial 87 5 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 4.7.1 4.7.2 4.7.3 4.7.4 Entrance graves Cairns and cists Standing stones and stone rows Pits 4.8 National and international context 4.8.1 Introduction 4.8.2 The Mesolithic/Neolithic transition 4.8.3 Continuing Neolithic and Early Bronze Age maritime connections 4.8.4 Diet and taskscapes 4.8.5 Summary 4.9 Scientific dating 4.9.1 Radiocarbon dates 4.9.2 OSL dating 5 Later Bronze Age and Iron Age 99 99 103 104 Introduction 104 5.2 Environmental background 104 5.3 Middle and Late Bronze Age (1500 – 800 BC) 5.3.1 Chronology 5.3.2 Landscape 5.3.3 Settlement 5.3.4 Field systems 5.3.5 The material world 5.3.6 Subsistence 5.3.7 Transport 5.3.8 Social relations 5.3.9 Ritual and religion 106 106 106 106 109 111 114 118 118 119 Iron Age (c 800 BC – AD 43) Chronology Landscape Settlement Field systems Cliff castles The material world Subsistence Transport Ritual and burial 119 119 119 121 122 122 123 125 126 126 5.5 Human osteological remains 5.6 Scientific dating 5.6.1 Radiocarbon dates 5.6.2 OSL dating 5.6.3 Magnetic dates Romano-British (AD 43 – 410) 128 129 129 133 134 135 6.1 Introduction 135 6.2 Landscape and environmental background 135 6.3 Chronology 136 6.4 Settlement 136 6.5 The 6.5.1 6.5.2 6.5.3 6 97 97 97 97 98 99 5.1 5.4 The 5.4.1 5.4.2 5.4.3 5.4.4 5.4.5 5.4.6 5.4.7 5.4.8 5.4.9 6 87 92 94 96 material world Metalwork Glass and amber Ceramics 137 137 141 141 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 6.5.4 6.5.5 Bone Flint and stone 6.6 Subsistence 143 6.7 Transport 143 6.8 Social relations 144 6.9 Religion and ritual 144 6.10 Scientific dating 6.10.1 Radiocarbon dates 6.10.2 OSL dating 7 Early medieval (AD 410 – 1066) 145 145 147 148 7.1 Introduction 148 7.2 Landscape and environmental background 148 7.3 Chronology 149 7.4 Settlement 149 7.5 The 7.5.1 7.5.2 7.5.3 7.5.4 7.5.5 7.5.6 7.5.7 8 142 142 material world Metalwork Glass Pottery Worked bone Flint Industry Subsistence 149 149 149 149 154 154 155 155 7.6 Transport 157 7.7 Social relations 157 7.8 Religion and ritual 7.8.1 Chapels and hermitages 157 158 7.9 Human osteoarchaeology 161 7.10 Discussion 162 7.11 Scientific dating 7.11.1 Radiocarbon dates 7.11.2 OSL ages 162 162 164 Medieval (1066 – 1547) 165 8.1 Introduction 165 8.2 Landscape and environmental background 165 8.3 Chronology 166 8.4 The 8.4.1 8.4.2 8.4.3 material world Settlement Subsistence Artefacts 166 166 167 168 8.5 Communications, transport and trade 8.5.1 Shipping 8.5.2 Pirates and lawlessness 170 170 171 8.6 172 Social life 8.7 Religion and ritual 8.7.1 St Nicholas Priory 173 173 7 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 8.7.2 Churches and chapels 8.8 Human osteological remains 177 8.9 Defence and warfare 178 8.10 Scientific dating 8.10.1 Radiocarbon dates 8.10.2 OSL dating 9 8 174 Post-medieval and modern (1547-present) 178 178 179 180 9.1 Introduction 180 9.2 Environment and landscape 180 9.3 Material culture 9.3.1 Ceramics 9.3.2 Other artefacts 9.3.3 Building materials 182 182 183 184 9.4 Identities 185 9.5 Food production 9.5.1 Farming 9.5.2 Fishing 186 186 188 9.6 Settlement 9.6.1 Introduction 9.6.2 The traditional post-medieval buildings of Scilly 9.6.3 The historical development and topography of Hugh Town 9.6.4 The Samson buildings 189 189 191 200 205 9.7 208 Designed landscapes 9.8 Transport and communications 9.8.1 Shipping 9.8.2 Navigation and pilotage 9.8.3 Packets and passenger boats 9.8.4 Maritime infrastructure 9.8.5 Telegraph and telephones 9.8.6 Air travel 208 208 213 214 215 218 218 9.9 Technology and production 9.9.1 Stonecutting 9.9.2 Limeburning 9.9.3 Kelp industry 9.9.4 Shipbuilding 9.9.5 Tin 9.9.6 Flower industry 219 219 220 220 221 222 222 9.10 Trade and interaction 9.10.1 Piracy and privateering 9.10.2 Smuggling 9.10.3 The nineteenth century Scillonian merchant fleet 9.10.4 Tourism 223 223 223 224 224 9.11 Religion and ritual 9.11.1 Anglican 9.11.2 Methodist 9.11.3 Baptist 9.11.4 Roman Catholic 9.11.5 Institutional ritual 224 224 225 225 225 225 9.12 226 Social provision Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 9.12.1 9.12.2 9.12.3 9.12.4 9.12.5 9.12.6 9.12.7 Water supply, sewerage and drainage Heat, light and public power supply Waste disposal, burial and cremation Dealing with poverty, sickness and disability Emergencies and law and order Education and learning Recreation and leisure 226 226 226 226 228 228 229 9.13 Defence and warfare 9.13.1 Fortifications 9.13.2 Flying Boat stations 229 230 232 9.14 Scientific dating 9.14.1 Radiocarbon dates 9.14.2 OSL dating 232 232 232 10 10.1 A Research Agenda for the historic environment of the Isles of Scilly 233 Introduction 233 10.2 Research Themes and Aims 10.2.1 Methodology 10.2.2 Science 10.2.3 Settlement 10.2.4 Maritime 10.2.5 Production and trade 10.2.6 Social Relations 10.2.7 Religion and Ritual 10.2.8 Defence and Conflict 233 233 247 250 253 255 259 260 262 10.3 264 11 Appendix: Research themes and aims by period References 273 11.1 Primary sources 273 11.2 Publications 276 11.3 Websites 307 12 Project archive 307 List of Figures Fig 2.1 Location map – the Isles of Scilly Fig 2.2 The Isles of Scilly Fig 2.3 Map of the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust’s holding Fig 2.4 Map of Scilly c 1585 Fig 2.5 Distribution of Scheduled Monuments in the Isles of Scilly Fig 2.6 Distribution of Listed Buildings in Scilly Fig 2.7 The Wheel Wreck, NHLE 1000086 Fig 2.8 Distribution of NMR records for the Isles of Scilly Fig 2.9 Stone walls on Samson Flats, photographed by Alexander Gibson in 1926 Fig 2.10 Sea-level change in Scilly (from Ratcliffe and Straker 1997). Fig 2.11 All sea-level data from Scilly, showing all limiting index points and multiple index points Fig 3.1 The unprovenanced penknife point from Scilly 9 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Fig 3.2 Inferred submergence model c 7000 BC Fig 3.3 Mesolithic submerged forest in St Mary’s Roads Fig 3.4 Microliths from Old Quay, St Martin’s Fig 3.5 Excavations at Old Quay, St Martin’s in 2013 Fig 4.1 Inferred submergence model c 3500 cal BC Fig 4.2 Inferred submergence model c 2500 cal BC Fig 4.3 Buzza Hill entrance grave and Hugh Town Fig 4.4 Possible propped stone on Gugh Fig 4.5 Neolithic axe or adze found on the west shoreline of Bryher Fig 4.6 Inferred submergence model c 1500 cal BC, showing the distribution of entrance graves and cairns Fig 4.7 The ‘Great Tomb’, Porth Hellick Down, St Mary’s Fig 4.8 Bant’s Carn entrance grave, St Mary’s Fig 4.9 Plan of cairns on Shipman Head Down, Bryher Fig 4.10 Standing stones on Gugh and Mount Flagon, St Mary’s Fig 4.11 The possible stone row on Par Beach, St Martin’s, in 1988 Fig 5.1 Bronze Age sites recorded in the HER Fig 5.2 Inferred submergence model c 1500 cal BC Fig 5.3 Sketch reconstruction of the settlement at Nornour Fig 5.4 Excavation of a Late Bronze house at Higher Town, St Agnes Fig 5.5 Field boundary on Gugh Fig 5.6 The intertidal stone walls on Samson Flats Fig 5.7 The St Agnes ‘boatsherd’ Fig 5.8 Inferred submergence model c 500 cal BC Fig 5.9 Distribution of Iron Age and Romano-British sites recorded in the HER Fig 5.10 Reconstruction of the Iron Age/Romano-British settlement on Bryher Fig 5.11 Giant’s Castle on St Mary’s in the early twentieth century Fig 5.12 The Bryher sword and mirror Fig 5.13 The Iron Age sword and mirror cist burial at Hillside Farm, Bryher Fig 5.14 The statue menhir from St Martin’s Fig 6.1 Iron Age and Romano-British sites recorded in the HER Fig 6.2 Inferred submergence model c 1 cal BC / cal AD 1 Fig 6.3 Courtyard house at Halangy Down Fig 6.4 Brooches from Nornour Fig 6.5 Roman altar from Mount Holles Fig 7.1 Early medieval sites recorded in the Cornwall and Scilly HER Fig 7.2 E ware from East Porth, Samson Fig 7.3 Inscribed tombstone in Tresco Abbey Gardens Fig 7.4 Two of the Early Christian burials from Teän 10 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Fig 7.5 St Helen’s chapel Fig 7.6 Possible stone font from East Porth, Samson Fig 7.7 Olaf Tryggvason and the soothsayer Fig 8.1 Inferred submergence model c 1066 Fig 8.2 Distribution of medieval sites recorded in the HER Fig 8.3 The medieval quay at Old Town Fig 8.4 William Borlase’s drawing of the ruins of St Nicholas Fig 8.5 Borlase’s drawing of the arches in St Helen’s Church Fig 8.6 Plan of the St Helen’s ecclesiastical complex Fig 8.7 Ennor Castle Fig 9.1 Post-medieval sites recorded in the HER Fig 9.2 Inferred submergence model c 1500 Fig 9.3 An early nineteenth-century reproduction of a 1669 view of Hugh Town Fig 9.4 William Borlase’s depiction of Hugh Town in 1752 Fig 9.5 Hugh Town on the 1st edition Ordnance Survey map c 1890 Fig 9.6 House C on Samson Fig 9.7 Wooden figurehead from the SS Thames in Tresco Abbey Gardens Fig 9.8 Comparison of English protected wreck sites with those in Scilly Fig 9.9 Shipbuilding on Porthcressa, St Mary’s, c 1870 Fig 9.10 Star Castle and the Garrison List of Tables Table 2.1 Areas of the five largest islands Table 3.1 Mesolithic flints from Scilly Table 3.2 List of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic radiocarbon dates Table 3.3 List of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic OSL ages Table 4.1 List of Neolithic and Early Bronze Age radiocarbon dates Table 4.2 List of Neolithic and Early Bronze Age OSL ages Table 5.1 List of Later Bronze Age and Iron Age radiocarbon dates Table 5.2 List of Later Bronze Age and Iron Age OSL ages Table 5.3 Details of magnetic and chronological data from Little Bay, St Martin’s Table 6.1 Comparison of Roman coins from Trevelgue, Carvossa and Nornour Table 6.2 List of Romano-British radiocarbon dates Table 6.3 List of Romano-British OSL ages Table 7.1 List of early medieval radiocarbon dates Table 7.2 List of early medieval OSL ages Table 8.1 Priors of Scilly Table 8.2 List of medieval radiocarbon dates 11 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Table 9.1 Known investigated and/or salvaged wrecks in Scilly Table 9.2 Lighthouses and daymarks in Scilly Table 9.3 NMR records for crash sites of identified aircraft around Scilly Table 9.4 List of post-medieval radiocarbon dates Table 9.5 List of post-medieval and modern OSL ages Abbreviations AMS Accelerator Mass Spectrometry AONB Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty BEA British European Airways bcd Below Chart Datum CAU Cornwall Archaeological Unit CD Chart Datum CEP Coastal Erosion Project 1989-93 CIOS Council of the Isles of Scilly CISMAS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Maritime Archaeological Society CRO Cornwall County Record Office DEL Defensive Electric Lights EH English Heritage GIA Glacial Isostatic Adjustment GIS Geographical Information Systems HAT Highest Astronomical Tide HAR Heritage at Risk (identified by Historic England) HE Historic England HER Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Record HLC Historic Landscape Characterisation HMS His/Her Majesty's Ship HSC Historic Seascape Characterisation ICS Institute of Cornish Studies IMAG Islands Maritime Archaeological Group IOSM Isles of Scilly Museum IOSWT Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust LAT Lowest Astronomical Tide LBAPW Late Bronze Age Plainware MBA Middle Bronze Age MCZ Marine Conservation Zone MHWS Mean High Water Springs MOL Mean Occupation Level 12 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 MSL Mean Sea Level NGR National Grid Reference NHLE National Heritage List England NMP National Mapping Programme NMR National Monument Record OD Ordnance Datum OS Ordnance Survey OSL Optically Stimulated Luminescence dating PAS Portable Antiquities Scheme PJG Plain Jar Group PRN Primary Record Number in Cornwall HER RAF Royal Air Force RCM Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro RCHME Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments (England) RCZAS Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey RIC Royal Institution of Cornwall RNAS Royal Naval Air Service RSL Relative Sea Level SAC Special Area of Conservation SHERF Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework SPCK Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge SSSI Site of Special Scientific Interest SWARF South West Archaeological Research Framework SWD South West Decorated (Ware) UKHO United Kingdom Hydrographic Office 13 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Contributors to the 2010–2012 project Individuals John Allan, Exeter Archaeology Daniel Miles, English Heritage Alex Bayliss, English Heritage Steve Mills, Cardiff University Eric Berry, historic buildings consultant Jacqui Mulville, Cardiff University Eleanor Breen, Council of the Isles of Scilly Amelia Pannett, Cadw Allan Brodie, English Heritage Marta Perez, Plymouth University Sarnia Butcher, consultant Robert Platts, consultant Kevin Camidge, maritime archaeologist Henrietta Quinnell, consultant Dan Charman, University of Exeter Paul Rainbird, consultant Ian Dennis, Cardiff University Helen Roberts, Aberystwyth University Ralph Fyfe, Plymouth University Gary Robinson, Bangor University Duncan Garrow, Liverpool University Niall Sharples, Cardiff University Tom Greeves, consultant Katharine Sawyer, archaeologist Charles Johns, Cornwall Council Robert Scaife, University of Southampton Andy M Jones, Cornwall Council Fraser Sturt, University of Southampton Trevor Kirk, Isles of Scilly AONB Unit Michael Tangye, consultant Graeme Kirkham, Cornwall Council Bryn Tapper, Cornwall Council Rachel Leung, Cotswold Archaeology Sean R Taylor, Cornwall Council Jane Marley, Royal Cornwall Museum Charles Thomas, consultant Peter Marshall, English Heritage Carl Thorpe, Cornwall Council Amanda Martin, Isles of Scilly Museum Sue Watts, consultant Organisations Cornwall Archaeological Society Isles of Scilly Museum Council for British Archaeology, South West Royal Cornwall Museum English Heritage Resource Assessment Seminar The following attended the seminar in Exeter on 10 December 2011: Allan Brodie, John Allan, Kevin Camidge, Tom Greeves, Philip Hygate, Stephen Jackson, Charles Johns, Nick Johnson, Andy M Jones, Phil Markham, Henrietta Quinnell, Trevor Kirk, Graeme Kirkham, Jane Marley, Amanda Martin, Phil McMahon, Paul Rainbird, Katharine Sawyer, Elizabeth Stanbrook, Sean Taylor, Sue Watts Project Advisory Group Eleanor Breen, Council of the Isles of Scilly Phil McMahon, English Heritage Alyson Cooper, Cornwall Council Jane Marley, Royal Cornwall Museum Charles Johns, Cornwall Council Caradoc Peters, CBA SW Nicholas Johnson Trevor Kirk, Isles of Scilly AONB Unit 14 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 1 Executive summary The first two stages of the Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework (SHERF), the Resource Assessment and Research Agenda, were completed in December 2012. SHERF was funded by English Heritage (now Historic England) with contributions from the Isles of Scilly AONB Unit, the Council of the Isles of Scilly and the Duchy of Cornwall and had as its aim the provision of a structure in which to make decisions about future historic environment research in the Islands. It is part of a Historic England initiative to prepare a series of research frameworks for the whole country. Since the 2012 SHERF document was completed there have been three major publications on the historic environment of Scilly, Katharine Sawyer’s PhD thesis ‘Isles of the Dead? The Setting and Function of the Bronze Age Chambered Cairns and Cists of the Isles of Scilly’ (2015), ‘The Lyonesse Project: A Study of the Evolution of the Historic Coastal and Marine Environment of the Isles of Scilly’ (Charman et al 2016) and ‘Neolithic Stepping Stones: Excavation and survey within the western seaways of Britain, 2008-2014’ (Garrow and Sturt 2017), as well as numerous other archaeological interventions. These three publications represent major advances in our understanding of Scilly during prehistory, particularly during the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. Consequently, in June 2018, a project to update the Research Framework was commissioned by Historic England resulting in this revised document. The Resource Assessment is a comprehensive overview of the Islands from the Palaeolithic to the present day, which aimed to provide an accessible and up-to-date review of the current state of knowledge about the historic environment. It also aimed to define the character of the resource and to act as a reference to inform decisions on the future of that resource. The Research Agenda highlighted the major gaps in our knowledge and also areas where Scilly’s historic environment has the potential to contribute to national and international research questions. SHERF was managed by Historic Environment Projects, Cornwall Council (now Cornwall Archaeological Unit – CAU). In order to make it as inclusive and comprehensive as possible the work was carried out by a large number of people with research interests in Scilly, many on a voluntary basis. The reports originated from a smaller number of individuals and organisations who prepared draft documents for each period. The membership of these period groups was drawn from all sectors of the archaeological community in order to get as wide a view of the issues as possible. The draft documents were posted on the website of the Council of the Isles of Scilly and circulated by email, with the intention of reaching out to all those working, researching or just interested in the archaeology of the Islands. As part of the process a stakeholder seminar was held in Exeter in December 2011 to discuss the Resource Assessment and the Research Agenda, which provided a forum for discussion that contributed greatly to the quality of the final document. Situated some 45km south-west of Land’s End, Scilly is a unique environment of exceptional quality, with the relationship between the land and sea providing a very strong and distinctive cultural identity. The Islands in their current form are a result of past marine transgressions which flooded early sites. They are therefore a valuable place for studying continuous sea-level rises within an historical context. Scilly’s situation as the westernmost anchorage and the first/last landfall of the south-western approaches has shaped the Islands socially, economically and culturally and also the nature of their archaeological record. This record holds significance in its own right, as well as playing a part in nationally and internationally significant stories of colonisation, travel, trade and conflict. In spite of its small size – equivalent to a single mainland parish - Scilly is noted for the richness and variety of its historic environment, with over 80 Bronze Age entrance graves and many other prehistoric monuments, including settlement sites and field systems. The Islands’ distinctive Iron Age cist burial tradition includes the Bryher sword 15 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 and mirror burial, a discovery of international importance for the study of the development of Insular Celtic art. The enigmatic Roman shrine on the little island of Nornour produced a huge array of brooches and the largest collection of Roman coins in Cornwall and Scilly. During the early medieval period the Islands were home to several ecclesiastical hermitages and in the medieval period rule was divided between the monks of Tavistock priory on Tresco and the lay lords on St Mary’s with their castle at Old Town. St Mary’s Garrison, which developed around Star Castle built in 1593-4, has been described as probably the most impressive work of its kind extant in England because of the state of preservation and complexity of its early fortifications. Research into the historic environment is not static but it is hoped that this report provides an overall snapshot of our understanding of Scilly’s historic environment at the end of the second decade of the twenty-first century and will provide a focus and catalyst for future research. 16 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 2 Introduction to the Project and the Islands Charles Johns with contributions from John Allan, Rob Barnatt, Eleanor Breen, Allan Brodie, Andy M Jones, Trevor Kirk. Amanda Martin, Jane Marley, Peter Marshall, Jacqui Mulville, Paul Rainbird, Katharine Sawyer, Fraser Sturt and Anna Tyacke. 2.1 Introduction to the Project 2.1.1 Project background Following the circulation of the draft version of the South West Archaeological Research Framework (SWARF) in 2007, representatives of the Planning and Development Department of the Council of the Isles of Scilly (CIOS) and the Historic Environment Service, Cornwall County Council (now Historic Environment, Cornwall Council - HE), met to discuss the prospect that the South West region’s research framework could act as a catalyst for the production of a research framework for the historic environment of Scilly. Subsequent discussions with English Heritage (now Historic England – HE) confirmed the need for a specific research agenda for Scilly because the resourcing of historic environment fieldwork and the management of historic environment resources on the islands can only be effectively achieved if the special circumstances of the islands are taken into account. While it is fully acknowledged that Scilly is part of the South West region, the islands also enjoy historical, cultural and social links with the wider world, including northern France, Wales and Ireland. The proposed research framework would take full account of the historical and geographical context of the islands, yet would also serve the additional function of identifying island-specific research priorities that can drive forward historic environment fieldwork, research and management on Scilly. These discussions resulted in an initial draft project outline (Kirk 2009) which was developed by Charles Johns into a detailed MoRPHE-compliant project design for the preparation of the research framework. The Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework (SHERF) was subsequently commissioned by English Heritage through the Historic Environment Enabling Programme (HEEP) in October 2010 and completed in December 2012 (Johns 2012). Since the 2012 SHERF document was completed there have been three major publications on the historic environment of Scilly, Katharine Sawyer’s PhD thesis ‘Isles of the Dead? The Setting and Function of the Bronze Age Chambered Cairns and Cists of the Isles of Scilly’ (2015), ‘The Lyonesse Project: A Study of the Evolution of the Historic Coastal and Marine Environment of the Isles of Scilly’ (Charman et al 2016) and ‘Neolithic Stepping Stones: Excavation and survey within the western seaways of Britain, 2008-2014’ (Garrow and Sturt 2017), as well as numerous other archaeological interventions (e.g., Johns and Quinnell 2015; Perez et al 2015; Johns and Taylor 2016; Brown 2017). These three publications represent major advances in our understanding of Scilly during prehistory, particularly during the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Early Bronze Age and consequently, in June 2018, a project to update the Research Framework was commissioned by Historic England resulting in this revised document. 2.1.2 Aims and objectives The overall aim of the project was to define a research framework for the historic environment of Scilly. The research framework recognises the diversity of the historic environment and among the aspects covered are maritime archaeology and infrastructure, historic buildings and palaeoecology. The project has sought to involve the local and wider research community in this process so that there is a sense of community ownership of the research framework. 17 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 2.1.3 Methodology The preparation of the research framework is a partnership between Historic England, the Council of the Isles of Scilly, the Duchy of Cornwall, Historic Environment, Cornwall Council, and the local and wider research community. The methodology followed the three-stage procedure outlined in Frameworks for our Past (English Heritage 1996) and used in the production of many regional research frameworks, including SWARF (Webster 2008): 1. Resource Assessment The current state of knowledge of Scilly’s historic environment was assessed through review of published and unpublished sources (including ‘grey literature’), Historic Environment Record (HER) and National Monument Record (NMR) resources, museum archives and information held by local interest groups and members of the public. 2. Research Agenda: Identification of a) gaps in the current state of knowledge, b) the potential of the historic environment resource, and c) key research themes and aims. 3. Research Strategy: Production of a list of research priorities for the islands (this will be a separate follow-on project). The project adopted a primarily chronological approach, from early prehistory to the modern period. However, careful attention was paid to transitional periods (e.g., hunter-gatherer to farmer, medieval to post-medieval), including those transitions that fall within traditional chronological phases (e.g., Early to Late Neolithic). Cross-cutting themes were also addressed, either embedded within chronological overviews or as separate thematic reviews. Examples of thematic reviews include the coastal, intertidal and marine historic environment and maritime infrastructure, palaeoenvironments, the island landscape, historic landscape and seascape characterisation, trade and industry, and historic buildings and architecture. Formulation of the Resource Assessment and Research Agenda involved three areas of work: Consultation: The Resource Assessment and Research Agenda were informed by a programme of consultation and feedback. The project aimed to be as inclusive as possible of all parties with an interest in the historic environment of Scilly, including curatorial and field archaeologists, historic buildings researchers, architectural historians, university academics, Historic England, museum staff, amateur archaeologists and local interest groups. The project manager sought to identify, inform and involve stakeholders. The draft Resource Assessment was circulated via the Council of the Isles of Scilly website and discussed at a seminar held in Exeter on 10 December 2011. Data Collection: Compilation of the Resource Assessment and to a certain extent also the Research Agenda involved review of published and unpublished sources, HER and NMR data, museum archives, the work and advice of period/thematic experts and information from other interested parties. Researchers and consultants were invited to make voluntary or part-voluntary written contributions in order to encourage a sense of ownership of the research framework (contributors are listed at the beginning of the report and individuals contributing to the various topics are noted at the beginning of each section). Synthesis: The project results were synthesized and posted on the internet at each stage of the project development (assessment, agenda and strategy). Reports reflect the chronological framework of the project design, with cross-cutting themes woven throughout the discussion. 2.1.4 Note on radiocarbon dates in this report Radiocarbon determinations in this report have all been recalibrated from previously published data using OxCal v4.3. Terrestrial samples have been calibrated using 18 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 IntCal13, and marine samples have been calibrated using Marine13 with a ΔR value of −15±27 BP (Reimer et al 2013; Harkness 1983). Measurements have been calibrated using the probability method (Stuiver and Reimer 1993) at a resolution of 5. Previous modelling of dates has not been used and all are expressed at the full 95.4% confidence level, rather than to the period to which the date may be weighted (for example, at 89%). This means that calibrated dates in the tables may vary significantly from those in the publications where they first appeared. Furthermore, measurements have been rounded outwards in line with Historic England radiocarbon guidelines (forthcoming; Alex Bayliss, pers comm); to the nearest 20 years for a measurement earlier than 25,000 BP, by ten years for later dates or five years for dates later than 13,900 cal BP when error terms are less than ±25 BP. The radiocarbon tables in the text include all the determinations which are currently available (AMS and radiometric) for Scilly. The list forms a useful corpus of dated material. All dates are useful, even a bulked sample of unidentified charcoal provides a useful terminus post quem for its context, but the taphonomy of some samples may be open to interpretation Dating of bulked samples is no longer commonly undertaken because of the prevalence of AMS machines and the dearth of radiometric labs. The list also includes some determinations which have standard deviations of ±100 upwards. These are still valuable because they are accurate but not precise; the size of error is irrelevant when chronological modelling is employed. 2.2 Introduction to the Islands Fig 2.1 Location map – the Isles of Scilly. The Scillonian archipelago of approximately 200 islands, islets and rocks situated 45km (28 miles) south-west of Land’s End (Fig 2.1) is a unique environment of exceptional quality, with the relationship between the land and sea providing a very strong and distinctive cultural identity. 19 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Today only five islands are inhabited: St Mary’s and the ‘off-islands’ of St Agnes, Bryher, St Martin’s and Tresco. Smaller islands that were inhabited in historical times include St Helen’s, Samson and Teän. The archipelago contains wide expanses of shallow subtidal and intertidal environment flooded by rising relative sea level during the Holocene. It has long been known that the islands in their current form are a result of past sea-level rises that flooded early sites. It is therefore a valuable microcosm for studying continuous sea-level rises within an historical context as well as for research and recording important sites that will be lost, and investigating how past populations adapted to their shifting shores. 2.2.1 Geology The Isles of Scilly are situated at the merging of the Western Approaches and the English and Bristol Channels. The area forms part of the wide continental shelf to the south and west of England. The rocks at seabed are resistant, metamorphosed, Palaeozoic sediments locally intruded by mainly granitic igneous bodies such as Scilly and the Seven Stones reef (Evans 1990, 1). Scilly is a geologically-defined topographic feature, an incised and partly submerged cupola forming the western tail of the ridge of exposed granite bosses running along the spine of the south-western peninsula (Dartmoor, Bodmin Moor, St Austell, Carnmenellis and Land’s End), the visible part of the single, large Cornubian batholith which intruded into Devonian and Carboniferous strata some 225 million years ago as a result of the Variscan orogeny. The single rock type has resulted in a uniform morphology in the archipelago, the detailed form of which is controlled by crystalline variation within the granite, fault patterns and variation in exposure to wave energy (ibid, 20-8). The underlying granite is covered on lower hillslopes and valley floors by weathered periglacial head, dark yellowish-brown stony clay known locally as ram, which supports soils suitable for cultivation and pasture. 2.2.2 Topography Scilly was originally a single, large, oval-shaped island. The erosion and partial submergence by the sea has resulted in the formation of the archipelago with individual islands varying greatly in size and in the height at which they rise above the sea. While the smallest islands of the Western Rocks and Eastern Isles are little more than rocky projections, the five largest islands are much larger in size, covering a total area of 1422 ha (Fig 2.2) (Land Use Consultants 1996, 5). Bryher 126ha St Agnes 148ha St Martin’s 222ha St Mary’s 629ha Tresco 297ha Table 2.1 Areas of the five largest islands (Land Use Consultants 1996) Although rarely rising more than 30m above sea level, there is a remarkable variety and diversity both within and between the individual islands. Each island has a distinctive topography and configuration varying from the gently undulating interior of St Mary’s, which rises to the highest point on the Islands at 48m OD at Telegraph Hill, to the series of hills, hollows and valleys that make up Bryher. These in turn contrast with the east-west granite spine of St Martin’s and the rounded, flat-topped island of St Agnes. The islands also differ according to the degree of exposure they receive. The outer sides of the island group, that is the north and west coast of Bryher, the north coast of Tresco and St Martin’s, and the south-facing coast of St Mary’s and St Agnes are generally much harsher with a rugged, rocky coastline exposed to the full force of 20 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 the Atlantic. By contrast the coastline fronting the interior sea is more sheltered and includes broad, gently shelving sandy beaches and coves (ibid, 5). Extensive intertidal flats, bars and shallow subtidal areas cover much of the inner region of the archipelago; most of the subtidal areas between Tresco, St Mary’s and St Martin’s are no more than 5m below chart datum (bcd). Broad, fairly shallow sounds radiate outwards from the central areas; for example, St Mary’s Roads, a sound between Tresco and St Mary’s and extending to the south-west, which varies between 5m bcd (at the north-eastern end) to 150.25m bcd (off Annet to the south-west) (Evans 1990, 9). There is only one true example of a freshwater stream on Scilly, on St Mary’s. This is fed by a spring which rises at Holy Vale and flows within a shallow valley towards Higher Moors and Porth Hellick Pool. However, maritime and freshwater pools occur on most of the islands (Land Use Consultants 1996, 5). Fig 2.2 The Isles of Scilly. Bryher Bryher has more varied topography than any of the other islands; its name is derived from the Cornish place-name element bre meaning ‘hill’ and the plural suffix yer (Padel 1988, 60). The island is essentially composed of a series of small rounded granite hills (Watch Hill, Timmy’s Hill, Gweal Hill, Heathy Hill and Samson Hill) which rise to heights of between 33m and 42m above the intervening valley pastures which run east-west across the island. The exposed headland heath of Shipman Head Down, with its windpruned vegetation of maritime grassland and waved heath, extends to the north of the island (Land Use Consultants 1996, 89). The wilder northern and western sides of the island are open and exposed to the Atlantic while the east coast is sheltered and separated from Tresco by narrow sandy flats (ibid, 89). 21 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Granite with weathered periglacial head cloaking the lower slopes of the valley floors provides a suitable soil for cultivation and pasture. On the western side of the island blown sand creates a low-lying area of sand dunes and dune pasture between the Hell Bay Hotel and Great Rushy Bay. Otherwise it is a harsh rocky granite coastline (ibid, 89). St Agnes St Agnes is physically similar to the uninhabited western islands – small, round and relatively flat with a rocky coastline. It rises to a maximum height of just above 25m in the centre of the island. The cultivated northern part of the island contrasts with Wingletang Down, the low-lying southern headland where the granite outcrops rising above the heather have been weathered into distinctive tors. The island of Gugh is attached to the eastern side of St Agnes by a sandy tombolo which is uncovered at low tide (Land Use Consultants 1996, 91). St Martin’s St Martin’s comprises a long ridge of granite which forms a central spine running eastwest along the centre of the island at about 30-40m OD. To the north of the ridge an exposed windswept plateau bears the full brunt of the Atlantic weather, while to the north-east the heath covered granite headland of Chapel Down juts out into the Atlantic. To the south of the central spine the land slopes gently down in a series of bowls and hollows to the low-lying sandy fields fronting the shallow interior sea (Land Use Consultants 1996, 89). Blown sand cloaks much of the central granite ridge, creating the bracken-covered area known as the Plains. On the edges of the island the sand accumulates in sheltered bays – St Martin’s Bay on the north coast (sheltered by White Island) and Higher Town Bay (Par Beach) and the Neck of the Pool on the south coast. These long white sandy bays are one of St Martin’s outstanding features (ibid). St Mary’s St Mary’s is the largest of the islands measuring approximately 4km long by 2.8km wide. A relatively flat island, its most dramatic features are the rock formations at Peninnis, the southern headland. Rising from a low rocky coastline, the interior of the island is gently undulating and includes the rounded plateau hills at Halangy Down, the golf course and the airport (Salakee Down), narrow wooded valleys at Watermill and Holy Vale, and the wider low-lying area of Higher Moors and Lower Moors. The interior of St Mary’s is more isolated from the extreme influence of the sea when compared to some of the off islands (cf Land Use Consultants 1996, 95). St Mary’s is almost entirely granite, with small areas of blown sand accumulating at the Bar, Porth Hellick, Old Town Bay and the coast around St Mary’s Pool creating a small sandy bays in an otherwise rocky coastline. The fortified headland of the Garrison at the south west of the island is linked to the rest of St Mary’s by a sandy isthmus at Hugh Town (ibid). Tresco Tresco essentially comprises three low rounded hills separated by broad valleys. In the north Castle Down rises to a height of 44m OD and forms an exposed headland. In the centre of the island Middle Down forms a wide hill, rising to a height of just over 30m OD, while the smaller Abbey Hill lies to the south. The granite hills are separated by gentle valleys. The settlements of Old Grimsby, Dolphin Town and New Grimsby lie within the sheltered valley between Castle Down and Middle Down while the broad lateral valley containing Great Pool divides Middle Down from Abbey Hill. The subtropical Tresco Abbey Gardens shelter in the lee of Abbey Hill. The southern part of the island between Appletree Bay and Pentle Bay comprises a flat, low-lying area of blown sand which includes an extensive dune system (Land Use Consultants 1996, 97). 22 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 2.3 History of local government in the Islands Shortly after the Norman Conquest the islands became the property of the Crown of England and from 1141 part of the Earldom, then after 1337, the Duchy of Cornwall. From the twelfth century the administration of Scilly was divided, with Tavistock Abbey presiding over the northern part, centred at St Nicholas Priory on Tresco, while the de Wika family of Week St Mary in north Cornwall and later the Blanchminsters, also from north Cornwall, were proprietors of what are now St Mary’s and St Agnes. The Blanchminsters were followed by a succession of lay lords (Land Use Consultants 1996, 23). Tavistock Abbey’s interest in the islands had dwindled by the Reformation and in 1547 Thomas Seymour, Lord Admiral of England, acquired the whole of Scilly. Two years later Seymour was accused of plotting against Edward VI and using the islands as a base for piracy. His execution marked the beginning of the Godolphin connection with Scilly; initially appointed as Captains of the Isles, in 1570 Elizabeth I granted Francis Godolphin a 38-year lease in return for an annual rent of £20. The Godolphins and their successors (the Osbornes, Dukes of Leeds), who ruled in Scilly almost continuously until 1831 when the Islands returned to the direct control of the Duchy, ran the Islands’ affairs through His Grace’s Council, popularly known as the Council of Twelve. The Islands were administered essentially as a single estate (Land Use Consultants 1996, 24; Bennett et al 1991). When the Duke of Leeds decided not to renew the lease of Scilly an administrative vacuum was created which was filled from 1832 by the establishment of the Select Vestry, which, with the Magistrates Court, administered the Islands’ affairs until 1891 (Matthews 1960, 214; Bennett et al 1991). In 1834 Augustus Smith (1804-72), a member of an old Hertfordshire family, became Lord Proprietor of the Islands. His autocratic rule largely dominated the Select Vestry and Magistrates Court (Matthews 1960, 214). The Local Government Act 1888 allowed the Local Government Board to establish in the Isles of Scilly ‘councils and other local authorities separate from those of the county of Cornwall... for the application to the islands of any act touching local government.’ In August 1890 a Local Government Board Provisional Order Act was passed by which Scilly was constituted into a County Council area and suitable machinery for the direction of public affairs was set up. Accordingly, in 1891 the Council of the Isles of Scilly was formed as a sui generis unitary authority, outside the administrative county of Cornwall (Matthews 1960, 236; Gill 1975, 64). 23 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 2.4 Tenure Fig 2.3 Map of the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust’s holding (based on data provided by the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust). The freehold of the islands is the property of the Duchy of Cornwall (except for Hugh Town on St Mary's, which was sold to the inhabitants in 1949).The Duchy also owns as well as 3,921 acres (16 km2) of land. The Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust (IOSWT) cares for the rough ground that make up 60% of the landmass of Scilly and includes all of the uninhabited islands, islets and rocks and most of the coastal fringes on the inhabited islands of St Mary’s, St Agnes, Bryher and St Martin’s and leases these lands from the Duchy on a 99-year lease which began in 1986 (Fig 2.3). The island of Tresco is leased from the Duchy by the Dorrien-Smith family, the heirs of Augustus Smith. 2.5 Past and present work in Scilly 2.5.1 Antiquarians and archaeologists The study of the historic environment of Scilly was pioneered by the famous antiquarian William Borlase, vicar of Ludgvan parish near Penzance, who visited Scilly in 1752 and identified and classified various entrance graves, menhirs and ancient field walls (Borlase 1753; 1756). He carried out the earliest recorded excavation in Scilly when he opened two entrance graves on Buzza Hill, St Mary's (Borlase 1756; 1769). Only 12 excavations are recorded between then and 1929, all but one of which were entrance graves or cists. It is very probable that many more of these monuments were dug into in a less systematic way and the findings not recorded for posterity. Considerable archaeological detail was also recorded by the Revd John Troutbeck, chaplain in Scilly between 1780 and 1796 (Troutbeck nd [c 1794]). Augustus Smith, Lord Proprietor of the Islands from 1834 to 1872, was interested in Scilly’s ancient past as well as its present state and in 1862 he opened a cist barrow on North Hill, Samson (Smith 1863). In 1899 George Bonsor, a retired Cornish engineer and antiquarian, 24 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 residing in Spain, arrived in Scilly and spent three years investigating the archaeology of the Islands (Bonsor 1899-1900; Hencken 1932; Ashbee 1981). Some of the earliest archaeological photographs in Britain were taken by the Scillonian photographer Alexander Gibson (1857-1944). His pictures and those of his son, James, form a valuable record of the ancient monuments of Scilly. The family also collected a large number of antiquities which were exhibited in their private museum in Hugh Town until the 1960s. In 1926 OGS Crawford, Archaeology Officer to the Ordnance Survey, visited Scilly and observed the intertidal stone walls on Samson Flats and examined many entrance graves and cists (Crawford 1927; 1928). Between 1923 and 1927 and from 1930 to 1936 Alec Gray, an amateur archaeologist from Cornwall, lived in the Islands and recorded numerous stone structures and old land surfaces exposed by cliff erosion (Gray 1972). He was assisted in his work by local enthusiast Joe Treneary of Telegraph Hill, St Mary’s. Gray’s work at Halangy Porth in 1929 (ibid) marked the beginning of 30 years of more intensive excavation in Scilly, which was no longer totally preoccupied with Bronze Age funerary monuments. The first comprehensive account of Scillonian archaeology was published in 1932 by Hugh O’Neill Hencken. His work concentrated on entrance graves. He numbered those he identified, island by island, and tabulated their dimensions. Stuart Piggott came to Scilly in 1937 (Piggott 1941) and five years later, during the Second World War, WF Grimes made a brief visit to St Mary’s to excavate an entrance grave on Salakee Down prior to the extension of the airfield by the Ministry of Defence (Grimes 1960). Glyn Daniel incorporated the results of fieldwork in Scilly in 1936 and 1946 into Prehistoric Chamber Tombs of England and Wales; he renumbered and made additions to Hencken's list of entrance graves (Daniel 1950). During the immediate post-war years, the Revd HA Lewis pursued his interest in archaeology while chaplain of St Martin’s (Lewis 1948) and his discoveries led to Bryan O’Neil, Chief Inspector of Ancient Monuments for the Ministry of Works (MoW) making his first visit to Scilly in 1947. Accompanied by his wife, Helen, he returned yearly until his death in 1954. During this period he wrote the Ministry’s official guide to the ancient monuments of Scilly (O’Neil 1961). In the 1940s and 1950s the O’Neil’s carried out a total of 34 excavations in Scilly and these are listed by Beagrie (1989). Most were entrance graves or early settlement sites on St Martin's, but they also included Giant's Castle on St Mary’s and King Charles' Castle on Tresco. In 1953-4 Helen O’Neil excavated the ecclesiastical complex on St. Helen's (O'Neil 1964). Equally important was Charles Thomas' excavation of an Early Medieval chapel and cemetery at East Porth, Teän in 1956 (Thomas 1960b; 1985, 183-5). Paul Ashbee first came to Scilly at the request of Bryan O’Neil, to excavate the cistgrave cemetery at Porthcressa, St Mary’s for the MoW (Ashbee 1954; 1979). He continued the study of entrance graves, introducing his own numbering system (Ashbee 1963). He also investigated the courtyard house settlement at Halangy Down (Ashbee 1954; 1996). In 1974 he published Ancient Scilly, an account of the early archaeology of the Islands, the culmination of his work over the previous 25 years. A variety of other individuals and institutions carried out archaeological work in Scilly during the second half of the twentieth century. From the 1950s to the 1970s Andrew Saunders, then Chief Inspector of Ancient Monuments, made frequent visits to the islands. In 1954 he and Trevor Miles undertook a trial excavation at King Charles’ Castle, Tresco (Miles and Saunders 1970); the assemblage of ceramics recovered from that site is still the single most informative collection from the period in Scilly. Dorothy Dudley, Sarnia Butcher, David Neal and John Evans carried out excavations under the auspices of the MoW at Poynter’s Garden, St Mary’s (Dudley 1960-1), Nornour (Dudley 1967; Butcher 1978 and 2000-1), Little Bay, St Martin’s (Neal 1983), East Porth, Samson (Neal and Johns forthcoming) and Bar Point, St Mary’s (Evans 1984). In 1978 Howard Mason from Cardiff University excavated a post-medieval building on Samson 25 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 (Mason 1984). Since 1963, Michael Tangye, an amateur archaeologist from Redruth, has holidayed in Scilly and recorded its archaeology. In 1978, as part of its map revision, the Ordnance Survey carried out a systematic archaeological survey of every island (Quinnell 2009-10). In the 1970s extensive survey work was carried out by Charles Thomas, notably of early settlement and field system remains (Thomas 1975; 1978; 1985; Fowler and Thomas 1979). In the late 1970s and early 1980s he superintended several important projects in Scilly, including Vivien Russell’s checklist of archaeological sites (Russell 1980), the initial compilation of a Sites and Monuments Register (1984-5) and an excavation index for Scilly compiled for the RCHME in 1987/88. In 1985 he published Exploration of a Drowned Landscape which illustrates his wide-ranging knowledge of Scillonian archaeology and history (Thomas 1985). Trenching in advance of cable laying for the off-islands Electrification Project was observed and recorded on St Martin’s, Tresco, Bryher and St Agnes during 1985 under the supervision of Jeanette Ratcliffe for the Institute of Cornish Studies (ICS); the results of the project were presented in Lighting up the past in Scilly (Ratcliffe 1991). Jeanette Ratcliffe subsequently became a field officer with the Cornwall Archaeological Unit (CAU), with special responsibility for projects in the Isles of Scilly. In 1988, with a team including Cathy Parkes, Carl Thorpe and Andy Waters, she carried out a benchmark project for English Heritage to assess the archaeological resource of the Islands, resulting in a management plan for Scilly (Ratcliffe 1989). Emerging from the recommendations of this report was the Coastal Erosion Project (CEP), a five-year rolling programme of coastal monitoring, small-scale excavation and recording and environmental sampling, funded by English Heritage and implemented by CAU (in conjunction with the Ancient Monuments Laboratory and Bristol University) between 1989 and 1993. The CEP culminated in the publication of The Early Environment of Scilly (Ratcliffe and Straker 1996). Much of the archaeological fieldwork undertaken in Scilly during the 1990s was associated with coast protection schemes or cable laying. The former included recording cliff-exposed Bronze Age remains at Porth Killier on St Agnes in 1996 (Johns et al, forthcoming) and sampling peat deposits at Old Town Bay, St Mary’s (Ratcliffe and Straker 1998). During British Telecom trenching on St Martin’s in 1992 an Early Christian grave and medieval midden were discovered at Lower Town (Ratcliffe 1997). In 1995 Gill Arbery was appointed as Field Monument Warden and Conservation Officer for Scilly, a post jointly funded by English Heritage and the Council of the Isles of Scilly. Gill’s work included Scheduled Monument management and planning advice before she left in 2004. Her successor Eleanor Breen was in post as Assistant Planning Officer (Conservation) and Historic Environment Field Advisor between 2007 and 2011. Since October 2016 Cornwall Archaeological Unit has provided development management and Heritage at Risk services to the Council and Historic England on a two year contact. The discovery and excavation of the Bryher sword and mirror cist burial in 1999 is arguably the most important archaeological event in the Islands during the last 25 years. A fragment of long bone from the burial was radiocarbon dated to 350-40 cal BC (OxA-12095 and OxA-10255; Table 5.1). The metalwork typology narrows this range to the first half of the first century BC, indicating that Bryher is the earliest known British decorated bronze mirror, with important implications for the study of insular Celtic art in Britain (Johns 2002-3). Much development-led work has undertaken in the first two decade of the twenty-first century, mostly small scale interventions by various archaeological contractors. A watching brief during the construction of a new playing field at Dolphin Town, Tresco, in 2003 revealed remains of a Middle Bronze Age settlement (Taylor and Johns 2009-10) and a Late Bronze Age settlement was investigated in 2009/10 at a new affordable housing development at Higher Town Farm on St Agnes (Taylor and Johns, 26 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 forthcoming). Detailed evaluation on the site of the new Five Islands School Base at Carn Gwaval, St Mary’s did not reveal any archaeological remains other than removed post-medieval field boundaries (Johns et al 2010). Similarly watching briefs during the refurbishments of the off-island quays in 2007 were largely unproductive except for the discovery of two nested Early Bronze Age vessels on the site of the contractor’s compound near Porth Conger, St Agnes (Johns and Sawyer 2008; Wessex Archaeology 2008; Johns and Quinnell 2014). There has been continuing interest in Scilly by academic researchers. Fieldwork and research has been undertaken by Trevor Kirk (Kirk 2004), Mary Ann Owoc of Mercyhurst College, Pennsylvania (Owoc et al 2003), and Eleanor Breen (Breen 2005; 2008). Gary Robinson drew together and reconsidered existing archaeological data for his PhD thesis (Robinson 2007). Katharine Sawyer is currently studying for a PhD on the setting and function of the Bronze Age chambered cairns and cists of Scilly. Since 2005, three seasons of fieldwork have been carried out by the ongoing ‘Islands in a Common Sea’ project directed by Charles Johns and Jacqui Mulville of Cardiff University, including recording the cliff-exposed Bronze Age cairn at Pendrathen, St Mary’s (Johns and Mulville 2011), evaluation of the site of Knackyboy Cairn (Mulville et al 2007), and archaeological investigation and building recording of the post-medieval buildings on Samson and Teän (Johns et al 2007; Johns et al 2011; 2013). Detailed survey of the intertidal stone walls and other features on Samson Flats was carried out by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Maritime Archaeological Society (CISMAS) in 2009 and 2010 (Camidge et al 2010). A survey of field boundaries on Bryher, St Agnes, St Martin’s, St Mary’s and Tresco has recently been carried out by HE Projects (Kirkham et al 2011). The majority of sites and monuments in Scilly still do not have large-scale measured plans or surveys. In September 2013 and 2014 small scale excavations were undertaken at Old Quay, St Martin’s, as part of the ‘Neolithic Stepping Stones’ project, which sought to improve understanding of the processes through which Neolithic practices came to Britain from the European mainland around 4000 BC (Garrow and Sturt 2017). 2.5.2 Geophysical survey Geophysical surveys have been carried out as part of evaluations at Dolphin Row Cottages, Tresco (Shiel 1999), and Dolphin Town, Tresco (Gater 1999), and during ‘Islands in a Common Sea’ fieldwork at Pendrathen and Lunnon and Normandy Farms, St Mary’s, in 2005 (Young, in Johns and Mulville 2011). In 2007, as part of the same project, geophysical surveys were carried out at East Porth, Teän and the cricket pitch on St Agnes (Johns et al 2011). Geophysical survey was also carried out in advance of the new Five Islands School Base development at Carn Gwaval, St Mary’s (Sabin and Donaldson 2010). A geophysical survey of St Mary’s harbour was carried out by Wessex Archaeology in 2004 (Wessex Archaeology 2004). Maritime geophysical survey and prospection for submerged peat deposits were carried out during the Lyonesse Project (Charman et al 2016). 2.5.3 Osteological faunal remains Animal bone preservation is usually poor in Scilly because of the acidity of the soil at the time of deposition, and it is only in large middens that such remains are found. From 1960 Dr Frank Turk studied the sub-fossil fauna of the islands, and identified bones from various excavated sites: Nornour (Turk 1968; 1971; 1978), Teän (Turk 1968), Samson (Turk 1973), May's Hill, St Martin’s (Turk 1984a), Porth Killier, St Agnes, a midden at Periglis, the unexcavated settlement at Dial Rocks and a site north east of Higher Town, St Agnes (Turk 1968, 1984b). In 1984 he published a catalogue of all the species recorded in the Archaeo-Zoology of Cornwall and Scilly up to that date. 27 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 This includes remains identified at Halangy Porth (Gray 1972), Samson (Mason and Hayton 1977) and Little Bay (Locker 1983). Existing knowledge and new bone evidence – for example, the addition of seven new fish and ten new birds to the list of species identified for Bronze Age Scilly – was summarised by Ratcliffe and Straker (1996). Since 1996 assemblages of faunal remains have been recovered from Porth Killier (Locker forthcoming); Hillside Farm, Bryher (Ingrem 2002–3); and Higher Town, St Agnes (Ingrem forthcoming). 2.5.4 Palaeoenvironmental work See below Section 2.15. 2.5.5 Maritime The National Heritage Act of 2002, which extended English Heritage’s remit into the marine zone, and the discovery of the stern carving from HMS Colossus brought maritime archaeology to the fore (Stevens 2007). The Time Team visited the islands to record the lifting of the carving in 2002. There are two local maritime archaeology groups, the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Maritime Archaeology Society (CISMAS) and the Islands Maritime Group (IMAG), and other independent divers. Maritime projects have included ongoing trials on HMS Colossus (e.g., Camidge 2005; 2009), work on the Firebrand by Bristol University (Camidge 2011) and the discovery of the Wheel Wreck by IMAG which has been designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973. Wessex Archaeology has carried out designated and undesignated site assessments of a number of wrecks for Historic England (Wessex Archaeology 2005; 2006a; 2007). Numerous projects have been carried out on HMS Colossus (Camidge 2001; 2002; 2005; 2008; 2009; 2010; 2014; 2017; 2018; Camidge et al 2005) and has also been involved in several other projects in Scilly including the Tresco Channel site (ProMare and CISMAS 2011) and the wreck of HMS Firebrand (1707) (Camidge 2011). Other projects include the Tresco Channel wreck investigations, the Scilly Designated Wrecks interpretation project (Camidge 2017) and the Wheel Wreck investigation (Camidge 2018). Conservation Statements and Management Plans have been produced for four of the five Protected Wreck sites: HMS Colossus (Camidge 2016); Bartholomew Ledges (Camidge and Johns 2016); Tearing Ledge (Camidge and Johns 2017); and the Wheel Wreck (Camidge and Johns 2019). 2.5.6 Unpublished fieldwork This includes George Bonsor’s notes on his work in Scilly between 1899 and 1902, fieldwork carried out over many years by Charles Thomas and Michael Tangye (although their valuable field notes, sketches and photographs made a valuable contribution to the compilation of the SMR), and Bryan O’Neil’s archive (although this provided a major source of information for the 1987/1988 Excavation Index). Charles Thomas’ report on the 1956/60 excavations at East Porth, Teän (Thomas 1960b) were published in 2018 (Thomas and Johns 2018), although the archive would benefit from further analysis. Key sites for which publication is outstanding include the 1971 excavation at East Porth, Samson (Neal and Johns forthcoming), the 1971 excavation at Bar Point, St Mary’s (Butcher and Johns forthcoming) and the results of the 1996 Coast Protection Scheme recording at Porth Killier, St Agnes (Johns et al forthcoming). 28 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 2.6 Sources 2.6.1 Published sources A considerable amount has been written on the archaeology and history of Scilly. Much archaeological detail is included in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century accounts of the islands (Leland (in Chope 1918); Heath 1750; Borlase 1756; Troutbeck nd [c 1794]; Woodley 1822; Whitfield 1852; Maybee 1884). The 1651 Parliamentary Survey is also very useful (Pounds 1984). During the twentieth century three books were published which deal specifically with the archaeology of Scilly (Hencken 1932; Ashbee 1974; Thomas 1985), plus a report on the archaeological resource and recommendations for its management (Ratcliffe 1989) and the Early Environment of Scilly (Ratcliffe and Straker 1996). Gary Robinson’s PhD thesis on the prehistoric island landscape of Scilly was published in 2007. Other books document the general history of the Islands (e.g., Matthews 1960; Mumford 1967; Gill 1975; Bowley 1964). References to Scillonian archaeology are also contained in archaeological books covering a wider geographical area than Scilly (e.g., Daniel 1950; Piggott 1954; Pearce 1978; Bell 1984; Todd 1987, etc). Since the 2012 SHERF document was completed there have been three major publications on the historic environment of Scilly, Katharine Sawyer’s PhD thesis ‘Isles of the Dead? The Setting and Function of the Bronze Age Chambered Cairns and Cists of the Isles of Scilly’ (2015), ‘The Lyonesse Project: A Study of the Evolution of the Historic Coastal and Marine Environment of the Isles of Scilly’ (Charman et al 2016) and ‘Neolithic Stepping Stones: Excavation and survey within the western seaways of Britain, 2008-2014’ (Garrow and Sturt 2017). These three publications represent major advances in our understanding of Scilly during prehistory, particularly during the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. Numerous articles on various aspects of the historic environment of Scilly have been published in the journals of local and national societies. The results of most early excavations in Scilly are found in the pages of the Antiquaries’ Journal, the Archaeological Journal, and the Proceedings of the West Cornwall Field Club. Since the founding of the Cornwall Archaeological Society in 1962, most excavation reports have been published in its journal, Cornish Archaeology, with a few appearing in Cornish Studies, the journal of the Institute of Cornish Studies. The Scillonian, the quarterly magazine for the Isles of Scilly, frequently contains articles on historical and archaeological subjects. The Isles of Scilly Museum publishes an occasional series of booklets including a checklist of archaeological sites (Russell 1980), a guide to the buildings of Scilly (Laws 1980) and a study of the kelp industry (Over 1987). Earlier guide books for the archaeological remains in Scilly include O'Neil (1949c). The first edition of the popular booklet Scilly’s Archaeological Heritage, which provides a succinct chronological overview of the islands’ archaeology and history and a gazetteer of sites to visit, was published in 1992 (Ratcliffe 1992). A fully revised edition with colour illustrations was published in 2003 (Ratcliffe and Johns 2003). A number of archaeological and historical walks leaflets have also been produced. Many books have been published on the maritime history of Scilly (Morris 1969 and 1979; Larn 1993; 1999; Larn and Larn 1995; McBride and Larn 1999; Stevens 2007; 2008; Stevens and Cummings 2008; Cummings and Stevens 2016, etc). Important recent publications are Rosemary Parslow’s study of Scillonian flora (Parslow 2007; 2017), and Historic England’s book on the military defences of Scilly (Bowden and Brodie 2011). Recent development-led work is reported in ‘grey literature’ reports produced by various organisations, copies of which are provided to the HER. 29 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 2.6.2 Cartographic sources Fig 2.4 Map of Scilly c 1585 by Capt John Davis (from The Scillonian, 22). The earliest map of the islands, entitled ‘Les Sorlinges’ and possibly surveyed by Captain John Davies, dates from the late sixteenth century. It gives an impression of where people were living but not in sufficient detail to identify many individual buildings (Fig 2.4). One of the Isles of Scilly Museum publications is a guide to the scarcer maps and books of Scilly (Isles of Scilly Museum 1974). Another early map, apparently made in the 1640s by Wilde (British Library, 15737, fol. 33b) is seemingly the earliest detailed map of the archipelago (Newman 2015) – see below Section 8.7.2. There are also a number of maps of the Garrison drawn for military purposes that show Hugh Town, including, for instance, Christian Lilly’s survey of 1715 (British Library King’s Manuscript 45 f.7). Unlike tithe maps on the mainland, the tithe maps for Scilly do not have field boundaries because of the monopolistic landownership of Scilly’s two main islands. They do show clusters of buildings that depict in a sketchy fashion the main locations for settlement. Between 1829 and 1831 George and Edward Driver carried out a rental survey of the islands for the Duchy of Cornwall and listed all the holdings, tenements and occupiers. The originals are held in the archives at Tresco Abbey. There are reduced photographic copies in the archives of the Duchy of Cornwall Office in London of four Driver Bros manuscript maps covering (1) St Agnes, Annet, Gugh, St Martin’s and White Island; (2) Bryher, Tresco, Gweal, St Helen’s, etc; (3) St Mary’s; and (4) Samson, Teän and the Eastern Isles. Today Ordnance Survey maps are available through Geographical Information Systems (GIS), as well as on paper and for the Isles of Scilly Historic England’s WebGIS system provides access to the 1891 1:10,560 OS map, the 1908 1:2,500 OS map, and the 1909 1:10,560 OS map. 30 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 In addition there is access to modern survey data allowing an examination of the islands down to 1:1,250 scale. There are also layers in the Cornwall and Scilly HER that can be turned on and off that show the location of features such as Listed Buildings, Scheduled Ancient Monuments, Parks and Gardens, Protected Wrecks and Battlefields. There are also various navigation charts from the seventeenth century onwards held at the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, Taunton (UKHO); Graeme Spence’s 1792 maritime survey of Scilly is particularly useful as it shows buildings and fields. Cartographic sources are listed below in Section 11.1. 2.6.3 Pictorial sources The earliest known pictorial representation of Scilly is a view of Hugh Town and the Garrison in the accounts of the ‘Travels of Cosmo the Third, Grand Duke of Tuscany, 1669’ (Magalotti 1821) (Fig 9.3). Other engravings appear in Borlase 1756 (Fig 9.4). Because of its remoteness Scilly is less rich in recent artistic representations than parts of the mainland, but the vibrant mid-nineteenth century watercolours by Augustus Smith’s friends Lady Sophia Tower and Fanny Le Marchant are important sources (Llewellyn 2005). The Pre-Raphaelite artist John Brett visited Scilly in 1873 (Brett et al 2006). The guide to the Isles of Scilly written by Jesse Mothersole in 1910 includes several watercolours. 2.6.4 Photographic sources Scilly is fortunate to have a number of useful collections, particularly at the Isles of Scilly Museum, the Gibson Collection and the Francis Frith collection (Cowan 2001). There are some photographs and postcards held at the Cornwall Record Office and the Courtney Library in the Royal Institution of Cornwall. Visual material may be found in individual site records in the Cornwall and Scilly HER. The IOSM publication ‘Viewing the Past; the photographic heritage of Scilly’ (Martin 2014) is an excellent introduction to this resource. Historic England’s own database has recorded 1,965 images of archaeological sites and buildings in Scilly, which can be queried but not yet examined online. http://www.historicenglandarchives.org.uk/ They can be consulted in Swindon. The National Monuments Record also has a small number of historic images in its open-shelf collection and its archive, as well as some folders of drawings of the properties it manages on the islands. 31 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 2.7 Historic Environment designations Fig 2.5 Distribution of Scheduled Monuments in the Isles of Scilly. 2.7.1 World Heritage Sites Scilly does not contain any World Heritage sites. 2.7.2 Scheduled Monuments The Isles of Scilly contain 238 Scheduled Monuments (Fig 2.5), which represents 3.4% of the total in South West England (as at July 2004). However, at 10.23 per km2 the islands have by far the highest density, its nearest contender being Plymouth with 0.76 per km2, while Cornwall has 0.38 per km2 (Webster 2008, tables 1.1 and 1.2). 2.7.3 English Heritage Guardianship sites English Heritage has eight unstaffed properties in guardianship located on the Isles of Scilly, three of which are prehistoric and five military in date. 1. Garrison Walls, St. Mary’s Garrison Walls is the largest property on the islands, and currently provides a hub for the interpretation of the other military English Heritage properties on the Islands. 2. Harry’s Walls, St. Mary’s Harry’s Walls is an unfinished artillery fort built above St Mary’s Pool in 1552-3. It has been argued that building work stopped due to a lack of money, or because it was realised that the fort was not in the best position for defence, but neither of these explanations is satisfactory. Its location and state of completion are a real enigma. 3. Bant’s Carn Burial Chamber and Halangy Down Ancient Village, St. Mary’s Halangy Down is a Romano-British settlement dating from the third century BC until the end of the Roman period. It consists of one large courtyard house and several 32 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 smaller houses, 11 buildings in total. Excavations at the site in the 1970s produced many artefacts and revealed details of the house structures and way of life (Ashbee 1996). Directly upslope from the village is Bant’s Carn, a Bronze Age entrance grave. It was excavated in 1900 by the antiquarian George Bonsor who found the remains of four cremations at the back of the chamber together with sherds of Bronze Age pottery. 4. Innisidgen Lower and Upper Burial Chambers, St. Mary’s Two Scillonian entrance graves dating to the Bronze Age; although the lower chamber is in a poor state of repair, the upper was restored in the 1970s and is one of the best preserved entrance graves on the islands. A prehistoric field system survives further up the hillside to the north which may be associated with the chambers. 5. Porth Hellick Down Burial Chamber, St. Mary’s Porth Hellick chamber, the ‘Great Tomb, is a large Bronze Age entrance grave (Fig 4.7). It is the best preserved of seven Scillonian entrance graves which stand on the down, in addition to two cairns. It is 12m in diameter; apparently an encircling kerb was destroyed during misguided restoration work by the MoW. Although it was excavated in 1899 by George Bonsor, only Bronze Age pottery was found and it was reported that the tomb had already been cleared. 6. Old Blockhouse, Tresco The Old Blockhouse is a small gun blockhouse, built to protect Old Grimsby harbour between 1548 and 1552. It later played an important part during the Civil War. In 1651 a Royalist garrison was defending the islands against attack by a Parliamentarian fleet commanded by the famous Admiral Robert Blake. Blake attacked Tresco first and although the blockhouse was vigorously defended, the Parliamentarians went on to defeat the Royalist stronghold at the Garrison on St Mary’s. 7. King Charles’ Castle, Tresco King Charles’ Castle was a coastal artillery fort built between 1548 and 1554 during the reign of Edward VI to protect the narrow strait leading past New Grimsby harbour. It is a semi-hexagonal structure, providing a wide field of fire and the two-storey building would have contained two tiers of guns. Domestic quarters for the garrison were located at the rear. However, the castle proved to be badly sited to fire on ships in the channel below: some of its guns wouldn’t have been able to be depressed to the steep angle needed. During the Civil War, the castle was garrisoned by Royalists, and low earthwork bastioned defences were thrown up beyond the castle to protect it from landward attack; these can still be seen. When the Parliamentarians took Tresco in 1651 they bypassed the castle by landing on the other side of the island, near the Old Blockhouse, and attacked over land. The castle was replaced later in the Civil War by Cromwell’s Castle. 8. Cromwell’s Castle, Tresco This coastal gun tower built by Oliver Cromwell in 1651-2 was a replacement for King Charles’ Castle, built once Tresco had been taken by the Parliamentarians. It was built on a promontory to guard the anchorage and narrow channel between Bryher and Tresco. The guns were mounted on the roof above the garrison’s living quarters and magazines. The tower was originally entered at first floor level by an external stair on the south side. The present entrance dates from the construction of the lower gun platform, added in the 1740s by Abraham Tovey, Master Gunner. 2.7.4 Listed Buildings Scilly has 129 Listed Buildings (Fig 2.6), four Grade 1, eight Grade II* and 117 Grade II (as at July 2004). This is the lowest number of any local authority in the South West 33 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 but the overall density of 5.54 per km2 places it sixth out of 16 (Webster 2008, tables 1.3 and 1.4). Fig 2.6 Distribution of Listed Buildings in Scilly. 2.7.5 Registered Parks and Gardens The islands contain one Grade 1 Registered Park and Garden (Tresco Abbey Gardens). 2.7.6 Registered Battlefields Scilly does not contain any Registered Battlefields. 2.7.7 Protected Wrecks Of a total of some 771 recorded wreck sites in the waters around Scilly, four wrecks are designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 (section 1). These are: 34  the mid-late sixteenth century possible small Spanish cargo on Bartholomew Ledge in St Mary’s Sound, NHLE 1000066;  the Tearing Ledge shipwreck south of the Bishop Rock lighthouse which is now thought to be the Eagle, lost in 1707, NHLE 1000063;  HMS Association, Sir Cloudesley Shovel’s flagship, lost in 1707, NHLE 1419276;  HMS Colossus, lost in 1798 off Southard Well, Samson, NHLE 1000078; and  The Wheel Wreck, lying off Little Ganinick in the Eastern Isles, comprising a discrete mound of post-1850 Cornish mining equipment, NHLE 1000086 (Fig 2.7). Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Fig 2.7 The Wheel Wreck, NHLE 1000086 (photo by Kevin Camidge). 2.8 Other Designations Eight different designations apply to Scilly:  Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (whole of the Isles of Scilly)  Conservation Area (whole of the Isles of Scilly)  Heritage Coast (whole of the Isles of Scilly)  The Isles of Scilly inshore Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ) was designated in November 2013  Candidate Special Area of Conservation EU Habitats Directive (SAC) – covers an area of 268.5 km2 (26,851 ha, of which 181.32 ha is terrestrial)  Special Protection Area EU Habitats Directive (SPA) – covers an area of 4.09km2 (401.64 ha)  Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) – 26 sites, 5 of which are geological – covering an area of 5.63 km2 (554.98 ha) (Council of the Isles of Scilly 2004, 4)  Ramsar Convention-designated wetlands – covers an area of 4.09km2 (401.64 ha) 2.9 Other Historic England National Programmes 2.9.1 Extensive Urban Surveys The urban survey of Hugh Town was carried out in 2002-3 as part of the Cornwall and Scilly Urban Survey project (Kirkham 2003). 35 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 2.9.2 Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Surveys The Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey (RCZAS) Phase 1 Desk-based Assessment was carried out by the Historic Environment Service, Cornwall County Council in 2003-4 (Johns et al 2004). 2.9.3 Historic Landscape Characterisation In 1996 Historic Landscape Characterisation (HLC) was applied to Scilly in the Historic Landscape Assessment and Management Strategy (Land Use Consultants 1996), which highlights the antiquity and archaeological potential of Scilly’s landscape. The HLC is available as layer on the Isles of Scilly HER GIS database. 2.9.4 Historic Seascape Characterisation Historic Seascape Characterisation (HSC) maintains the historic characterisation principles used in HLC but recognises the need for different expressions of those principles in the coastal and marine environment. The coastal zone to landward and seaward of mean sea level is an area of overlapping terrestrial and maritime perceptions, demanding assessment of both landward and seaward perspectives, and requiring interoperability between the overlapping HSC and HLC coverage. Historic England’s national HSC implementation has now covered all of England’s coasts and inshore and offshore regions. The Isles of Scilly are covered by the South West Peninsula HSC project (Dudley and Johns 2013). 2.9.5 National Mapping Programme The National Mapping Programme (NMP) grew out of Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME) projects to map large areas of archaeological remains visible on aerial photographs. Following pilot projects the programme started in 1990. The NMP for Scilly was carried out in 2003 by the Historic Environment Service, Cornwall County Council, to tie in with the RCZAS (Johns et al 2004) The NMP plot for Scilly added 108 sites to the HER, of these approximately 25% are in the coastal and intertidal zones. 2.10 Air photographs and LIDAR Good air photography cover exists for Scilly. It includes photographs taken by the OS, RAF and Admiralty. The National Monument Record holds 1154 specialist oblique records and 516 vertical prints. Historic Environment, Cornwall Council, has a collection of oblique and vertical photographs. Scilly has 1m resolution Lidar data, together with complete 0.25m aerial photographic coverage (available from the Channel Coastal Observatory http://www.channelcoast.org/southwest/). 2.11 Portable Antiquities Scheme The Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) only holds eight finds from Scilly on their database, with reference numbers CORN-50CE42, CORN-70BCB3, CORN-FEAC20, CORN-B5D061, CORN-327A62, CORN-31B2A7, SOM-163205 and HAMP-DB29D6. 2.12 Historic Environment Records 2.12.1 The Cornwall and Scilly Historic Environment Record The Scilly Sites and Monuments Register (SMR) was set up by the Institute of Cornish Studies in 1983 and is currently maintained by the Historic Environment team of Cornwall Council, as part of the Cornwall and Scilly Historic Environment Record (HER). The Cornwall Scilly HER contains records for 10 Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sites, 43 Neolithic sites, 684 Bronze Age sites, 107 Iron Age and Romano-British sites, 43 early medieval sites, 63 late medieval sites, 546 post-medieval sites and 88 modern sites. 36 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 The Cornwall and Scilly HER also holds copies of grey literature reports for interventions relating to the historic environment in Scilly. The Sites and Monuments Record for the Cornwall and Scilly HER is digitally and publically available via the Heritage Gateway website. The contact details for the Cornwall and Scilly HER are also available via Heritage Gateway. 2.12.2 The National Monument Record Fig 2.8 Distribution of NMR records for the Isles of Scilly. The National Monument Record (NMR) holds 1462 terrestrial and maritime records for Scilly (Fig 2.8) and 180 NMR event activity reports. 2.12.3 The United Kingdom Hydrographic Office The United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, Taunton (UKHO) holds 183 wreck and underwater obstruction records for the Isles of Scilly and a large number of charts and maps. 2.13 Museums and archives 2.13.1 The Isles of Scilly Museum Following the severe gales in the winter of 1962 the small island of Nornour yielded up some remarkable Roman finds, causing some St Mary’s residents to establish a local museum. Initially the only viable option was a temporary display in the Wesleyan Chapel during the summer months. After much fundraising and thanks to huge volunteer enthusiasm, the present Museum was opened to the public on 15 July 1967. The Isles of Scilly Museum (IOSM) is situated in Hugh Town, St Mary’s. The collections are extremely diverse, including material from many wrecks, prehistoric and Roman artefacts, natural and social history, local art and much more. In order to preserve links with the rich Scillonian past, the Museum has a comprehensive collection of oral history 37 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 videos featuring local residents. The Museum’s Baxter Room holds over 1200 books and also contains plans, surveys, magazines and assorted paper records relating to the Islands. The Trustees have the following objectives as far as the IOSM is concerned: to collect, preserve, display and interpret a representative collection of objects, photographs and works of art to illustrate the way of life of the inhabitants of the Isles of Scilly. Within limits imposed by resources, the Trustees will, on behalf of the IOSM, collect in the following fields: archaeology (terrestrial and marine); fine and decorative art; natural history; social, economic and local history; books; photography and film. Archaeology The Trustees will collect, preserve, display and interpret all available archaeological artefacts from the Isles of Scilly. It will, where possible, support any archaeological excavation within the Isles of Scilly and act as a depository for any finds and paper archives. On 20 April 2006 the Museum was awarded the status of Full Accreditation by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA); this was renewed in 2010. As the only Accredited Museum in the Isles of Scilly, the Museum is recognised by Historic England as the depository for material from past, current and future excavations. Amongst nearly 7000 accessions, the majority of which are archaeological material, the Museum holds finds and records from sites of all periods on Scilly. These include Bronze Age urns from Knackyboy and other entrance graves, the sword and mirror from an Iron Age cist on Bryher, prehistoric and Roman finds from Nornour and Early Christian material from Samson, St Helen's and Teän. There is a large collection of sherds, stone and metal tools and objects from these and many other sites throughout the Islands. They show a rich mixture of imports and local products and can be used to identify Scilly's connections with both mainland Britain and various areas on the Continent at different periods. Apart from the displayed objects the Museum has extensive stored material. This is shelved in standard boxes, and has been catalogued by site and period; it is available on request to visiting researchers. Archives The records, drawings and photographs of excavations carried out on the Islands are stored in files and plan drawers; these are also catalogued and available for research. The entire Accessions Register has been computerised and there is also a computerised index of the Museum storage areas. 2.13.2 The Royal Cornwall Museum The Royal Cornwall Museum (RCM) holds the majority of the archaeological finds and archives of Cornwall and a proportion for the Isles of Scilly on behalf of the Royal Institution of Cornwall (RIC), a charitable trust (RIC Isles of Scilly Collection List, July 2011). The RCM is a Museums, Libraries and Archives ‘accredited’ museum. The RCM is also the ‘designated’ Historic England store for Cornwall, eligible for storage box grants. All archaeological archives for Scilly are now deposited with the IOSM, St Mary’s. In 2003 the RCM became one of only 14 museums across the country to receive temporary financial support from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, and Education and Skills, through a programme called Renaissance in the Regions. The purpose of the funding was to build capacity in important regional museums, enabling them to become centres of excellence. Isles of Scilly finds and archives have benefited from recent work that has included reconciliation of documentation and repackaging of the collection in the Basement Store to current standards and a refurbishment of the main gallery displays where Isles of Scilly material is on display. Over the years, the museum has provided free resources for the study of the Isles of Scilly collection in terms of a specialist archaeological curator and conservator, 38 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 equipment and customised research space within the stores. The Curators’ library and the Courtney Library reference library are available to researchers. Some of the archives were placed at the RCM so that the IOSM could exhibit ‘displayable’ material while the RCM housed the archives for researchers, due to lack of space at the IOSM (Anna Tyacke, previous Curator, pers comm). The majority of the Isles of Scilly collection was ‘deposited’ by the Ministry of Works/Historic Buildings Commission/Historic England or the Duchy and are, effectively, on loan. Loan agreements are currently being agreed by the Duchy and the RIC. Since 2005, the IOSM has liaised with the RCM, CAU and Historic England regarding the repatriation of archaeological archives. Some finds and archives were donated to the RCM and these will remain at the museum but could be loaned to the IOSM. The RCM will retain material donated and currently on display. 2.13.3 Other archives The British Museum holds some artefacts, including Bonsor’s finds from Porth Hellick Down, Normandy Down, Obadiah’s Barrow, and Samson. Other material is held at the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology in Cambridge, the Museum of the Torquay Natural History Society and in a Historic England store. Some material is also held in private collections of antiquities. Archives for current projects are held by various contractors and researchers. 2.14 Approaches to the study of the historic environment of islands Approaches to island archaeology were developed during the New Archaeology phase in the early 1970s and, as suited theoretical perspectives of the time, drew inspiration from the natural sciences, particularly island biogeography used to explain island biota. Of special interest was the publication of McArthur and Wilson (1968) that set out principles for understanding the processes for island colonisation by flora and fauna. Two key aspects of their treatise still remain influential today, the first is the distance vs. area effect and the second is founder effect. Distance vs. area effect sets out the limits to island settlement by proposing the fairly straightforward formula of the distance vs. area, where increases in the distance to the nearest mainland amplifies barriers to successful colonisation while the size of the island (its area), may mitigate this to a certain extent if it is large, but will also exacerbate barriers to colonisation if it is a small island. A complicating matter is ‘stepping stone islands’ which also have to be considered. Simply stated, big islands close to the mainland will present few barriers to colonising species, while small islands distant from the mainland will present the biggest barriers to colonising species and the expectation will be that there will be minimum species diversity on such islands. An add-on to the latter condition is that ‘founder effect’ may occur where a species finds itself in a new ecological niche, unchallenged by other species as it had been in its mainland habitat, and evolves in relative isolation to become distinct from its mainland ancestors. This for animals often appears to result in dwarfing, where the animals become much smaller than their mainland variety. In archaeology, island biogeography has been enlisted to explain why the Mediterranean islands were colonised by humans in the order that radiocarbon dates of the time suggested (Cherry 1981), and why people in islands constructed unique structures, like the carved heads of Easter Island and the Copper Age temples of Malta (Evans 1973). While few island archaeologists now accept that human activities are governed by the same principles that apply to other animals or plants, the theories developed in island biogeography still have a role in thinking through the differences that islands hold, compared to communities in mainland situations. Cyprian Broodbank (2000) has proposed the term ‘islandscapes’ as a way of recognising that the seascapes and 39 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 landscapes that make up island environments are distinct from landscapes as viewed through the typical lens of landscape archaeology. Paul Rainbird (2007) has gone a step further in highlighting the ascendancy of the marine environment in island lives, arguing for an ‘archaeology of the sea’ that acknowledges the values of fusion, fluidity and flux in island histories. In this, initial assessments of island history should assume, until shown otherwise, that the sea was a highway, allowing for the fusion of cultural traits from a variety of directions, for fluidity in the directions of the contacts and flux in the amount of contacts in any particular direction, with, on occasions, extremely limited direct contact, but always with the expectation among island peoples that contact with outsiders may occur at any time. Approaches to island archaeology may help us to problematise and theorise our expectations of the Scillonian archipelago at various phases in its history. Firstly, we need to know that we are dealing with an island or islands for any particular time, limiting the use of island archaeology (except in a purely metaphorical sense), to the last 12,000 years. A proxy indicator of a long-term separation from the mainland comes in the form of the Scilly Shrew (Crocidura suaveolens), which is unique to the islands (Hosfield et al 2008). Within this period it would be useful to know whether other islands, capable of acting as stepping stone islands for humans, existed between Scilly and the mainland. The Seven Stones and other submerged rocks may have remained usable islands for millennia (Hosfield et al 2008). In regard to accessibility, Scilly is visible from the mainland despite the 45km of current sea gap. Potential past usable islands at Wolf Rock or Seven Stones would reduce sea distances to some 32km, but given the low altitudes would not much improve intervisibility. In human history the earliest evidence for sea travel beyond the sight of land dates to the Upper Palaeolithic in Melanesia, where the island of Manus was settled. More locally we might compare Scilly to St Kilda, the most famous of Atlantic archipelagos, which has evidence of occupation in the Neolithic (Fleming 2005). Scilly in the Neolithic would have attained a similar altitude as today, 50m. By comparison, St Kilda reaches 430m and is 64km from the stepping stone islands of the Outer Hebrides. At the end of the Neolithic in c 2500 cal BC Scilly had an estimated area of 31.7 sq km (Charman et al 2016) while St Kilda had an area probably similar to today of 8.5 sq km. Both island groups are situated in the Atlantic and both could be seen from their nearest occupied neighbours. The conditions relating to St Kilda, in its small size and greater distance from neighbour, relative to Scilly, should indicate from an island biogeography perspective that the colonisation of Scilly was an easier undertaking. In regard to the evidence for Neolithic settlement on St Kilda, Fleming (2005, 54) concluded that ‘it is obviously wrong to think of the archipelago as so ‘marginal’ that it was settled reluctantly and late, or so remote that any prehistoric culture must necessarily have developed an eccentric character.’ Anthropologists of migration point out that it is rare for colonisation to take place by ad hoc exploration, but is rather usually direct and to a known place. Once settlement has occurred connections with the source community are typically maintained. Causes of migration can be varied but in general fall into the category of either ‘push’ or ‘pull’ effects (cf Anthony 1990). A push effect occurs when there is an impetus in the home community for a group to depart; this may be, for example, a coping mechanism for population pressure, what Lewis Binford (1968) called ‘budding off’. The alternative is the pull effect where there is something at the target destination which attracts people to migrate; this may be the exploitation of new (but known) resources. A further conclusion drawn from the anthropology of migration is that migration is rarely a single event, but more usually a process where the visits to a place only ultimately through time result in long-term residential relocation (Curet 2005). This assumes a migration and can be considered in relation to the evidence for Scilly, but it may also be the case that new, particularly neighbouring islands come into the orbit of a community through expansion, and there are many circumstances where archipelagos and mainland are part of the same community. For the Aegean Sea Christos Doumas (2003) has noted 40 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 that all islands have a corresponding part of a larger land mass, the mainland or a bigger island, with which they share cultural links; this he calls the peraia. Moving beyond the direct associations between a community and its peraia, the Scilly archipelago, with West Penwith, is geographically located on a significant node in relation to what, following Sir Cyril Fox (1932), we may call the ‘western seaways’. Since the first half of the twentieth century geographers and archaeologists have recognised the important influence of the sea in understanding the human history of the Atlantic archipelago. Much of the focus was on maritime routes connecting large parts of the central archipelago; that is, on the east side of Ireland and west side of Britain. Routes were envisaged plying in both directions through and across the Irish and Celtic Seas and heading south to the Bristol Channel, the south-west peninsula of Britain and to Brittany and Galicia and beyond. In the north these passed through the Inner and Outer Hebrides, continuing to the Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland and beyond, towards the Faeroes, Iceland and Scandinavia. Jonathan Wooding (1996) has reviewed the character of the western seaways, noting the coastal geography, prevailing winds, currents, tides and shoals and off-shore rocks, and finds that ‘The societies which have existed along the western sea lanes have regularly navigated these forbidding waters, finding various technological solutions to the conditions. Initially disconcerting, the conditions command respect, but are not so terrifying as to compel travellers to go overland by preference’ (ibid, 6). It is the long-term experience of these waters which is essential to their use and as such, it is not surprising that a number of the scholars of the western seaways were based at the University in Aberystwyth where the vista from their windows overlooking the Irish Sea may have helped shape their perspectives. Emrys G Bowen was professor of geography and anthropology and was the last great advocate of the western seaways concept in its first phase. Bowen (1970; 1972) provides a history of the development of thinking on this matter, showing that those educated in classical traditions were influenced by concepts of the Roman Empire where ‘the sea divides; the land unites’. Later scholars such as O G S Crawford, H J Fleure and Sir Cyril Fox took the opposite view and can be seen to be influential in allowing the archaeologist Gordon Childe to imagine the Irish Sea as having ‘grey waters as bright with Neolithic argonauts as the western Pacific is today’ (quoted in Bowen 1970, 14). This view of the western seaways was taken up with vigour and they became identified as the source for everything from megalithic tombs (Daniel 1941) to Celtic Christianity (Bowen 1969). However, although such other luminaries of twentieth century archaeology as Christopher Hawkes, Stuart Piggott, Ralegh Radford and Charles Thomas had found good uses for the concept, in the 1970s few other academic scholars shared such vistas and, with prehistorians rejecting migrationist and diffusionist views of culture history, the western seaways fell out of favour. In the twenty-first century the western seaways have been revived by a new group of scholars, not that they completely went away, as illustrated in a review by Cummings and Fowler (2004). Many archaeologists are finding the role of communication by sea a useful explanatory framework for understanding both similarities and differences in the material remains in various periods of the prehistoric past (e.g., Cunliffe 2001). The nuanced interpretations available derived from the debates following the rejection of culture history as a descriptive and explanatory device. This means that archaeologists are now better able to interrogate and interpret exotic material and proxy indicators as evidence of overseas, and perhaps regular, contact, without compromising understandings of local identity and difference. 41 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 2.15 Palaeoenvironmental studies 2.15.1 Introduction The Isles of Scilly contain wide expanses of shallow subtidal and intertidal environments and archaeological remains that were flooded by rising sea-levels during the last 11,700 years (the Holocene). The timing and nature of changing land areas and the separation of the individual islands has, in the past, been the subject of much conjecture and debate. 2.15.2 William Borlase and O G S Crawford Fig 2.9 Stone walls on Samson Flats, photographed by Alexander Gibson in 1926. The intertidal stone walls on Samson Flats in Scilly were first noted by the famous Cornish antiquarian Dr William Borlase in the mid-18th century: ‘The Sand, some of the brightest colour I saw in all the Islands, has been blown up by the Northern winds, and covered great part of that which is called the BREHAR [North] Hill of Samson: it is blown off again in some common little breaks and channels of the Hill, where I saw Hedges of stone six feet under the common run of the Sand-banks: here are also many remains of Hedges descending from the Hill, and running many feet under the level of the Sea towards TRESCAW, and I must observe to you that the Flats hereabouts betwixt TRESCAW, BREHAR and SAMSON, are quite dry at the low water of a Spring-Tide, and men easily pass dry-shod from one Island to another over Sandbanks, where Hedges and Ruins are frequently discovered upon the shifting of the Sands, and upon which at full Sea there are ten and twelve feet of water’ (Borlase 1756, 26). ‘These are certain evidences that the Islands last mentioned were once one continued tract of Land, divided into Fields, and cultivated even in those low parts (which are now over-run with the Sea and Sand’ (Borlase 1756, 26). 42 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 It is possible that the ‘Hedges and Ruins’ that Borlase saw were more prominent and extensive than are evident today. We know that Augustus Smith’s improvements during the mid-19th century included clearing rocks from the flats between Tresco and Samson; a contemporary watercolour shows a team of men blasting rocks and removing them in the area of Puffin Island and Great Rag Ledge (Llewellyn 2005, 33) and there are stones split by plug and feather at Black Ledge and further inshore (Camidge et al 2010, 22, 28, 33, 37). Over a century and a half later in 1926 OGS Crawford, having read Borlase’s account, visited Samson during a low spring tide to examine the submerged walls, accompanied by local photographer Alexander Gibson (Fig 2.9). Crawford subsequently obtained air photographs of Samson flats and concluded that Scilly, rather than the Seven Stones, was the lost land of Lyonesse – Lyonesse was a legendary, low-lying country which once extended westwards from Land’s End to the Isles of Scilly (Crawford 1927), although he later considered that these features might instead be the remains of medieval fish traps (Crawford 1946). 2.15.3 Exploration of a drowned landscape From the 1920s numerous other remains were discovered in the beach and intertidal zone – some 50 recorded sites comprising the remains of roundhouses, field walls and cists – and also a handful of permanently submerged sites. Although the submergence of Scilly had been considered by other writers (for example, Ashbee 1974), the late Professor Charles Thomas (with assistance from Peter Fowler) made a particular study of this important aspect of Scilly’s historic environment (Fowler and Thomas 1979; Thomas 1985) having become interested in the subject in 1956 while excavating on Teän, where he identified the remains of an early field system on the shore of the island (Thomas 1960b; Thomas and Johns 2018). Thomas’ influential model for ancient sea-level rise in Scilly was published in the classic ‘Exploration of a Drowned Landscape’ (1985). To calculate sea-level change since 3000 BC, in the absence of radiocarbon dates from the intertidal zone, he used the vertical positions of submerged archaeological sites which could be broadly dated from artefactual evidence or by analogy with sites elsewhere. Thomas assumed that these sites were originally located at what he termed the Minimum Occupation Level (MOL), just above the contemporary shoreline, at 1.8m above High Astronomical Tide (HAT), 5.3m above Mean Sea Level (MSL), and that the tidal range in Scilly has remained constant for the last 5000 years; that is, 6.4m between HAT and LAT (Low Astronomical Tide) (Ratcliffe and Straker 1997, 74–5). Having plotted the vertical positions of the dated sites in relation to present MSL, he was able to calculate the height of the latter for the periods when the sites were in use, by subtracting 5.3m in each case (Thomas 1985, 26, fig 2). He then adjusted the results of this calculation by introducing a downward deflection of 20mm at AD 1000 and doubling this deflection at five-century intervals. In this way he changed his sealevel/age line into a curve, which indicated that around 3000 BC MSL was almost 17m below that of today (ibid, 27, fig 3). The curve for Scilly is much steeper than that for Newlyn or the Bristol Channel and he suggests that this difference is the result of a very localised downward displacement of Scilly's granitic laccolith in addition to more general isostatic movement (Ratcliffe and Straker 1997, 74–5). According to Thomas, his model represents an average yearly rise in sea-level of 2.1– 2.6mm, which equates to 210–260mm every 100 years and 2.1–2.6m every 1000 years. However, although his model assumes that the submergence of Scilly was a gradual process, he recognised an alternative scenario which could also have involved more dramatic events such as tidal surges, the displacement of huge volumes of water in a particular direction (Thomas 1985, 28–31, 48–52). Perhaps the most controversial aspect of Thomas's model is his suggestion that today's islands did not finish forming until relatively recent times (ibid, 34). He suggested that 43 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 until the end of the Roman period all of them (excluding St Agnes, Gugh and Annet) were joined together at high water and that as recently as the 11th century AD the position was still the same at low water, separation not being complete until the early Tudor period. He used the distribution of Cornish and English coastal and shore placenames to support this hypothesis. The early pre-sixteenth century Cornish forms are seen to be restricted to the outer coasts and rocks of today's islands, while the later English names populate their inward-facing shores (ibid, 39, fig 10; Ratcliffe and Straker 1997, 74–5). 2.15.4 Assessment and sampling programme 1989–1993 Fig 2.10 Sea-level change in Scilly – Lines A and B after Thomas 1985, fig 2; Line C based on calibrated date ranges for selected intertidal peat samples (A-B = Par Beach, C-F = Crab’s Ledge; G-I = Porth Mellon (from Ratcliffe and Straker 1997). Over a five-year period from 1989‒1993, with funding from English Heritage and in conjunction with the Ancient Monuments laboratory and Bristol University, Cornwall Archaeological Unit carried out a small-scale recording and sampling programme to record coastal sites and assess the palaeoenvironmental potential of early sites in Scilly. The results of the project, referred to in this volume as the Coastal Erosion Project (CEP), were published in ‘The early environment of Scilly’ (Ratcliffe and Straker 1996). One of the key aims of the project was to assess whether the intertidal peat deposits of Scilly could be used to test and refine Thomas' model. Assessment of the peats indicated that this should be possible provided that detailed analyses were carried out. The excellent preservation of pollen and plant macrofossils within the sampled peats indicated that they have the potential to provide valuable information on the vegetation history of the islands and the process of coastal change. Diatom preservation was patchy but better at the base of organic sediments. Most are not true peats but minerogenic sediments containing varying amounts of organic material (ibid). 44 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 The data which emerged from biological analysis and radiocarbon dating undertaken by the project indicated that sea-level rise in Scilly was more gradual than Thomas' model suggested. During the first five centuries AD, for example, the mean sea-level may have been some 1–1.6m below the present level compared with Thomas’ estimate of approximately 3.5–4.7m below. However, there were problems with making such comparisons because different data was used and for both types of data there are difficulties in ascertaining what the evidence actually means in terms of the evolution of the present coastline (Ratcliffe and Straker 1997, 74–6). Thomas had to assume that his dateable sites were located at the contemporary MOL and also that MOL has consistently been 5.3m above MSL. In addition, most of his sites are only very broadly dated and some could now be attributed to different periods than those suggested by him (ibid). Ratcliffe and Straker’s tentative first attempt to refine the curve for sea-level change in Scilly is shown above in Figure 2.10 (Line C), but they commented that detailed biostratigraphic analyses would be needed to confirm it. The two sigma calibrated date ranges for selected radiocarbon measurements obtained from the intertidal sediments were plotted against their respective Ordnance Datum (OD) heights, and a best fit line (estimated by eye) drawn through them (Line C). This is shallower in gradient than Lines A and B, which are taken from Thomas (1985, fig 2) and recalculated to OD rather than CD (Chart Datum). The intersection of Line C with around AD 2000 appears to suggest that the present intertidal sediments accumulated close to the High Spring Tide (HST) level. In order to facilitate comparison with Thomas' data, the (possibly erroneous) assumption was made that the difference between MSL and HST has remained constant (with MSL being about 2.8m below HST), then between about AD 1 and AD 500, MSL may have been about 1–1.6m below the present level, compared with Thomas' estimated 3.5–4.7m below it. At about 1000 BC, Thomas' model suggests a figure of about -7.25m OD for MSL, which is in the order of 4.7m lower than that which the results from the peat deposits might indicate. The 1989–1993 results indicated that it is unlikely that the land area was as great as Thomas suggested, although it was clear that the land exposed above HST in Scilly was formerly more extensive (Ratcliffe and Straker 1997, 74–6). The Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey (RCZAS) for Scilly produced coarsely rendered submergence models based on and crudely extrapolated from the ‘best fit’ line C suggested by Ratcliffe and Straker in 1996 (Johns et al 2004). 2.15.5 Other palaeoenvironmental work The early development of the Isles of Scilly, particularly since the last Ice Age, has been the subject of much speculation and research (Scourse 1985; 1986; 1991; 2006; and references therein). Data from the Holocene has been accumulating slowly and often in a fragmentary way. In the late 1970s and early 1980s sampling and pollen analysis were carried out at Higher and Lower Moors mires which are located behind coastal barriers on St Mary’s (Scaife 1980; 1982; 1984). These are still the two longest pollen sequences from Scilly (both in terms of depth and time span) and have provided a general background vegetational history which is at least partially fixed by radiocarbon dating (a few dates were obtained from Higher Moors, the longer sequence, which dates back to the Middle Mesolithic (HAR-3694-5, HAR-3723-4; Tables 3.1, 4.1 and 5.1). Pollen studies carried out since the 1960s have produced valuable information regarding the past vegetation and environmental history of Scilly. Analysis of peat samples from the two major wetlands of Higher and Lower Moors, St. Mary's, has provided a general background vegetational history for the islands (Scaife 1984). Radiocarbon determinations from Higher Moors made it possible to broadly date the vegetational changes represented in pollen diagrams. During the sixth millennium BC woodland of mainly oak, birch and hazel predominated. Partial woodland clearance, accompanied by cereal cultivation, occurred during the Bronze Age, but was followed by 45 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 a phase of localised woodland rejuvenation. By the Early to Middle Iron Age, however, this cover had virtually disappeared. Pollen results reflecting very localised vegetation and environmental change have been obtained from palaeosoils buried beneath blown sand. Dimbleby's work at Innisidgen produced the first direct evidence of deciduous forest cover on St Mary's, together with evidence of early agricultural activities (Dimbleby et al 1981). Soil pollen analyses at Nornour (Greig and Keeley 1978), Halangy Down (Dimbleby et al 1981) and Bar Point (Balaam 1981) reflect the open conditions and more intensive agriculture which prevailed during the Iron Age. Some work has been carried out on buried soils themselves, for example at Nornour (Greig and Keeley 1978; Keeley 1978), Little Bay (Keeley 1983), Samson (Keeley 1974), Bar Point (Macphail 1981) and Hillside Farm, Bryher (Heathcote 2000). In 2006 Rob Scaife carried out analysis of a ‘spot’ pollen sample from a soil underlying the eroded Bronze Age round cairn exposed in the cliff face at Pendrathen, St Mary’s. This showed that the cairn was built on grassland or pasture within a region of hazel scrub woodland, indicating for the first time in Scilly the apparent effects of immediate post-woodland clearance and establishment of grassland, possibly pasture, and also the consequent expansion of hazel woodland (Scaife 2011). The Lyonesse Project, a three-year project funded by Historic England to study the evolution of the coastal and marine environment of Scilly, was carried out between 2009 and 2012 by HE Projects and a team of specialists from Historic England’s Scientific Dating team, the Universities of Aberystwyth, Cardiff, Exeter and Plymouth, with local marine archaeologists and enthusiasts from CISMAS and the Islands Maritime Archaeology Group (IMAG) (Charman et al 2016). The project involved geophysical survey of submerged peat deposits, assessment, survey and sampling on intertidal peat deposits, palaeoenvironmental analysis, radiocarbon dating and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating. Peat deposits of varying depths are also known to exist behind other coastal barriers, such as shingle banks and dunes. Higher and Lower Moors on St Mary's are the best examples, but peats are also known in Big Pool, St Agnes, and The Pool on Bryher; these and other fragmentary pollen sequences are reported in Scourse (Scourse 1986; Scourse 2006). During 1996/7 the Royal Commission on the Historic Monuments of England (RCHME) carried out surveys of archaeology and peat exposures below HWM at Crab’s Ledge, Bathinghouse Porth and Appletree Bay, Tresco, at Tresco Flats and Green Bay, Bryher, and on the stone row and a wave-cut line at Par Beach, St Martin’s. Fixed survey points were established to allow for re-survey and re-levelling and the digital survey, completed in April 1997, was successfully downloaded into the Council of the Isles of Scilly’s GIS. Unfortunately, the digital data seem to have been lost and these data only exist as hard copy. These were scanned and geo-referenced as best possible in by the Lyonesse Project GIS to align with coincident features on OS modern mapping. The fixed survey points were not located during the Lyonesse Project fieldwork. Archaeological work in the 1990s associated with the implementation of coastal protection schemes included the sampling of intertidal peat deposits at Porth Coose on St Agnes (Johns et al forthcoming) and Old Town Bay, St Mary's (Ratcliffe and Straker 1998); the latter project involved disturbance of two peat layers underlying the surface of the beach. Two radiocarbon dates were obtained from the lower peat deposit: the lower date calibrated to 360 cal BC – cal AD 390 (Wk-5695; Table 6.2) and the date for the top of the sequence calibrated to cal AD 420-660 (Wk-5696; Table 7.1), suggesting that this wetland became inundated by sand at some time in the late Roman to early medieval periods. A small amount of sampling work has taken place at Big Pool, St Agnes during a search for sedimentological evidence for the effects of a tsunami related to the Lisbon 46 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 earthquake of AD 1755 (Foster 2006, 154‒61). The stratigraphic sequence within the pool consists of layers of peat and sand. A radiocarbon date of cal AD 890-1160 (GU2569; Table 7.1) was obtained for the lower (medieval) band of peat deposits (Foster et al 1991) and OSL dating (BP-90S and BP-22S; Table 9.5) of quartz from sand and sediments was consistent with an expected age of 244 years BP and it was deduced that the thick sand layer here was probably deposited by the 1755 tsunami rather than storm surge events (Banerjee et al 2001). Historic England’s Coastal peat resource database (Isles of Scilly) (Hazell 2008) records 19 peat deposits at 12 sites in the intertidal zone. Most of these were discovered during the CEP or by local amateur archaeologists who reported their findings to CAU (Ratcliffe and Straker 1996). As well as shelves of peat exposed on the beach surface, buried and subtidal bands have also been identified: in 2005 an extensive deposit of peat was identified on the seabed at a depth of about 6m between Pots Reef and Crow Rock off St Mary’s by local diver Todd Stevens (Johns and Mulville 2011, 26; Charman et al 2016). Archaeological watching briefs undertaken in 2007–8 during refurbishments to the offisland quays on Bryher, St Agnes, St Martin’s and Tresco proved to be unproductive in terms of palaeoenvironmental material (Johns and Sawyer 2008; Wessex Archaeology 2008). In 2014, CAU carried out an investigation in the area of the Boat Park at Porthloo, St Mary’s, on behalf of the Duchy of Cornwall. Although there was no visible evidence for peat on the surface of the beach a mechanically excavated test pit on it was found to contain a 2.1m deep sequence of peat deposits buried below about 1m of rubble. Samples from the peat sequence were recovered in contiguous monolith tins for analysis; 21 pollen samples were counted and nine radiocarbon determinations obtained (UBA-26168-76; Tables 5.1, 6.2, 7.1 and 8.2). The pollen analysis recorded a transition from high levels of woodland at the base of the sequence to an open, grassdominated, pastoral landscape in the Late Bronze Age (Johns et al 2014). Subsequent to this aquatic taxa in the pollen sequence indicated significant local changes at the site implying the presence of a shallow lake or lagoon in this part of St Mary’s, as suggested by other sources (Lousely 1971; Pérez-Fernández 2013). An aged-depth model has allowed the timing and duration of two significant episodes of blown sand deposition to be estimated (Perez et al 2015, fig 2; the age-depth model was produced using CLAM, Blaauw 2010). The lower sand deposit was deposited between cal AD 595–685 (95% probability) and cal 615–715 (95% probability). This is likely to represent a very short interval of sand deposition, the model estimate it to have lasted between 0–25 years (68% probability). The upper sand deposit was deposited between cal AD 675–835 (95% probability) and cal 1055–13805 (95% probability). This is likely to represent a much longer interval of sand deposition, the model estimate it to have lasted between 410–555 years (68% probability). The deposits may represent the remnants of dunes that encroached onto the wetland as a result of stormy conditions such as those seen during the winter of 2013/14. The presence of a shallow lake or lagoon, as indicated in the pollen record, provides supportive evidence for a dune system acting as a barrier to drainage of the site (Johns et al 2014; Perez et al 2015). 2.15.6 Related research and fieldwork Gary Robinson’s PhD thesis investigated the prehistoric island landscape of Scilly, using and modifying the Ratcliffe and Straker (1996) data to produce an independent sealevel curve and a map to characterise the prehistoric Scillonian coastline in c 2000 BC (ibid, 37, figs 4.7 and 4.8). In his paper ‘Journeys through the seascapes of Scilly’ (2007) he explored the concept of prehistoric journeys within the seascapes model he created for his thesis and how these might shed new light on the landscape settings of prehistoric monuments. 47 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 A survey of the linear stone features on Samson Flats was carried out by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Maritime Archaeological Society (CISMAS) in 2009 and 2010 (Camidge et al 2010). The extent and complexity of the exposed archaeological features proved greater than was originally envisaged. Dating of the features was problematic. It was considered possible that they were originally prehistoric walls which were re-used and augmented as part of later structures (for example, fish traps). In 2013 Robinson used the Isles of Scilly as a case study in his paper ‘‘A sea of small boats’: places and practices of the prehistoric seascape of western Britain’ (Robinson 2013), this time employing a refined model for sea-level change on Scilly created for an MSc thesis (Mortimer 2011). The model used new oceanic data not previously available as well as established sea-level index points, bathymetric and Glacio Isostatic Adjustment (GIA) data and tidal amplitudes generated within a palaeo-tidal model. From 9000 cal BC to 5000 cal BC Mortimer’s model is not dissimilar to that produced by the Lyonesse Project. However, his model lacks the palaeoenvironmental and scientific dating evidence which informed the Lyonesse Project model and so from the Late Neolithic — Early Bronze Age (c 3000 – 1500 cal BC) onwards does not reproduce the extensive intertidal zone which the Lyonesse Project’s pollen data indicate existed between the northern islands until the early medieval period (below, Chapters 7 and 8). Also in 2013, new palaeogeographic models for Britain, Ireland and the north-west French coast at 500-year intervals from 9000 cal BC to the present were created as part of the wider AHRC-funded Neolithic Stepping Stones project (Sturt et al 2013; Garrow and Sturt 2017). These models were used to calculate the varying rates of inundation for different geographical zones over the study period to allow for consideration of the differential impact that Holocene sea-level rise had across space and time, particularly on past societies. With the application of tidal modelling, their results for Scilly appear similar to those of the Lyonesse Project, indicating a wide intertidal zone and the northern islands beginning to break up in the Later Neolithic (Fraser Sturt, pers comm). Marta Pérez-Fernández’s PhD thesis (2013) explored the impact of environmental changes (relative sea level increase and climate) on coastal communities and to investigate how these environmental factors controlled subsistence economies through the Holocene using the Isles of Scilly as case study. An important objective of this thesis was to determine the impact of relative sea level rise in Scilly and the extent of the islands over time. A new sea level curve for Scilly was generated through GIA using the Bradley et al (2011) method and palaeogeographic maps were produced applying the sea level curve to a new combined bathymetric and topographic model for Scilly. Three terrestrial stratigraphic pollen sequences were obtained from the two main wetland areas of Scilly (one from Higher Moors and two from Lower Moors) covering the past 3000 years. Detailed palaeoenvironmental interpretation was enabled by high resolution pollen analysis which indicated that the landscape of Scilly has been an open landscape, heavily managed for pastoral and arable agriculture since the Bronze Age. Pérez-Fernández concluded that the archaeological and palaeoenvironmental record both appear demonstrate that Scillonian societies had a strong resilience and were able to adapt to environmental changes by diversifying their economic strategies and taking advantage of the new conditions, such as different coastal margins (2013). 2.15.7 The Lyonesse Project The Lyonesse Project, a collaborative research project undertaken by Cornwall Archaeological Unit, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Maritime Archaeology Society, The Islands Maritime Archaeology Group, Aberystwyth, Cardiff, and Exeter Universities, and Historic England between 2009 and 2016, investigated the changing nature of Scilly environment during the Holocene. Alongside reconstructing how the prehistoric inhabitants of the islands adapted to their changing land and seascape. The Lyonesse 48 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Project also sought to investigate past and present climate change and sea-level rise (Charman et al 2016). Sediment samples from 25 locations across the archipelago were taken for palaeoenvironmental analysis that included: pollen analysis for the reconstruction of vegetation change, and foraminifera analysis for identification of different saltmarsh environments. Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) of sand units and radiocarbon dating of organic material (plant remains and sediments) provided a chronological framework for interpreting the palaeoenvironmental proxies. Fig 2.11 All sea-level data from Scilly, showing all limiting index points (max. and min. depths from freshwater peats) and multiple index points from some profiles based on both radiocarbon and modelled age estimates, sometimes from the same samples. Error bars show total error in palaeo-elevation estimates and 2σ age ranges. Continuous lines are the sea-level curves of Thomas (1985), Ratcliffe and Straker (1996) and as derived from Bradley (2011) (from Charman et al 2016). Plotting the sea-level index points allows a reconstruction of the timing and tempo of changing sea-levels to be reconstructed. The data show that previous reconstructions of sea-level change were inaccurate: the imaginative attempt by the late Professor Charles Thomas (1985), without any scientific dates, based on the vertical positions of submerged archaeological sites that could be broadly dated on the basis of associated material culture and coastal names clearly overemphasised the rapid rise of sea-level. The more gradual rise proposed by Ratcliffe and Straker (1996), based on the first radiocarbon dated samples is more consistent with the new data but only for the last few thousand years. The new data generated does though show a good fit with the most recent estimates of relative sea-level changes around the British Isles (Fig 2.11). The provision of baseline data on local relative sea-level change has been used alongside estimates of past sea-level change to estimate future sea-level rise in Scilly. Changes in land and intertidal areas on Scilly by 2100 resulting from the four scenarios for future sea-level rise suggest some loss of land surface, but with the largest change being the reduction to the intertidal zones. The result of such a loss in intertidal area will be significant for the character of Scilly with islands becoming permanently separated by deeper waters and surrounded by relatively narrow intertidal areas. There is therefore a risk of flooding of low lying and narrow areas of land that may result in 49 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 the formation of new islands. Although potentially dramatic these changes, if they happen as predicted, will be relatively minor compared to those that happened in the second half of the third millennium cal BC. 2.15.8 Summary of vegetation change on Scilly from the Lateglacial to present The Lyonesse Project pollen data represent almost the entire last 13,500 years of vegetation history on the Isles of Scilly and thus provide a unique insight into the development of the landscape of the islands from the end of the last Ice Age through the Holocene, set against the backdrop of changing sea levels. The Lateglacial period is rather poorly known for South West Britain. The lack of glacially deepened basins in the region means that there are fewer natural sediment sinks than in northern Britain. Records of change are therefore often fragmentary and need to be reconstructed from several profiles, as has been the case on Scilly. This section provides a summary of the key changes and their relationship with vegetation changes elsewhere in the south west. The earliest records of vegetation on Scilly come from organic deposits within periglacial head deposits at a number of locations. Radiocarbon dates from Watermill Cove, St Mary’s, suggest that some of the sediments accumulated around 35950– 34560 cal BC (Q-2408; Table 3.2), whereas at Carn Morval, St Mary’s, the sediments dated to 26860–26300 cal BC (Q-2356; Table 3.2) and 24040–23670 cal BC (Q-2358; Table 3.2). At Porth Seal, St Mary’s, dates of 37570–36590 cal BC (Q-2410; Table 3.2) and 28230–27540 cal BC (Q-2409; Table 3.2) were obtained (Scourse, ed, 1986; Scourse 1991). Elsewhere it has been suggested that South West Britain held refugial populations of coniferous trees during the last glacial maximum between c 26,000 and 19,000 cal BC (Kelly et al 2010). Elevated levels of pine pollen at the same time in the Carn Morval record may provide some support for the idea, but the interpretation of these sequences is disputed and long-distance pollen transport or reworking of older sediments could explain high percentage values in both sequences (Scourse 2010; Kelly et al 2010). The earliest records from the Lyonesse Project occur in the submerged sediments from St Mary’s Road (SA2-5/5). These are dated well after the last glacial maximum at 11360–11180 cal BC (SUERC-38109; Table 3.2) and reflect a treeless grass- and sedge-dominated landscape by this time, which was presumably a continuation of the cold climate flora from the last glacial maximum. The small amounts of tree pollen (mostly <1%) that are found in the Lateglacial sediments most probably reflect longdistance pollen transport from further south across what is now the continental shelf, but which would have been exposed due to much lower sea levels. The grassland was herb-rich, characterised especially by a range of taxa from the daisy family (Asteraceae, Lactuceae), the buttercups (Ranunculaceae) and low growing perennials such as Sagina. Because most of these taxa are relatively low pollen producers compared to grasses and sedges, these herbaceous taxa must have been abundant. There is a change to a lower species diversity, lower percentages of the herbaceous flora and an increase in grasses at 11080–10830 cal BC (SUERC-38104; Table 3.2), recorded at SA2 5/5, which may reflect the onset of the Lateglacial stadial. This has recently been defined as Greenland Stadial 1 (GS1) at c 11180–10620 cal BC (12,896 ± 128 years b2k) (Lowe et al 2008), so the timing is certainly within the error in the SA2 5/5 chronology. The timing and nature of this rapid cooling event in South West Britain is poorly known, although there was greater sediment mobility and more open tundra vegetation on both Bodmin Moor (Brown 1977) and Dartmoor (Caseldine and Maguire 1986). Pollen data from the Lizard peninsula suggests that heathland already made up a significant component of the mainland British landscape in the Lateglacial period (Forster and Robinson 2011) but there is no evidence for this on Scilly, perhaps suggesting the 50 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 development of richer, deeper soils on the islands even relatively soon after deglaciation. The end of the Lateglacial stadial (GS1) and the start of the Holocene on Scilly is difficult to determine precisely because the radiocarbon dates on this part of the sequence in St Mary’s Road may be in error (Section 5.1.4). The dates from Porth Hellick, St Mary’s (LPPH1), suggest that significant tree cover had developed by 9640– 9280 cal BC (SUERC-32915; Table 3.2), within perhaps a few hundred years of the start of the Holocene at about 9900–9500 cal BC or 11,700±99 years before AD 2000 (Walker et al 2008). The Porth Hellick profile suggests that there was spatial diversity in vegetation in the earliest Holocene before major tree expansion, with higher levels of willow (Salix) compared to St Mary’s Road. Although the date of the tree expansion is ambiguous, there is no doubt it was rapid and both the Porth Hellick and St Mary’s Road cores show a simultaneous expansion of oak (Quercus) and hazel (Corylus). Birch was a major associated species at St Mary’s Road but was less common at Porth Hellick. Both locations show the forest was quite diverse, however, with ivy (Hedera), mountain ash (Sorbus) and honeysuckle (Lonicera) all present. The character of the forest cover was with oak and hazel as dominant taxa with other species less common except in favourable locations. The arrival and expansion of hazel and oak at the same time is a perhaps a little unusual in the context of other sites in southern Britain, where oak often precedes hazel. Hazel may well have spread by water transport up western coasts and arrived in Scilly at the same time as oak was continuing its steady migration into the south west after the last glacial (Birks 1989). The early environment on Scilly would have been a closed forest of oak-hazel with open areas in the low lying wetlands such as those at Porth Hellick and St Mary’s Road. There is clear evidence of forest disturbance in the St Mary’s Road area from as early as 6600–6460 cal BC (SUERC-38100; Table 3.2) and repeatedly after 5980–5760 cal BC (SUERC-28995; Table 3.2) until perhaps until 4720–4540 cal BC (OxA-25690; Table 3.2). The more fragmentary evidence from Great English Island Neck, near Nornour (Figs 6.9–6.11), is not sufficient to record sequences of disturbance and recovery similar to those in St Mary’s Road, but charcoal does occur in association with a transition to more open ground in several profiles there (for example, SA11-3, Fig 6.9). It thus appears that fire was a frequent event in the Mesolithic woodland on Scilly and it is possible that this reflects Mesolithic woodland management for red deer (see Section 8.2 below for further discussion). The disturbance led to temporary declines in oak, but favoured regrowth of birch and willow in St Mary’s Road (Fig 6.5). From c 6000 cal BC the forest composition became a little more diverse, with alder (Alnus), elm (Ulmus) and lime (Tilia) all present in low amounts, and sporadic occurrences of heather (Calluna), suggesting a diversification of the under storey. Ash (Fraxinus) is also present in the later sediments at SA2-7 (Fig 6.8) after 4710–4450 cal BC (OxA23861; Table 3.2). Forest cover reduced quite rapidly from c 5000 cal BC in St Mary’s Road and elsewhere. There is a very large reduction in oak at 5220 –5010 cal BC (SUERC-40882; Table 3.2), but with little change in other tree taxa. Hazel declines rapidly at 5040–4840 cal BC (SUERC-38084; Table 3.2) but the final decline in tree cover is from birch woodland at 4460–4350 cal BC (OxA-25681; Table 3.2). These changes appear to have been partly associated with fire events, but they may also have been related to rising sea levels in these low-lying areas. Increases in sedges (Cyperaceae) suggest that woodland cover gave way to increasing wetland extent, rather than being replaced by dryland vegetation, and the initial decrease in oak occurs before the large charcoal peak that is associated with a decline in willow. Close to Nornour, burning is associated with an initial decline and recovery of birch cover but the final reduction in birch is correlated with an increase in the Chenopodiaceae, which includes several saltmarsh taxa, reflecting increasing maritime influence from sea-level rise. Thus the change from early Holocene woodland to open ground in the lowlands was apparently driven by the 51 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 combined effects of human disturbance and burning and partly by changing hydrological conditions related to sea-level rise (Charman et al 2016). There is a gap in the pollen record from c 4000 to c 3100 cal BC which means that the nature of the vegetation cover at this time is unknown. However, on the higher elevation location at Par Beach, St Martin’s, the pollen data obtained by Lyonesse Project show dense birch cover and some hazel and heather, most probably within the forest as ground cover. The birch disappears almost completely at 3090-2910 cal BC (OxA-23825; Table 4.1) and this can be clearly attributed to clearance and fire as it is coincident with a charcoal peak and the expansion of dryland disturbed ground indicators, some of which, such as ribwort plantain (Plantago lanceolata), are associated with pastoral land use. The coastal influence is apparent in the grassland that replaces the forest, with plants such as sea thrift (Armeria) and stag’s horn plantain (P.coronopus). The sequences from St Martin’s suggest that there was very little tree cover at this time, although some birch, oak and hazel persist. The open grassland environment certainly lasted until at least 2580-2450 cal BC (SUERC-32925; Table 4.1) on St Martin’s (ibid). The Lyonesse Project’s pollen records from Porth Mellon on St Mary’s give an insight into the spatial variability of vegetation at this time. Although the landscape was certainly not completely forested from c 3000 cal BC, there was more extensive tree cover than on St Martin’s, with tree pollen above 50% and with a diverse composition, dominated by oak, birch and hazel but including alder, ash, willow, ivy, honeysuckle and mountain ash. It is possible that the woodland on St Mary’s is the source of at least some of the tree pollen on St Martin’s. The open ground pollen from Porth Mellon reflects pastoral land use with a diverse mix of meadow species and disturbed ground indicators. This mix of vegetation types persists into at least the second millennium cal BC at Porth Mellon, although the age control in the more recent record is poor (ibid). At some point prior to the Middle Bronze Age, 1620-1060 cal BC (HAR-3694; Table 4.1), there was small-scale woodland clearance at Higher Moors; cereal and ruderal pollen suggest this was for cultivation. Later in the Bronze Age the woodland regenerated and birch rose to dominance, although cereal and herbaceous pollen were still present, indicating continued cultivation. Organic deposits associated with a radiocarbon date of 4230–3940 cal BC (GU-5061; Table 4.1) were investigated at Par Beach, St Martin’s, in the early 1990s (Ratcliffe and Straker 1996, 19). These contain pollen spectra indicative of hazel-oak woodland during the earlier Neolithic. Later, but before 3490-3010 cal BC (GU-5060; Table 4.1), birch had colonised and replaced much of the hazel, but unlike at Higher Moors there is no evidence of forest clearance. Palynological examination of a later coastal peat exposure at Porth Mellon, St Mary’s, dating to 3270-2700 cal BC (GU-5394; Table 4.1), suggests local woodland dominated by birch, with a lesser component of hazel and oak. After 2870-2200 cal BC (GU-5396; Table 4.1) lime appears and oak becomes a more prominent element of the local woodland, but once more there is no evidence of clearance (Ratcliffe and Straker 1996, 25; Wilkinson and Straker 2008, 72). The pollen sequences from the Late Bronze Age - Early Iron Age onwards from St Mary’s (Higher Moors, Lower Moors, Old Town Bay), St Agnes (Porth Coose) and Tresco (Crab’s Ledge) all show that the character of the vegetation of Scilly has been largely open for the last 3000 years. There may have been a little more hazel and other woodland cover than present until the medieval period, cal AD 1260 - 1400 (SUERC39452; Table 8.2) at Lower Moors, but many of the small changes that are observed indicate short term and often minor fluctuations in land management and local hydrology and wetland development, rather than signalling large-scale shifts in vegetation cover. Overall, the vegetation record from Scilly shows that the islands reflect the widespread climate changes in north-west Europe that took place at the end of the last Ice Age. Woodland colonisation in the early Holocene was rapid and the island must have been largely forested during the Mesolithic, with open ground created gradually by a 52 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 combination of fire and flooding from rising sea levels. There was greater diversity in vegetation cover during the Neolithic and the pollen data suggest St Martin’s had much less tree cover than St Mary’s. The islands have been largely open and probably wellused for grazing and cultivation from at least c 900 cal BC and the most significant vegetation changes since then are the introduction of exotic species for hedges, tree cover and crops from the mid-nineteenth century. 2.16 Climate change research topic 2.16.1 Research Theme: Past Environments The previous palaeoenvironmental studies outlined above in Section 2.15 demonstrate the unique contribution research studies on Scilly can make for understanding the effect of climate and coastal change on the historic environment. The Islands are exceptional ‒ geographically and in terms of their past exploitation and archaeological record. We are looking at the development of a series of islands ‒ an entire drowned landscape which is nationally important when viewed in this context. The intertidal archaeology is a resource of reasonably young age and relatively easy access. SHERF Research Aim 18 is to ‘Continue to collect evidence for past climate change and sea level changes together with their effects on peoples' relationships with landscapes and the sea’. 2.16.2 Research recommendations The submerged forests and intertidal peat bed and organic soil resources of Scilly are an endangered resource, with widespread evidence for their ongoing erosion ‒ Crab’s Ledge, Tresco, is a particular cause for concern. These locations contain well preserved proxy data for prehistoric and later environments that have only rarely been studied in South West England. It is important that the remaining resources continue to be studied in detail before they are destroyed. 1. In particular, there is scope for a project to collate and analyse all the environmental and archaeological studies undertaken in Scilly, including Marta Perez-Fernandez’s PhD thesis (2013), the Lyonesse Project (Charman et al 2016) and the development-led work carried out at Porthloo, St Mary’s (Johns et al 2104; Perez et al 2015). These studies presented a wealth of new sea level and palaeoenvironmental data which have the potential to be further developed with the following objectives: a. to prepare a database of relative sea-level (RSL) data for Scilly that conforms to current international standards and will form a significant contribution to the sea-level database for the British Isles (Shennan et al 2018); b. to perform regression analysis on the Scilly RSL database to produce probabilistic estimations of past RSL changes and constrain rates of change from deglaciation to present day; c. to use the RSL database from Scilly to constrain and validate new iterations of glacial-isostatic adjustment (GIA) models of the British Isles that are becoming available as a result of the BRITICE-CHRONO consortium (http://www.britice-chrono.group.shef.ac.uk/) project; d. to develop a new, state-of-the-art palaeotidal model for the region suitable for correcting the Scilly RSL data for tidal range changes through the Holocene; e. to use GIA and palaeotidal models to produce palaeogeography maps for Scilly that constrain land area and intertidal area changes through the Holocene; 53 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 f. to use the new pollen data from the Lyonesse Project to define ecological community clusters and develop a record of land cover changes through the Holocene; g. to source published Holocene climate (temperature and precipitation) time series for the region, for exmample, Mauri et al (2015) for comparison with environmental variables developed in this study; h. to develop a time-series of human activity / occupation for Scilly based on regional radiocarbon summed probability distributions (SPD) (e.g., Bevan et al 2017) and / or / combined with settlement (size / frequency) evidence (e.g., Palmisano et al 2017); i. to carry out multivariate time series analysis to determine causality between environmental and human variables; and j. publication of the results in a peer-review journal. 2. The probable continuation of Mesolithic (and Neolithic) archaeology beyond the present coastline highlights the need for topographic modelling, deposit and site prediction, and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions to be extended below the current tidal limits to improve understanding of the landscapes occupied by Mesolithic populations. This would be particularly applicable to the Mesolithic / Neolithic site at Old Quay, St Martin’s (Garrow and Sturt 2017). 3. We do not have any radiocarbon dates for the intertidal archaeological remains on Scilly and a programme of scientific dating should be undertaken where suitable palaeoenvironmental deposits exist. The Lyonesse Project demonstrated that many of the peat or old land surface deposits recorded in Historic England’s peat database for Scilly (Hazell 2008) are in fact periglacial head deposits with no organic content. The sites with the most potential for dating are intertidal field walls at Bathinghouse Porth and Crab’s Ledge on Tresco. Targeted test-pits adjacent to the stone walls would show whether there is any palaeoenvironmental material underlying the walls. 4. Further studies should be undertaken of dune formations and windblown sand deposits supported by OSL dating. These studies should consider the patterns of coastal development in barrier and back-barrier environments. 5. A more focussed programme of environmental sampling needs to be developed for terrestrial archaeological sites. A variety of methods could be applied such as: particle size analysis to understand changing sediment dynamics; pollen and charcoal sequences to establish vegetation changes and human land use; and radiocarbon and OSL dating to establish chronologies. Where good pollen preservation is not an option insect, plant and mollusca remains provide an alternative to pollen or complement it (cf Perez-Fernandez 2013, 215‒6); 6. It would be very useful to carry out an investigation specifically targeted at reconstructing the palaeoclimate in Scilly. Particle size and/or chemical analysis from cores taken from various sites (ideally as far from the coast as possible) would complement the storminess record for Scilly begun by Marta Perez (Perez-Fernandez 2013). This study demonstrated that cores from the same area will vary in their records, so detailed multi-core analyses of as many cores as possible would be optimal, to avoid spurious interpretations of climate oscillations from single cores (cf PerezFernandez 2013, 216). 2.16.3 Survey recommendations 7. Surveys should be undertaken of all intertidal sites in Scilly to assist with future monitoring and management (excepting Samson Flats which was surveyed in 2009/10 (Camidge et al 2010). A project design for pilot study to survey archaeology and peat exposures at Crab’s Ledge and Bathinghouse Porth, Tresco (both on the 2018 HAR register) using a combination of 3D aerial drone survey and photogrammetry has been 54 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 submitted to the HAR team at HE’s regional office in Bristol and it is anticipated that this may be carried out in spring 2019. 8. As part of CAU’s archaeological services consultancy with the Council of the Isles of Scilly and Historic England (2016‒2018), draft management plans have been prepared for the following intertidal sites on the 2018 HAR register: Crab’s Ledge, Tresco; prehistoric field system and settlement in Bathinghouse Porth, Tresco (NHLE no. 1016243); prehistoric to Romano-British ritual, funerary and settlement remains on Par Beach, St Martin’s (NHLE no. 1018116); prehistoric linear boundary SSE of the Island, Bryher (NHLE no. 1014991); prehistoric enclosure south east of the Brow, Bryher (NHLE no.1015649); prehistoric linear boundary and cairns south west of The Bar, Bryher (NHLE no. 1016170). Similar management plans should be developed for all intertidal sites in Scilly. 9. Diver verification of the submerged hut circles in Southern Apple Tree Bay, immediately north of Great Rag Ledge and reported peat exposures in the Western Rocks is recommended. 2.16.4 Monitoring and management recommendations 10. The Historic England peat database for Scilly (Hazell 2008) should be updated with the results of the Lyonesse Project (Charman et al 2016) and the development-led paleoenvironmental work at Porthloo, St Mary’s (Johns et al 2104; Perez et al 2015). 11. New fixed survey points should be established from which coastal and intertidal remains can be monitored periodically by re-surveying and re-levelling in relation to Ordnance Datum. 12. A database of sites threatened by coastal erosion and a formal co-ordinated coastal monitoring programme should be established (see Research Aim 4). Following a ‘ShoreWatch’ event in 2012, sponsored by CBA South West and co-ordinated by CAU and Cardiff University, monitoring of key sites has been carried out by volunteers from the Community Archaeology and by some interested visitors. Results have been incorporated in an ongoing report (Johns 2018). These sites are: the prehistoric settlement remains at Halangy Porth, St Mary’s; the Bronze Age cairn at Pendrathen, St Mary’s; the prehistoric round houses and Iron Age / Romano-British cist at Porthcressa, St Mary’s; the prehistoric settlement remains below Bonfire Carn, Bryher; Mesolithic flints. Neolithic pottery and old land surface at Old Quay, St Martin’s; and the prehistoric settlement and Romano-British shrine on Nornour (NHLE 1015674). 55 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 3 Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Edited by Trevor Kirk and Charles Johns with contributions from Kevin Camidge, Dan Charman, Ian Dennis, Ralph Fyfe, Duncan Garrow, Andy M Jones, Steve Mills, Jacqui Mulville, Amelia Pannett, Paul Rainbird, Helen M Roberts, Robert Scaife, Fraser Sturt and Hugo Anderson-Whymark. 3.1 Introduction The main characteristics of Scilly’s Palaeolithic and Mesolithic resource are summarised in this review. Earlier assessments of Scilly’s archaeological resource refer briefly to the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic but, until recently, these periods have produced scant archaeological and environmental evidence by comparison with Scilly’s post-Mesolithic prehistory (Ashbee 1986; Ratcliffe 1989; Ratcliffe and Straker 1996; Johns et al 2004). However, the depth and quality of environmental data, especially for the Mesolithic, has been substantially improved by the results of the Lyonesse Project (Charman et al 2016). The Neolithic Stepping Stones project’s excavations at Old Quay, St Martin’s, in 2013 and 2014 recovered 80 microliths with possible Continental affinities (AndersonWhymark et al 2015; Garrow and Sturt 2017) and there is emerging evidence for other Mesolithic flintworking to supplement the Old Quay material (Pannett 2007). The main characteristics of Scilly’s Palaeolithic (c 700,000 to 10,000 BP) and Mesolithic (c 10,000 to 6,000 BP) resource are summarised in this review. 3.2 Palaeolithic (c 700,000 – 10,000 BP) 3.2.1 Landscape and environmental background Current knowledge of the Palaeolithic environmental background of Scilly was summarised for SWARF (Hosfield et al 2008, 27). The earliest pollen evidence for vegetation in the Devensian in South West England is from Scilly and published by Scourse (1985; 1986; 1991) as part of his research investigating the extension of the Irish Sea glacier. Formerly it was thought that glacial ice did not spread as far as the south of England in the last glacial episode (c 21,000 BP) but his research suggests that it reached the northern flanks of Tresco, Bryher and St Martin’s. The resulting glacial deposits include flint (originally from the Irish Sea floor) that was subsequently exploited by prehistoric communities in Scilly. Scourse also carried out pollen analyses on organic lenses thought to have accumulated in small lakes or ponds during the build-up of solifluxion of granitic head in Scilly. These are exposed in section at Carn Morval and Watermill Cove, St Mary’s, and Bread and Cheese Cove, St Martin’s, and the pollen suggested open, largely grassland-dominated herbaceous vegetation during the Upper Palaeolithic. Similar arctic tundra conditions were also identified in deposits from Porth Seal on St Martin’s. High pinus values were interpreted as evidence of climatic deterioration (cf Hosfield et al 2008, 28). 3.2.2 Palaeolithic archaeology The only possible Palaeolithic artefact from Scilly is an unprovenanced curved-backed point held at the Royal Cornwall Museum (Truro). This piece may be an Upper Palaeolithic ‘penknife point’, such as are found in cave sites throughout Britain (Berridge and Roberts 1986, 8-9; Fig 3.1), although similar points are also known from Mesolithic contexts on the mainland. This artefact is an intriguing indication that people were visiting the archipelago during the climatic improvements ahead of the Younger Dryas cold spell. The penknife point, a member of the continental Federmessergruppen, ought to date to between 12,000 and 11,000 BP, after Scilly had become separated from the mainland. The distribution of earlier Upper Palaeolithic material from the Aurignacian (c 31,000 BP), has led Paul Pettitt (2008) to propose a small-scale colonisation event taking in the west of Cornwall, presumably including Scilly, thus allowing for the possibility of finds from that 56 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 period, although there is currently no other evidence of human presence in Scilly during the Palaeolithic. 3.2.3 The Isles of Scilly resource: aspects and prospects The palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental evidence from Watermill Cove Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), St Mary’s, is indicative of the potential for sites primarily known (or designated) for their geological qualities to illuminate the Palaeolithic environment and climate in Scilly. There is also some possibility that such sites to yield Palaeolithic material culture and/or fauna. Fig 3.1 The unprovenanced penknife point from Scilly (photo: Anna Tyacke). 3.3 Mesolithic (c 10,000-6000 BP) 3.3.1 Landscape The sub-surface bathymetry between the Isles of Scilly and Penwith, Cornwall, suggests that the archipelago may have been surrounded by the sea as early as c 12,000 BP (c 13,130–12,700 cal BC). Rocks, such as the Seven Stones, and one or two others that are currently largely submerged, would have remained as islands for some millennia. Although this hypothesis is untested, a possible Late Glacial or Early Postglacial separation raises interesting questions related to island biogeography. The unusual small mammal fauna goes some way to support early island status. Pernetta and Hanford (1970) and Turk (in Butcher 1978, 99) discussed the apparently relict Postglacial survival of the root vole (Microtus oeconomus) and the presence of the Scilly Shrew (Crocidura suaveolens), which is only found on the Islands (cf Hosfield et al 2008, 27). Current evidence suggests that at the end of the last glaciation the archipelago may have consisted of a single landmass roughly 17km long and 8.5km wide stretching from the Western Rocks to the Eastern Isles and from Peninnis to Shipman Head. Palaeogeographic reconstructions by the Lyonesse Project indicate a rapid rise in sealevel during the late Mesolithic. The continuous land mass of Scilly that existed at 9000–7000 cal BC, including areas as far west as Annet and the Western Rocks. St Agnes and these other western islands were separated from the mainland by around 5000 cal BC, although part of the area between St Mary’s and St Agnes would have been tidal flats. The other significant change in the nature of the coastal environmental over this period was the development of more extensive intertidal zones in a number of locations. Prior to the opening of St Mary’s Sound, a significant intertidal area 57 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 developed on the northern side of the Western Rocks and in the north-western part of St Mary’s Sound between St Agnes and St Mary’s. While the main islands were still a single land mass until about 4000 cal BC, extensive intertidal areas were present in St Mary’s Road, west of Samson, and also to the north east of St Mary’s out towards the Eastern Isles. Very extensive intertidal areas were present in the western side of St Mary’s Road throughout the period 6000–4000 cal BC (Charman et al 2016). Fig 3.2 Inferred submergence model c 7,000 BC showing the distribution of Mesolithic sites. Based on data from the Lyonesse Project (Charman et al 2016) and shown as simulations of the modern Admiralty Chart. Land area (brown) is defined as above MHWS, and the intertidal area (green) as between chart datum and Mean High Water Springs (MHWS). Blue and white areas are below chart datum (dark blue 0 to-5 m CD, pale blue -5 to -10 m CD, white < -10 m CD). 3.3.2 Environmental background Preceding work on the Mesolithic environmental background of Scilly was summarised by Hosfield et al (2008, 41) for SWARF. The longest pollen sequence was that at Higher Moors, with Late Mesolithic oak-ash and hazel woodland at the base of the sequence dated to 5730-–5370 cal BC (HAR-3695; Table 3.2). Birch scrub in this context may indicate woodland regeneration following small-scale clearance by gatherer-hunters. The Late Mesolithic-Early Neolithic intertidal peats at Par Beach on St Martin’s and at Porth Mellon on St Mary’s indicate mixed deciduous woodland with birch, oak, hazel, lime, holly, alder and willow (Scaife 1984; Ratcliffe and Straker 1996; Hosfield et al 2008, 41). Samples of intertidal peat taken from Porth Hellick, St Mary’s, in September 2010 for the Lyonesse Project suggest that significant tree cover had developed by 9640–9280 cal BC (SUERC-32915; Table 3.2), within perhaps a few hundred years of the start of the Holocene at about 9900–9500 cal BC or 11,700±99 years before AD 2000 (Charman et al 2016; Walker et al 2008). 58 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 The Porth Hellick profile suggests that there was spatial diversity in vegetation in the earliest Holocene before major tree expansion, with higher levels of willow (Salix) compared to St Mary’s Road. Although the date of the tree expansion is ambiguous, there is no doubt it was rapid and both the Porth Hellick and St Mary’s Road cores show a simultaneous expansion of oak (Quercus) and hazel (Corylus). Birch was a major associated species at St Mary’s Road but was less common at Porth Hellick. Both locations show the forest was quite diverse, however, with ivy (Hedera), mountain ash (Sorbus) and honeysuckle (Lonicera) all present (Charman et al 2016). The character of the forest cover was with oak and hazel as dominant taxa with other species less common except in favourable locations. The arrival and expansion of hazel and oak at the same time is a perhaps a little unusual in the context of other sites in southern Britain, where oak often precedes hazel (Birks 1989). Hazel may well have spread by water transport up western coasts and arrived in Scilly at the same time as oak was continuing its steady migration into the south west after the last glacial (Birks 1989). The early environment on Scilly would have been a closed forest of oak-hazel with open areas in the low lying wetlands such as those at Porth Hellick and St Mary’s Road (Charman et al 2016). There is clear evidence of forest disturbance in the St Mary’s Road area from as early as 6600–6460 cal BC (SUERC-38100; Table 3.2) and repeatedly after 5980–5760 cal BC (SUERC-28995; Table 3.2) until perhaps until 4720–4540 cal BC (OxA-25690; Table 3.2). The more fragmentary evidence from Great English Island Neck, between St Martin’s and Nornour, is not sufficient to record sequences of disturbance and recovery similar to those in St Mary’s Road, but charcoal does occur in association with a transition to more open ground in several profiles there. It thus appears that fire was a frequent event in the Mesolithic woodland on Scilly and it is possible that this reflects Mesolithic woodland management for red deer (see Section 3.3.4 below for further discussion). The disturbance led to temporary declines in oak, but favoured regrowth of birch and willow in St Mary’s Road (Fig 6.5). From c 6000 cal BC the forest composition became a little more diverse, with alder (Alnus), elm (Ulmus) and lime (Tilia) all present in low amounts, and sporadic occurrences of heather (Calluna), suggesting a diversification of the under storey. Ash (Fraxinus) is also present in the later sediments after 4710–4450 cal BC (OxA-23861; Table 3.2) (Charman et al 2016). Forest cover reduced quite rapidly from c 5000 cal BC in St Mary’s Road and elsewhere. There is a very large reduction in oak at 5220 –5010 cal BC (SUERC-40882; Table 3.2), but with little change in other tree taxa. Hazel declines rapidly at 5040–4840 cal BC (SUERC-38084; Table 3.2) but the final decline in tree cover is from birch woodland at 4460–4350 cal BC (OxA-25681; Table 3.2). These changes appear to have been partly associated with fire events, but they may also have been related to rising sea levels in these low-lying areas. Increases in sedges (Cyperaceae) suggest that woodland cover gave way to increasing wetland extent, rather than being replaced by dryland vegetation, and the initial decrease in oak occurs before the large charcoal peak that is associated with a decline in willow. Close to Nornour, burning is associated with an initial decline and recovery of birch cover but the final reduction in birch is correlated with an increase in the Chenopodiaceae, which includes several saltmarsh taxa, reflecting increasing maritime influence from sea-level rise. Thus the change from early Holocene woodland to open ground in the lowlands was apparently driven by the combined effects of human disturbance and burning and partly by changing hydrological conditions related to sea-level rise (Charman et al 2016). 59 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Fig 3.3 Mesolithic submerged forest in St Mary’s Roads (photo: Kevin Camidge). 3.3.3 Lithic evidence Conventionally, it has been considered that Scilly was not permanently settled until the Bronze Age, with the presence of a few Mesolithic flints interpreted as representing rare seasonal visits from Cornwall by groups of hunter-gatherers in paddled boats (for example, Ratcliffe 1989; Ratcliffe and Johns 2003). Paul Ashbee reviewed the evidence for Mesolithic occupation of Scilly in the Silver Jubilee volume of Cornish Archaeology (1986, 195–6), noting the lack of distinctive lithic material from the Islands but stressing the impacts of later prehistoric sea-level rises. He also emphasised the apparent persistence on Scilly of an essentially ‘Mesolithic’ subsistence economy based on the exploitation of marine and seashore resources – fishing, fowling, marine hunting and deer exploitation – into later prehistory, this pattern of subsistence being similar to that found on the majority of British insular sites. Until recently the artefactual evidence had not increased greatly since the Mesolithic period review by Peter Berridge and Alison Roberts in the same volume (1986), the most important discovery being the 20 or so pieces of flint collected from the cliff face at Old Quay, on the south coast of St Martin’s. This is the only identified Mesolithic flintworking site on the Islands (Ratcliffe 1989, 33; 1994, 13). St Martin’s is the island closest to the mainland and this part of the archipelago is likely to have been the first landfall for voyagers from Cornwall. Old Quay is located in a sheltered position in the lee of Cruther’s Hill, it occupies a terrace overlooking the central flats to the south and is not far from the excellent source of glacial pebble flint around White Island (Fig 8.3) and Great Bay on the more exposed northern side of St Martin’s (cf Anderson-Whymark et al 2015, 961). Two diagnostic flints recovered from the cliff section at Old Quay in 2012 were identified as trapezoidal microliths dating to the Early Mesolithic (8500–6000 cal BC), according to the classifications by Clark (1934) and Butler (2005) (Fig 3.4). The similarity between the two is remarkable and they may have been made by the same person (Dennis et al 2013). 60 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Fig 3.4 Microliths from Old Quay, St Martin’s (photos: Ian Dennis). Artefact type Location Higher Town, St Martin’s A single platform core Old Quay, St Martin’s 59+ microliths (assemblages from eroding cliff-face combine Mesolithic and Neolithic flints and Early Neolithic Hembury-style Ware pottery) Knackyboy Carn, St Martin’s Borer-needle in association with flints in rock cleft The Brow, Bryher A Mesolithic or Neolithic blade and other flints The Town, Bryher A Mesolithic or Neolithic bladelet Veronica Farm, Bryher Possible tranchet axe sharpening blade New Grimsby, Tresco Possible Mesolithic or Early Neolithic bladelet Halangy Down, St Mary’s Geometric microlith Porthcressa, St Mary’s Unfinished pecking hammer Klondyke Fields, St Mary’s Two blades with facetted butts Newford Farm, St Mary’s Probable broken blade microlith and a blade Unprovenanced flints Broken blade microlith, obliquely blunted point Table 3.1 Mesolithic flints from Scilly (based on Anderson-Whymark et al 2015, table 1). In 2013 and 2014, excavations at Old Quay, St Martin’s, by the Neolithic Stepping Stones project, which was investigating the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition within the western seaways of Britain, recovered 57 comparable microliths within a much larger spread of 5738 pieces of prehistoric worked flint from the small fields behind the cliff (Fig 3.5). The artefact scatter was contained within the ploughsoil and subsoil and residually within later features. No features dating to the Mesolithic period were identified (Garrow and Sturt 2017). The microliths are considered to fall within the trapèze à bases décalées and trapèze rectangle court classifications. Intriguingly, no parallels have so far been found in any other Mesolithic assemblage from Britain or Ireland and the closest affinities are with examples found in north-east France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark dating to the Late – Final Mesolithic, c 6000– 5500 cal BC (Anderson-Whymark et al 2015). This interpretation obviously poses important questions about both the origins of Scilly’s Mesolithic population and maritime mobility and cross-Channel contacts during the Mesolithic. However, it should be noted that the majority of flint scatters in Cornwall have not seen any kind of analysis, let alone publication, making it difficult to make meaningful comparisons between these microliths from Scilly and potentially contemporary assemblages on the mainland (Andy M Jones, pers comm). 61 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 The new lithic evidence points to a definite Mesolithic presence on Scilly but there is not yet enough data available to assess whether the Islands supported a permanent allyear-round hunter-gatherer community. Scilly is rich in natural resources but was a comparatively small island and getting there involved a short but dangerous and daunting journey on the open Atlantic. The Early Mesolithic landmass was only approximately 80 sq km in area and according to predicted population densities for hunter-gatherers in an area of this size five to eight individuals would be low and nine to 16 would be high (Gamble et al 1999; Binford 2001; Warren 2015, fig 4.1). Significant Mesolithic activity is currently only represented by the one site at Old Quay but there is a large quantity of flint present and we cannot really say how many people created it and over what length of time (Garrow and Sturt 2017, 129). It is also possible that further sites in Scilly await discovery or have been lost to rising sea levels (cf Warren 2015; Thomas 1985, 105). Other remote island groups in the British Isles (for example, the Western and Northern Isles of Scotland) are beginning to produce more evidence of Mesolithic occupation (Saville 2000; Wickham Jones and Firth 2000; Melton and Nicholson 2004; 2007; Gregory et al 2005; Bishop et al 2013). Evidence from elsewhere in Britain implies a specialized coastal economy at an early stage in the Mesolithic and high reliance on marine protein by individuals (Pérez-Fernández 2013, 147). On some islands and coastal sites substantial shell middens, rich in marine and terrestrial detritus, attest to long-term and intensive Mesolithic occupation: Oronsay in the Outer Hebrides, for example (Mellars and Andrews 1987; Schulting and Richards 2002), or Culver Well on the Isle of Portland, Dorset (Palmer 1999). So far, no middens like these have been found on Scilly (or in Cornwall). It is possible that they were part of a localised expression of Mesolithic identity peculiar to these other places, but if such middens formerly existed in Scilly or on the Cornish mainland it is highly probable that they would have been lost to historic sea-level rise. Fig 3.5 Test pitting by the Neolithic Stepping Stones project at Old Quay, St Martin’s, in September 2013 (Photograph: Hugo Anderson-Whymark). 62 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 3.3.4 Animals In common with more northerly British outer island groups, and unlike the Channel Islands (e.g., Lister 1995), there is no evidence for pre-glacial fauna on Scilly. Research suggests the Islands were periglacial during the Ice Age and, while there is the possibility of continuity for some terrestrial species (e.g., the Scilly Shrew), the survival of any other species remains unknown. Even in the absence of terrestrial food species the Islands would have provided substantial marine resources for any early settlers. There is recent evidence suggestive of human occupation as early as the sixth millennium cal BC from burning events in the pollen record (Charman et al 2016) and this date is in agreement with data from Scottish isles where even the more remote northerly island groups, with a similarly sparse terrestrial fauna, were inhabited (e.g., Shetland and Orkney). British inner islands and coastal sites have provided the best evidence for early human animal interactions through the direct reconstruction of diets using stable isotope analysis of skeletal remains. Analysis revealed that Mesolithic people who lived relatively close to the coast relied on a wide resource base, exploiting a significant proportion of marine and terrestrial foods (e.g., Schulting et al 2003). Small numbers of deer bones, mostly belonging to red deer, have been found among many of the later Bronze Age faunal assemblages of Scilly. It remains unclear whether these deer were the descendants of a population which had become established before the Late-glacial or Early Postglacial separation of Scilly from the mainland, or whether they were transported to Scilly by early settlers to establish a breeding population, and if so, when (Ratcliffe and Straker 1996, 36–37, table 4). Paul Ashbee (1982, 14) considered that an insular controlled deer economy seemed likely in Mesolithic Scilly, while Frank Turk identified some smaller red deer bones, Cervus elaphus, from the Middle Bronze Age settlement at Nornour which he suggested were evidence for an indigenous population of great antiquity (Turk 1971, 94; 1978, 100). Deliberate seeding of red deer populations has been argued for Late Mesolithic Ireland (Woodman and McCarthy 2003) and in Scotland there is also strong evidence for the translocation of red deer to islands from the Neolithic onwards to adapt island environments for human use (Mulville 2010). However, the current zooarchaeological and palaeoenvironmental evidence neither confirms nor denies that this was the case in Mesolithic Scilly. 3.3.5 Economy and subsistence The identifiable Mesolithic flints indicate that fisher-gatherer-hunter peoples exploited the resources of the Islands. Coastal inundation is likely to inhibit the search for sites of this period in Scilly and elsewhere although well-preserved submerged remains from the Mesolithic have been identified in the Solent (Momber et al 2011). The evidence of domestic cattle in a midden at Ferriter’s Cover in south-west Ireland, dated to 45104180 cal BC (OxA-3869, 5510±70 BP), has been proposed as a seeding of stock by Late Mesolithic peoples in an environment where indigenous large mammals had not existed prior to human seaborne colonisation (Woodman and McCarthy 2003). Domesticated cattle would only have been available on the European continent, suggesting long-distance contacts by sea, necessitating the rounding of the South West peninsula, perhaps even via Scilly, and showing that as far back as the Mesolithic contact by sea was not by necessity with nearest neighbours. As in many of the Scottish islands, deliberate seeding of red deer has been argued for Late Mesolithic Ireland, but it has also been proposed that the people there were more reliant on marine resources than their neighbours across the Irish Sea. This may have been true for the seasonal visitors to Scilly in the Mesolithic too, perhaps continuing into the Neolithic. In this regard, it is important to note the discovery and excavation of wooden fish traps along the former Liffey estuary in modern Dublin, the traps consisting of staked fences and baskets (McQuade and O’Donnell 2007). Scilly’s Mesolithic coastline would have provided myriad opportunities for fishing and hunting grounds for seals and sea birds but had a relatively narrow intertidal zone 63 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 compared to later times, with the most extensive opportunities for shellfish foraging and fish trapping occurring in the south-western areas around Broad Sound and North Channel. By the end of the Mesolithic, extensive intertidal development had occurred around the fringes of the main northern island, especially in the slowly flooding area of St Mary’s Road, but also around the now separated St Agnes, Annet and Western Rocks. This transition in the coastal morphology could have led to a change in the main marine food sources in the later Mesolithic, with increasing access to food procured from foraging in intertidal areas. 3.3.6 Transport No remains of prehistoric boats have been found in Scilly. The most likely type of boat used by Mesolithic adventurers to the Islands would have been hide boats made by stretching stitched-together animal skins over a lightweight framework of wood or wicker. This makes a very lightweight boat, which can be bowl or boat-shaped. Hide boats vary in length from 1.5m (usually circular) to about 10m; 12m is the practical limit for this type of construction (McGrail 1998). Another common form of prehistoric boat is the log boat but European log-boats are generally considered to be only suitable for use in extremely calm waters and not as seagoing craft (Ransley et al 2011). There is no evidence of mast steps or the use of oars in Europe until the middle of the first millennium BC: ‘Mesolithic and Neolithic seamen would have used paddles’ (McGrail 2001). 3.3.7 The Isles of Scilly lithics resource: aspects and prospects In 2006 Amelia Pannett carried out an initial assessment of the lithics collection held by the Isles of Scilly Museum, as part of the ‘Islands in a Common Sea Project’ (Pannett 2007). Clear evidence for Mesolithic activity was present in the archive material, with several collections of blades, many of which showed characteristic signs of Mesolithic technology: platform preparation and dorsal scar patterns indicative of the use of a carefully prepared blade core. Crested and truncated blades were also recognised, together with two roughly manufactured microliths (Pannett 2007). Despite the unprovenanced character of the material examined in the lithic archive, it provided important details about the nature and potential of the resource on Scilly. The range of tools recovered by collectors is interesting and adds further to the current slight evidence for Mesolithic occupation in the Islands. Aside from the examination of excavated lithic assemblages, there are a number of known findspots which could be systematically investigated in order to recover complete in situ assemblages, including a scatter of lithics from a garden on the south side of St Martin’s. This assemblage would benefit from assessment, perhaps using a test pitting strategy to determine the extent and nature of the in situ material. Fieldwalking in available fields could also be undertaken to identify further scatters and determine their distribution within the landscape. It is possible that further Mesolithic flints from Scilly remain unidentified in museum collections (e.g, Royal Cornwall Museum or the British Museum) and in private collections. Review of stone assemblages from Scilly by a lithic specialist may reveal previously unidentified Mesolithic material in existing museum archives and private collections. It is important that the results of such a review should be widely disseminated. The Mesolithic material at Old Quay, St Martin’s, was surprising, both in terms of its character and the cross-Channel contacts it implied. As the authors pointed out ‘in order to move our understanding of the prehistoric past forwards, it is very important that we let the archaeological record surprise us sometimes, and incorporate the unexpected into our narratives’ (Garrow and Sturt 2017, 131). There is certainly considerable potential for carrying out further excavations at Old Quay. 64 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 3.3.8 Radiocarbon dates The 49 radiocarbon determinations listed in Table 3.2 have all been calibrated using OxCal 4.3. Previous modelling of dates has not been used and all are expressed at the full 95.4% confidence level, rather than to the period to which the date may be weighted (for example at 89%). This means that the calibrated dates in the tables may vary significantly from the publications where they appear (see Section 2.1.4 for further discussion). Lab Ref 14 Q-2410 34,500+ 985 C age BP Cal BC @ 95% Site Context Reference 37570–36590 Porth Seal Organic deposit Scourse 1991 35950–34560 Watermill Cove Organic deposit Scourse 1991 28230–27540 Porth Seal Organic deposit Scourse 1991 26860–26300 Carn Morval Organic deposit Scourse 1991 24040–23670 Carn Morval Organic deposit Scourse 1991 -800 Q-2408 33,050+ 960 -800 Q-2409 25,670+ 560 -530 Q-2356 24,490+ 960 -860 Q-2358 21,500+ 890 -800 SUERC38109 11385 ±35 11360–11180 St Mary’s Roads Sediment humin fraction from submerged clay & peat Charman et al 2016 SUERC38108 11315 ±40 11320–11130 St Mary’s Roads Sediment: humic acid from submerged clay & peat Charman et al 2016 SUERC38104 11035 ±35 11080–10830 St Mary’s Roads Sediment humin fraction from submerged clay & peat Charman et al 2016 SUERC38103 10950 ±35 10960–10760 St Mary’s Roads Sediment: humic acid from submerged clay & peat Charman et al 2016 SUERC38102 10670 ±35 10760–10620 St Mary’s Roads Sediment humin fraction from submerged clay & peat Charman et al 2016 SUERC38101 10535±35 10660–10450 St Mary’s Roads Sediment: humic acid from submerged clay & peat Charman et al 2016 OxA23858 9945 ±60 9750–9280 Porth Hellick Wood: single twig fragment, 19cm below surface of intertidal peat Charman et al 2016 65 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Lab Ref 14 SUERC32915 Cal BC @ 95% Site Context Reference 9915 ±35 9640–9280 Porth Hellick Wood: unidentified twig, 24cm below surface of intertidal peat Charman et al 2016 OxA25790 9185±45 8550–8290 Great English Island Neck (Nornour Channel) Charcoal, knotted wood fragment too distorted for identification, 0–1cm below surface of submerged peat Charman et al 2016 SUERC40873 8740 ± 35 7940–7610 St Mary’s Roads Organic clay: humin fraction from submerged clay & peat Charman et al 2016 SUERC40872 8375 ± 35 7530–7350 St Mary’s Roads Organic clay: humic acid from submerged clay & peat Charman et al 2016 OxA25612 7490 ± 45 6440–6250 St Mary’s Roads Plant remains, indet. possible stem fragments from submerged clay & peat Charman et al 2016 SUERC38100 7695 ±35 6600–6460 St Mary’s Roads Sediment humin fraction from submerged clay & peat Charman et al l 2016 SUERC38099 7500±35 6450–6250 St Mary’s Roads Sediment humic acid, from submerged clay & peat Charman et al 2016 SUERC28995 6980 ±35 5980–5760 St Mary’s Roads Peat: humic acid, 27–28cm below surface of submarine peat Charman et al 2016 HAR3695 6630±100 5730–5370 Higher Moors Peat Scaife 1984 66 C age BP Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Lab Ref 14 SUERC40883 Cal BC @ 95% Site Context Reference 6325 ± 35 5380–5210 St Mary’s Roads Peat: humic acid, 20–21cm below surface of submarine peat Charman et al 2016 SUERC40884 SUERC26629 6315 ± 35 5370–5220 St Mary’s Roads 6230 ±35 5310 As SUERC 40883 Wood (Betula sp.) embedded in ?eroded surface submarine peat Charman et al 2016 Charman et al 2016 SUERC32919 6215 ±35 5300–5050 Great English Island Neck (Nornour Channel) Monocot stems, Phragmites? 2 cm below surface of submerged peat Charman et al 2016 SUERC28994 6175±30 5220–5030 St Mary’s Roads Wood (Alnus glutinosa) just below upper charcoal peak Charman et al 2016 SUERC40877 6170 ± 35 5220 –5010 St Mary’s Roads Peat: humic acid, 11–12cm below surface of submarine peat Charman et al 2016 SUERC40882 6170 ± 35 5220 –5010 St Mary’s Roads Peat humin fraction, 14– 15cm below surface of submarine peat Charman et al 2016 SUERC40881 6160 ± 35 5220 –5010 St Mary’s Roads Peat: humic acid, 14–15cm below surface of submarine peat Charman et al 2016 OxA25613 6130 ±40 5220–4960 Great English Island Neck (Nornour Channel) c 30 monocot ?stem fragments, 1 cm below surface of submerged peat Charman et al 2016 C age BP –5060 St Mary’s Roads 67 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Lab Ref 14 OxA22484 Cal BC @ 95% Site Context Reference 6134±34 5220–4980 St Mary’s Roads Wood (Betulaceae) embedded in submarine peat 14–15cm below surface. Major decline in tree pollen Charman et al 2016 SUERC40876 6120 ± 35 5210–4950 St Mary’s Roads Peat: humic acid, 11–12cm below surface of submarine peat Charman et al 2016 SUERC38084 6040±35 5040–4840 St Mary’s Roads Monocot stem fragments + wood fragments, 27– 28cm below surface of submerged peat Charman et al 2016 SUERC28993 6010±35 5000–4800 St Mary’s Roads Leaf (Phragmites sp.) from seabed peat Charman et al 2016 SUERC40875 6010±35 5000–4800 St Mary’s Roads Peat: humic acid 1–2cm below surface of submarine peat Charman et al 2016 OxA25614 5995 ±40 5000–4790 Great English Island Neck (Nornour Channel) 2 monocot ?stem fragments, 5-6 cms below surface of submerged peat Charman et al l 2016 SUERC40874 5965±35 4950–4730 St Mary’s Roads Peat: humic acid, as SUERC40875 Charman et al 2016 SUERC26631 5860±35 4830–4610 St Mary’s Roads Wood (Salix sp.) from submarine peat Charman et al 2016 OxA25690 5784±33 4720–4540 St Mary’s Roads Wood (cf Salix/Populus sp.) 21–22cm below surface of submerged peat Charman et al 2016 68 C age BP Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Lab Ref 14 OxA23861 Cal BC @ 95% Site Context Reference 5720 ±55 4710–4450 St Mary’s Roads Unidentified woody stems, 9-10 cms below surface of submarine peat Charman et al 2016 SUERC26630 5680 ±35 4620–4400 St Mary’s Roads Leaf: cf Phragmites sp. embedded in surface of ?eroded submarine peat Charman et al 2016 GU-5061 5210±50 4230–3940 Par Beach Base of intertidal peat deposit Ratcliffe and Straker 1996 OxA21892 5614 ±37 4520–4350 St Mary’s Roads Leaf: cf Phragmites sp. (D Charman) – not the same leaf as SUERC26630. Embedded in surface of ?eroded submarine peat Charman et al 2016 SUERC38241 5590 ± 30 4490–4350 St Mary’s Roads Twig and seeds (Betula), 9– 10cm below surface of submerged peat Charman et al 2016 OxA25681 5570±32 4460–4350 St Mary’s Roads Wood (?Betula, not oak). As SUERC-38241 Charman et al 2016 GU-5222 5410±70 4370–4040 Par Beach Oak in surface of intertidal peat Ratcliffe and Straker 1996 SUERC32918 5445 ±30 4350–4250 St Mary’s Roads Bulk: Phragmites stems, 9-10 cms below surface of submarine peat Charman et al 2016 OxA25680 5435±32 4350–4240 St Mary’s Roads Wood (?Betula, not oak), 2– 2.5cm below surface of submerged peat Charman et al 2016 C age BP 69 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Lab Ref 14 SUERC32917 5360±30 C age BP Cal BC @ 95% Site Context Reference 4330–4050 St Mary’s Roads Wood (unidentified stem fragment), 0-1cm below surface of submarine peat Charman et al 2016 Table 3.2 List of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic radiocarbon dates. (Note, the calibrated dates have been rounded out, see Section 2.1.4.) 3.3.9 OSL dating Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating was carried out on quartz from an intertidal sample recovered from Porth Hellick and Porth Mellon, both on St Mary’s (Roberts and Marshall, in Charman et al 2016). Location Lab no. Context Material OSL Age Calibrated date (95% confidence Porth Hellick, St Mary’s 184/LPPH-1A 0.16 ± 0.01m Quartz 12970 ±690 BP* 12350–9580 cal BC Porth Mellon, St Mary’s 161/LPPM1-1 15–17cm below surface of intertidal peat Quartz 4750 ±1210 BP* 5170–3210 cal BC Table 3.3 List of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic OSL Ages expressed as years before AD 2010, rounded to the nearest 10 years. 70 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 4 Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Edited by Andy M Jones from contributions by Eleanor Breen, Kevin Camidge, Dan Charman, Ralph Fyfe, Duncan Garrow, Charles Johns, Trevor Kirk, Steve Mills, Jacqui Mulville, Amelia Pannett, Henrietta Quinnell, Paul Rainbird, Helen M Roberts, Gary Robinson, Katharine Sawyer, Fraser Sturt and Robert Scaife. 4.1 Introduction The Isles of Scilly contain a large number and diverse range of Neolithic and Early Bronze Age sites and artefacts ranging from pottery through to entrance graves, which are now thought to be of Bronze Age date. The Islands also hold a wealth of environmental data in the form of buried peat deposits. The rich archaeological record and the Islands’ position at the ‘gateway’ to the Atlantic façade means that there is the potential for major research questions relating to the transition to the Neolithic, as well as questions relating to patterns of exchange and contact throughout the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods. The main characteristics of Scilly’s Neolithic and Early Bronze Age (c 4000 cal BC to 1500 cal BC) resource are summarised in this review. 4.2 Chronology While it is accepted archaeological terminology it must be emphasised that it is artificial to draw a boundary between the Late Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age. At a national scale the Bronze Age marks the introduction of metalwork, changes in pottery styles, the increased occurrence of single burial traditions and changes in monumental building. At a regional scale there are hints at broad changes in religious, agricultural and social practices during the latter half of the third millennium cal BC, but there is also evidence for a large measure of continuity in the archaeological record. It has generally been thought that Scilly was not permanently settled until the Bronze Age and that the relatively few Neolithic artefacts and features found represented seasonal visits from Penwith (Thomas 1985, 101; Ratcliffe and Johns 2003, 5). However, the evidence from the Neolithic Stepping Stones’ excavations at Old Quay, St Martin’s, seems to indicate a Neolithic presence in Scilly that was repeated and fairly substantial, but not permanent (Garrow and Sturt, 2017, 132). With the exception of the tor enclosures and quoits in Penwith and taking into account the small scale of the Islands, the overall evidence may not be that different from the mainland – i.e., small pits, pottery and flints – and Cornwall is not considered to have been unpopulated during the Neolithic. The first radiocarbon dates associated with Neolithic archaeological material were obtained by the Neolithic Stepping Stones project excavations at Old Quay. Whilst the six determinations obtained (OxA-29340, OxA-31868, OxA-31871-3, and OxA-31990; Table 4.1) represent an accurate estimate for the earliest Neolithic activity at Old Quay, it remains impossible to determine the chronology of the earliest Neolithic on Scilly more broadly at this stage (Garrow et al 2017; Garrow and Sturt 2017). The Early Bronze Age of Scilly saw major interventions within the Island landscape. The archaeological record for this period is marked by burial and ceremonial monuments such as entrance graves, cairns and standing stones, and an apparent absence of recognisable settlement. Because of the very definite increase of burial-type monuments in Cornwall during the full Early Bronze Age after 2000 BC, a Beaker phase is distinguished between 2500–2000 BC, although there is currently only one sherd of possible Beaker pottery from Scilly (from Bonfire Carn, Bryher). The first sequence of ten radiocarbon determinations (OxA-26363-8, OxA-26370-2, and OxA-26374; Tables 4.1 and 5.1) from an entrance grave indicates that the cremations date to the early to mid-second millennium cal BC, with a concentration around 1500 cal BC (Sawyer 2015). For the purposes of this chapter the periods have been broken down as follows: Early Neolithic (c 4000 cal BC to 3400 cal BC); Middle to Late Neolithic (c 3400 cal BC to 2500 cal BC); Beaker phase (c 2500–2000); Early Bronze Age (c 2000 to 1500 cal 71 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 BC). Tables of radiocarbon determinations and OSL ages relating to the period are presented at the end of the chapter (Tables 4.1 and 4.2). Fig 4.1 Inferred submergence model, c 3500 cal BC, based on data from the Lyonesse Project (Charman et al 2016); all details as in Fig 3.3. Fig 4.2 Inferred submergence model, c 2500cal BC with modelled land and intertidal areas, all details as in Fig 3.3. 72 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 4.3 Environmental background By the end of the Mesolithic, St Agnes and the other western islands had separated from the main northern island and a more extensive intertidal zone continued to develop throughout the Neolithic. The Mesolithic freshwater marsh in St Mary’s Road had already been succeeded by saltmarsh by c 4500 cal BC but, during the later Neolithic (c 3000 cal BC – 2500 cal BC; Figs 4.1 and 4.2), a major change to the main island group occurred, with tidal flooding taking place between the islands at high water. Tresco, Bryher and Samson remained joined at all times but some areas between St Martin’s and Tresco and a wide area of St Mary’s Road were below MHWS and consequently inundated during many high tides. The Neolithic and Early Bronze Age environmental background of Scilly was summarised for SWARF (Wilkinson and Straker 2008, 72). There had been three published palynological studies of Neolithic and Bronze Age environments from the Islands (Ratcliffe and Straker 1996, 32). The longest and best known pollen sequence is from Higher Moors on St Mary’s (Scaife 1984), which begins in the Mesolithic at 5730-–5370 cal BC (HAR-3695; Table 3.2) and indicates oak woodland with an understorey of hazel (Wilkinson and Straker 2008, 72). The picture of the Neolithic environment is of localised disturbance of woodland, while the main phase of clearance, eventually leading to the present heathland environment, dates from the Late Bronze or Early Iron Age (Dimbleby et al 1981; Scaife 1984; Ratcliffe and Straker 1996, 33). The prominence of birch in the Neolithic flora of Scilly is notable, especially given that it is a minor component of woodland elsewhere in the South West at this time. Nevertheless, given that most studies have been carried out on St Mary’s, it is at present uncertain how widely any of these interpretations can be applied to other islands in the archipelago. Even on St Mary’s there are many local variations in the vegetation despite its small area (Wilkinson and Straker 2008, 72). There is a gap in the pollen record from c 4000 to c 3100 cal BC which means that the nature of the vegetation cover at this time is unknown. However, on the higher elevation location at Par Beach, St Martin’s, the pollen data obtained by Lyonesse Project show dense birch cover and some hazel and heather, most probably within the forest as ground cover. The birch disappears almost completely at 3090-2910 cal BC (OxA-23825; Table 4.1) and this can be clearly attributed to clearance and fire as it is coincident with a charcoal peak and the expansion of dryland disturbed ground indicators, some of which, such as ribwort plantain (Plantago lanceolata), are associated with pastoral land use. The coastal influence is apparent in the grassland that replaces the forest, with plants such as sea thrift (Armeria) and stag’s horn plantain (P.coronopus). The sequences from St Martin’s suggest that there was very little tree cover at this time, although some birch, oak and hazel persist. The open grassland environment certainly lasted until at least 2580-2450 cal BC (SUERC-32925; Table 4.1) on St Martin’s (Charman et al 2016). The Lyonesse Project’s pollen records from Porth Mellon on St Mary’s give an insight into the spatial variability of vegetation at this time. Although the landscape was certainly not completely forested from c 3000 cal BC, there was more extensive tree cover than on St Martin’s, with tree pollen above 50% and with a diverse composition, dominated by oak, birch and hazel but including alder, ash, willow, ivy, honeysuckle and mountain ash. It is possible that the woodland on St Mary’s is the source of at least some of the tree pollen on St Martin’s. The open ground pollen from Porth Mellon reflects pastoral land use with a diverse mix of meadow species and disturbed ground indicators. This mix of vegetation types persists into at least the second millennium cal BC at Porth Mellon, although the age control in the more recent record is poor (Charman et al 2016). At some point prior to the Middle Bronze Age, 1620–1060 cal BC (HAR-3694; Table 5.1), there was small-scale woodland clearance at Higher Moors; cereal and ruderal pollen suggest this was for cultivation. Later in the Bronze Age the woodland 73 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 regenerated and birch rose to dominance, although cereal and herbaceous pollen were still present, indicating continued cultivation. Organic deposits associated with a radiocarbon date of 4230-3940 cal BC (GU-5061; Table 4.1) were investigated at Par Beach, St Martin’s, in the early 1990s (Ratcliffe and Straker 1996, 19). These contain pollen spectra indicative of hazel-oak woodland during the earlier Neolithic. Later, but before 3490-3010 cal BC (GU-5060; Table 4.1), birch had colonised and replaced much of the hazel, but unlike at Higher Moors there is no evidence of forest clearance. Palynological examination of a later coastal peat exposure at Porth Mellon, St Mary’s, dating to 3270-2700 cal BC (GU-5394; Table 4.1), suggests local woodland dominated by birch, with a lesser component of hazel and oak. After 2870-2200 cal BC (GU-5396; Table 4.1) lime appears and oak becomes a more prominent element of the local woodland, but once more there is no evidence of clearance (Ratcliffe and Straker 1996, 25; Wilkinson and Straker 2008, 72). 4.4 Landscape 4.4.1 Changes in land area By 3000 cal BC there was a major change to the main island group, with tidal flooding between the islands at high tide. Tresco, Bryher and Samson remained joined at all times but some areas between St Martin’s and Tresco and a wide area of St Mary’s Road was below MHWS and thus flooded during many high tides. The Crow Bar was probably above MHWS at this time and would have formed a rapidly dwindling land bridge. The transition between the Late Neolithic (2500 cal BC) and Early Bronze Age (2000 cal BC) saw the most rapid loss of land and the development of the greatest extent of intertidal area at any time in the history of Scilly. While the rate of loss of total land / intertidal area did not increase (Fig 7.4), land area was reduced and the intertidal area is increased. To put this in perspective, land area reduced from 29.8km 2 to 19.6km2, compared to the modern extent of the Islands (calculated using the same method) of 15.3km2. The loss of land during the 500-year period 2500–2000 cal BC was thus equivalent to losing two-thirds of the entire modern area of the Islands. In terms of the rate of change, this equates to loss of almost three football pitches (1 pitch = 7000 m2) of land each year (20,448m2 a-1) and the growth of the intertidal area by almost two football pitches a year (12,555m2 a-1). Changes of this magnitude would clearly be perceptible over a single human lifespan and thus must have been part of the backdrop against which cultural developments took place. For comparison, rates of land loss since the sixteenth century AD to present have averaged only 181m 2 a-1; an order of magnitude lower than was experienced during the Early to Middle Bronze Age (Charman et al 2016). 4.4.2 The landscape context of monuments Entrance graves occur around the current coastline of the archipelago where they are a feature of higher ground (Fig 4.6). They usually occur in clusters, as on Porth Hellick Down, or as linear groupings of monuments, as on North and South Hill, Samson. They are not evenly distributed throughout the archipelago, being absent from St Agnes, Ganilly and Annet and with restricted distributions on Bryher and Tresco. Over 40% occur in only three locations: the island of Samson; Porth Hellick Down, St Mary’s, and Kittern Hill, Gugh. While it has been argued that proximity to the sea may have been an important aspect in their landscape setting they are absent from areas on the periphery of the archipelago, such as Shipman’s Head Down, Wingletang Down and Peninnis Head, which command the most extensive views over the sea. It should be noted that this is their present day distribution, and there is evidence for inland sites on St Mary’s being destroyed for agriculture in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (Robinson 2007). There is an interesting absence in Scilly of earlier megalithic tombs such as portal dolmens which are found in Penwith, Ireland, and France. It is possible that ‘propped 74 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 stones’ could have acted as small megalithic tombs although none of these have been dated (see below, Section 4.4.4). The overall distribution of cairns is different to that of entrance graves, although they are also found predominantly on high ground around the coastline (Fig 4.3). Most significantly, cairns occur in large cairnfields on exposed headlands around the periphery of the archipelago, notably on Wingletang Down, St Agnes, Shipman Head Down, Bryher, Castle Down, Tresco, and Chapel Down, St Martin’s. The location of cairns around the periphery of the archipelago is emphasised further by the presence of cairns on small, barren rocky islets such as Menawathen and Round Island. The majority of standing stones or menhirs are found in the northern part of St Mary’s, with one on Gugh and three on St Martin’s. Most are on hilltops, ridges or slopes. The site of a destroyed example on St Mary’s is at the highest point of the Islands. Two other stones are in very prominent positions and can be seen from some distance. The distribution pattern emphasises the north and east coast of the archipelago, which Robinson (2007, 126) considers may relate to the importance of the easterly approach by seafarers to the Islands. A possible stone row has been recorded on Par Beach, St Martin’s, located midway along the beach between the high and low tide (Fulford et al 1997; Ratcliffe 1990, 22, figs 8 and 9) (below, Section 4.7.3). Two more stone alignments were identified on Castle Down/Tregarthen Hill, Tresco, by Dave Hooley during the Monuments Protection Programme (MPP), the status of which is supported by Tom Greeves (pers comm to Charles Johns). No stone circles have so far been confirmed on Scilly, although Borlase (1756) described a stone circle or ‘Druid Temple’ on Salakee Down, St Mary’s, the site of which has recently been identified and recorded (Seaney 2010a). The larger stones appear to be natural, most of them being earth-fast boulders defining a platform of bare rock, but several of the smaller stones seem to have been repositioned. This site may be significant as it is set in the wider Bronze Age ceremonial landscape of Salakee and Porth Hellick Downs. Two possible submerged stone circles have been reported to the west and south of Samson. Thomas (1985) suggested there was a considerable period of agricultural land use before the construction of entrance graves and it has been suggested that six entrance graves post-date cultivation lynchets; i.e., terraces formed on sloping ground by the downhill movement of cultivated soil (Coate 1994). Upper Innisidgen Cairn on St Mary’s appears to sit on earlier lynchets; a lynchet runs up to the east side of Lower Innisidgen entrance grave; the entrance grave on John Batty’s Hill, St Martin’s, appears to sit on top of a low lynchet; one of the entrance graves on the island of Arthur in the Eastern Isles stands on the lip of a lynchet; and Obadiah’s Barrow on Gugh seems to be set into a lynchet, apparently post-dating its establishment (Coate 1994, 35–5, 64–5). An entrance grave at the foot of Halangy Down merges into a lynchet that partly overlies it. The discovery of a Neolithic flint adze or axe below Knackyboy Cairn on St Martin’s may also indicate prior cultivation on the site (O’Neil 1952). Most of the Penwith entrance graves are sited within shallow valleys suitable for settlement or close to prehistoric field systems (Jones and Thomas 2010, 289). The pits at East Porth, Samson, which contained an assemblage of Neolithic pottery were in a low-lying location that is now a beach but would have been about 1km inland in the Early Neolithic (Neal and Johns, forthcoming). 75 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Fig 4.3 Buzza Hill, St Mary’s, showing the entrance grave with Hugh Town beyond (photo: Cornwall Council). 4.4.3 The appropriation of natural topographic features In Devon and Cornwall, tors and distinctive hilltops may have been referenced and embedded within the routines of everyday life, and in cosmological and mythical structures (Bender et al 1997; Tilley 1995; Pollard et al 2008). Enclosures were built around some tors such as Carn Brea, Helman Tor and probably Stowe’s Pound during the Early Neolithic while other outcrops were the focus for pit groups or artefact deposition in crevices (cf Pollard and Healey 2008, 78). The topography of Scilly contains landscapes and seascapes which may have been perceived to have held liminal or supernatural properties, in particular, granite tors and fantastical rock formations such as on Peninnis Head, St Mary’s, and Wingletang Down, St Agnes; on a wild day the latter feels like the edge of the world, literally. It is difficult to believe that such tors and rocks did not have a comparable significance for the early inhabitants of Scilly as those on the south west mainland did for people there. Robinson (2007, 16–18, 115, 128) has touched briefly on this theme but there is considerable potential for further research and exploration of the phenomenology of natural features on the Islands. Scourse (1986, 81, fig 31; 1987) defines four tor forms on the Islands: horizontal, vertical, fill slope and erode, each type relating to variations in their geological formation, exposure and erosion. Robinson (2007, 115) has observed that entrance graves are consistently located in close proximity to granite tors and that through this their builders were emphasising the importance of such features in their everyday world. In particular Robinson (ibid, 129), considers that the incorporation of earth-fast boulders within monuments emphasised the significance of particular elements of the natural world. He also (ibid, 115) catalogues instances of artefact deposition in tors: a ceramic vessel at Yellow Rock Carn (Lewis 1948, 7); a Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age 76 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 dolerite adze and pottery at English Island Carn, St Martin’s (Ransom 1984, 194); a bronze dagger and comb-impressed urn at Cruther’s Neck, St Martin’s; and a stone macehead found below a rock prominence at Block House, Tresco (Ashbee 1974; Hencken 1932; Lewis 1948; Ratcliffe 1989). A type of site recently recognised in Cornwall is the ‘pseudo quoit’ or ‘propped stone’, found on Bodmin Moor at sites such as Leskernick and Tregarrick by Peter Herring, and in Penwith, for example, on Carn Galva (Blackman 2011). None of the Cornish examples are currently dated, although Early Bronze Age pits have recently been recorded beside a stone-setting near Sennen and the cairn was beneath the propped stone at Hendraburnick, near Camelford is dated to the Late Neolithic (Jones et al 2012; Jones and Goskar 2017). Further examples have been recognised on Dartmoor and in the Channel Islands. Similar constructions (‘earth-fast’ monuments), of probable Early Neolithic date, are known from south-west Wales (Cummings and Whittle 2009, 165). There are a number of these sites on Scilly, although no systematic record has been made and they are not recorded in the HER (Fig 4.4). Fig 4.4 Possible propped stone on Gugh (photo: Richard O’Neill). 4.4.4 Settlement Excavations by the Neolithic Stepping Stones project at Old Quay, St Martin’s, in 2013 and 2014, revealed Neolithic settlement features represented by a dense cluster of postholes and pits, including one with burnt material in it, along with high artefact concentrations in the buried soils nearby, interpreted as a possible midden. The available dating evidence suggests that this activity occurred primarily within the period c 3350–2290 cal BC, during the British ‘Middle Neolithic’. The postholes did not form a clearly coherent pattern and were interpreted as a palimpsest created during multiple phases of occupation which collectively formed part of a small number of temporary structures perhaps used as shelters during visits to the sites (Garrow and Sturt 2017, 75, 82). 77 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 This is the only Neolithic settlement identified in Scilly to date. Submergence will have destroyed any low-lying or coastal sites; as most surviving prehistoric houses are unexcavated it is possible that some may overlie earlier structures. On current artefactual evidence the earliest indications of occupation appear to be at Old Quay, St Martin’s, followed by East Porth, Samson, Porth Killier, St Agnes and Bonfire Carn, Bryher (below, Section 4.5.2.3). The identification of early settlement has only come to light through the careful excavation of later settlements demonstrating the potential importance of certain locales within the island landscape throughout considerable periods of prehistory. The absence of identified permanent houses on the Islands during this period may suggest a degree of residential mobility. It is possible that, as on the mainland, flint scatters and pits are more typical signatures of Neolithic settlement activity than structures. Little is known about Early Bronze Age settlement sites on Scilly and sites which have demonstrated evidence for Early Bronze Age occupation also show evidence for later activity. A number of early features located beneath later settlements may be related to the Early Bronze Age. At Little Bay, St Martin’s, a stone-lined pit was located below the floor of a Middle Bronze Age house. The walls of this house partially overlay this pit and a hearth had been constructed directly above it (Neal 1983, 52). A radiocarbon date with a very wide standard deviation from the hearth provided a date of 2130-1530 cal BC (HAR-4324; Table 4.1) which allows the possibility that the pit was an early feature of this site. A similar stone-lined pit was found beneath a prehistoric house at Perpitch, St Martin’s (O’Neil nd g), although in this instance there is no independent evidence for its date. Rectangular stone-lined box hearths are the earliest features of settlements such as English Island Carn, St Martin’s, and Nornour. At English Island Carn a sanded area and hearth was found beneath the floor of a later house where it was sealed by a thick layer of ash and soil containing substantial quantities of comb-impressed and cord-impressed pottery (O’Neil nd h; nd k). At Nornour the earliest features of the settlement comprised three stone-lined hearths and an arc of postholes (Butcher 1978). The dating of many of these early features remains unclear, but they might relate to the late third or early second millennium cal BC. 4.5 The material world 4.5.1 Material culture Neolithic and Early Bronze Age culture is represented in Scilly by assemblages and individual finds of bronze, ceramics, and lithics; organic components of the material culture such as wood or leather have not survived. The impressions of cord in various forms and of ‘matting’ on the bases of Early Bronze Age pottery have great potential to inform us about various aspects of cordage, mats, basketry and sewn items; preliminary work suggests that impressions on Scillonian ceramics differ in subtle ways from those on the mainland, thus confirming the impression of a developing sense of identity among Island communities (Owoc et al 2003; Manske et al nd; M Owoc, pers comm to H Quinnell). Imported objects or artefacts include a group of nine glass beads and a star-shaped faience bead from Knackyboy Cairn (O’Neil 1952) and occasional non-local stones, such as the pumice found in an entrance grave at Porth Hellick (Hencken 1932, 20), in a pit containing Neolithic pottery at East Porth, Samson (Neal and Johns, forthcoming) and at Old Quay, St Martin’s (Sawyer 2017). Some of these may have been casual beach finds retained for their exotic quality. 78 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 4.5.2 Material extraction and artefact production Metalwork A few items of Early Bronze Age metalwork have been found on Scilly: a dagger from a burial at the Carrion Rock, St Martin’s, which is almost certainly the entrance grave on Cruther’s Neck (Ashbee 1974, 325; Katharine Sawyer pers comm), a copper alloy awl from Obadiah’s Barrow (Hencken 1932, 28, fig 12) and the possible terminal of a bronze armlet and clip from a bronze earring from Knackyboy Carn (O’Neil 1952, 30; Ashbee 1974, 241). Faience Nine glass beads and a star-shaped faience bead were recovered from Knackyboy Cairn (O’Neil 1952; Ashbee 1974, 115; Sawyer 2015, 50–1). Ceramics Neolithic Early Neolithic ceramics probably belong to the South Western or Hembury style, represented by a few small assemblages and some single finds. However, the range of forms present is limited at present to plain bowls, with a possible carinated example from Porth Killier, St Agnes (Quinnell, forthcoming f); the few lugs known are imperforate. The more distinctive features of the south western style, such as trumpet lugs and broad shallow bowls, have not yet been found. Fabrics appear to be distinctive amongst the granite derived material on Scilly, the matrix well mixed without large inclusions but with distinctive chunks of granite minerals added. The fabric of the assemblage from East Porth, Samson, is slightly different. Its matrix, although granitic, is smoother and finer and its added inclusions are predominantly vein quartz (Quinnell, forthcoming f). It is presumed that these granite fabrics were made on Scilly but probably used clay deposited by larger streams than survive today. A sherd of Lizard gabbroic clay, similar to that of fine wares from Carn Brea on the mainland, comes from the cliff face site at Old Quay, St Martin’s (Quinnell 1994), and, if confirmed petrographically, represents the only currently known ceramic import to the Islands in the Neolithic. Robinson’s (2007, 140) suggestion that most Scillonian Neolithic pottery used mixed gabbroic and granitic material is not supported by Henrietta Quinnell’s observations (Quinnell 2017a). One assemblage, East Porth, Samson (Quinnell, forthcoming a), comes from a pit, while that from Old Quay, St Martin’s (Quinnell 1994), came from unspecified contexts in the vicinity of a pit exposed in the cliff face; the context of a third, at Bonfire Carn, Bryher, is uncertain (Quinnell 1994). The relationship of the possible carinated bowl sherds from Porth Killier to a cist needs further consideration (Quinnell, forthcoming f). Sherds or small scattered groups were recorded at five locations during the 1985 Electrification Project (Quinnell 1994). Robinson (2007, 65) reports Early Neolithic sherds from a midden on Annet but Henrietta Quinnell is dubious about this ascription. No Neolithic ceramics can now be attributed to entrance graves. The material suggested as Neolithic by Hencken from Bant’s Carn (1932, 24) and North Hill on Samson (1933, 27), an identification frequently quoted, is not of this date. Hencken (1933, 14) never saw the sherd from Bant’s Carn and that from North Hill should, in the light of modern knowledge, belong to the Bronze Age. Recently Katharine Sawyer has traced George Bonsor’s drawing of a possible Early Neolithic bowl from Bant’s Carn (Hencken 1932, fig 10 B) and this is clearly marked ‘Halangy Porth’ (Bonsor 18991900): there are first millennium cal BC finds from Halangy Porth and this vessel may be of this date (see below). No Middle Neolithic Peterborough pottery or Late Neolithic Grooved Ware is yet known from the Islands. Peterborough ceramics are uncommon in Cornwall although Grooved Ware groups are now being found, with some eight sites known (Jones and Quinnell 2011; Taylor, in preparation). 79 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 The suggestion by Robinson (2007, 54) that the lowest deposit of vessels at Knackyboy Cairn, St Martin’s, with horizontal rows of comb or cord impressions above the girth, represents a local Late Neolithic Scillonian style lacks supporting evidence. The total assemblage recovered by the Neolithic Stepping Stones project at Old Quay, St Martin’s, comprised 4638 sherds of Middle Neolithic pottery (Quinnell 2017a). The assemblage belongs in the South Western or Hembury Bowl tradition of Early Neolithic in South West Britain but with some distinctive features. One is its Middle Neolithic date; the second is the total absence of carinated bowls, found regularly in Early Neolithic assemblages in Devon and Cornwall. The third is the poor quality of the potting and the irregularity of vessels produced. Decoration is normally rare in South Western Bowl assemblages but at Old Quay there were only two decorated pieces. Currently there is no data indicating that South Western/Hembury Bowl pottery continued beyond the 34th century cal BC, so the site at Old Quay therefore represents a potentially interesting exception. Quinnell considers that the most likely scenario on present data is the use of South Western/Hembury Bowl pottery continued in Scilly after its use declined on the mainland, explaining the absence of Peterborough ware. This would imply a settled population on Scilly from a date within the Early Neolithic. It may seem unlikely that this pottery continued to be made on Scilly given the evidence from artefacts such as stone axes and the intervisibility with the mainland but it should be remembered that later, in the Bronze Age, a distinctive Scillonian ceramic style developed in the Islands. Any definite conclusions about the ceramic styles of Middle Neolithic Scilly and the mainland will, however, have to await further radiocarbon dates from sites yet to be discovered in both areas. It should be noted that the Neolithic bowl pottery from Old Quay has associated radiocarbon dates. There is no other direct dating evidence for this pottery from the Islands and so material previously described as Early Neolithic may in fact be Middle Neolithic. Beaker Phase No Beaker pottery has definitely been identified although a possible sherd, with comb stamping and cord impressions, comes from Bonfire Carn, Bryher (Quinnell 1994). The sherd from Halangy Porth interpreted by Ashbee (1983a, fig 9, No 3, 25) as Beakerrelated is better regarded, in the light of subsequent work, as later Iron Age (Quinnell 1994). Early Bronze Age For the Earlier Bronze Age there are only four or five possible examples of mainland vessel types recorded. A Collared Urn, possibly from Normandy Down, was petrographically examined by Parker Pearson (1990, 14, no 180) and contained greenstone, which suggested that this vessel had been imported from the mainland: Henrietta Quinnell’s discussions with Katharine Sawyer and Gary Robinson suggest that the provenance is uncertain. Sherds from Porth Hellick Down ‘Great Tomb’ with impressed cord chevron decoration are illustrated by Hencken (1932, fig 9) and photographs provided by Katharine Sawyer have been examined by Henrietta Quinnell: the fabric appears to be granitic, so of either Cornish or Scillonian manufacture. These appear to belong to the Cornish Trevisker sequence and to be the only examples of this ceramic type so far noted on the Islands. Trevisker cord impressed ceramics were produced through much of the second millennium cal BC (Jones and Quinnell 2011). A single sherd, apparently in granitic fabric, with plaited cord chevron impressions, was found on the beach adjacent to Building 1 at Nornour (Butcher 1968, 71, fig 34 no 134); this also appears to be Trevisker. P8 from Porth Killier, found away from the main Bronze Age settlement, had a zone of fingernail and twisted cord impressions very much in the Trevisker fashion (Quinnell, forthcoming f). The illustration of a vessel from Halangy Porth described as ‘reconstructed’ (Gray 1972, fig 14, no 14a) has twisted cord impressed decoration and simple lugs and could also have Trevisker affinities. 80 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Forty-seven sherds of Bronze Age pottery were recovered during the Neolithic Stepping Stones’ excavations at Old Quay, St Martin’s; 20 sherds of fabric 2 with high amounts of beach sand, probably dating to the Early to Middle Bronze Age and 27 sherds of fabric 3, with abundant granite inclusions. Internal residue from one of these sherds with Trevisker affinities produced a radiocarbon date of 1870-1620 cal BC (OxA-32024; Table 4.1), placing it firmly within the Early Bronze Age (Quinnell 2017a). The most common prehistoric ceramic in Scilly is a style unique to the Islands, best described as ‘Scillonian Bronze Age’. This is found both in burial-related contexts such as entrance graves and cairns and in later domestic contexts such as hut circles and middens. The vessels are generally biconical, sometimes bucket-shaped, sometimes plain, but often decorated with comb or cord impressions or incisions above their girth; lugs of various shapes are frequent. These features are all found in the mainland Trevisker ware of the Early and Middle Bronze Ages. However, Scillonian Bronze ceramics differ from Trevisker in four principal ways: decoration is almost always arranged in horizontal lines; more complex geometric patterns are absent; biconical vessels tend to be more curved; and lugs are more frequent, as are undecorated vessels. A further feature is the presence on some vessel bases of impressions apparently formed by mats. All data currently available indicate that the ceramics are of granitic fabrics likely to have been made on the Islands. Ashbee (1976, 17) provides a clear description of various granitic fabrics from Bant’s Carn in which mineral components derived from the granite appeared to have been added, in differing quantities, to water-sorted granitic derived clay. There has been no comprehensive study of types and the relationship of these to varying decorative traits or lack of them. The majority of excavations of burial-related sites yielding Scillonian Bronze Age ceramics have never been published, notably those carried out by George Bonsor around a century ago, and some records survive imperfectly. Bonsor’s finds, reported to have been deposited in the British Museum, could not be found until recently (Robinson 2007, Appendix U; Katharine Sawyer, pers comm to Henrietta Quinnell) and so have not been available to inform subsequent work. The most important publication of a ceramic assemblage from an entrance grave is that by Ashbee (1976) from Bant’s Carn, which covers both his own excavations and Bonsor’s earlier work. The Appendix to Ashbee’s report provides a useful list of finds from investigated entrance graves with details of publications where these have taken place. Ashbee makes it clear that ceramics in entrance graves, while sometimes found in quantity were frequently deposited as sherds. The illustrations of the Bant’s Carn assemblage show a range of rather similar biconical vessels with curved walls and lugs, some plain, some with a variety of decoration, reconstructed from very small pieces. The overall shape of the vessels appears to have been influenced by the illustrations in O’Neil’s (1952) interim report on Knackyboy Cairn. The only other report to reasonably modern standards is that by Grimes (1960, 170-180) on the entrance grave at Salakee Down, St Mary’s. This yielded two vessels found in fragments, both plain with lugs. The only cairn with useful ceramic data is that at Porth Killier (Quinnell, forthcoming f), with a small group of undecorated but lugged biconical vessels from a cist. Dates from the Porth Killier cairn await publication (Johns et al, forthcoming). There are problems with the data from this site (Jeanette Ratcliffe, pers comm to Henrietta Quinnell), although this is probably due to disturbance of the stratigraphy by burrowing rats (Andrew Young, pers comm to Charles Johns). Datable associated objects are restricted to the group of Early Bronze Age faience and glass beads from Knackyboy Cairn. Consequently an initial date for these ceramics cannot be established. O’Neil’s interim report (1952) of Knackyboy provides a strong indication of a stratigraphic sequence: curved walled vessels with cord or comb impressions were first deposited and then overlain by cremated deposits which included the faience beads. The deposits above appear to have contained vessels with incised decoration, with plain vessels more towards the top. Robinson (2007, 56), has published an interpretation of this sequence in which he places the lowest level, and the 81 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 cord impressed vessels, at a date preceding the Early Bronze Age beads. From this he moves to situate most initial entrance grave deposits in the third millennium cal BC (ibid, 60). The first radiocarbon determinations from an entrance grave were obtained during research for Katharine Sawyer’s PhD thesis ‘Isles of the Dead? The setting and function of the Bronze Age chambered cairns and cists of the Isles of Scilly’ (Sawyer 2015): the sequence of ten dates from cremated bone from Knackyboy Cairn on St Martin’s all fall in the middle centuries of the second millennium cal BC, which a date of 1900-1700 cal BC (OxA-26373; Table 4.1) has been obtained from cremated bone in a cist from Old Town, St Mary’s (ibid) and Robinson’s interpretation must be regarded as speculation. An Early to Middle Bronze Age date for the principal use of entrance graves is supported by comparison with data from the Cornish mainland. If the analogy between Scillonian Bronze Age ceramics and Trevisker ware is valid, then the former belongs broadly within the second millennium cal BC. Trevisker cord decorated ceramics appear to have been selected – as opposed to those with incised decoration – for Early Bronze Age burial deposition (Quinnell, forthcoming d). This fits well with the apparent primacy of cord impressed vessels at Knackyboy Cairn and their frequency at Bant’s Carn. The recent publication of Bosiliack entrance grave in West Penwith has produced radiocarbon dates centred on the seventeenth and sixteenth centuries cal BC for that site (Jones and Thomas 2010, 275). Jones and Thomas also re-emphasise the close relationship between Trevisker ceramics and entrance graves at Ballowal and Tregaseal (ibid, 282), and redraw attention to an Early Bronze Age radiocarbon determination at Tregiffian (ibid, 284). In Cornwall large and complex structures often associated with burial appear to belong to the Early Bronze Age, with small monuments in unobtrusive positions continuing the position into the Middle Bronze Age (Jones and Quinnell 2011). This background would be compatible with some continued use, or building, of smaller monuments in Scilly in the Middle Bronze Age. Two settlement sites with stone houses dating to the Middle Bronze Age have produced radiocarbon dates which may be indicative of some form of domestic activity in the preceding Early Bronze Age. That at Little Bay, St Martin’s (Neal 1983, 52), was associated with comb stamped sherds. The Nornour data (Butcher 1978) shows a range of plain vessels with occasional comb or cord impressed and incised sherds, most clearly accessible in Robinson’s representation (2007, 192-5). The Nornour data may include early phases of stone buildings. East Porth, Samson, has also produced an Early Bronze Age date (OxA-3649; Table 4.1) from a land surface with a small ceramic assemblage; it was adjacent to a structure in the cliff not fully investigated (Quinnell 1994). It is possible (below) that much of the material from Halangy Porth belongs to the Early Bronze Age. Worked flint, chert and quartz Flint artefacts in Scilly have usually been isolated finds, but at a number of locations worked flint has been found in sufficient quantities to constitute a flint scatter; the majority date to the Neolithic or Bronze Age and represent prehistoric flint working sites. Flint scatters have yielded a variety of implements such as scrapers, awls, knives, and arrowheads. The Cornwall and Scilly HER records ten flint scatters on St Mary’s, Tresco, and St Martin’s. Notable Neolithic items include the axe or adze from below the main cairn material at Knackyboy Cairn (O’Neil 1952) and a recent find of an axe or adze from the west shoreline of Bryher (Fig 4.5). Amelia Pannett’s assessment of the lithics collection held by the Isles of Scilly Museum is discussed above in Section 3.3.7. A number of plano-convex knives were identified, all manufactured on large flakes, with invasive pressure flaking along one edge of the dorsal surface and rounding at the distal end. These are characteristic of the Early Bronze Age. Several arrowheads were examined, including barbed and tanged, oblique, chisel and triangular forms. All date to the later Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. Two 82 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 possible leaf-shaped arrowheads were also recognised, but both were very rough and could actually be poorly manufactured triangular forms (Pannett 2007). A large number of flakes and blades had abrupt retouch along one or both lateral edges, and several showed tentative evidence for use in the form of edge damage. A number of notched flakes and blades were also recognised. Abrupt retouch had been utilised in the manufacture of awls and borers, a range of which was represented in the collections. In a small number of examples, a double tool form was recognised, with a scraper edge on one end, and the opposite end retouched to form a borer. These tool forms are, again, not particularly diagnostic of a period, and could date from the late Mesolithic to the Early Bronze Age (Pannett 2007). Fig 4.5 Neolithic axe or adze found on the west shoreline of Bryher c 2010 (photo: Carl Thorpe). Despite the unprovenanced character of the examined material in the lithic archive, it provides important details about the nature and potential of the resource on Scilly. Evidence for the later Neolithic and Early Bronze Age is abundant, as expected, but there is little or no evidence for the early Neolithic. It is possible that such evidence is present, but currently invisible within the collections due to a lack of clearly diagnostic pieces (such as leaf-shaped arrowheads) and full working assemblages (Pannett 2007). It has been noted that artefacts reflecting ‘early post-Mesolithic flintworking traditions’ have been recovered from the area towards Kallimay Point, St Agnes (Quinnell 1994, 9). The flint, chert and quartz assemblage from the Neolithic Stepping Stones excavations at Old Quay, St Martin’s, totalled an astonishing 10,901 pieces and included microliths, micro-burins, burins, flakes, blades, cores, scrapers, awls and piercers (Tingle and Anderson-Whymark 2017). The microliths from the assemblage are discussed above in Section 2.3.3. Almost all the worked stone was locally sourced, but that which appears to be imported from the mainland, although small in number, appears to be significant. 83 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Two pieces of worked flint were recovered during archaeological recording on land at Seaways, Porthloo, St Mary’s, in 2017 (Quinnell 2017c). One is a fragment of Portland chert, broken from either a core or core trimming flake. The material is from Dorset with occasional use across South West Britain from the Mesolithic to the Bronze Age (Stewart 2013, 127–8). It is an unusual, if not unique, find from the Islands. The other piece was a core trimming flake from nodular flint originating in East Devon and suggesting a date before the Bronze Age, probably Neolithic. Worked stone The 2013/14 Neolithic Stepping Stones’ excavations produced a gabbroic greenstone shafthole adze (probably from somewhere further afield than west Cornwall), the blade end of a greenstone axe (probably from Mount’s Bay, Cornwall), a siltstone pebble with an oblique hourglass and several mullers, rubbing stones and tools used for hammering and abrasion (Quinnell 2017b). Quinnell notes that, in general, that the records on finds of axes and related artefacts from Scilly are somewhat confused. A list of axes and perforated stone tools from Scilly has been complied for an undergraduate thesis (Warren 2017). A copy has been deposited at the Isles of Scilly Museum. Pumice A total of 23 pieces of pumice was found by the Neolithic Stepping Stones project at Old Quay, St Martin’s. With the exception of a single unstratified piece, all the pumice came from contexts which yielded other finds, usually Middle Neolithic pottery and/or flints, but also quartz and worked stone (Sawyer 2017). Only six other pieces of pumice have been identified in Scilly (Sawyer 2017). A fragment of it was found in one of the pits containing Neolithic pottery at East Porth, Samson (Neal and Johns, forthcoming), by Bonsor at Porth Hellick entrance grave (Hencken 1932), two pieces from the western section at Nornour (Butcher 1978), Little Bay settlement (Neal 1983) and a surface find made by Alec Gray near Bant’s Carn (Gray 1972). 4.5.3 Art There is a large stone incorporated within a house at Halangy Down, St Mary’s, the surface of which is decorated with a pecked-out geometric design that Ashbee suggests represents a stylised face (Ashbee 1966, fig 2; 1974, 153). A possible cup marked stone has been reported at Halangy Porth, St Mary's. The stone is recumbent and measures 1.82m in length by 0.91m wide and lies just above the high water mark at the western end of the bay. The three cup marks are located towards the narrower western end of the rock and align on a north/south axis (MCO40409). Another cup-marked stone has been incorporated in the drystone hedge on the north side of Pungie’s Lane. The stone measures 0.92m wide and 0.44m high The circular depression in it is 0.18m in diameter and 0.07m deep (MCO 57000051). In 2009, during fieldwork for Lyonesse Project a previously unreported example of rock art was recorded – an image pecked into a native granite boulder lying on the East Porth foreshore, Samson. The ‘cigar’ or ‘boat-shaped’ image, approximately 300mm by 100mm and aligned north-south, lies on the flat surface of a very large beach boulder and incorporates a natural fissure as a central division. Photographs of the image have been shown to various rock art specialists but as yet no parallels have been identified. Invoking the image as an early representation of one of the boats used to access the Islands is very tempting, but in the absence of dating evidence this cannot be confirmed and the ‘boat’ could just as easily be referencing the post-medieval tradition of pilotage or is not a boat at all. 84 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 4.5.4 Subsistence Animals A domesticated, neo-natal calf’s tooth from Par Beach, St Martin’s, apparently associated with Late Mesolithic peat deposits, has been radiocarbon dated to the Early Bronze Age, 2280-2030 cal BC (OxA-X-2465-6; Table 4.1), which makes it the earliest recorded osteological faunal remain from Scilly and also the earliest indicator of animal husbandry on the Islands (Ratcliffe and Straker 1996, 29; Marshall and Bronk Ramsey 2012; Charman et al 2016). Generally there is poor preservation in the acidic soils of Scilly and apart from the above the earliest recorded faunal remains date to the Middle Bronze Age. Ceramic and stone vessels were probably used for the storage of cereals and other foodstuffs and there is the potential that residue analysis of the Neolithic ceramic assemblages will reveal information about vessels contents (for example, ruminant, porcine, dairy and marine fats) and provide indirect evidence for early foods. It is planned to carry out such analysis of the Neolithic pottery from East Porth, as part of the ‘Changing Patterns of Marine Product Exploitation in Human Prehistory via Biomarker Proxies in Archaeological Pottery’ project led by Richard Evershed of Bristol University and Jacqui Mulville of Cardiff University. Plants Plant macrofossils recovered from the Porth Mellon peat on St Mary’s during the 1989– 93 CEP included species such as chickweed, fat hen, parsley, piert and knot grass. These species indicate disturbed open ground which might suggest arable land nearby during the Late Neolithic, although there was no direct evidence for crops either from the macrofossils or pollen (Ratcliffe and Straker 1996, 20). The earliest unequivocal evidence of land clearance for agricultural use occurs in 30902910 cal BC (OxA-23825; Table 4.1) at Par Beach, St Martin’s, where the pollen data from the Lyonesse Project shows that birch-dominated woodland was replaced by grassland unconnected to sea-level change during the Middle Neolithic. The presence of disturbance indicators such as plantain and other herbaceous grassland taxa also supports this suggestion (Charman et al 2016). Such agricultural activity may be connected with the nearby Middle Neolithic settlement at Old Quay, where a sequence of radiocarbon measurements obtained by the Neolithic Stepping Stones project indicates occupation between c 3360 and 2910 cal BC (Garrow and Sturt 2017; OxA29340; OxA-31868; OxA-31871-3; OxA-31990; Table 4.1). Dominance of herb-rich grassland suitable for pasture and hay production is evident at Par Beach until the end of the Neolithic. Open ground was also certainly present on St Mary’s from the early third millennium cal BC, as shown by the series of short profiles from Porth Mellon. However, more extensive woodland cover seems to have persisted here, with oak, birch and hazel. All of the profiles from Porth Mellon suggest a very diverse grassland flora, probably reflecting the range of habitats present with coastal, wetland and woodland influences overprinted by the use of these semi-natural habitats by Late Neolithic communities. The earliest Bronze Age cereal assemblage, recovered during the 1989–93 CEP, was a cache of barley from East Porth, Samson, dating to 2200-1770 cal BC (OxA-3649; Table 4.1). This almost entirely comprised of a cleaned crop of naked, probably six-row barley, providing good evidence that it had become crop in its own right by the Early Bronze Age. Hulled barley grain constituted less than 1% of the total assemblage. There was no chaff and only a single charred spike rush, emphasising that this was cleaned harvest which may have been burnt accidentally prior to consumption (Ratcliffe and Straker 1996, 10). 85 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 4.5.5 Transport ‘The Isles of Scilly stand as an important reminder as to the seafaring abilities of Neolithic and Early Bronze Age people within this region’ (Ransley et al 2011) Exactly when Scilly was first permanently settled is a matter yet to be precisely determined, but what is certain is that the first visitors and settlers came by boat. No Neolithic seagoing boats have been found in Scilly, or anywhere else in Britain, but it is important to keep sight of the effects sea-level rise has had on Neolithic and Bronze Age coastlines; most prehistoric boats have been found in estuarine and inland contexts. Island communities are important when considering maritime transport as seafaring is implicit in trading and migration. Any artefacts originating outside the Islands, such as the sherd of gabbroic pottery from Old Quay, St Martin’s, attest to the use of boats to carry goods and people across the sea. Peter Clark (2004b, 7) suggests that the archaeology of south-east England and nearest France indicates that there may have been a tribal connection which straddled the English Channel during the Bronze Age. He notes that the journey from Dover to the nearest contemporary site in France is 55km, although the coastal voyages attested by the shale in the Dover Boat and a nearby find of a Trevisker-type urn from Cornwall indicate distances travelled of 220km and 450km respectively in the Middle Bronze Age. By the end of the Bronze Age a maritime community may have been established utilising the connecting waters of the English Channel / La Manche and possibly stretching along the south coast of Britain as far as the South West peninsula and Scilly. Materials and artefacts in bronze, amber and gold formed elements of contemporary material culture and indicate that these connections stretched north to Scandinavia and south to the Alps. In this connection it is interesting to note Stuart Needham’s concept of a ‘maritory’ in the Early Bronze Age, linking South West England with mainland Europe, as indicated by the Rillaton cup and similar contemporary items (Needham 2009), although there is very little evidence for the circulation of tin or copper from the South West before the Middle Bronze Age (the tin slag recovered from an Early Bronze Age ring cairn at Caerloggas on the St Austell granite being one of the notable exceptions; Miles 1975). Gabriel Cooney (2004) envisages hide-covered keeled currachs, a type known historically in Ireland, plying the western seaways from the Neolithic onwards. Plankbuilt craft have been considered less likely in the western seaways due to a supposed lack of suitable timber on these exposed and damp coasts, but it can equally be questioned, particularly for Ireland, as to where the large mammals were found to provide hides for currachs in the earliest periods. Both hides and wood can be imported (by people with the appropriate seacraft), as can complete vessels, and the presence of both hide and plank traditions in the western seaways should not at this stage be discounted. Indeed, two Bronze Age find-sites of plank boats are known from Caldicot and Goldcliff at the head of the Bristol Channel on the Welsh side of the Severn Estuary (Nayling and Caseldine 1997). Plank boats are regarded as more stable and robust craft compared with hide boats and the sewn-plank design may be an innovation based on the earlier sewing of hides (Van de Noort 2004). Roger Mercer (2003) has pointed out, however, that an advantage of hide boats is that they are lighter and more easily carried or hauled across the isthmus of a peninsula to avoid the potential dangers of rounding headlands by sea. Such a scenario would perhaps allow the avoidance of Scilly, and the strait between the Islands and Cape Cornwall, by taking boats over the 8km of isthmus between Mount’s Bay and St Ives Bay. Scilly lies some 45km from Cornwall, 190km from France and 240km from Ireland. The Islands are visible from Land’s End on a clear day, and given the lack of any known navigational instruments in this period, sight of the destination from point of departure was probably important. The difficulties of such journeys undertaken in prehistory are 86 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 often the subject of speculation: ‘The undertaking was formidable, but it was never insuperable’ (Thomas 1985). To put the journey into some sort of perspective it is worth considering a recent crossing to Scilly from Cornwall in small kayaks. On 2 May 2009 seven individuals travelled from Lamorna Cove in Cornwall to St Mary’s in small fibreglass kayaks propelled with double-ended paddles. The wind was light (Force 2) but a considerable Atlantic swell was running (5–6m claimed). The journey took 10 hours and was completed by six of the seven canoeists. One interesting observation made by the participants was that as Scilly is so low-lying, the Islands were not visible from the kayaks until very close at hand. Although this journey was made with the benefit of modern navigation (GPS), lightweight fibreglass kayaks and an accompanying safety boat, it illustrates that the journey can be made using very small boats and paddles when conditions are relatively benign (The Big 5 Kayak Challenge 2011). Rainbird (2007) discusses how animals could be used to help navigate and subtle changes in wave patterns also indicate land before it came into view; Pacific navigators in canoes were able to steer between low atolls without intervisibility using these techniques. 4.6 Social relations The Neolithic archaeology at Old Quay, St Martin’s, is best interpreted as a site that witnessed significant levels of occupation, over the course of several decades or more. The absence of any clearly defined buildings, combined with a palimpsest of postholes (interpreted a representing multiple phases of occupation-related structures) seem to indicate repeated and fairly substantial, but not permanent, occupation (Garrow and Sturt 2017, 131). Thomas (1985, 103–9) created a model, now outdated, for early settlement in Scilly; identifying five ‘founder’ settlement sites each with an associated entrance grave. All the sites were in original inland locations which were sheltered, favourable spots, and three had produced early finds. He proposed that some 50 or 60 people were the founder settlers of Scilly and that subsequent settlement and ritual monuments developed from these original sites: below Knackyboy Cairn on St Martin’s; Gimble Porth, Tresco; East Porth, Samson; Halangy Porth, St Mary’s, and a site below Kittern Hill, Gugh. He envisaged the initial settlement of Scilly as being dispersed rather than nucleated, with the development of a segmentary society expressing its territoriality through similarly dispersed monuments with no sign of hierarchy, although the varying size of different entrance graves could be seen as reflecting a difference in social status or perhaps in function. Robinson (2007, 145–6) suggests that Early Bronze Age islanders did not fix their settlements within specific locales and that settlement of this period appears fluid and transient, perhaps moving to different locations within the archipelago dependent upon season and availability of resources. This would suggest a degree of residential mobility with relatively little rigid differentiation of settlement space. By this scenario, a distinct class of settlement site would not have existed in this period and those activities defined as domestic took place in different island landscape settings, as yet largely unrecognised. The abundance of monuments during this period suggests that by the Early Bronze Age the archipelago contained a resident population. In contrast to settlements, monuments of this period are substantial permanent structures that emphasise and fix specific island locales. 4.7 Monumentality, ritual and burial 4.7.1 Entrance graves Scillonian entrance graves are small chambered cairns, comprising a roughly circular mound of stone and earth, revetted by a kerb and containing a chamber. The Cornwall and Scilly HER records 92 entrance graves, four of which are destroyed and 11 of which 87 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 are only alleged (Fig 4.6). Whilst higher concentrations of entrance graves are found on Scilly, similar monuments are found on the Cornish mainland – around 13 entrance graves have been recorded in West Penwith (Barnatt 1982; Jones and Thomas 2011; Ratcliffe 1989). O’Neil and Hencken’s classification of entrance graves draws attention to the standardisation of monument plans and the presence of an open chamber, and therefore the ability to re-enter and reuse the monument after its construction (Hencken 1932, 1933). Although some standardisation exists, the excavated evidence demonstrates a greater variety of monument forms than is implied through the application of a single classification. In practice, the nature of the standing field evidence makes it difficult to always make clear distinctions between open chambers and cairns containing sealed chambers or cists. As discussed above, the dating of Scillonian entrance graves has been problematic in the past but the new radiocarbon determinations from Knackyboy Cairn indicate that their principal use was in the Early and Middle Bronze Age (Sawyer 2015). Comparison has been drawn between the Scillonian entrance graves and similar monuments located within the Tramore region of County Waterford, Ireland (Piggott 1954; Powell 1941), as well as with Irish wedge tombs which are dated to the Early Bronze Age (Jones and Thomas 2010). Typological parallels could also be made with a group of small passage graves which run up both sides of the Irish Sea and have an arguably early date in the Early Bronze Age (Lynch 1975; Powell et al 1969). Fig 4.6 Inferred submergence model c 1500 BC, showing the location of entrance graves and cairns based on data from the Lyonesse Project (Charman et al 2016); all details as for Fig 3.3. Monument construction The size of Scillonian entrance graves varies considerably, with examples ranging from 5.2m to 22.7m in diameter. The mounds of stone and rubble that cover the chambers of entrance graves do not appear to have any discernible structure, although as there 88 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 have been only a small number of recorded excavations this observation may be misleading. Kerbstones may comprise orthostats or stones laid as coursed walling. Chambers are constructed of a mixture of orthostatic and coursed walling, held in place by ‘trig’ stones along their bases. Surmounting these walls, large capstones are placed across the chamber and levelled into place with smaller stones to form a roof. The shape of chambers is remarkably consistent, being widest at their centres and narrowing towards their entrances and terminals. Evidence from four monuments suggests that some chamber walls were plastered with clay: Buzza Hill (Fig 4.3), Innisidgen Carn and Lower Innisidgen, St Mary’s, and Knackyboy Cairn, St Martin’s (Ashbee 1974; Borlase 1753; 1756; Hencken 1932; 1933; O’Neil 1952). The orange plaster used within the chambers derives from clayey deposits found within the ram which set hard when exposed. Chamber entrances are frequently restricted, in some instances, as at Porth Hellick Down (Ashbee 1974, 80), by blocking stones. A number of entrance graves stand out from the majority in both scale and complexity. For example, at Porth Hellick and Bant’s Carn (Fig 4.7), St Mary’s, and Obadiah’s Barrow, Gugh, entrance to the monument’s chamber is gained via a seemingly open passage through an extension collar or platform (Ashbee 1974, 79). A recurrent feature of entrance graves is the incorporation of earth-fast boulders in their construction. In a few instances, the grounders incorporated are substantial and would have been clearly visible within the monument after construction. This feature of monument construction is, however, not limited to entrance graves but is equally apparent within cairns (see discussion below). On Porth Hellick Down an entrance grave, known as Peter’s Barrow, contains a large natural grounder that forms a large percentage of the monument whilst a second entrance grave contains a large weathered grounder which forms the back and one of the sides of its chamber (Ashbee 1974, 83; Robinson 2007, 130). Similarly at Knackyboy Cairn, the back and part of the northern side of the chamber is formed by large grounder (O’Neil 1952, pl XV) whilst on South Hill, Samson, the lower part of the chamber of an entrance grave is formed by a grounder around which the monument was constructed (Ashbee 1974, 84). Funerary practices and deposition within entrance graves Entrance graves are associated with a range of practices. At Obadiah’s Barrow, Gugh, unburned disarticulated bones were found in a layer of hard blackish soil on the stone paving that formed the floor of a later chamber over which were inverted pots containing cremated human remains (Hencken 1932, 28; 1933, 21; Ashbee 1974, 1089). At Knackyboy Cairn, St Martin’s, and North Hill, Samson (O’Neil 1952; Hencken 1933, 22), the excavation of chambers revealed deposits of dark soil (containing small abraded pieces of pottery) below stone paving, but, in contrast to Obadiah’s Barrow, no evidence for inhumation burials was found in either chamber. This may, however, be due to poor preservation of human bone (due to the acid soils), inadequate and limited excavation and disturbance due to later reuse of their chambers. Later burials placed within the chambers of entrance graves were usually within urns and occasionally accompanied by grave goods such as beads, bone artefacts, metalwork and selected pebbles and stones. Chambers appear to have received a series of burials throughout their use, although in the majority of cases it is not possible to reconstruct a sequence of deposition. It is also unclear why some entrance graves such as Knackyboy Cairn or Obadiah’s Barrow should contain large quantities of burials whilst others contain only a few or none at all. Whilst this discrepancy may be partly due to the small number of monuments excavated and perhaps to later disturbances (at least one of the Penwith entrance graves was used as a piggery) this alone cannot explain this phenomenon and it is likely that social factors played a significant role, such as circulation of bones or perhaps the ritualized spreading of ancestral ‘bones and occupation material’ from the chambers onto the fields. Whilst containment of the dead was certainly one function of these monuments, the most common recorded contents of these monuments are deposits of dark greasy soil. Ashbee (1982a) and Thomas (1985, 138) describe these deposits as containing soil, 89 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 small sherds of pottery, charcoal, ash (not associated with cremations) and pebbles, and have interpreted them as representing the deliberate deposition of occupation debris. Some of this material – such as non-local stone like the pumice found at Porth Hellick (Hencken 1932, 20) – could be interpreted as ‘grave goods’ or ritual deposits, whilst others, such as topsoil and ash, are not so easily explained. The consistent deposition of this material within the chambers of entrance graves suggests that such deposits were intentional and significant. An alternative interpretation of these deposits is that they are the scraped up remains of funeral pyres. However, whilst funerary pyres would have existed on the Islands, evidence for their identification is sketchy (Ashbee 1974, 116–117; Cornish 1874). Once the visible remains of cremations, such as human bone, were collected from the pyre and deposited within urns, the remaining material might comprise a dark oily deposit of ash and soil. The description of the contents of entrance graves as ‘dark and greasy’ or as ‘strong unctuous earth that smelt cadaverous’ (Borlase 1754, 54) might fit well with this interpretation, but also with the deposition of midden material (discussed below). Interpretation of the origin and function of entrance graves Since the mid-eighteenth century antiquarians and archaeologists have conjectured upon the function of the Scillonian entrance graves. Borlase was the first to classify these ‘ancient Sepulchres’ into ‘Caves’ (exposed chambers without cairn and surrounding kerb) and ‘Barrows’ (entrance graves with cairn and surrounding kerb) (Borlase 1769, 220). The number of these monuments in Scilly led Hencken (1932, 38) to suggest that these Islands may have been regarded as one of the special abodes of the departed in ancient times. The term ‘entrance grave’ has only been used to describe this type of monument since the 1940s; before that they were referred to as barrows, covered galleries or passage graves (Jones and Thomas 2010, 283). Ashbee (1981) has argued for a Mesolithic origin but they are now generally considered to date from the Early Bronze Age onwards as they do in Cornwall (Jones and Thomas 2010; Sawyer 2015). Whatever their origins, antiquarians and early archaeologists saw entrance graves as tombs, whether for single, collective or successive burials, but in the last 40 years or so alternative interpretations have been offered (cf Coate 1994, 18-9). As a result of his investigations into the relation between entrance graves and field systems, the use of occupational debris and the lack of burials in some examples, Ashbee (1976, 21) suggested that, other than being mausolea, their function might have been as cult monuments to counteract soil impoverishment and loss of fertility. It has been suggested that deposits such as ash and topsoil were derived from settlements and could represent a transfer of material from the world of the living to the ancestors (Thomas 1985, 142; Robinson 2007, 21). 90 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Fig 4.7 The ‘Great Tomb’, Porth Hellick Down, St Mary’s (photo: Cornwall Council). Thomas (1985, 108, 126) viewed the prehistory of the Islands as that of a segmentary society expanding into estimated territories (above, Section 4.6). He suggests that even if the monuments housed burials they were not originally constructed as tombs but as territorial markers, an outward and visible expression of ownership of defined territories by defined groups. Because entrance graves are mainly situated on the periphery of the Islands and many are not connected with field systems, Ashbee (1986, 199) suggested that they might also have a maritime connection, being intended to ensure continuing fertility of the sea. It has been noted that the chambers of many entrance graves and cists in cairns are boat-shaped (Thomas 1985, 144). Robinson also points out that entrance graves are consistently located close to granite tors, which would have been important navigation aids since the Mesolithic, and that through the construction of these monuments the knowledge and significance of these tors became embedded within the lives of prehistoric islanders (2007, 115–20). Thomas and Jones (2010, 289), in a recent exposition on entrance graves, suggest that the Penwith entrance graves may have been communal shrines as much as being repositories for the dead. The first radiocarbon dates from an entrance grave have recently been obtained (Sawyer 2015); a sequence of 10 determinations indicates that the cremations date to the early to mid-second millennium cal BC. Therefore the timing of the rapid conversion of dry land to intertidal zone occurs between 2500 and 2000 cal BC just before the main period of use of entrance graves on Scilly. 91 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Fig 4.8 Bant’s Carn entrance grave, St Mary’s (photo: Cornwall Council). We know that in Cornwall there is a huge increase in ceremonial monuments, mainly barrows, after 2000 BC (Jones 2005, 138), and in Scilly this may be paralleled by the construction of the large number of entrance graves and cairns, which may have been purposely built in areas that were not very agriculturally productive. The particular structure of these numerous monuments may be the result of insular traditions which reflect the local geological and visual landscape in which these early Scillonian communities dwelled (Jones and Thomas 2010, 291–2). Their distinctive form can perhaps most engagingly be seen as ‘a product of imaginative and uniquely Scillonian encounters between the community, landscape and the cosmos’ (cf Owoc et al 2003, 4–5). 4.7.2 Cairns and cists The Cornwall and Scilly HER records a total of 384 cairns in Scilly, the majority of which occur within cairn-fields. Few cairns have been excavated on Scilly and it is therefore difficult to construct a chronological sequence for these monuments. The only radiocarbon determination is from a small cairn at Porth Killier, St Agnes, which is dated to 2030-1660 cal BC (Wk-5690; Table 4.1) (Johns et al, forthcoming). Cairns in Cornwall date primarily to the late third and early second millennium cal BC, confirmed by radiocarbon determinations from several cairns and barrows (Jones 2005; Jones and Quinnell 2011). Rather than their contents, the main contrast between cairns and entrance graves is the lack of access to human remains in cairns after burial. 92 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Fig 4.9 Plan of Shipman Head Down, Bryher: the black dots are cairns (© Cornwall Council). The largest of the cairn-fields is located on Shipman Head Down at the north end of Bryher (Fig 4.9; Breen 2008). It comprises 134 cairns arranged in both clusters and rough alignments which follow slight ridges or contours. This cairn-field is located upon the highest and most exposed part of the headland within a zone enclosed by the 20m contour. The second largest cairn-field is on the highest contours of Castle Down, Tresco, comprising 78 cairns. The cairn-field on Wingletang Down, St Agnes comprises 43 cairns. At the remaining five cairn-fields (Chapel Down, St Martin’s; Kittern Hill, and Clapper of Works Down, Gugh; and Peninnis Head and Salakee Down, St Mary’s), a similar scenario occurs with cairns occupying exposed headlands. Some of the cairns within cairn-fields have been interpreted as agricultural clearance mounds. This interpretation has arisen through their association with boulder walls that connect cairns such as those found on Shipman Head Down and Kittern Hill (Ratcliffe 1994; Thomas 1985; below, Section 5.4.4). The sequential relationship between cairns and walls on the downs is difficult to determine and might only be clarified through excavation. The interpretation of these walls as evidence for agricultural intensification has been considered problematic because these downs are the most barren and exposed places in the archipelago and are unlikely to ever have been exploited for agriculture, so that perhaps other interpretations for these stone structures should be sought (Lousley 1971; Thomas 1985, 132–3; Breen 2008). At the same time it should be remembered that the climate was more clement in the Bronze Age and that Bodmin Moor and the Penwith Moors, equally inhospitable today, contain considerable evidence of Bronze Age settlement and agriculture (see below, Section 5.3.4, for further discussion). A range of sizes and types of cairn occur on Scilly, all employing similar structural principles. However, due to the lack of excavation within cairn-fields, we do not know how this variation relates to the use of these monuments. Most cairns are relatively small with visible diameters falling between 4m and 7m and seldom rising over 0.5m in height. In a small number of instances, however, larger cairns occur, with dimensions of up to 22m in diameter and 2.2m in height. Cairns vary in form, the most basic comprising small piles of loose boulders, whilst kerbs of orthostats surround others. Questions remain as to how many cairns contain burial deposits, but on the basis of excavated examples it would appear that a significant proportion contain stone-lined cists or burial pits (cf Thomas 1985, 129-33). In a few instances, such as North Hill, Samson, and Hillbenigates, St Martin’s, cists beneath cairns have been identified through excavation (O’Neil nd e; Smith 1863), while in other instances the presence of 93 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 a cist is suggested by depressions within the fabric of the cairn, resulting from antiquarian robbing. A cairn on North Hill, Samson, contained a carefully constructed central cist, held together with mortise and tenon joints, a technique more akin to woodworking than stone working (Smith 1863; Piggott 1941; Ashbee 1974). Cists are also found on Scilly without covering cairns, as at Old Town (Mackenzie 1967), Content Farm (Ashbee 1954) and Town Lane (Crawford 1928), all on St Mary’s. The dating of these cists is problematic because of limited and poorly documented excavation and the apparent absence of datable finds, although bone from the Old Town cist has been radiocarbon dated to 1900-1700 (OxA-26373; Table 4.1) (Sawyer 2015, 87). By analogy with similar monuments on the Cornish mainland, these monuments should belong to the early second millennium cal (Jones and Quinnell 2011). The classification of flat cists as a separate burial tradition to cairns should be treated with caution as, in a number of instances, archival reports suggest small cairns may once have covered them (Ashbee 1952–53, 30; O’Neil nd a). A recurring feature of cairns is the incorporation of natural earth-fast grounders and outcrops. In a few instances, the grounders incorporated are substantial and would have been clearly visible within the monument after construction. The most striking example of this occurs on Castle Down, Tresco, where a large grounder, known as the ‘Borlase Altar’, is incorporated within a kerbed cairn (Quinnell, N, 2009-10). Similarly, a large grounder covered in solution holes on Wingletang Down is encompassed within a kerbed cairn, while at Hillbenigates (also known as Flat Rock Hill) a cairn containing a cist was constructed directly on top of a large grounder, with the burial chamber constructed within a natural hollow in its surface (O'Neil nd e). These tor and boulder cairns are also a key feature of the Cornish Bronze Age where they are sometimes associated with multiple urned and unurned cremation burials (Borlase 1879; Tilley and Bennett 2001). On Scilly many entrance graves are also associated with natural rock outcrops (Ashbee 1974, 82-84). In some instances the similarity between these monuments may have resulted in misclassification. 4.7.3 Standing stones and stone rows The Cornwall and Scilly HER identifies 13 possible standing stones, five of which are upstanding. These standing stones are found throughout the archipelago but little evidence for their date is available. An excavation at the base of a standing stone on Gugh (Fig 4.10) found no evidence of associated features or finds (Borlase 1756, 40). On Mount Flagon, St Mary’s (Fig 4.10), and Higher Town, St Martin’s, standing stones are found at the centre of small cairns, whilst at Gun Hill and Chapel Down, St Martin’s, standing stones are used to form the sides of stone cists. A standing stone on Cruther’s Hill, St Martin’s, recorded as upstanding by Borlase (1756), lies fallen amongst gorse. Ashbee interprets a large stone incorporated within a house at Halangy Down, St Mary’s, as a ‘decommissioned’ standing stone. The surface of this stone is decorated with a pecked-out geometric design which he suggests represents a stylised face (Ashbee 1966, fig 2; 1974, 153). Borlase recorded a standing stone; the ‘High Stone’ on Peninnis Head, St Mary’s, and this has been possibly identified as a now recumbent monolith (Seaney 2010b). 94 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Fig 4.10 Standing stones: left Gugh (photo: Ian Dennis) and right Mount Flagon, St Mary’s (photo: Cornwall Council). A possible stone row has been recorded on Par Beach, St Martin’s, located midway along the beach between the high and low tide (Fulford et al 1997; Ratcliffe 1990, 22, figs 8 and 9), it consists of three granite orthostats set along an east-west alignment and with an overall length of 15m. The location of a stone row on Scilly, within a coastal context, is without precedent and suggests caution. In 1949, O’Neil excavated a prehistoric house on Par Beach in close proximity to the suggested stone row (O’Neil nd a) uncovering two parallel rows of stones running along the beach, between high and low tide which he interpreted as field boundaries. The lower wall consisted of a single row of orthostats between which sections of coursed walling occurred. The location, description (except for the coursed sections), and alignment of this wall match well with that of the suggested stone row and it is possible that the lower wall identified by O’Neil and the recently identified stone row are the same feature. If this interpretation is correct, the higher of O’Neil's wall is now buried beneath sand dunes further up the beach. A photograph taken in 1990, when there was much less sand on Par Beach than today, shows one of the field boundaries and the stone row (Fig 4.11). Two more stone alignments were identified on Castle Down, Tresco by Dave Hooley during the Monuments Protection Programme (MPP). Stone rows have a wide distribution in Britain, with notable concentrations in the South West peninsula, on the uplands of Dartmoor and Bodmin Moor (Barnett 1982; Butler 1997; Johnson and Rose 1994). 95 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Fig 4.11 The possible stone row on Par Beach, St Martin’s, in 1988 (photo: Cornwall Council). 4.7.4 Pits The digging of pits and burying of pottery and other artefacts and deposits is a wellattested phenomenon in the British Isles during the later prehistoric period (cf Richards and Thomas 1984; Bradley 1990; Bradley 2007; Cole and Jones 2002–3; Jones and Reed 2006; Anderson-Whymark and Thomas 2011) and extensive archaeological evidence has been discovered in Cornwall for the curation and ‘structured deposition’ of broken potsherds, worked stone and other artefacts (e.g., Gossip and Jones 2007). It has been suggested that the act of pit digging and deposition may have been intended to render activity memorable and fix a connection between people and place. In Cornwall the shape of pits and repertoire of materials placed in them seems to have changed little from the beginning of the Neolithic period into the Bronze Age, other than the changing ceramic types deposited in them, although it has been argued that the character of such pits generally developed over time, with more care taken over the objects selected and the pits themselves being better crafted (Cole and Jones 2002-3; Jones and Reed 2006). A growing number of prehistoric pits are being identified in Scilly and their significance is being reassessed (see below, Section 5, for further discussion). Two pits excavated at East Porth, Samson, in 1971 contained Neolithic pottery, as well as some carefully selected stones and a fragment of pumice (Neal and Johns, forthcoming). Two nested vessels found in pits in a field near Kallimay Point, St Agnes, in 2007, are tentatively dated to the Early Bronze Age (Johns and Quinnell 2014). A number of pits were revealed at Old Quay, St Martin’s, in 2013/14, including one (F5) which contained an assemblage of 27 pieces of worked quartz and 10 fragments of pottery from a curvedsided Neolithic bowl, another large pit (F33) contained 738 sherds of pottery and 308 flints (Garrow and Sturt 2017, 83–89). 96 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 4.8 National and international context 4.8.1 Introduction The Isles of Scilly have the potential to make a significant contribution to our understanding of the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age more broadly – at both a national and international level – in a number of ways. Equally, as with any region, it is vital that we seek to understand the specifics of the Islands’ archaeology in relation to this bigger picture. 4.8.2 The Mesolithic/Neolithic transition As discussed above (Section 3), the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in Britain and Ireland is a topic which has witnessed a considerable resurgence of interest in recent years (for example, Thomas, J, 2003, 2008, 2013; Pailler and Sheridan 2009; Whittle et al 2011). One of the major issues debated is the broader process by which the transition occurred: indigenous adoption, migration/invasion from the European mainland, or a combination of the two (Garrow and Sturt 2011). This debate has come to the fore again in recent years a result of DNA work by Brace et al (2018) that suggests substantial migration from the Continent into parts of Britain. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/02/18/267443 A secondary, directly related, issue has been the actual route(s) that either native British or migrating northern European mariners (or both) would have taken between mainland Europe and the British Isles and Ireland (Callaghan and Scarre 2009, Sheridan 2010, Whittle et al 2011). The ‘western seaways’ of Britain have long been considered crucial, geographically, to any understanding of these processes of transition (Callaghan and Scarre 2009; Garrow and Sturt 2011). In recent years further weight has been added to this suggestion, as it has been noted that many of the earliest glimpses of Neolithic practices and material culture occur within and around the western seaways zone: early cow bones have been found in Ireland (Woodman and McCarthy 2003), potentially early pottery in western Scotland (Sheridan 2000), possibly very early cereal pollen in the Isle of Man (Innes et al 2003), and a passage tomb of earlier Neolithic date in Devon (Sheridan et al 2008). If we accept that people were indeed journeying between Britain, Ireland and mainland Europe within this zone, the importance of a clear understanding of the late fifth and early fourth millennium cal BC archaeology of Scilly in relation to this question becomes clear. The possibility that the Islands may have witnessed very early Neolithic settlement from the Continent or Cornwall as a consequence of this maritime activity is raised. Equally, if the Islands did not see such early settlement, that in itself tells us something important about the process of transition: either that early colonists were seeking only large land masses on which to settle, or that they journeyed in short hops along the shore of the mainland rather than carrying out long-distance sea voyages (Garrow and Sturt 2011, 68). At present, unfortunately, we know very little indeed about any early fourth millennium BC sites/activities on the Islands (Kirk 2004; Robinson 2007; and see above, Section 4.4.3). There is considerable potential for future research in Scilly and Cornwall to assess relationships between the latest Mesolithic assemblages and Early Neolithic flint scatters / pit sites, etc. – for example how do they relate to one another spatially? It is also worth noting the definite similarities between locally manufactured Early/Middle Neolithic pottery found at various locations in the Islands (see above, Section 4.5.1) to that found on mainland Cornwall. 4.8.3 Continuing Neolithic and Early Bronze Age maritime connections The subject of maritime connections around the western seaways in the later third and second millennium cal BC is a very important one, which is not only of relevance in relation to the Neolithic / Early Bronze Age transition. The Early Bronze Age in 97 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 particular has long been viewed as a period in which long-distance, trans-European networks of interaction were important: Beaker pottery is found across a wide area of western Europe (for example, Vander Linden 2007), and the raw materials required for bronze moved over long distances (Ottaway and Roberts 2008). Intriguingly, given these pan-European connections and similarities, the evidence from the Isles of Scilly during this period does not fit particularly well with the broader picture even across the rest of Britain. Beaker, Collared Urn and other Early Bronze Age pottery types current across most of Britain are rare, with even the Trevisker style found across mainland Cornwall being relatively uncommon (Jones and Quinnell 2006; Pollard et al 2008, 86). Jones and Quinnell (2006) have suggested that in Cornwall, Beakers were adopted relatively late from further east in England, rather than from the Continent, and were slotted in alongside pre-existing local pottery traditions. It is quite possible that, in the Isles of Scilly, we are seeing a more extreme version of a similar process, with very few Beakers at all ever having been used. Having noted this pattern, which appears to be reflecting a strong assertion of local regional identity (as seen in the uptake of pottery styles at least), it is interesting to note other patterns which show a somewhat contrasting picture. Jones and Thomas (2010, 291-2), for example, have discussed the possibility that entrance graves, which are abundant in the Isles of Scilly (above, Section 4.7.1), represent one manifestation of a very broad phenomenon whereby closely comparable tomb types also emerged in Ireland, Scotland and perhaps even the Channel Islands at around the same time (c 2100-1700 cal BC). Intriguingly, given the above discussion of pottery styles, Jones and Thomas suggest that these shared tomb styles may actually have been a consequence of the same maritime connections which led to the spread of artefacts, including Beakers and lunulae (Jones and Thomas 2010, 292). Recent research into the British Neolithic has tended towards the production of regional studies (for example, Brophy and Barclay 2009; Anderson-Whymark and Thomas 2011), and a consequent understanding of regional variability across Britain. In this context, the Isles of Scilly offer an excellent opportunity to investigate the way in which local identities and broader trans-regional connections were played out materially during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. 4.8.4 Diet and taskscapes One issue which has caused considerable debate in recent years is whether or not there was a dietary ‘slighting of the sea’ at the beginning of the Neolithic. Based on isotopic evidence, it has been argued by some that a (possibly cultural) rejection of fish and other marine resources occurred at that time (Schulting 1998; Richards and Hedges 1999; Thomas 2003). Others have pointed out, however, that the archaeological evidence – particularly in island contexts – supports continued fishing (and thus presumably also the eating of fish) well into the Neolithic (Milner et al 2004, 12; Sturt 2005). Clearly, if the Isles of Scilly were being visited periodically, perhaps specifically for the purpose of fishing, then archaeological evidence there has significant potential to contribute to this often heated debate, again adding south-western substance to a picture glimpsed further afield. However, unburnt human skeletal material is rare in Scilly and in the south west in general, and is unlikely to survive from the Neolithic or Early Bronze Age because of the soil acidity, which means that it has not been possible to carry out stable isotope analyses. Future recovery of suitable human bone for isotope analyses is therefore a priority to answer questions of changing dietary preferences. The character of Neolithic and Early Bronze Age settlement, and of the broader distribution of tasks across the landscape at that time, have also been much-debated in recent years (for example, Gibson 2003; Rowley-Conwy 2003; Garrow 2010). The unusual geographical location of the Isles of Scilly – in terms of Britain as a whole, at least – ensures that the Islands’ archaeology has a strong contribution to make in relation to these debates. At present, many would agree that, broadly speaking, across much of southern England, people remained fairly mobile throughout the Neolithic and 98 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Early Bronze Age, moving intermittently around the landscape rather than settling permanently in one place (for example, Whittle 1997; Brück 1999b; Pollard and Healy 2008, 80-83). As might be expected, particular places often came to be associated with particular tasks (Edmonds 1997). Previous to the Neolithic Stepping Stones’ evidence from Old Quay, St Martin’s, which may imply a fairly settled population on Scilly from a date within the Early Neolithic (Garrow and Sturt 2017; Quinnell 2017a), the consensus of opinion was that the Isles of Scilly were themselves occupied only intermittently before the Early Bronze Age, with perhaps seasonal visits from people who more usually resided in mainland Cornwall, perhaps in order to collect shellfish and hunt sea mammals or as a landfall during deep-sea fishing trips (cf Robinson 2007, 65). Intriguingly, there is also evidence for agriculture preceding the construction of entrance graves, which may hint at settlement of a more permanent nature (above, Section 4.4.1). In many ways, therefore, the picture for the Isles of Scilly – of intermittent occupation, and of task-specific associations – matches that for much of southern England rather more closely than might have been expected. Again, further evidence revealing in more detail the character of occupation sites in the Islands during this period would help flesh out what is at present a rather patchy picture. 4.8.5 Summary The key maritime location of the Isles of Scilly in relation to assumed networks of connectivity between the European mainland and Britain and Ireland means that a good understanding of the Islands’ Neolithic and Early Bronze Age archaeology is crucial to this broader national and international picture. Equally, their offshore location ensures that they have the potential to make a crucial contribution to our appreciation of marine exploitation and taskscapes more generally during this period. The archaeological evidence for wider contacts in Scilly suggests they are both long-term and varied, including occasional imports such as pottery, metalwork, pumice (although this might have floated to the Islands) and faience which reflect a tradition of adopting some things but rejecting others. Entrance graves and cairns also provide evidence for contact and possibly a shared wider identity; the local form of pottery may speak of a more nested identity which developed during the Bronze Age, suggesting that people may have wanted to affirm wider ancestry and connections at some times but a more local identity at others. 4.9 Scientific dating 4.9.1 Radiocarbon dates The 47 radiocarbon determinations listed below in Table 4.1 below have all been recalibrated using OxCal 4.3. Previous modelling of dates has not been used and all are expressed at the full 95.4% confidence level, rather than to the period to which the date may be weighted (for example at 89%). This means that the calibrated dates in the tables may vary significantly from the publications where they originally appeared (see Section 2.1.4 for further discussion). Lab Ref 14 GU-5061 Cal BC @ 95% Site Context Reference 5210 ±50 4230-3940 Par Beach, St Martin’s Basal 10mm of exposed peat, 2.02m OD Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 19, 127 Wk19091 4968 ±38 3920-3650 Dolphin Town, Tresco Potsherd residue, layer 15 in house 13. This is an anomalous date – the potsherd is BA Taylor & Johns 2009–10 GU-5060 4510 ±60 3490-3010 Par Beach, St Martin’s Basal 50mm of exposed peat, 0.21m OD Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 19, 127 C age BP 99 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Lab Ref 14 OxA31872 Cal BC @ 95% Site Context Reference 4511±33 3360-3090 Old Quay, St Martin’s Charcoal (wood), Prunus: young roundwood Garrow & Sturt 2017, 127 OxA31868 4506±31 3360-3090 Old Quay, St Martin’s Charcoal (seed), Triticum (wheat) Garrow & Sturt 2017, 127 OxA31990 4451±31 3340-2940 Old Quay, St Martin’s Charcoal (wood), Leguminosae; young roundwood Garrow & Sturt 2017, 127 OxA31871 4442±35 3340-2920 Old Quay, St Martin’s Charcoal (wood), Leguminosae; ulex (gorse); young roundwood Garrow & Sturt 2017, 127 OxA31873 4414±30 3320-2910 Old Quay, St Martin’s Charcoal (wood), Leguminosae; young roundwood Garrow & Sturt 2017, 127 OxA29340 4407±30 3270-2910 Old Quay, St Martin’s Charred ?food residue (external) Garrow & Sturt 2017, 127 GU-5394 4310 ±60 3270-2700 SUERC32991 4310 ±30 3020-2880 Porth Mellon, St Mary’s Par Beach, St Martin’s Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 127 Charman et al 2016 OxA23825 4377 ±30 3090-2910 Par Beach, St Martin’s Basal 20mm of exposed peat Bulk: organic sediment (humic acid fraction), 1617cm below surface of intertidal peat Bulk: organic sediment (humin fraction) 5–6cm below surface of intertidal peat GU-5393 4280 ±50 3090-2690 Porth Mellon, St Mary’s Sample 1 (top 40mm of exposed peat) Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 129 SUERC32992 4345 ±30 3080-2890 Par Beach, St Martin’s Bulk: organic sediment (humin fraction as SUERC32991 Charman et al 2016 OxA23826 4270 ±29 2930-2770 Par Beach, St Martin’s Bulk: organic sediment (humic acid fraction) 5–6cm below surface of intertidal peat Charman et al 2016 SUERC38094 4260 ±35 2930-2700 Porth Mellon, St Mary’s Sediment: humic acid, 12cm below surface of intertidal peat Charman et al 2016 OxA23859 4269 ±38 3020-2700 Porth Mellon, St Mary’s Monocot stem, 23cm below surface of intertidal peat Charman et al 2016 100 C age BP Charman et al 2016 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Lab Ref 14 SUERC38098 Cal BC @ 95% Site Context Reference 4235 ±35 2920-2690 Porth Mellon, St Mary’s Sediment: humin fraction, as SUERC38094 Charman et al 2016 SUERC38090 4160 ±35 2880-2620 Porth Mellon, St Mary’s Sediment: humic acid, 28– 29cm below surface of intertidal peat Charman et al 2016 SUERC38091 4135 ±35 2880-2580 Porth Mellon, St Mary’s Sediment: humin fraction, as SUERC38091 Charman et al 2016 GU-5396 3980 ±100 2870-2200 SUERC38093 4160 ±35 2880-2620 Porth Mellon, St Mary’s Porth Mellon, St Mary’s Basal 20mm of exposed peat. Sediment: humin fraction, 0–1cm below surface of intertidal peat Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 127, 129 Charman et al 2016 SUERC32925 3980 ±30 2580-2450 Par Beach, St Martin’s Bulk: organic sediment (humic acid fraction) 2-3cm below surface of intertidal peat Charman et al 2016 SUERC32926 3980 ±30 2580-2450 Par Beach, St Martin’s Bulk: organic sediment (humin fraction), as SUERC-32925 Charman et al 2016 GU-5395 3900 ±70 2580-2150 Porth Mellon, St Mary’s Sample 2 (2040mm towards top of peat) Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 127, 129 GU-5392 3810 ±80 2480-2030 Porth Mellon, St Mary’s Sample 2 (wood towards base of intertidal peat) Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 129 SUERC38092 3795 ±35 2400-2060 Porth Mellon, St Marys Sediment: humic acid, 0– 1cm below surface of intertidal peat Charman et al 2016 OxA-X2465-6 OxA26474 3740 ±30 2280-2030 3837±38 2460-2150 Domestic cow tooth Charred human bone Charman et al 2016 Sawyer 2015, 87 HAR-239 3260 ±280 2290-840 Par Beach, St Martin’s Knackyboy Cairn St Martin’s Nornour Charcoal (oak & larch) from lower midden in passage between Buildings 1 and 3. Butcher 1978, 66 OxA3649 3620 ±70 2200-1770 East Porth, Samson Charred seeds (naked barley) from OLS Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 62 HAR4324 3490 ±100 2130-1530 Little Bay, St Martin’s Charcoal (gorse) from heath [60] in House 2. Neal 1983, 52; Radiocarbon 1985 27, 83 C age BP 101 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Lab Ref 14 Wk-5690 Cal BC @ 95% Site Context Reference 3512 ±70 2030-1660 Porth Killier, St Agnes Twig of Ulnus sp (elm) of 20– 30 years growth from fasal fill (156) in cist [163] below cairn [154]. Johns et al, forthcoming OxA26373 OxA32024 3492 ±28 1900-1700 1870-1620 Cremated bone (human) Charred ?food residue (external) Sawyer 2015, 87 3413±32 Old Town Cist, St Mary’s Old Quay, St Martin’s OxA26372 3386 ±29 1750-1620 Knackyboy Cairn, St Martin’s Cremated bone (human) Sawyer 2015, 87 OxA26364 3365 ±28 1750-1560 Knackyboy Cairn, St Martin’s Cremated bone (human) Sawyer 2015, 87 HAR1715 3190 ±110 1750-1130 Little Bay, St Martin’s Charcoal from hearth F in House 2. Of limited value due to high deviation? Neal 1983 OxA36363 3319 ± 29 1690-1520 Knackyboy Cairn, St Martin’s Cremated bone (human) Sawyer 2015, 87 OxA3647 3220 ±70 1670-1300 Porth Killier Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 67; Archaeometry 1995, 421-2 GU-5413 3250 ±50 1270-960 Porthcressa Charred seeds (Hordeum sp.) from layer 14 at top of midden in house exposed in cliff-section. C14 dates inconsistent with stratigraphy Shell (Patella Vulgata) from midden 3 in house exposed in cliff-face OxA26370 3276 ±29 1630-1460 Knackyboy Cairn, St Martin’s Cremated bone (human) Sawyer 2015, 87 HAR3694 3100 ±100 1620-1060 Higher Moors Scaife 1984 OxA3648 3170 ±65 1620-1280 Porth Killier ?Peat. Of limited value due to high deviation? Charred seeds (Hordeum sp.) from layer 14 at base of midden in house exposed in cliffsection OxA26367 3246 ±30 1620-1440 Knackyboy Cairn, St Martin’s Cremated bone (human) Sawyer 2015, 87 OxA4701 3165 ±55 1610-1280 Porthcressa Charcoal (Rosaceae) from midden in hutcircle exposed in cliffface Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 77; Archaeometry 1995, 421-2 102 C age BP Garrow & Sturt 2017, 127 Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 77 Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 67; Archaeometry 1995, 421-2 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Lab Ref 14 OxA26368 3215 ±28 C age BP Cal BC @ 95% Site Context Reference 1600-1420 Knackyboy Cairn, St Martin’s Cremated bone (human) Sawyer 2015, 87 Table 4.1 List of Neolithic and Early Bronze Age radiocarbon dates. (Note, the calibrated dates have been rounded out, see Section 2.1.4.) 4.9.2 OSL dating Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating was applied to sand-sized quartz taken from clean grey sand between intertidal ‘peat’ units found at Porth Mellon, St Mary’s, during the Lyonesse Project (Roberts and Marshall 2016). Location Lab no. Context Material OSL Age Porth Mellon, St Mary’s 161/LPPM1-1 15–17cm below surface of intertidal peat Quartz 4750 ±1210 Porth Mellon, St Mary’s 184/LPPM-2 0.11 ±002m down core Quartz 4630±250 Porth Mellon, St Mary’s 184/LPPM3B 0.03 ±0.01m down core Quartz 4290 ±250 Porth Mellon, St Mary’s 184/LPPM3A 0.17 ±0.02m down core Quartz 4120 ±250 Table 4.2 List of Neolithic and Early Bronze Age OSL Ages, expressed as years before AD 2010, rounded to the nearest 10 years. 103 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 5 Later Bronze Age and Iron Age Edited by Charles Johns with contributions from Kevin Camidge, Dan Charman, Ralph Fyfe, Andy M Jones, Alexis Jordan, Steve Mills, Jacqui Mulville, Henrietta Quinnell, Paul Rainbird, Helen M Roberts, Gary Robinson, Niall Sharples and Sean R Taylor. 5.1 Introduction The Isles of Scilly contain a large number and diverse range of Later Bronze Age and Iron Age sites and artefacts including settlements and field systems, cliff castles and cemeteries, pottery and metalwork. The Islands hold a wealth of environmental data in the form of buried peat deposits while the enigmatic remains of stone walls and possible hut circles in the subtidal and intertidal zones have been noted since the mideighteenth century. The rich archaeological record and the Islands’ pivotal position on the Atlantic façade means that there is the potential to pose major research questions relating to Later Bronze Age and Iron Age settlement, Iron Age funerary and ritual practices, the development of British metalwork and the introduction of insular ‘Celtic art’, as well as questions relating to patterns of exchange and contact throughout the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age. The main characteristics of Scilly’s Later Bronze Age (1500 to 800 BC) and Iron Age (800 BC to AD 43) resource are summarised in this chapter. Fig 5.1 Bronze Age sites recorded in the Cornwall and Scilly HER. 5.2 Environmental background Previous work on the environmental background of Scilly during this period was summarised for the SWARF (Straker et al 2008, 111). Pollen analysis and assessment covering the later part of the Bronze Age and the Iron Age has been carried out at various locations in Scilly ranging from the sequences at Higher and Lower Moors on St Mary’s (Scaife 1984; with some reinterpretation by Ratcliffe and Straker 1996), the intertidal organic soils on Crab’s Ledge, Tresco (Iron 104 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Age: Ratcliffe and Straker 1996) and buried soils at Bar Point, St Mary’s (Iron Age: Evans 1984), Innisidgen, St Mary’s (Dimbleby 1976–7), Halangy Porth, St Mary’s (probably Iron Age: Dimbleby et al 1981; Dimbleby in Ashbee 1996, 171–3) and below the rampart of the cliff castle on Shipman Head, Bryher (Ratcliffe and Straker 1996). At Higher and Lower Moors, some regeneration of the birch, oak and hazel woodland is evident in the Middle to Late Bronze Age, with herbaceous and cereal pollen also pointing to some open areas (Straker et al 2008, 111). The start of the main phase of woodland clearance in the Islands is dated at Higher Moors to the Late Bronze Age – Early Iron Age (820–410 cal BC, HAR-3724, and 760– 230 cal BC, HAR-3723, Table 5.1). The soil pollen analyses noted above all testify to open environments, with a little alder, oak, birch and hazel recorded at Bar Point but not at Halangy Porth. The open ground is mainly grazed grassland but at Innisidgen arable was also suggested. Pollen of heathland plants is rare, but the charcoal of heather and gorse/broom at Bonfire Carn and Porth Killier show that it was used as fuel from as early as the Middle Bronze Age (Ratcliffe and Straker 1996). The Crab’s Ledge pollen and plant macrofossils are of grasses and members of the Cheopodiaceae family including annual sea blite, suggesting coastal grassland and saltmarsh (Ratcliffe and Straker 1996; Straker et al 2008, 111-2). The Crab’s Ledge saltmarsh deposits on Tresco show that saltmarsh was present during the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age, with development beginning from at least as early as c 1000 cal BC and continuing for perhaps another 2000 years. The Crab’s Ledge and Bathinghouse Porth deposits probably represent the remaining fragments of a slowly retreating saltmarsh area that previously extended across the whole of St Mary’s sound at different times from the Late Neolithic through to the first millennium AD (Charman et al 2016). Fig 5.2 Inferred submergence model c 1500 BC showing intertidal field systems, based on data from the Lyonesse Project (Charman et al 2016); all details as for Fig 3.3. 105 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 5.3 Middle and Late Bronze Age (1500 – 800 BC) 5.3.1 Chronology Radiocarbon dates and artefactual assemblages from sites excavated during the last 15 years are beginning to provide an increasingly secure chronology for the Middle and Late Bronze Age in Scilly. Tables of radiocarbon determinations, OSL ages and magnetic dates relating to the period are presented at the end of the chapter (Tables 5.2, 5.3 and 5.4). 5.3.2 Landscape By the Middle Bronze Age, the configuration of the islands was approaching that of the present day with the most dramatic difference being that there was a vast intertidal area stretching right across St Mary’s Roads and covering almost all of the region between the main islands of St Martin’s, the Eastern Isles, Tresco, Bryher and Samson. It should be stressed that much of this would have only been covered during spring tides, such that it would have remained a useful part of the land, especially for grazing, and would have been passable with ease almost all of the time. It seems very likely that there were extensive saltmarsh areas as part of this intertidal zone, although no deposits from this period were found by the Lyonesse Project (Charman et al 2016). After 1500 BC, the rate of change slowed significantly, and there was a slow loss of both land and intertidal areas throughout the rest of the Bronze Age. The extensive intertidal area between the main islands remained largely intact, although it was being gradually lost due to landward encroachment of the sea up St Mary’s Roads from both the west and the east. Again much of this zone may have remained usable for grazing and certainly would have provided no hindrance to passage between the islands at the end of the Bronze Age (ibid). 5.3.3 Settlement Most known settlements are clustered within specific topographical locales along the coastlines of Scilly. This distribution might be a result of a lack of coordinated fieldwork within the interior of the islands. An evaluation of geophysical anomalies at Normandy Farm, St Mary’s in 2006, for example, revealed evidence of Late Bronze Age settlement activity (Mulville et al 2007, 26-35), while excavations in 2009-10 revealed Late Bronze Age settlement remains near Higher Town, 200m inland from the coast on St Agnes (Fig 5.4; Taylor and Johns, forthcoming). The identification and interpretation of houses is frequently problematic, especially when they occur within the present day intertidal zone, where movements of sand, gravel and beach boulders obscure them (cf Camidge et al 2010). Equally, houses identified in present day cliff-sections are difficult to interpret because of their limited exposure and constant erosion. The character of several present day intertidal and cliff exposed sites has been confirmed through survey and excavation, but the interpretations of others remain questionable (Ashbee 1983; Camidge et al 2010; Gray 1972; Ratcliffe and Straker 1996, 87; Thomas 1985). The stone-built houses of this period are constructed from granite blocks laid in courses or set as orthostats, and are frequently terraced into hill slopes or constructed within natural hollows. Walls are substantial, measuring 1m-2.5m thick, double-faced and containing a central core of earth and rubble. At Nornour (Fig 5.3) and Little Bay houses were dug into substantial middens (Butcher 1978; Neal 1983). Postholes are largely absent from house interiors and it is not known how they were roofed. At Nornour, house walls remain standing in places to over 2m in height and appear to be corbelled (Dudley 1967; Butcher 1978). Other houses have substantial internal partition walls that may have supported cross beams, onto which a roof of stone or turf could have been constructed. Although some house roofs may have been corbelled, the majority show no evidence for this and we should presume that this method of roofing, if adopted, was restricted to only a small percentage of houses. A further variation in 106 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 roof construction is found at English Island Carn, where O’Neil detected postholes within the earthen wall cores of a house. These post holes sloped inwards towards the house interior at an angle of approximately 45°, suggesting the house had a pitched roof constructed around a central ridgepole (Ashbee 1974; O’Neil 1949a; 1949b; nd h). Fig 5.3 Sketch reconstruction of the settlement at Nornour (after David Neal). Single houses are rare and many apparent examples are shown on further investigation to form part of larger house groups. For example, in 1936 Gray (1972, 43) detected the remains of a single house within a ram cliff at Porth Killier but when this site was revisited and recorded in 1985 it proved to comprise not one but three houses (Ratcliffe and Straker 1996, 125). Subsequently, geophysical survey has shown that this settlement is more substantial than previously thought, extending inland for a further 20m (Ratcliffe 1989, 10). Similarly at Halangy Porth a single house exposed in the cliffsection is now shown to be at least two houses (Ashbee 1983a; Ratcliffe and Straker 1996). At Little Bay, what O’Neil identified as a single house was shown on subsequent excavation to be a group of at least four houses (Neal 1983). Similar scenarios are also recorded at other sites on the Islands such as English Island Carn, Halangy Down and Nornour, where in each instance what was initially interpreted as single houses have consequently been shown to comprise more substantial settlements (Ashbee 1996; Butcher 1978; Neal 1983; Ratcliffe 1991). Settlements tend to be reused over long periods, with houses occupied, abandoned, modified and reoccupied within relatively short periods. The excavation of a settlement of four houses at Little Bay suggests that, here, houses were not occupied simultaneously but constructed, modified, abandoned and rebuilt (Neal 1983, 58). For example, radiocarbon dates from a sequence of internal hearths in house B at Little Bay demonstrates occupation between 2130-1530 cal BC (HAR-4324; Table 4.1) and 1190800 cal BC (HAR-1726; Table 5.1) separated by episodes of abandonment and modification, evidenced by infilling layers consisted of soil, rubble, midden and broken artefacts (Neal 1983, 52-56). At Dial Rocks, Little Arthur, May’s Hill and Porth Killier, a similar scenario of house abandonment and reoccupation is suggested from the chronologically mixed assemblages recovered (O’Neil nd d; nd f; Ratcliffe 1991; Ratcliffe and Straker 1996). For example, artefacts recovered from houses at Dial Rocks contain artefacts dating from the second millennium BC to the first century AD, whilst at Little Arthur a mixed assemblage of first and second millennium BC pottery is associated with a house that was constantly modified and rebuilt (O’Neil nd f; Ratcliffe 1991). A similar picture is emerging in upland Cornish houses of this period too, for example Bosiliack and Bodrifty (Andy M Jones pers comm). 107 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Fig 5.4 Excavation of a Late Bronze house at Higher Town, St Agnes, in 2009 (photo: Cornwall Council). Recent archaeological research on mainland Bronze Age settlement sites has shown that the structured deposition of objects played an important part in house abandonment (Brück 1996; 1999b), and in Cornwall the abandonment of lowland Bronze Age settlements resulted in houses being intentionally filled with soil and rubble to look like burial cairns (e.g., Nowakowski 1991; 1999; 2001). Structured deposition and ‘middening’ (the ritualistic re-working and re-deposition of midden deposits) have scarcely been considered in regard to prehistoric settlement in Scilly and would be rewarding subjects for future work. At Higher Town, St Agnes, for example, a roundhouse was filled with granite rubble containing a large amount of Middle to Late Bronze Age / Early Iron Age pottery, flint and stone artefacts, possibly with the intention of making it into a cairn (Fig 5.4; Taylor and Johns, forthcoming). Pottery vessels have been found in clay-lined pits, which are often associated with settlements. A layer of occupation soil at Bar Point, St Mary’s, for example, contained several small pits, one of them filled by a complete pot standing upright (rim missing), while several of the others contained sherds (Butcher and Johns, forthcoming). At Pendrathen, also on St Mary’s, the lower part of a flat-based coarse vessel was found in a clay-lined pit dug into the ram (Samuels 1975, 117), while a similar vessel was found in a clay-lined pit at Halangy Porth, St Mary’s, in 1936, containing about a dozen sherds from two or three different pots, along with some calcined bone and charcoal (Gray 1972, 34-5). It is frequently difficult to distinguish ritual pits from domestic ones (Jones and Reed 2006, 20-1), but these Scillonian pits seem to be domestic with a possible storage function, the clay pit-lining making them watertight. At Higher Town, St Agnes, a freestanding loess-encrusted vessel was found in a stonelined chamber within a structure. It is possible that this pot represents a halfway stage in which the pot was coated in loess before being placed into a clay-lined pit. On the same site were 12 shallow pits apparently dating to the Middle or Late Bronze Age, 108 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 which may have been dug to extract the soft natural clay in this area, either for the manufacture of pottery or to coat the outside of the pots (Taylor and Johns, forthcoming). A total of 279 sherds were found in a hollow at Parting Carn, St Mary’s, in 2014, along with some items of stonework (Johns and Quinnell 2015). Two radiocarbon dates from internal residue on pot sherds, provide a broadly Middle Bronze Age period – from the fifteenth to the eleventh century cal BC (SUERC-55169-70; Table 5.1). Nothing about the arrangement of the pottery suggests structured deposition but their fresh condition indicates rapid covering and therefore deliberate burial. The practice of depositing broken ceramics near roundhouses suggests that there may have been occupation nearby. Certainly the site is in a sheltered location with access to both terrestrial and coastal resources so would have been favourable place for settlement. Two mullers from the assemblage were of the very large size, and comparable to those found in the later Bronze Age assemblage at Higher Town, St Agnes (Quinnell, forthcoming c), and, like these, demonstrate decommissioning by deliberate breakage. Such ‘ritualized’ breakage, frequently found in mullers from structured deposits, has received extensive comment by Watts (2014). 5.3.4 Field systems In the 1970s Fowler and Thomas recorded field systems on Halangy Down and Bar Point, St Mary’s, on Chapel Down, Porth Morran, and Burnt Hill, St Martin’s, at Gimble Porth, Tresco, on the islands of Teän and Gugh (Fig 5.4) and, in particular, on North and South Hill, Samson, which they considered to be ‘one of the most significant areas of archaeological importance anywhere in the British Isles’ (1979, 178). They also noted field enclosures at Shipman Head Down and Heathy Hill on Bryher, and on St Agnes, St Helen’s, Northwethel and Arthur in the Eastern Isles (ibid). The walls are of several different constructive techniques: single lines of orthostats, sometimes with the gaps filed by rubble; double-faced walls, often incorporating boulder-sized grounders, with rubble infill; stone banks which in some places have become lynchets (e.g., Heathy Hill, Bryher, and North Hill, Samson). In some places apparent lynchets could represent deliberate revetments for terracing as at Halangy Down (Fowler and Thomas 1979, 185-6). Fowler and Thomas described the fields as: ‘Small, adjacent, rectangular enclosures, fairly definitely used as arable plots and for grazing… on South Hill, Samson and Halangy Down, St Mary’s, we are looking at the remains of prehistoric arable field systems. On the latter site, an ‘early’ phase of fields, each c 50m by c 25m, can be discerned, and similar oblong fields probably exist among the much more complex pattern on South Hill… At Porth Morran, White Island, the widths of fields are either c 50m or c 25m, and the lengths at least 200m but there is no obvious evidence of cultivation here, and an ‘arable field-system’ interpretation is not necessarily correct. The same reservation must apply, for example to the yet unsurveyed complex on Chapel Down, St Martin’s. Nevertheless oblong, small, squarish and long strip-like can tentatively be distinguished as three potential types’ (Fowler and Thomas 1979, 186). There are also enclosures of other shapes bounded by walls, such as two roughly oblong enclosures on North Hill, Samson, which are separate from each other and now part of a later field system, and irregular enclosures on Green Bay, Bryher. As well as enclosing, walls also link cairns, which may be funerary monuments or agricultural clearance cairns, as on Shipman Head Down, Bryher, and the northern end of South Hill, Samson (ibid). Seventy-one extant field systems are recorded in the Cornwall and Scilly HER. With the exception of the Iron Age example at Bar Point, St Mary’s (below, Section 5.4.4), none of the prehistoric walls on Scilly have been conclusively dated. As discussed above in Section 4.4.1, six Early Bronze Age entrance graves appear to post-date lynchets and many of the walls are thought to date from the Bronze Age. 109 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 As discussed above in Section 4.7.2, some of the cairns within cairn-fields have been interpreted as agricultural clearance mounds, an interpretation which has arisen through their association with connecting boulder walls as on Shipman Head Down and Kittern Hill. It has been pointed out that these downs are the most barren and exposed places in the archipelago and are unlikely to ever have been exploited for agriculture so that other interpretations for these stone walls should be sought (Lousley 1971; Thomas 1985, 132-3; Breen 2008). However, it should be noted that the Bronze Age climate was a more favourable one, and that Bodmin Moor and the Penwith Moors with their numerous Bronze Age settlements and field systems seem equally inhospitable today. Stone walls in the intertidal zone on Samson Flats were first recorded by William Borlase in 1756 and led O G S Crawford to suggest that Scilly was ‘the lost land of Lyonesse’ (Crawford 1927), although he later considered in an editorial for Antiquity that these features might instead be the remains of medieval fish traps (Crawford 1946). Other walls include those on Tresco Flats, Town Beach and Green Bay, Bryher; Appletree Bay, Bathinghouse Porth and Crab’s Ledge, Tresco; Bar Point, St Mary’s, Par Beach and Porth Morran, St Martin’s, and West Porth, Teän. A detailed survey and interpretation of the intertidal stone walls on Samson Flats was carried out by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Maritime Archaeology Society (CISMAS) in 2009/10 (Fig 5.6; Camidge et al 2010). The extent and complexity of the exposed remains proved to be greater than was envisaged at the outset of the survey. There were at least two different types which may be of different date and function. Fig 5.5 Field boundary on Kittern Hill, Gugh (photo: Richard O’Neill). One type was ‘boulder walls’ comprising medium to large stones set on edge, often just a single line of stones with smaller stones filling the gaps. The other type was ‘stonefaced stone walls’, courses of flattish stones with larger, more regular stones defining the edges, and irregular rubble forming the core of the wall. The survey established that the linear stone features could have functioned as fish traps, but it cannot prove that they were actually used as such. One tentative suggestion is that some walls were constructed as prehistoric field boundaries which were then inundated by rising sea levels and subsequently reused as part of a tidal fish 110 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 trap by the addition of further walls, possibly in the post-medieval period (Camidge et al 2010, 67). We do not have any direct dating evidence for these intertidal field systems but according to the new sea-level maps their locations correspond to areas which were dry land in the Early Bronze Age, c 2500 to 2000 cal BC, but which had become intertidal by the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age c 1500 cal BC. If they served the purpose of stopping animals straying into more dangerous areas of low marsh these intertidal areas could well have been used for grazing, so the walls could still date to the Late Bronze Age or Iron Age. However, if their purpose was to enclose arable fields they must date to the Early Bronze Age. Fig 5.6 The intertidal stone walls on Samson Flats can be seen top centre of this aerial photograph looking south-east, the curving arc to the left is seaweed caught on the contour line (photo: HER, Cornwall Council 2009; F92-065). 5.3.5 The material world Metalwork Bronze was not used for everyday tools in Cornwall until c 1400 BC. In Scilly, where lack of raw materials would have restricted local metal production, traditional tools of stone and bone would probably have stayed in use longer and always have been more common. Only eight later Bronze Age metal objects have been recorded from the Islands, four of these from settlements: a bronze awl from May’s Hill, St Martin’s, and three unidentifiable objects from Nornour. The remaining bronzes, a socketed axe from St Mary’s, two heavy torcs and a rapier blade fragment from the beach at Nornour, are either unprovenanced or from burials (Ratcliffe and Johns 2003, 9). An Irish gold bracelet found on the foreshore on the south-west side of St Martin’s in 1990 probably originated from a hoard. Its distinctive expanded terminals indicate that it is a Covesea variant dating to c 900 BC; such bracelets have a specific Atlantic distribution (Ratcliffe and Johns 2003, 9; Robinson 2007, 68). 111 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 A small fragment of a Late Bronze Age sword or dagger blade was found on the beach at Nornour in 2004; the cross section indicates that it is Ewart Park or Llyn-Fawr phase c 1000-800 BC but it is too worn to be sure (Anna Tyacke, pers comm). Ceramics Middle Bronze Age Scillonian Bronze Age ceramics continued to be used in Middle Bronze Age settlements with stone houses. All the sites investigated and published are situated on the modern cliff edge and excavation has tended to be restricted to narrow strips. Settlements generally appear to have included midden deposits with pottery. The practice of depositing broken ceramics near houses ensures that sites generally produce substantial quantities of pottery but also makes redeposition likely when structures were rebuilt. Consequently it is difficult to determine in many cases how far a context contains ceramics of a single period. The sites excavated and published are Nornour (Dudley 1967; Butcher 1978), Little Bay, St Martin’s (Neal 1983), Halangy Porth (Ashbee 1983) and Dolphin Town, Tresco (Quinnell, 2009-10). Sites for which pottery reports have been prepared but which await full publication are Porthcressa, St Mary’s (Quinnell 1994), Porth Killier, St Agnes (Quinnell, forthcoming f), and Higher Town, St Agnes (Quinnell, forthcoming b); some stratigraphic and dating data for Porthcressa and Porth Killier has been published by Ratcliffe and Straker (1996). These sites have all, except Halangy Porth, produced at least one radiocarbon determination relating to the Middle Bronze Age, c 1600 -1100 BC. Unpublished excavations by O’Neil took place on St Martin’s at English Island Carn, Great Bay, May’s Hill and Par Beach; details of archive reports are given by Robinson (2007, Bibliography). Ceramics from at least four sites not previously known were found in the archaeological work accompanying the excavation of electricity cable trenches in 1984-5 (Quinnell 1991). Details of a further four sites known from retrieval of finds in varying circumstances are listed by Robinson (2007, Appendix M). All these sites appear to have Scillonian Bronze Age ceramics. The assemblage from Nornour is by far the largest, with the material from Butcher’s excavations totalling 4522 sherds (Robinson 2007, 60). However, this covers a period from the Early Bronze Age until the Iron Age. This is the only assemblage to be published by type, context and site period, with the data presented in a visually clearer fashion by Robinson (2007, Appendix K). Fabrics are almost universally granitic, in varying degrees of fineness. Thin-section petrography was carried out for Nornour by D F Williams (in Butcher 1968), with the granitic fabrics demonstrated to include small fragments of granite. Williams (in Neal 1983) also examined the fabrics from Little Bay, apparently without thin-sections, and described these as similar to those from Nornour. Roger Taylor (in Quinnell 2009-10) included some thin-sections in his examination of the Dolphin Town pottery and again noted granite inclusions which he considered to have been crushed and added to a granitic clay. No petrographic work has taken place on the other sites considered. It is difficult to provide a comprehensive and comprehensible account of vessel typology and decoration. Halangy Porth, where Ashbee (1983) combined a report on his work with an account of the very large quantities of sherds excavated by Alec Gray in the 1920s and 1930s, appears to have had a large midden in which there were numerous vessels with cord or comb impressed decoration, as well as large plain vessels. There is no radiocarbon dating for the Bronze Age but it is quite possible that most of the ceramic material here is Early Bronze Age in date. At all the other sites vessels with cord and comb impressions are infrequent. At Little Bay (Neal 1983, 62) decorated sherds came from lower stratigraphic levels in buildings. At Nornour decorated sherds are infrequent and at Porthcressa (Quinnell 1994) and Dolphin Town (Quinnell 200910) are represented only by single pieces. At Porth Killier (Quinnell, forthcoming f) a 112 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 midden preceding the excavated hut circle contained several vessels with grooved or incised decoration and had radiocarbon dates of 1620-1280 cal BC (OxA-3648; Table 5.1) and 1670-1300 cal BC (OxA-3647; Table 5.1). Otherwise, on all sites except Halangy Porth, plain vessels predominate. These are principally of Nornour Types 1 to 7, simple jars with slight necks and everted rims, vessels with straight sides or slightly closed forms. It appears on current evidence that for much of the Middle Bronze Age, plain wares of simple form made up most of the ceramics on domestic sites. Decorated vessels either belonged to the early part of this period or were made infrequently, perhaps for some special use. Imported gabbroic Trevisker sherds are now recognised in the assemblage from Higher Town, St Agnes (Quinnell, forthcoming b). Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age In mainland Cornwall two sites, Higher Besore (Quinnell, forthcoming d) and Scarcewater (Quinnell 2010), have recently produced Late Bronze Age Plain Ware (LBAPW) assemblages with radiocarbon and artefact dating relating to the eleventh to ninth centuries BC. The most common forms are straight-sided jars and small shouldered jars. Bowls with carinated shoulders which occur in LBAPW elsewhere are not present. The earliest mainland context with a carinated bowl is radiocarbon dated to the eighth century BC at Trevelgue cliff castle (Nowakowski and Quinnell 2011, 7.7); this context also includes large shouldered jars. Both these types occur at Bodrifty (Dudley 1956). This data suggests for the mainland a LBAPW phase followed by an Early Iron Age phase with carinated bowls and large shouldered jars. A structure at Bonfire Carn, Bryher, with indeterminate ceramics has two radiocarbon determinations relating to the eleventh to ninth centuries BC (OxA-5289-90; Table 5.1; Quinnell 1994; Ratcliffe and Straker 1996). Little Bay has a late phase with a radiocarbon date of the twelfth to ninth centuries BC (HAR-1726; Table 5.1), the ceramics an apparent continuation of the plain forms of the MBA, but some of the large straight-sided vessels might relate to LBAPW. Porth Killier (Quinnell, forthcoming b) in Sector B has a group of pits which provide closed deposits, unusual on Scilly. One of the pits had two radiocarbon determinations covering the thirteenth to sixth centuries BC (Wk-5686-7; Table 5.1). The small assemblage comprises simple, slightly necked vessels, continuing forms present in the MBA. Dolphin Town (Quinnell 2009-10) has parts of two small carinated bowls in the upper part of the spread which yielded a MBA radiocarbon date (Wk-19092; Table 5.1). West Porth, Samson (Quinnell 1994; Ratcliffe and Straker 1996), has both shouldered jars and carinated bowls in an apparently single phase site with two radiocarbon determinations covering the ninth to fifth centuries BC (OxA-3650-1; Table 5.1). Finally, LBPAPW has been identified at Higher Town, St Agnes (Quinnell, forthcoming b). The data from these seven sites may represent successive Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age ceramic phases but these are not currently very clearly defined. They would support the introduction of carinated bowls in the eighth century, the earliest century of the Iron Age as chronology for Britain is currently understood. Both the data from Scilly and the mainland currently suggest that carinated bowls were introduced here later than further east in Britain. A number of domestic sites excavated by O’Neil are recorded by Robinson (2007, Appendix M) as having first millennium BC ceramics. Until this material has been examined by a modern ceramic expert no comment can be made as there is a long history of this material being misinterpreted. No petrography was carried out for Bonfire Carn or West Porth. Porth Killier (Sector B) has a gabbroic bowl from a sealed pit. All other fabrics appear to be similar to the local granitic material of the Middle Bronze Age. On the mainland a Plain Jar Group (PJG) with small and medium necked jars without decoration has recently been identified as the ceramic of the later Early Iron Age, covering the sixth to fourth centuries BC (Nowakowski and Quinnell 2011, 7.8; Quinnell 2011). Nothing comparable has been so far been identified on Scilly and ceramics for 113 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 these centuries are currently unrecognised. The one exception is Halangy Porth (Ashbee 1983a; Ratcliffe and Straker 1996). Re-examination of collections from sites with assemblages dating to the centuries either side of this period, especially the west area of Nornour excavated by Dudley (1967), might well show that it was present. Stone Stone artefacts from Scillonian settlements of this period are especially common (e.g., Butcher 1978, 95) but have received little detailed study. Artefact groups include bowl and saddle querns, bowls, troughs, whetstones, holed weights, bruising mullers, rubbing stones, pebble hammers, hammer stones and pivot stones. Current knowledge has been summarised by Quinnell (forthcoming c). Because of the frequency of finds of pebbles, it is not easy to distinguish those which show signs of use or working and until the last few decades all but the most obvious artefacts were probably not recognised. Only the reports on Nornour (Butcher 1978), Little Bay (Neal 1983), Halangy Porth (Ashbee 1983), and Halangy Down (Ashbee 1996) have sufficient detail for comparative discussion. Stone artefacts from the Isles of Scilly Electrification Project were all without contexts and have been briefly summarised (Ratcliffe 1991, 67–71); the small number of artefacts from the 1989–1993 CEP has not so far been discussed as a group (Quinnell 1994). Large quantities of stone artefacts were identified at Dolphin Town, Tresco (Taylor and Johns 2009–10), and Higher Town, St Agnes (Taylor and Johns, forthcoming). At present the consensual policy is for large stone artefacts such as quern stones to remain on the island where they were found. However, this can make analysis difficult and the question of the long-term storage and curation of such items needs to be reconsidered. Pivot stones are fairly frequent finds on Scilly (e.g., Ratcliffe 1991, 67–8) and occurred at Little Bay (Neal 1983, 59), a site with a long occupation within the Bronze Age but with no subsequent use. While pivot stones are not uncommon, there appears to be no clear published account of how they actually functioned. The subject is one which would benefit from a more detailed examination of surviving pivot stones and from experimental work (Quinnell, forthcoming c). Flint The flintworking traditions of the full second millennium BC are cruder than those of the Mesolithic and Neolithic, although they are parts of the same long continuum. The scarcity of flint from Porth Killier, St Agnes, and the Early Iron Age site at West Porth, Samson, may suggest that during this period flint was no longer of such importance as in earlier prehistory (Quinnell, forthcoming c). 5.3.6 Subsistence Occupation debris from settlements reveals that their inhabitants practised a mixed subsistence economy; as well as growing crops and raising stock, they fished, gathered shellfish and hunted wild animals and birds. Cereals such as naked barley and emmer wheat were cultivated, with pulses such as the Celtic, horse and horn bean (Ratcliffe and Johns 2003). Plant remains At Porth Killier, St Agnes, and Porthcressa, St Mary’s, crops represented include emmer wheat and Celtic bean as well as naked and hulled barley; also two grains of oats, which could have been crop or weed. Many weeds were present: vetches, knotgrass, black bindweed, chickweed, small nettle and red goosefoot. The presence of ploughman’s spikenard (Inula conyza) indicates that more calcareous soils had developed, perhaps in areas where shelly sand had accumulated; also the finding of corn spurrey (spergula arvensis) at West Porth, Samson, indicates that some acidic soils had developed on granite, unless the presence of sand with shells had altered the 114 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 balance. Clover (Trifolium sp.) and grasses point to open grassy areas or perhaps sand dunes in the vicinity. The presence of stinging nettles could indicate nutrient (phosphate) rich conditions such as dung and domestic waste around settlements. The few seeds of sedge and rushes suggest collection of plants from damp conditions, perhaps for flooring or roofing materials. There is also evidence that a heathland flora had already developed over the granite by the Bronze Age. At Bonfire Carn, Bryher, this was well developed with gorse present as well as heath grass and ling. Charcoal was of gorse, broom, heather or ling and rose and bramble, all scrub or heath rather than woodland plants. At Porth Killier and West Porth, Samson, as well as charred seeds there were others, dock and stinging nettle, which had been preserved by mineralisation probably caused by dumping of large numbers of limpet shells or perhaps phosphate-rich animal dung (Ratcliffe and Straker 1996, 11). It is interesting to note that Bronze Age saddle querns and grinding mullers on Scilly are very large. These would have required considerable preparation and involved much effort to use. The heavy mullers from the Late Bronze Age settlement at Higher Town would only grind with considerable pressure applied to their 8-10kg weight (Quinnell, forthcoming c). The size of the equipment, both the mullers and the querns, suggests that considerable importance was attached to the preparation of grain, as does the deliberate decommissioning and deposition of these items. The importance of grain and its preparation could have been related to difficulties of production in Scillonian conditions and moreover to the rapidly diminishing area of good agricultural land available. In prehistoric Scilly grain might have been a rare and symbolically high status food source, as opposed to everyday fish and limpets. Osteological faunal remains Introduction With the exception of the Par Beach calf’s tooth (above, Section 4.5.4), the earliest records for the Islands date to the Middle Bronze Age. There are reports on material from Nornour (Turk 1967; 1968; 1971; 1973; 1978), Halangy Down, St Mary’s (Locker 1996), Halangy Porth, St Mary’s (Gray 1983), Little Bay, St Martin’s (Locker 1983), Porth Killier, St Agnes (Turk 1991; Locker, forthcoming); Dolphin Town, Tresco (Ingrem 2009-10), and Higher Town, St Agnes (Ingrem, forthcoming). Quality of the resource Scillonian faunal remains were last summarised in Ratcliffe and Straker (1996). Since this authoritative work only a few new assemblages have come to light. There are few substantial and fully recorded assemblages and the faunal resource is generally small, often unquantified, and poorly dated. The largest quantified assemblages are derived from the Romano-British settlement on Halangy Down (Locker 1996; the Number of Identified Specimens – NISP - being 1651, excluding unidentified fragments) and East Porth (Locker 1983, Ratcliffe and Straker 1996; NISP 1242). The assemblage from Nornour (Turk 1967; 1968; 1971; 1973; 1978) is also substantial but no NISP was published. The larger assemblages produced a quantity of metrical data, however, aging information remains scant. Data relating to butchery, taphonomy, animal health, etc., has also been reported anecdotally by Turk and more systematically by Locker but overall the quality of the excavated resource remains poor. Sieving has been used in recent excavations but was not systematically applied in the past; as a result small bones and in particular smaller species (small mammals, fish and birds) are likely to be underrepresented. Whilst species lists for birds and fish are available and comprehensive, the relative contribution of these resources is extremely difficult to assess. The earliest remains of a domesticated cat in Britain were identified at Gussage All Saints and the individual on Nornour is the size of a larger domestic cat (O’Connor 2010). 115 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Assemblage quantification The assemblages all demonstrate a broad range of fauna, with birds, fish and marine and terrestrial mammals exploited. Only the Romano-British settlement on Halangy Down meets the criteria for detailed analysis of the relative abundance of main food animals (i.e., 300 NISP; Hambleton 1999) and the complexities of recording and quantifying the more diverse assemblages of bird and fish bone preclude all but the most general statements on the economic role of animals. At Nornour, Turk indicated that while sheep were the most abundant species, seal were more common than cattle; however, this data remains unqualified. Whilst detailed information on introductions, extinctions and management is difficult to define given lack of precision, the following section draws on all available information to write a narrative on faunal history. Faunal history Terrestrial species found include both domesticated and wild stock, with cattle, sheep, pig and red deer the most common species. There is evidence for the exploitation of marine resources with seal, cetacean and fish remains identified. The emphasis on terrestrial resources, with a minor but persistent component of marine resources, is common to many coastal and insular sites in later prehistory. Attempts to identify the contribution of marine foods to the insular post-Mesolithic diet suggest that these make up less than 20% of the total protein input; however, marine animals may have been an important source of other foods such as fats and oils. At Nornour, Turk (1978) linked the high proportion of seal bones, in particular their burning, to a reliance on seal blubber. Seals, mostly grey seals, were probably hunted during the autumn, when they come ashore to breed, whilst the sparse evidence for cetaceans, mostly smaller dolphins, suggests the occasional use of stranded animals, although they could have been actively hunted. In the past, as today, the use of boats to move between the islands would have been necessary, providing plenty of opportunity for fishing, birding and the procurement of marine mammals. In addition to the main food animals, a few other terrestrial species are present on the islands by this time. There are a few canid remains (Locker refers to fox-size animals) and deer bones but these are insufficiently characterised to argue for local breeding populations. Turk remained convinced of the presence of an early local deer population in the Bronze Age and identified some smaller red deer (Turk 1978, 100) as providing evidence of an indigenous population of great antiquity and possible evidence for the presence of roe deer (Turk 1971, 94). There is strong evidence for the translocation of deer to the Scottish islands from the Neolithic onwards (Mulville 2010) although they do not arrive in Ireland until the Bronze Age. The recent evidence for the introduction of fox to the Orkney Isles (Fairnell and Barrett 2007) may provide a clue as to what these small canids represent. There are a few horse elements from Porth Killier (Turk 1991) and Nornour (Turk 1978). The presence of horse in the Bronze Age is of interest; this species is rarely found on British Bronze Age sites and this material would benefit from revisiting and dating. In general, the low diversity of terrestrial species reflects both the size of the landmass and the small size or of the recovered assemblages; for example, prior to the major excavations on the Uists, red deer populations were thought to have never existed and many rarer species (e.g., roe deer, badger, pine martin, etc.) were unrecorded. The first substantial evidence for Scillonian faunal exploitation in the abundant later Bronze Age assemblages fits into the general British pattern of insular exploitation, with a range of species present. Wild food procurement would have involved hunting, trapping and fishing to procure marine mammals, fish and birds, the collection of littoral resources (crustacea, mollusca, etc.) and bird eggs. Hunting would have extended to any endemic herds of deer, although careful management would have been required to maintain herds on these small islands, despite any larger mass resulting from lower sea levels. The evidence for domestic stock management is 116 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 somewhat sparse. Aging evidence is restricted to Halangy and Nornour, and with only older cattle and younger lambs noted, the assemblages remain too small to allow detailed reconstructions of any changes over time. The Scottish islands provide significant evidence for a high level of cattle neonatal mortality. This has been variously interpreted as a specialist dairy economy or as problems with stock rearing associated with the marginal climate. As such, detailed analysis of the Scillonian assemblages with their milder climate and much longer growing season has significant research potential to examine the effect of the environment on husbandry decisions in prehistory. Additionally, recent insular research has focused on mapping ecosystem dynamics, understanding food and foddering of livestock, and understanding the impact of small island environments on animal size and genetic diversity. For all these questions the Isles of Scilly fauna have a pivotal role to play, and the analysis of faunal assemblages, human and faunal stable isotopes and pottery residues from the island assemblages forms part of the NERC Diversification and Sustainability in Ancient Coastal Communities: The Role of Marine Resources (DISARMR) research project (Cramp et al 2013; Jones, Mulville and Evershed 2013). The only indicators of Scillonian stock characteristics derive from the metrical data; both Turk and Locker identify stock that is smaller than contemporary mainland animals (Locker 1983, 19). Locker found the sheep to be a similar size to the Shetland breed and Turk described the cattle as small and the pig as long-legged. This and the sparse data for other species - cat, dog and deer - require more research and need to be compared with the contemporary substantial metrical datasets now available (e.g., at the ADS). The role of animals in prehistory is often expressed in their non-economic contexts. On Scottish islands articulated groups, heads or repeating elements are found deposited within tombs, houses, ditches and pits, and reflect mainland practice. The Isles of Scilly are unusual in that no articulated groups of animals have been recovered (apart from the single third century AD cat at Halangy Down). This may reflect the timing and nature of the excavations; for example, Late Bronze and Iron Age material in the Hebrides is typified by under floor deposits and few Scillonian houses have been fully or recently excavated. Shell Limpet shells, often in large quantities, are found on most settlement sites in Scilly, from the prehistoric to the post-medieval period (Ratcliffe and Straker, 1996). There are two published studies of limpet shells, which usually make up the bulk of any domestic midden – Halangy Down, St Mary’s (Townsend 1967), and Samson (Mason 1984) – and two unpublished studies, Porth Killier, St Agnes (Light, forthcoming), and Higher Town, St Agnes (Law, forthcoming). Evidence from Porth Killier suggests that heavy exploitation of marine resources took place in the Bronze Age. The majority of shells had the morphology associated with middle to lower shore habitats where limpets are more abundant, as well as being apparently tastier than upper shore specimens. It has been estimated that 400 limpets would be need to provide one person with enough kilocalories for one day and that 31,360 limpets would be needed to provide the calorific equivalent of one red deer carcase (Bailey 1978). Even for an extensive Danish shell midden of 2000m, containing tens of millions of shells, it was shown that based on length of accumulation time and base area of the mound, which gives an estimated population size (Cook and Treganza 1950), for a community of 39 people, the shellfood contribution to the diet would be 1.8%, and for 25 people 2.7%. This suggests that in general shellfish were treated as a small but constant and reliable source of fresh protein to supplement diets (cf Light, forthcoming). It has been suggested that limpets were used as fishing bait rather than food (Ashbee 1974; Turk 1984b), but if this were the case why were limpets transported from the shore to inland locations and even the tops of hills? Although limpets have been valued 117 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 in the past for bait, other options are considered more effective: mussels, marine worms and shore crabs; with the exception of mussels, these resources and more would have been available to early Scillonians (cf Light, forthcoming). Authors writing on the archaeology of Scilly mention the vast numbers of limpets, estimated as 110,000 in one midden (Ashbee 1974). Excavation has revealed quantities of rotted shells which suggest that limpet shells may have been used for soil enrichment. In view of the large numbers present at Porth Killier and at other sites in Scilly (e.g., Mason and Hayton 1977) it seems likely that limpets at least occasionally formed part of the diet. The value of a foodstuff such as limpets lies in the reliability of the resource and ease of exploitation when more desirable sources of protein might be in short supply (cf Light, forthcoming). 5.3.7 Transport There is no archaeological evidence of boats of any type from this period in Scilly; indeed there is virtually no primary evidence of sea-going craft from Britain. However, a relatively large number of craft (log and plank boats) have been found in rivers, lakes and estuaries in Britain (Ransley et al 2011). Collections of Bronze Age artefacts found in the sea at Salcombe and Dover may be indicative of Bronze Age shipwrecks (Needham 2009). A rim sherd of coarse Bronze Age pottery with a collection of incised lines on its outer face was found during excavations at Higher Town, St Agnes in 2009. These lines were drawn prior to the firing of the pot and have been interpreted by some as depicting a boat or ship with a sail, although the nature of the incised lines (Fig 5.7) is such that other interpretations are possible. If this is a Bronze Age depiction of a boat with a sail it is of international importance as there is no evidence of Bronze Age sails from Europe (Thomas 2010; Taylor and Johns, forthcoming). Fig 5.7 The St Agnes ‘boatsherd’: (left) a photograph of the outer face of the sherd and (right) an interpretation of the lines (Carl Thorpe). 5.3.8 Social relations During the Early Bronze Age, social and kinship relations were materially manifested and played out though communal burial within entrance graves and the placement of individual burials beneath cairns. During the later Bronze Age emphasis shifts from monuments to settlements, and social and kinship relations were played out through the continued occupation of a single locale (settlement). In other words, the social significance of burial monuments is transferred to the realm of the domestic: houses metaphorically become monuments. The significance placed upon the remains of ancestors and their places of interment is replaced by a new emphasis upon the places where ancestors once inhabited. 118 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 It is interesting to note that between the later Bronze Age and the Later Iron Age archaeological evidence for burial practices disappears from the archaeological record. It must be presumed that during this period the disposal of the dead was carried out in a way (such as excarnation) that rendered them archaeologically invisible. 5.3.9 Ritual and religion It is likely that small cairns continued to be constructed and larger ones reused during the later Bronze Age and that some of the cairns that comprise the large cairnfields located around the periphery of the islands might date to this period. However, as no excavation has taken place within any of these cairnfields, it is not possible to prove this interpretation. A further method of burial that may be assigned to this period is suggested by Hencken (1932, 29), who hints at the existence of a Bronze Age urnfield when he refers to ‘huge quantities of undecorated pots found and subsequently destroyed on the north-western side of Samson Hill, Bryher’; he also states that a ‘further similar cemetery was found by Crawford on St Mary’s’ (1928, 29). Unfortunately, no further details of these ‘urnfields’ are available and the character and location of the pottery retrieved is unknown. 5.4 The Iron Age (c 800 BC – AD 43) Few iron objects survive in the acid soils of Cornwall and Scilly, and pottery and the introduction of hillforts have traditionally been used to identify the beginnings of the local Iron Age. More recent evidence has made the division between the Bronze and Iron Ages less clear, since Cornish pottery formerly regarded as Early Iron Age could also belong to the later Bronze Age and hillforts elsewhere in Britain are now known to have been constructed in that period (Quinnell 1986, 112-113). 5.4.1 Chronology The majority of radiocarbon determinations for the Iron Age are samples taken for environmental analysis. There are two Early Iron Age dates from a house exposed in the cliff face at West Porth, Samson (OxA-3650-1; Table 5.1), and two more from a house exposed in the cliff face at Halangy Porth, St Mary’s (OxA-4696 and HAR-1313; Table 5.1; Ashbee 1983a, 22; Ratcliffe and Straker 1996, 67, 89). There are two Late Iron Age radiocarbon determinations from human bone from the Bryher sword and mirror burial (OxA-10255 and OxA-12095; Table 5.1; Marshall 2002-3, 23). 5.4.2 Landscape The rate of loss of intertidal area increased in the Iron Age but the rate of loss of land declined significantly from what it had been during the Bronze Age and slowed continually after that, such that from the Iron Age onwards land area was very similar to that of today (Fig 5.8). 119 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Fig 5.8 Inferred submergence model, c 500 cal BC (based on data from the Lyonesse Project (Charman et al 2016); all details as for Fig 3.3. Fig 5.9 Distribution of Iron Age and Romano-British sites recorded in the Cornwall and Scilly HER. 120 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Fig 5.10 A reconstruction of the Iron Age/Romano-British settlement on Samson Hill, Bryher (reproduced by kind permission of Jane Stanley). 5.4.3 Settlement The overall picture is one of continuity of earlier traditions throughout most of the first millennium BC but with some changes occurring after 500 BC. People still lived in open settlements of oval or circular houses (and in some cases perhaps the same houses themselves), farmed small rectilinear fields, used mainly stone tools and similar types of pottery. One of the most distinctive differences between Scilly and mainland Cornwall is the absence in Scilly of the ‘rounds’, or enclosed farming settlements, which dominated the Cornish landscape in the Late Iron Age and Romano-British period (cf Nowakowski and Johns 2015). Excavated hut settlements at Halangy Down, St Mary’s and Nornour indicate continuity between the Iron Age and Romano-British period in Scilly (Dudley 1967; Butcher 1978; Ashbee 1996). Though few other sites are securely dated it is likely that many of the recorded huts and field systems can be assigned to these periods. The remains of an Iron Age – Romano-British settlement were investigated at Hillside Farm, Bryher, in the vicinity of the sword and mirror cist burial (Fig 5.10; Johns 20023). Remains included a stone-walled building, either a byre or shared animal - human habitation, on top of an approximately 10m wide occupation terrace. This was defined to the north (downslope) by a substantial stony lynchet and a settlement boundary made up of a 1m wide, double-faced stone wall with a dense, crushed, limpet midden infill, a construction method noted in other prehistoric Scillonian structures. After falling out of use, the building was infilled with domestic rubbish in the form of a sequence of limpet middens and redeposited burnt material. Another substantial stone building, c 8m in overall diameter, was suggested by geophysical survey results, and an evaluation trench showed this also became a repository for domestic rubbish after its abandonment. An auger survey revealed that midden deposits extend over an area of some 450 sq m in the vicinity of this settlement. 121 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 5.4.4 Field systems One field system securely dated to the Iron Age, 380 cal BC – cal AD 0 (HAR-3483; Table 5.1), is the site at Bar Point, St Mary’s, investigated in 1979-80 in advance of sand extraction (Evans 1984, 7-32). Fowler and Thomas (1979, 186) had carried out a preliminary survey which suggested a rectilinear pattern of narrow fields approximately 16m wide, and in one case only 13m wide, and 20m long. There were two types of boundary, those cutting across the contour were stone banks and those running along the contour were stone banks set on lynchets, which were staggered in contrast to the continuous cross-contour boundaries. There was evidence of cultivation but no trace of cultivation marks, except some shallow grooves in the base of one of the trenches. Phosphate analysis suggested that some fields were used to keep animals in and others were for arable cultivation. Although Fowler and Thomas had recorded one boundary still standing to a height of approximately 1.5m the investigated boundaries were of slighter construction. The curvilinear pattern of fields surrounding the cist burials and Iron Age - RomanoBritish settlement at Hillside Farm, Bryher, is also likely to date from the Iron Age. It includes rectilinear and irregular stone-walled fields with lynchets along the contours Fig 5.10). Most of the farmland here retained the ancient pattern until the end of the nineteenth century but had been sub-divided into linear bulb strips by the time of the 1908 Ordnance Survey 25in map (Johns 2002-3). 5.4.5 Cliff castles Fig 5.11 Giant’s Castle on St Mary’s in the early twentieth century (© Gibson Collection). There are the remains of two cliff castles in Scilly: Giant’s Castle on St Mary’s (Fig 5.11) and Shipman Head on Bryher, with possibly a third on Burnt Hill on St Martin’s. Ashbee (1974 209-15, fig 46) suggests there were more such sites at Kallimay Point, St Agnes; The Hugh and Little Bay / Porth Seal, St Mary’s; Blockhouse Point, Tresco; and 122 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Pernagie Point, St Martin’s. He also points out that the term ‘cliff castles’ was likely to have been coined by Borlase during his 1752 visit to Scilly. Such promontory fortifications are currently interpreted as socio-economic or ritual centres rather than simply defensive strongholds (e.g., Herring 1994; Nowakowski and Quinnell 2011). The three cliff castles on Scilly lie roughly equidistant from each other, on the edges of the island group and it is tempting to suggest that they reflect tribal divisions which existed in Scillonian society at this time. There are no definite examples of hillforts in Scilly, although the Civil War battery on Mount Todden, St Mary’s, may have re-used the site of such a monument. 5.4.6 The material world Metalwork There was virtually no evidence for Iron Age metalwork in Scilly before the discovery of the Bryher sword and mirror cist burial in 1999 (Fig 5.12). Within the cist were the fragmentary remains of a crouched human skeleton. In addition to a sword, which survived within a bronze scabbard with a baldric ring (Stead 2002–3; Stead 2006), the grave goods included a mirror (Hill 2002-3a), shield fittings (Hill 2002–3b), a brooch (Hill 2002–3c) and a spiral ring (Hill 2002–3d) – all of copper alloy – together with a shattered tin object (Hill 2002–3e). There was also evidence for the grave having contained a sheepskin or fleece and woven textile incorporating goat and other animal hairs (Rogers 2002–3). This is the only known Iron Age grave to contain both a sword and mirror, raising interesting questions as to the gender significance of both these grave goods. The unique combination of metal objects will continue to be central to future discussions concerning the development of British Iron Age metalwork (Johns 2002–3). A long bone fragment from the burial was radiocarbon dated to 350-40 cal BC (OxA12095 and OxA-10255; Table 5.1); the metalwork typology narrows this range to the first half of the first century BC. The dates indicate that the Bryher mirror is the earliest known British decorated bronze mirror and has important national implications for the study of the development of insular Celtic Art in Britain (Johns 2002-3). The discovery has also led to a reappraisal of British decorated Bronze mirrors; rather than simply being vanity aids buried with moderately wealthy females they have been reinterpreted as having symbolic properties associated with the translation of the soul to the ‘Otherworld’ (ibid). The only other Iron Age ring – a bronze spiral finger or toe ring - was found on the spoil heap during the 1949 Porthcressa cist-grave excavations (Ashbee 1983, 120-1). 123 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Fig 5.12 The Bryher sword and mirror (Historic England). Pottery Middle and Late Iron Age The South Western Decorated (SWD) ceramic style is now well established for the third to first centuries BC on the mainland, with a little initial material in the late fourth (Nowakowski and Quinnell 2011, 7.9; Quinnell 2011). This style appears to have been used at similar dates on Scilly. The main assemblage comes from the west area of Nornour (Dudley 1967). Small groups come from Cliff Fields, Tresco, and from Porth Killier (Quinnell 1991) and appear to be present in midden deposits adjacent to the cist cemetery at Porthcressa (Ashbee 1954). A few plain sherds from contexts associated with the cist burial at Hillside Farm, Bryher, are likely to be of this style, with associated radiocarbon dates indicating the second or first centuries BC (mean OxA-12095 and OxA-10255; Table 5.1; Quinnell 2002-3 a). No other sites have produced radiocarbon determinations. Henrietta Quinnell cannot confirm the date of the SWD sherds suggested by Robinson (2007, 70) from O’Neil’s unpublished excavation on Little Arthur. Neither can she comment on sherds reported from Giant’s Castle (O’Neil 1949c, 9). The house associated with Early – Middle Bronze Age ceramics at Halangy Porth was reused in the Iron Age. Recalibrated radiocarbon dates for the site cover the eighth to first centuries BC (HAR-1313; OxA-4696-7; Table 5.1). Pottery published by Ashbee (1983a, fig 9) can be re-interpreted as a variant of SWD (no 3) and as large shouldered jars, probably to be seen as variants of the Plain Jar Group, just possibly from even earlier in the Iron Age. Ashbee (ibid) comments that similar sherds to those illustrated were present in the material previously excavated from the site by Gray. A second house, immediately adjacent to that discussed, was located in 1990 (Ratcliffe and Straker 1996, 89). This produced plain sherds of either PJG or SWD type and radiocarbon determinations covering the seventh to fourth centuries and the fourth and third centuries from different hearth levels (Quinnell 1991). It should be made clear that the extensive settlement on Halangy Down above the Porth produced no Iron Age material, an observation based by Henrietta Quinnell on Ashbee’s (1996) site report. Petrographic work by Roger Taylor on the Bryher cist site identified fine granitic fabrics of a type almost certainly made on the Islands. A rapid scan of some of the Nornour 124 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 material by Henrietta Quinnell in 2007 identified SWD sherd P57 as gabbroic (Dudley 1967, fig 6). Recent work on the mainland has now established a start date for Late Iron Age Cordoned Ware in the later second century BC (Quinnell 2011; Quinnell 2013). The style overlapped with SWD for about a century and continued, with a few changes, until the second century AD. On Scilly Cordoned Ware is found at Nornour, both in the west area and also in the top of some house infills in the east area. It was also found with SWD at Cliff Fields, Tresco (Quinnell 1991). Other sites with Cordoned Ware almost certainly date after the Roman conquest and are discussed below. Rapid examination of the Nornour assemblage by Henrietta Quinnell in 2007 identified no 60 (Dudley 1967, fig 7) as gabbroic. Most of the material appears to be made in local granitic fabrics. However, D F Williams identifies the fabric of bowl no 19 (Butcher 1978, fig 25) to be of a distinctive hard fabric containing only quartz and mica, which was probably not sourced in the Islands. This bowl belongs to Threipland’s (1956) Type G, probably a drinking vessel. (The interpretation of this vessel by Robinson (2007, 62) as a Late Bronze Age carinated bowl is unlikely: this type of carinated bowl does not occur in the south west and the vessel is similar in all respects to Cordoned Ware Type G.) Flint and stone No settlement site of Iron Age or Roman date on Scilly is entirely without flint, but site formation processes on these settlements are not of the kind that allows a clear assessment of the likelihood of redeposition from earlier periods (cf Quinnell 2002-3b). There was extensive continued used of local stonework for tools similar to those described above in Section 5.3.5.3. 5.4.7 Subsistence There are few sites dated solely to the Iron Age: Hillside Farm, Bryher (Ingrem 20023), and the site on May’s Hill, St Martin’s (Turk 1984a), continue into the RomanoBritish period. Plant remains Evidence for Iron Age crop husbandry is still very limited for Scilly but emmer and barley, including the naked form, continued as cultigens. At present there is no evidence for the cultivation of spelt wheat from Bronze Age or Iron Age sites, unlike other sites in southern Britain, and naked barley does not form part of these mainland assemblages. A limited range of arable weeds includes the acid-loving corn spurrey, fat hen, ribwort plantain and bedstraw (Ratcliffe and Straker 1996, 12). Several shallow parallel grooves, interpreted as possible ploughmarks were found at the base of the soil during the excavations at Bar Point, St Mary’s (Evans, J, 1984, 25). Animal remains The potential of limpet middens for the recovery of food remains, particularly bird, fish and mammal bone and shell, is well known in Scilly at sites such as Porth Killier, Porthcressa and Teän (Ratcliffe and Straker 1996). The bone assemblages from the Hillside Farm middens provided the most useful information on diet, farming practice and exploitation of wild resources, although interpretation was limited by the small sample size. Breeding of sheep and/or goats could be demonstrated by the presence of neonatal bones and cattle and pigs were also kept. A wide range of birds and fish were collected for food and are interpreted as representing relatively low-risk exploitation of inshore seabirds and fish. The finding of mature red sea bream, usually regarded as typical of offshore waters, raises the question of where this species was caught. The Scillonian batholith is surrounded by deep water, however, and it is likely that the former inhabitants of Scilly were able to catch a range of fish without the need to fish far offshore (Straker 2002-3, 58-60). 125 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Animal hoof-prints dating to the Iron Age were found on a trackway during the excavations at Bar Point, St Mary’s (Evans, J, 1984, 23-25). These were of two main types, cloven and uncloven. The uncloven were probably those of ponies or small horses. The cloven hoof-prints were of several sizes, some being large cattle and some smaller and probably young cattle. Some of the very small ones may have been those of sheep or goats. 5.4.8 Transport Ruts were found in the trackway revealed during the excavations at Bar Point, St Mary’s (Evans, J, 1984, 23-25). These were 50mm - 100mm wide and 30mm deep with sloping sides and flat bottoms. It is possible that these were caused by ‘slide cars’ being pulled uphill by ponies whose hoof-prints had also been found. There is no archaeological evidence of boats of any type from this period in Scilly. Two iron anchors have been found in Britain from this period, one complete with chain. They could be of Mediterranean origin but nevertheless are indicative of increased seafaring activity. Documentary and representational evidence shows increasingly sophisticated sea-going craft in this period in Europe (cf Cunliffe 2001a), the gold model boat found at Broighter in Northern Ireland in 1896, for example, has a mast, oars and a yardarm. It is perhaps similar to the Veneti craft described by Caesar (Weatherhill 1985), although there is some debate as to whether the model shows a hide or plank boat (Ransley et al 2011). The large oak trees required for plank boats may have become less available as woodland was cleared, and it is possible that the hide-covered boat, similar to the currach, comes into its own as the seagoing craft of choice in this period. Their lightness of construction, an advantage in relation to buoyancy and beaching, means that their survival in archaeological deposits is significantly poorer than that of plank boats (McGrail 2004). 5.4.9 Ritual and burial Burial under cairns or in cists may have continued throughout the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age until the introduction of Porthcressa-type cist graves in the Late Iron Age (Thomas 1985, 133), although the majority of the dead were probably disposed of in some way, such as excarnation, that has not left any traces in the archaeological record. Porthcressa-type cist graves The Late Iron Age and Romano-British south-western cist-burial tradition was identified through the chance discovery and excavation of a number of small cemeteries and isolated burials around the coasts of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, with a couple of examples in Devon, and was possibly the normative burial rite of the Dumnonii (cf Thomas 1966, 77). In Scilly these burials are known as Porthcressa-type cist graves after the type site on St Mary’s where Paul Ashbee investigated ten cists and an uncisted burial in 1949-50 (Ashbee 1954; 1979). 126 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Fig 5.13 The Iron Age sword and mirror cist burial at Hillside Farm before excavation in October 1999 (photo: Cornwall Council). Approximately 36 of these cist graves have been discovered at 13 sites in Scilly: Par Beach, St Martin’s (Crawford 1928; O’Neil nd a and c); Old Man, Teän (Tebbutt 1934); Porthcressa, St Mary’s (Ashbee 1954, 1979); Poynter’s Garden, St Mary’s (Dudley 1960-1); Green Bay, Bryher (Thomas 1977); the east side of Porthcressa Bay, St Mary’s (Ratcliffe 1999); Halangy Porth, St Mary’s (Ratcliffe 1994, 23); East Porth, Samson (Ratcliffe and Sharpe 1990); Lawrence Brow, St Martin’s (Ratcliffe 1993, 12); Hillside Farm, Bryher (Johns 2002–3), Toll’s Porth, St Mary’s (Ratcliffe 1994, 13-14); and Lunnon Farm, St Mary’s (Butcher 2002; Johns et al 2011); Churchtown Farm, St Martin’s (Johns and Taylor 2016). With the exception of the Lunnon Farm cists, all were in low-lying locations, below, just above or slightly inland of the modern shoreline, having been revealed by coastal erosion, cultivation or modern development. Generally oval or rectangular in plan, and occasionally coffin- or D-shaped, the cists are set in grave pits and constructed of stone slabs placed on edge, coursed walling, or a combination of both building techniques. They are covered by stone slabs set at right angles to the main axis. Cist dimensions range from 0.9m to 1.6m in length, 0.5m to 1.0m in width, and 0.2m to 0.8m in depth. The majority are aligned north – south. Where skeletal remains have survived in the acid soils, they represent the remains of crouched inhumation burials (with the body lying on its side). Grave goods often accompany these and include bronze brooches, pottery vessels, glass beads and, in one instance, an iron pin. The frequent occurrence of brooches suggests that they played a special role in the funerary rite and may have been used to hold together a shroud or, perhaps, everyday costume. The sword and mirror cist burial at Hillside Farm is the richest south-western cist grave yet to be discovered (Fig 5.13). The sword and mirror link it to the wider British warrior and mirror burial traditions; these types of burial, which share similar cultural associations and distribution patterns, crosscut local burial traditions where they exist (Johns 2002-3). 127 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Typological dates for most of the brooches and pottery recovered from the Porthcressa cemetery post-date the end of the first century AD. This led Ashbee to consider the graves to be wholly Roman in date and surmise that ‘refugees’ from the Cornish mainland may have imported the cist-burial tradition to Scilly sometime after the Roman conquest (Ashbee 1979, 78; 1986, 207). The radiocarbon dates and finds from the Hillside Farm cist showed that such cists originated in the Iron Age. Statue menhir An interesting decorated standing stone, found in a field wall on Chapel Down, St Martin’s, which represents the face and upper torso of an anthropomorphic figure (Ratcliffe and Parkes 1989b, 259-60; Fig 5.14). The base of this stone has been broken off from a larger stone that may once have stood upright upon the Down and it has been interpreted as a Romano-Celtic idol (Ashbee and Thomas 1990). Fig 5.14 The statue menhir from St Martin’s (© Rosemary Robertson). Fogou In 2001 a fogou - an underground chamber-like passage - was discovered at Peninnis on St. Mary’s. The curving passage is walled by granite slabs, roofed by five large capstones and is nearly five metres long, entered through a smaller low passage or `creep`. Fogous were constructed during the later Iron Age and may have been used as safe refuges during raids, religious sanctuaries or cool storage areas for foodstuffs. Several are known in West Cornwall but this is the first to be discovered on Scilly. 5.5 Human osteological remains The only Iron Age human bone from Scilly that has been analysed is from the Bryher sword and mirror burial (Mays et al 2002-3). Survival of bone was very poor and less than 150g of bone fragments were present; these were mainly long-bone and skull fragments. The surfaces of the long-bone fragments were heavily eroded; the skull fragments a little less so. The only long-bone fragment that was identifiable to skeletal element came from the distal part of a femur shaft. Tooth crown fragments were preserved, although only the enamel component survived; there was no dentine. The burial was clearly that of an adult. Examination of the dental remains indicated a mandibular first molar crown at Brothwell’s (1981, fig 3.90) wear stage 3, and a maxillary third molar crown at wear stage 2. This suggests an age at death of approximately 20-25 years. It was impossible to identify the sex of the individual from bone morphology but an attempt was made to achieve this using ancient DNA; the results obtained proved to be non-diagnostic, probably due to poor survival of DNA, and it was therefore not possible to identify the sex of the individual. 128 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Despite the severe diagenesis seen in the present case, analyses for nitrogen and carbon stable isotopes from long-bone fragments were successful. These provide evidence regarding protein sources in human diets. Since collagen turnover is slow, information is on long-term average diets. In a north-west European context, carbon stable isotope values give an indication of the relative contribution of marine foods to dietary protein; the results indicated that the Bryher person obtained only a small proportion (perhaps a quarter or less) of his or her dietary protein from seafoods, despite the island location. Alexis Jordan’s current PhD dissertation is examining the Late Iron Age / Early Roman identity markers and relationships in the form of inhumation materials and human skeletal remains in Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Conceptions of identity will be examined at the levels of the burial, cemetery and region using qualitative and quantitative analysis of burial practices and associated grave goods as well as biological (age, sex, pathology) and biogeochemical (diet, mobility, radiocarbon dating) analyses of the skeletal remains (Alexis Jordan pers comm). 5.6 Scientific dating 5.6.1 Radiocarbon dates The 62 radiocarbon determinations listed below in Table 5.1 below have all been calibrated using OxCal 4.3. Previous modelling of dates has not been used and all are expressed at the full 95.4% confidence level, rather than to the period to which the date may be weighted (for example at 89%). This means that the calibrated dates in the tables may vary significantly from the publications where they appear (see Section 2.1.4 for further discussion). Lab Ref 14 HAR1715 C age BP Site Context Reference 3190 ±110 Cal BC @ 95% 1750-1130 Little Bay, St Martin’s Charcoal from hearth F in House 2. Of limited value due to high deviation? Neal 1983 OxA3647 3220 ±70 1670-1300 Porth Killier Charred seeds (Hordeum sp.) from layer 14 at top of midden in house exposed in cliff-section Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 67; Archaeometry 1995, 421–2 GU-5413 3250 ±50 1270-960 Porthcressa Shell (Patella Vulgata) from midden 3 in house exposed in cliff-face Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 77 OxA26370 3276 ±29 1630-1460 Knackyboy Cairn, St Martin’s Cremated bone (human) Sawyer 2015, 87 HAR3694 3100 ±100 1620-1060 Higher Moors ?Peat. Of limited value due to high deviation? Scaife 1984 OxA3648 3170 ±65 1620-1280 Porth Killier Charred seeds (Hordeum sp.) from layer 14 at base of midden in house exposed in cliff-section Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 67; Archaeometry 1995, 421–2 OxA26367 3246 ±30 1620-1440 Knackyboy Cairn, St Martin’s Cremated bone (human) Sawyer 2015, 87 129 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Lab Ref 14 OxA4701 Site Context Reference 3165 ±55 Cal BC @ 95% 1610-1280 Porthcressa Charcoal (Rosaceae) from layer 3 midden house exposed in cliffface Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 77; Archaeometry 1995, 421–2 OxA26368 HA-240 1600-1420 Knackyboy Cairn, St Martin’s Cremated bone (human) Sawyer 2015, 87 OxA26365 3157 ±29 1500-1320 Knackyboy Cairn, St Martin’s Cremated bone (human) Sawyer 2015, 87 OxA26366 3145 ±29 1500-1310 Knackyboy Cairn, St Martin’s Cremated bone (human) Sawyer 2015, 87 OxA26371 3146 ±29 1500-1310 Knackyboy Cairn, St Martin’s Cremated bone (human) Sawyer 2015, 87 HAR-457 2990 ±100 1450-930 Nornour Charcoal bulk sample from midden in the lower fill of Building 9. Of limited value due to high deviation? Butcher 1978, 66 SUERC28999 3090 ±30 1430-1270 Crab’s Ledge, Tresco Lowermost sample with high saltmarsh pollen content. Bulk organic sediment (humic acid fraction) Charman et al 2016 HAR-460 3020 ±70 1430-1050 Nornour Shell from midden in the lower fill of Building 9 Butcher 1978, 66 SUERC55169 Wk19092 3074±31 1420-1260 Potsherd residue 3045 ±42 1420-1130 Parting Carn, St Mary’s Dolphin Town, Tresco Potsherd residue, layer 16 in house 13 Johns & Quinnell 2015 Taylor & Johns, 2009–10 OxA26369 3066 ±28 1420-1260 Knackyboy Cairn, St Martin’s Cremated bone (human) Sawyer 2015, 87 SUERC38232 Wk5691 3005 ±30 1390-1120 Carbon residue 2973 ±73 1410-1000 Higher Town, St Agnes Porth Killier, St Agnes Taylor & Johns, forthcoming Johns et al forthcoming OxA4700 2936 ±55 1370-970 Porth Killier Charcoal Calluna vulgaris (heather) from layer 5 Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 67; Archaeometry 1995, 421–2 OxA22580 2953 ±39 1280-1030 Crab’s Ledge, Tresco Below OSL sample. Bulk unidentified plant macrofossils Charman et al 2016 SUERC55170 2973±31 1290-1050 Parting Carn, St Mary’s Potsherd residue Johns & Quinnell 2015 130 C age BP Grains of Hordeum sativum var nudum (naked barley) from fill (150) in cist [163] below cairn [154]. Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Lab Ref 14 UBA26175 UBA26176 Wk5687 2929±29 Cal BC @ 95% 1220-1020 2921±31 1220-1010 2841 ±68 1210-840 OxA22578 2896 ±26 HAR1726 Site Context Reference Porthloo, st Mary’s Porthloo, St Mary’s Porth Killier, St Agnes Carex sp. Johns et al 2014 Carex sp. Johns et al 2014 Charred barley grains (Hordeum sp) from pit [50] Johns et al forthcoming 1200-1000 Crab’s Ledge, Tresco Uppermost sample with high saltmarsh pollen content. Bulk unidentified plant macrofossils Charman et al 2016 2780±80 1190-800 Little Bay, St Martin’s Charcoal from hearth F in House 2 Neal 1983 OxA5289 2785±60 1120-810 Bonfire Carn Charcoal (gorse broom) from layer 5 in house exposed in cliff–face Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 80 OxA22579 2824 ±29 1060-900 Crab’s Ledge, Tresco Above OSL sample. Bulk unidentified plant macrofossils Charman et al 2016 OxA5290 2755 ±65 1060-800 Bonfire Carn Charcoal (Ericaceae from layer 5 as above Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 80 Wk5689 2794 ±74 1190-800 Porth Killier, St Agnes Charcoal fragments Ericaceae (heather family), twig of probable Leguminosae (gorse/broom) and 2 roots fragments probable Ericaceae from hut [21]. C14 dates inconsistent with stratigraphy Johns et al, forthcoming HAR-240 2690 ±90 1110-550 Nornour Charcoal from fill of hearth 2 (NN71) from house 5 Butcher 1978, 66 SUERC1046– 895 SUERC34962 Wk5686 2805 ±30 1050-850 Higher Town, St Agnes Grain: wheat Taylor & Johns, forthcoming 2745 ±35 100-810 Carbon residue 2641 ±71 980-540 Higher Town, St Agnes Porth Killier, St Agnes Taylor & Johns, forthcoming Johns et al, forthcoming BETA301603 2720 ±30 920-810 Lower Moors, St Mary’s ? C age BP Unidentified charred plant tuber from pit [50]. Of limited value due to high deviation? Perez 2013 131 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Lab Ref 14 OxA3651 Site Context Reference 2570 ±65 Cal BC @ 95% 890-430 West Porth, Samson Charred seeds (Hordeum sativum) from layer 8 in house exposed in cliffsection Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 87; Archaeometry 1994, 363 SUERC29002 2620 ±30 840-770 Bathinghouse Porth, Tresco Lowermost sample with high saltmarsh pollen. Bulk organic sediment (humic acid fraction) Charman et al 2016 OxA3650 2545 ±65 820-430 West Porth, Samson Charcoal (Ulex sp.) from layer 8 in house exposed in cliff-section HAR3724 Wk5688 2540 ±80 820-410 Higher Moors Peat Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 87; Archaeometry 1994, 363 Scaife 1984 2533 ±79 810-410 Porth Killier, St Agnes Two fragments of Vica faba var minor (celtic bean) and 3 fragments of unidentified plant tuber from Hut [21] Johns et al, forthcoming SUERC39454 SUERC39453 SUERC29001 2560 ±38 810-540 ? Perez 2013 2481 ±38 780-430 ? Perez 2013 2465 ±30 770-430 Lower Moors, St Mary’s Lower Moors, St Mary’s Bathinghouse Porth, Tresco Above OSL sample. Bulk organic sediment (humic acid fraction) Charman et al 2016 SUERC29000 2435 ±30 760-400 Bathinghouse Porth, Tresco Uppermost sample with high saltmarsh pollen. Bulk organic sediment (humic acid fraction) Charman et al 2016 HAR3723 OxA4697 (CALIB 4.1) 2360 ±60 760-230 Higher Moors Peat Scaife 1984 2390 ±50 760-380 Halangy Porth Charcoal (Ulmus/Rosacae/Calluna) from layers (5) and (6) from hearth [23] in house exposed in cliffface Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 103 HAR1313 2260 ±90 730-50 Halangy Porth Charcoal from entrance of house exposed in cliffface Ashbee 1983a, 22; Radiocarbon 1990, 65 GU-5059 2180 ±100 420 BC - AD 60 Crab’s Ledge, Tresco Column VI from basal 20mm of upper peat. Of limited value due to high deviation? Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 128 UBA26174 2370±34 730-380 Porthloo, St Mary’s Carex sp. Johns et al 2014 132 C age BP Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Lab Ref 14 OxA4696 Site Context Reference 2250 ±50 Cal BC @ 95% 400-200 Halangy Porth Charcoal (Ulmus Prunus) from layer (4) from hearth [23] in house exposed in cliff-face Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 103 OxA12095 2098±27 200-40 Bryher sword & mirror cist burial Human bone Johns 2002-3, 23 OxA10255 2100 ±35 350-40 Bryher sword & mirror cist burial Human bone Johns 2002–3, 23 GU-5057 1980 ±80 190 BC – AD 220 Crab’s Ledge, Tresco Sample 2 from basal 10mm of exposed peat Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 128 HAR3483 2140 ±70 380-0 Bar Point Charcoal from ditch alongside field boundary Evans 1985 GU-5232 2140 ±60 370-40 Crab’s Ledge, Tresco Column VI from intertidal peat deposit Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 128 WK5695 1940 ±130 360 BC– AD 390 Old Town Bay Base of lower peat deposit. Of limited value due to high deviation? Ratcliffe and Straker 1998 SUERC32921 1980 ±30 50 BC - AD 80 Old Town Bay Bulk: organic sediment including Phragmites stem & ?Monocot stem (humin fraction) Charman et al 2016 GU-5056 1880 ±100 100 BC – AD 390 Par Beach, St Martin’s Sample 2 from top 10mm of intertidal peat SUERC32920 1980 ±30 50 BC – AD 80 Old Town Bay Bulk: organic sediment including Phragmites stem & ?Monocot stem (humic acid fraction Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 128. Of limited value due to high deviation? Charman et al 2016 SUERC38088 1965 ±35 50 BC – AD 130 Porth Coose, St Agnes Humic acid, 22–23cm below surface of intertidal peat C age BP Charman et al 2016 Table 5.1 List of later Bronze Age and Iron Age radiocarbon dates. (Note, the calibrated dates have been rounded out, see Section 2.1.4.) 5.6.2 OSL dating Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating was carried out on submarine and intertidal deposits recovered during the Lyonesse Project in 2010. Six Late Bronze Age and Iron Age OSL ages were obtained (Roberts and Marshall 2016). Location Lab no. Context Material OSL Age Calibrated date (95% confidence Bathinghouse Porth, Tresco 161/LPTR3-1 12–14cm below surface of intertidal sandpeat Quartz 2630 ±150 930–320 cal BC 133 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Location Lab no. Context Material OSL Age Calibrated date (95% confidence Crab’s Ledge, Tresco 161/LPTR1-1 0.08 ±0.005m down core Quartz 3340 ±190 BP 1720–950 cal BC Lower Moors, St Mary’s 184/LM10-28277 271-277cm down core Quartz 3130 ±410 1530-710 cal BC Lower Moors, St Mary’s 184/LM10-28161 161-165cm down core Quartz 3000 ±370 1360-620 cal BC Lower Moors, St Mary’s 184/LM10-28217 217-221cm down core Quartz 3050 ±280 1320-76 cal BC Crab’s Ledge, Tresco 184/LPTR-4A 0.19m down core Quartz 1890 ± 110 BP 110 cal BC–cal AD 340 Bathinghouse Porth, Tresco 161/LPTR3-1 12–14cm below surface of intertidal sandpeat Quartz 2630 ±150 930–320 cal BC Crab’s Ledge, Tresco 161/LPTR1-1 0.08 ±0.005m down core Quartz 3340 ± 190 BP 1720–950 cal BC Table 5.2 List of later Bronze Age and Iron Age OSL Ages expressed as years before AD 2010, rounded to the nearest 10 years. 5.6.3 Magnetic dates Archaeomagnetism provides a date of last use for any feature that has been subjected to intensive heating so can provide a date of last use for settlement or industrial activity. Like radiocarbon dating, archaeomagnetic dating requires a calibration curve, known as a secular variation curve (SVC) in order to produce a date in calendar years. Three radiocarbon determinations (Jordan et al 1994) and an archaeomagnetic direction (Clark et al 1988) were collected during the excavations at Little Bay, St Martin’s, in 1981. Table 5.3 below provides details of the magnetic and chronological data recovered from this site as they will be incorporated into the archaeomagnetic master curve (Clelland and Batt nd). Sample Dec Inc Alpha-95 Previous archaeological date range Data in the revised database 353.4 66.2 3.1 700 BC – AD 43 1425 BC ±325 Table 5.3 Details of magnetic and chronological data from Little Bay, St Martin’s (Clelland and Batt nd). Magnetic samples were taken during the 1969-73 excavations at Nornour (Clark 1978, 66-67): SC 50-53 and SC 40-46 were taken from the burnt natural soil at the base of hearth 1 and from the contents of hearth 2 in House 6; SC 60-69 was obtained from a hearth under the east wall of Building 7. The angles of declination and inclination are given in the report, but not dates in calendar years. 134 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 6 Romano-British (AD 43 – 410) Edited by Charles Johns from contributions from Sarnia Butcher, Kevin Camidge, Dan Charman, Ralph Fyfe, Andy M Jones, Alexis Jordan, Steve Mills, Jacqui Mulville, Henrietta Quinnell, and Paul Rainbird. 6.1 Introduction Although Scilly was a very remote part of the Roman Empire it occupied a pivotal position on the Atlantic façade along the routes of trade and cultural interchange between Brittany and Western Britain; unlike Cornwall, however, it was not a source of streamed tin. The cultural origins of Roman Scilly are rooted in the local Iron Age but sites can be identified which reflect the cult practices of the wider Roman world. Charles Thomas (1985, 170-2) envisaged Roman Scilly as a place of pilgrimage, dominated by a shrine to a native marine goddess at Nornour in the Eastern Isles. The rich Roman finds from that site are among the most iconic and enigmatic emblems of Scilly’s archaeological heritage. The main characteristics of Scilly’s Romano-British (AD 43 to AD 410) resource are summarised in this review. Fig 6.1 Iron Age and Romano-British sites recorded in the Scilly HER. 6.2 Landscape and environmental background Results from the Lyonesse Project (Charman et al 2016) suggest that the present pattern of islands was largely formed by this period, although the intertidal zone was much greater in extent (Fig 6.2). Radiocarbon dating and environmental analysis of the lower peat deposit sample from Old Town Bay, St Mary’s, in 1997 indicated that from the Late Iron Age to the early medieval period the site consisted of an area of shallow freshwater surrounded by a largely open landscape with arable fields and pasture bordering the wetland (Ratcliffe and Straker 1998, 1; Ratcliffe and Straker 1998, 1; Wk-5695-6; Tables 5.1 and 6.2). 135 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Pollen from Old Town Bay, St Mary’s, analysed by the Lyonesse Project, suggests herbrich grassland with a background of coastal indicators; aquatic plants suggest standing water throughout the Roman period and into the early medieval. Samples from Bathinghouse Porth, Tresco, indicate a saltmarsh environment at the end of the Roman and beginning of the early medieval period. Samples from Porth Coose, St Agnes, show low background levels of woodland and wet grassland with very high Plantago and other disturbance indicators becoming increasingly aquatic during the same period (Charman et al 2016). Fig 6.2 Inferred submergence model, at about 1 cal BC / cal AD 1 (based on data from the Lyonesse Project (Charman et al 2016); all details as for Fig 3.3. 6.3 Chronology There is a general lack of radiocarbon dates from this period. Of the 18 determinations only three are from excavated sites (Nornour and Old Quay, St Martin’s); the others are all from environmental samples. Tables of radiocarbon determinations and OSL ages relating to the period are presented at the end of the chapter (Tables 6.2 and 6.3). 6.4 Settlement Simple stone houses were still the norm at this period but the walls were sometimes clay-mortared and rendered. The settlement at Halangy Down seems to date from the mid-second century AD (below, Section 6.5.3). One of the excavated structures there has much in common with the courtyard houses characteristic of West Cornwall during this period (Fig 6.3). A long, narrow entrance passage leads through a massive enclosing wall into a sub-rectangular courtyard off which are two good-sized oval and circular living rooms (one with a pentagonal recess in its wall – perhaps a sleeping compartment) and a tiny sub-circular chamber that could have been a store. This is the building’s final form and is the culmination of several progressive stages of construction. The Cornish examples had open central courtyards but it is possible that 136 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 the house at Halangy Down may have been entirely roofed (Ratcliffe and Johns 2003, 11-12). No equivalents to the Cornish rounds have yet been identified. In Cornwall, distinctive oval buildings are now recognised as the principal house form of the Roman period (Quinnell 2004, xii). Fig 6.3 The courtyard house at Halangy Down (photo: Cornwall Council). 6.5 The material world 6.5.1 Metalwork The Nornour finds By far the most unusual discovery in Scilly relating to this period is the collection of Roman material recovered from Nornour. The settlement there was excavated in the 1960s and early 1970s and consisted of 11 circular stone buildings situated just above high water. The buildings were occupied and continuously modified from the Middle Bronze Age to the end of the Iron Age. During the Roman period most of the settlement was abandoned but a large collection of Roman artefacts dating from the late first to fourth centuries AD were found in the upper levels of buildings 1 and 2 (Butcher 1993). These comprised over 300 copper-alloy brooches (Fig 6.4), approx. 25 finger rings, 10 bracelets, 83 Roman coins, approx. 22 glass beads, 13 pipe-clay figurines, approx. 30 miniature pots (below, Section 6.5.3), and a number of other Roman artefacts (Butcher 2000-1; Bayley and Butcher 2004; Butcher 2014). This is a large and unusual collection of objects to be found in the last occupation phase of a remote prehistoric round house: ‘….it is probably true to say that there are more Roman-style artefacts (other than pottery) from Nornour than are known from the whole of Cornwall and Devon west of Exeter’ (Butcher 1993). The site was initially interpreted as a brooch-making workshop of the Roman period (Dudley 1967) but has since been reinterpreted as a shrine (Butcher 1978; 1993; 137 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 2000-1), which Thomas (1985) suggests may have incorporated a fire or beacon. Fulford (1989) considered the objects as evidence of a Roman shipwreck (or possibly two different wrecks given the date span) because the objects are not varied enough to compare with the personal items offered at shrines and temples; however, most recently Reece (2011, 256) has noted that ‘The coins from this site are unusual both in number and in unbroken sequence and this must suggest constant visitation from people from the highly Romanised parts of either Britain or Gaul.’ Whatever the genesis of this remarkable collection of objects, they almost certainly have a maritime connection. Crucial to our understanding of this site would be a better understanding of the Roman coastline around it, as this (as suggested by Thomas 1985, 165-72) may have been ‘a harbour for Roman Scilly’ a safe haven from easterly gales suitable for mariner-pilgrims which is conspicuous by its absence today. Although the location of Thomas’ proposed harbour has its disadvantages (Charman et al 2016, 220–1), it is interesting to note that the eastern side of St Martin’s was the tradition anchorage of Breton fishermen until the 1950s or 1960s (Keith Lowe, pers comm to Carl Thorpe). Fig 6.4 Brooches from Nornour (Isles of Scilly Museum). Coins Roman coins from Scilly were catalogued by Roger Penhallurick (2009, 17-18, 257-70). Only one coin earlier than Roman Imperial has been found, a Republican denarius dating to c 109 BC ploughed up at North Farm, St Martin’s, in the 1960s. Penhallurick noted that Julius Solinus observed that the inhabitants of Scilly ‘refuse money’ and prefer to barter so that ‘it is hardly surprising that few early coins have been found there’. Most of those reported date from the later empire. Penhallurick recorded the following Roman Imperial coins from Scilly: one second century AD bronze coin from St Agnes; a denarius of Trajan (AD 98-117) and a half centenionalis of Magentius (AD 350-353) from St Martin’s; half a dozen silver coins of Constantius (or Constantius II), Julian and Honorius dating from AD 351 to AD 395 found on Samson in the 1870s (their whereabouts is now unknown); two sesterii of Marcus Aurelius (AD 161-130) and a sestertius of Septimus Severus (AD 193-211) from 138 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Teän (Thomas 1960b, 17-18); a follis from Tresco Abbey Gardens; a sestertius of Marcus Aurelius (AD 161-180) from an unknown site on Tresco and a rumour of a hoard found by a metal detectorist at Merchant’s Point, Tresco, ‘some years ago’. In addition to these other Roman coins have been found by Michael Tangye (The Scillonian 2007/8, no 266) and a brass sesterius of Hadrian (AD 119) was found by him at the north end of Samson Hill, Bryher in 2008 (The Scillonian 2010, no 271). The coins from Nornour are not typical of Romano-British hoards for a number of reasons. Forty-five per cent are late first century to Commodius (177-192) issues, which are rare on rural sites whether religious or secular, and 36% are of the House of Constantine, sandwiched between a small number of later third and later fourth century coins. Also late third century radiate coins are scarce among the Nornour coins although they are the commonest coins found on Romano-British sites elsewhere, including Cornwall. As mentioned above, Fulford (1989) sees the Nornour coins as deriving from perhaps two dispersed hoards, the first ranging in date down to Commodus, the second comprising the remainder in which the handful of third century radiate coins would not be out of place. Penhallurick (2009) points out that there are problems with this interpretation: why should coins from two shipwrecks separated by c 200 years turn up on the same site and why should the coins and other finds assigned to the first wreck be left untouched? He sees a shrine of some sort being the best explanation of the current evidence, and this explanation is supported by the conclusions of Reece (2011, 254). Reece’s comparison of the Roman coins from Nornour with Carvossa and Trevelgue in Cornwall is presented below in Table 6.1. Coin Carvossa Nornour Trevelgue Silver: Nero 1 Vespasian 1 Domitian 1 Bronze: Vespasian Sestertius 1 Dupondius 2 4 As 1 2 Vespasian or Titus Dupondius/As Domitian Dupondius 1 2 As 3 2 Late first century Dupondius/As 3 Trajan Sestertius 3 Dupondius 7 As 3 Trajan or Hadrian Hadrian Antoninus Pius 1 1 Sestertius 1 Dupondius 1 1 As 1 1 Sestertius 1 Dupondius 2 Dupondius 1 As 2 Marcus Aurelius Caesar Dupondius 2 Marcus Aurelius Aug Sestertius Faustina I 1 1 1 2 Dupondius 1 Faustina II Dupondius 2 Commodus Sestertius 1 139 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Coin Carvossa Nornour Crispin a Dupondius/As 1 Lucilla Sestertius 1 Julia Domna Sestertius 1 Postumus 1 Claudius II 2 Tetricus I 1 Tetricus II 1 Trevelgue 1 4 270–309 309–13 1 313–17 317–20 1 320–24 5 324–30 1 330–41 15 15 345–48 6 1 348–50 1 2 350–53 2 11 2 32 353–60 364–78 388–402 3 6 2 Table 6.1 Comparison of coins from Trevelgue, Carvossa and Nornour (from Reece 2011) Brooches In Scilly most of the relatively few brooches found (apart from the group of 300-plus from Nornour) are of first century AD types. Brooches are a characteristic of Scillonian Iron Age and Roman-period cist graves (cf Johns 2002–3; Johns and Taylor 2016). Of the ten cist graves excavated by Paul Ashbee at Porthcressa, St Mary’s, in 1949, three contained two brooches each, and four only one (Ashbee 1979, 63). Of the five cist graves excavated by Dorothy Dudley at Poynter’s Garden, St Mary’s, only one contained metal finds, fragments of iron and bronze pins (Dudley 1960-1, 222). The cist grave on Old Man, Teän contained two bronze brooches and possibly the remains of an iron penannular brooch or iron ring (Tebbutt 1934). With one exception, the disc brooches from the Porthcressa cists are all dated to the first century AD, as are the two brooches from the Old Man cist (Ashbee 1979, 78). The brooch from the cist burial at Hillside Farm, Bryher, is earlier – a Nauheim variant, probably dating to between 100 and 50 BC (Hill 2002–3c). A decorated copper alloy brooch of the 'Colchester' type was found during recent excavations at Higher Town, St Agnes (Butcher, forthcoming). It is of a type common in south-east Britain in the first half of the first century AD and found in smaller numbers in other parts of Britain. The brooch was found in a pit and appears to be the result of deliberate deposition rather than casual loss. Bronze objects from Teän A possible bronze ornament, an early Roman-period bronze brooch, a small fragment of strip bronze and an object made of bronze wire are known from the Roman period midden at Teän (Thomas 1960b, 17-20; Thomas and Johns 2018). Iron From the midden at Teän there were also numerous pieces of heavily corroded iron, including a gouge and fragment of a small saw blade, possibly Roman period (Thomas 1960b, 20; Thomas and Johns 2018). 140 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Tin Scilly has sometimes been identified as the tin producing islands or Cassiterides referred to by classical writers (below, Section 6.6.6) and it is a popular misconception that Scilly was a source of tin in Roman times and / or an important staging post in the export of Cornish tin to Greece and Rome. There are veins of tin on three or four of the islands, particularly at the north end of Tresco, but it has never been viable to mine or stream tin on Scilly (Thomas 1985, 150-1; Thomas and Johns 2018). 6.5.2 Glass and amber Glass beads were found in one of the Parson’s Field cist graves (Dudley 1960-1), and two amber beads in the cist grave at Lawrence Bay, St Martin’s (Lewis 1948, pl Xb). From the Roman-period midden at Teän there was a fragment of Roman or early medieval glass (Thomas 1960b, 20-1; Thomas and Johns 2018). 6.5.3 Ceramics Past work on Roman-period ceramics in Scilly has been hampered by reference being made to Cornish material of Roman date, a subject not properly understood until research carried out by Henrietta Quinnell following the excavation of Trethurgy Round (Quinnell 1986) and not fully published until 2004 (Quinnell 2004, 5.6.2). This research has established that Cordoned Ware continued, with some copying of Roman forms, until the second century AD, described as Second Phase Cordoned Ware (ibid). It has also shown that some cordoned forms continued as a strand of Romano-Cornish ceramics until at least the end of the Roman period; Third Phase Cordoned Ware. Other contemporary forms broadly copy cooking pots and serving bowls in the blackburnished wares manufactured around Poole Harbour in Dorset. All pottery manufactured in Cornwall during the Roman centuries appears to have been gabbroic. A reference Type series is set out in Quinnell (2004, 5.6.3). Given this background, it is not surprising that published dates for Roman-period assemblages need substantial review. By the time that identifiable Roman ceramic forms appear on Scilly the use of local granitic clays had probably ceased, replaced by gabbroic fabric from the mainland. The earliest site at which this is clearly demonstrable is the midden adjacent to the Iron Age cist burial at Hillside Farm, Bryher, in the late first century AD (Quinnell 2002-3); the midden continued in use for perhaps a century. Ceramics here are gabbroic but the assemblage is small. The largest and best published Roman-period assemblage is that from the settlement at Halangy Down (Samuels 1996) which included thin-section petrological work by D F Williams. About 80% of the published assemblage was gabbroic, the remainder granitic. Some (ibid, fig 39, no 28) appear residual, broadly Bronze Age; a little, e.g. fig 39, no 19, may be South Devon, which petrologically is indistinguishable from Scillonian granitic fabrics. Comparison of the published drawings with the Trethurgy sequence suggests that the earliest sherds are probably mid-second century AD; the settlement then continues right through the Roman to the post-Roman period. Although the western area of Nornour continued in use during the Roman period, with some specialised, probably religious use (Butcher 2000-1), there is little contemporary pottery. The excavator indicated a Roman date for a few illustrated pieces (e.g. Dudley 1967, fig 6, no 38, fig 7, nos 62, 66-8) but the assemblage needs modern review to establish the Roman ceramics present. Given the specialised nature of the site it is possible that the Roman ceramic suite will prove unusual for the Islands. Two of O’Neil’s unpublished hut circle sites are reported to have produced finds from the Roman period: Par Beach Site A and May’s Hill, both on St Martin’s (Ashbee 1974, 318, fig 34, fig 35). Thomas (1985, 183) investigated a midden producing Roman pottery and other contemporary artefacts on Teän; this remains unpublished. The midden investigated and published by Dudley at Poynter’s Garden contained a few 141 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 sherds of Roman-period pottery, including a flanged bowl of the late third or fourth centuries (1960-1, fig 29). The cist-grave cemetery at Porthcressa, firmly dated to the Roman centuries by metalwork, produced two complete vessels (Ashbee 1954), one of which can now be seen as a Cordoned Ware Type D jar of the late first /early second century AD; the other, despite Ashbee’s comments, has no parallel on the mainland and could well be an import from France. Observation of the trenches dug for the supply of electricity to the off islands produced a scatter of Roman material identified to modern standards (Quinnell 1991). The gabbroic pottery is of the mainland ‘standard’ type typical of the Roman period (Quinnell 2004, 108). A group from Dial Rocks, Tresco, includes both gabbroic and apparent South Devon sherds. There is a scatter of Roman gabbroic sherds across the Dolphin Town area and occasional sherds from different locations in the south of Tresco. A small group with gabbroic sherds comes from Veronica Farm, Bryher, and gabbroic sherds were recorded at three locations on St Agnes. Gabbroic pottery was found at locations both at Higher Town and Lower Town, St Martin’s. Work done on the electricity supply trenches established the presence of Roman vessels made outside Cornwall and Devon (Quinnell 1991). Dorset black-burnished ware was found at two locations in Dolphin Town, Tresco, at Periglis, St Agnes, and at Churchtown, St Martin’s. Greywares, currently not sourced, came from two locations in Dolphin Town and from The Town on Bryher. Oxfordshire ware came from a limpet midden west of The Town on Bryher. A piece of Spanish amphora, Dressel form 20, was recorded at Middle Town, St Agnes. A probable Roman-period Breton / Norman import was studied from Middle Town, St Agnes. A small group of samian was published from Halangy Down (Dickenson and Hartley in Ashbee 1996), a sherd comes from Hillside Farm, Bryher (Quinnell 2002-3), and another sherd from Nornour (Butcher 2000-1, 8). Two sherds of samian were found by O’Neil at the Roman-period house at May Hill, St Martin’s (Ashbee 1974, 184), and ‘scraps’ at the unpublished midden on Teän investigated by Thomas (1985, 183). Some fine slipped ware from Halangy Down is variously described as ‘Gaulish Rhenish’ (Samuels 1996, 82) or ‘Castor’ (Ashbee 1974, 196). Overall these Roman fabrics reflect the general pattern of imports on Cornish Roman sites (Quinnell 2004, chapter 5 passim), although the apparent French import piece from St Agnes emphasises the potential of the location of Scilly on western sea routes for attracting occasional exotica. The virtually complete vessel from a pit at Higher Town, St Agnes, is in a second period of Cordoned ware with influences derived from Samian (Quinnell, forthcoming b). One final and unusual component of the Scillonian Roman period assemblage is the group of some 30 miniature vessels of gabbroic clay with simple horizontal cord impressed decoration below their rims from Roman contexts on Nornour (Butcher 2000-1). Nothing like these is known in gabbroic fabric. They appear to have related to the ritual practices at Nornour, their shape and decoration referencing the vessels of the Early Bronze Age on the Cornish mainland. Mary Owoc (Owoc et al 2003; Manske et al nd) comments that the cord used was surprisingly uniform with differences from that found on Bronze Age ceramics. 6.5.4 Bone From the Roman period midden at Teän there was a bone comb fragment (Thomas 1960b, 21; Thomas and Johns 2018). 6.5.5 Flint and stone Flint and bone tools were still important in the Roman period but it is likely that iron and bronze were also used for knives, arrowheads and nails. Rotary querns (hand mills) gradually replaced earlier saddle and bowl types, making the grinding of corn more efficient (Ratcliffe and Johns 2003, 12). The local resource of cobbles and boulders for 142 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 tools continued to be considerable and stone continued to have a very prominent use as mortars and saddle querns, hammerstones, etc. 6.6 Subsistence The inhabitants of Scilly continued to practise a mixed economy, but there were a few new developments. Pigs and fowl were kept in addition to sheep, goats and cattle, and dogs and rabbits are recorded for the first time. Red deer may have died out in the second or third centuries. A few additional species of fish have also been identified: mullet, common eel, whiting and john dory. Birds of fresh or brackish water are more common: teal, long-tailed duck, scaup, common snipe, white stork, heron and possibly moorhen, swan and bittern. This may be indicative of a rising sea level creating pools behind dunes breached during severe storms, or merely dietary preferences (Ratcliffe and Johns 2003, 12). The base of the midden at East Porth, Teän, sampled during the 1989-93 CEP, dated from the third century AD (Ratcliffe and Straker 1996, 13). The only crop identified with certainty was barley, which was not referable to species. The narrow range of wild plants were probably arable weeds: wild radish, fat hen, knotgrass and vetch or tare, all of which are commonly associated with arable crops and occur in prehistoric deposits in Scilly. Romano-British animal remains from the midden include the bones of a sheep or goat, grey seal, a small range of birds and a single fish species, wrasse. There were also ox, pig and dog associated with first to fourth century AD pottery (Thomas 1985, 183). At Old Quay, St Martin’s, the Late Roman Period was represented by a single small pit that contained hundreds of charred wheat and barley seeds but no other finds. A seed from the pit was radiocarbon dated to cal AD 250 – 390 (OxA-31869; Table 6.2) and an intrusive seed, presumably from the same pit, which had got into an earlier feature was dated to cal AD 250–400 (OxA-31870; Table 6.2) (Garrow and Sturt 2017, 127, 132). The main food animals at Halangy Down were sheep (47%), with cattle (37%) making a substantial contribution and pig (15%) of lesser importance. There are a few cat bones from Halangy Down, probably from a single individual; 41 bones in a third century AD context (Locker 1996; Ratcliffe and Straker 1996, 36). 6.7 Transport There is no archaeological evidence to date of any terrestrial vehicles of this period from Scilly, and no boats or ships are known, although four Roman-period ships have been found in southern Britain - Blackfriars I, New Guys House (both second century AD), Barlands Farm, the County Hall Ship (London) - and another from St Peter Port, Guernsey. The three latter examples date to the third century AD. Although there is no British archaeological evidence for hide boats from this period, there is documentary and possible iconographic evidence for them. Pliny the Elder refers to hide boats framed with withies in connection with the tin trade (Ransley et al 2011). There is a lack of Mediterranean vessels in the British archaeological record of this period, possibly accounted for, at least in part, by the trade routes being predominantly overland ‘…long-distance trade between the Mediterranean region and northern Europe was conducted primarily via the inland waterways of Gaul, which were navigable along all the main axes of communication rather than open-sea voyaging around the Atlantic coast’ (Ransley et al 2011, 193). This could account for the relatively sparse assemblage of Roman artefacts recovered from Scilly (excluding the material from Nornour), which are perhaps similar in character and number to those recovered from Cornwall (Thomas 1985). This does not suggest that Scilly was of any particular significance in the maritime networks of Rome. 143 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 6.8 Social relations Scilly, then, occupied a very peripheral position in the Roman Empire, so remote that two heretic Spanish bishops were exiled there in AD 384 (Thomas 1985, 149). There is no evidence to suggest that the Islands were ever under direct rule or even formally conquered and there appears to have been little direct Roman influence on everyday life. Scilly may have been administered for Rome by its native leader(s), but even this seems improbable as, unlike Cornwall, Scilly was not a source of tin and its people were probably left largely to their own devices (Ratcliffe and Johns 2003). 6.9 Religion and ritual There are a number of classical references which may allude to Scilly, although these need to be treated with a degree of circumspection. The early first century AD Roman writer Pomponious Mela speaks of the holy inhabitants of Sena, one of a group of islands called the Cassiterides, which, from his description of their geographical location, could be interpreted as the Isles of Scilly. On Sena he relates that there was a Gaulish oracle attended by nine virgin priestesses who were able to predict the future, cure all illnesses and controlled the elements. Miranda Green suggests that Bryher or Tresco may have been Sena (Green 1997, 103). Further place-name evidence hints at the islands being a cult centre during the late Iron Age (water being one focus of religious practice at this time). Scilly is first mentioned as insula sillina by classical Roman writers of the first to third centuries AD, but the name is of native pre-Roman origin and may incorporate that of a Celtic female deity. Thomas (1985, 170-2) envisages Roman Scilly as principally a place of pilgrimage dominated by a native marine goddess. As discussed above, on current evidence the presence of some sort of shrine is the best explanation for Roman-period activity on Nornour. During the nineteenth century a classical altar, now in Tresco Abbey Gardens, was found in a well, possibly a votive shaft, at Mount Holles, towards the bottom of Garrison Hill, St Mary’s. The altar may originally have stood in a Romano-Celtic cult building or temple. It is uninscribed but has side panels bearing Mithraic-type symbols: a long shafted axe and a cleaver (Fig 6.5; Ratcliffe and Johns 2003). The Porthcressa cist grave burial tradition continued into this period; typological dates for most of the brooches and pottery recovered from the Porthcressa cemetery are not earlier than the end of the first century AD, which led Ashbee to consider the graves to be wholly Roman in date and to surmise that ‘refugees’ from the Cornish mainland may have imported the cist-burial tradition to Scilly sometime after the Roman conquest (Ashbee 1979, 78; 1986, 207). However, the radiocarbon dates from the Bryher sword and mirror burial demonstrated that the tradition dates to at least the first century BC (OxA-12095 and OxA-10255; Table 5.1; Johns 2002-3). A Porthcressa-type cist excavated at Churchtown Farm, St Martin’s, in 2013 was dated to the later first century AD by a T-shaped leaded bronze brooch (Johns and Taylor 2016). The only surviving human remains were a few tooth crowns belonging to a child aged six to eight years at death. The Churchtown Farm cist burial is significant in that it confirms that children were included amongst those individuals who were chosen to be buried in Porthcressatype cist graves and also because, along with the Lunnon Farm cists, it has widened the known distribution pattern of Porthcressa-type cist burials to inland Scilly. Two small pits found at Higher Town, St Agnes, contained the rim of a pot and an early Roman brooch. These were evidently the result of ritual deposition and two adjacent postholes indicate that the position of the pits may have been marked by wooden posts (Taylor and Johns, forthcoming). 144 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Fig 6.5 Roman altar from Mount Holles, now in Tresco Abbey Gardens (© Rosemary Robertson). 6.10 Scientific dating 6.10.1 Radiocarbon dates The 18 radiocarbon determinations listed below in Table 6.2 below have all been calibrated using OxCal 4.3. Previous modelling of dates has not been used and all are expressed at the full 95.4% confidence level, rather than to the period to which the date may be weighted (for example at 89%). This means that the calibrated dates in the tables may vary significantly from the publications where they appear (see Section 2.1.4 for further discussion). Lab Ref 14 WK-5695 Cal AD @ 95% Site Context Reference 1940 ±130 BP 360 BC – AD 390 Old Town Bay Base of lower peat deposit. Of limited value due to high deviation? Ratcliffe & Straker 1998 GU-5057 1980 ±80 190 BC – AD 220 Crab’s Ledge, Tresco Sample 2 from basal 10mm of exposed peat Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 128 SUERC32920 1980 ±30 50 BC – AD 80 Old Town Beach Bulk: organic sediment including Phragmites stem & ?Monocot stem (humic acid fraction) 22– 23cm below surface of intertidal peat Charman et al 2016 SUERC38088 1965 ±35 50 BC – AD 130 Porth Coose, St Agnes Humic acid, 22– 23cm below surface of intertidal peat Charman et al 2016 UBA26173 HAR-459 1963±30 50 BC – AD 120 Carex sp. Johns et al 2014 1840 ±70 30 BC – AD 380 Porthloo, St Mary’s Nornour Charcoal from 2 samples (51) & (54) from Building 7 Butcher 1978, 66 C age BP 145 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Lab Ref 14 GU-5056 Cal AD @ 95% Site Context Reference 1880 ±100 100 BC – AD 390 Par Beach, St Martin’s Sample 2 from top 10mm of intertidal peat. Of limited value due to high deviation? Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 128 GU-5231 1830 ±90 20 BC – AD 400 Crab’s Ledge, Tresco Column VI (top 20mm of middle peat Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 128 SUERC38089 1835 ±35 80 - 320 Porth Coose, St Agnes Humin fraction, 22–23cm below surface of intertidal peat Charman et al 2016 OxA31869 1724±25 250 - 390 Old Quay, St Martin’s Charcoal (seed), Hordeum (barley) Garrow & Sturt 2017, 127 OxA31870 1704±27 250 -400 Old Quay, St Martin’s Charcoal (seed), Triticum (wheat) Garrow & Sturt 2017, 127 Wk-5693 1650 ±60 250 - 550 Porth Coose, St Agnes Peat deposit Ratcliffe et al, forthcoming GU-5230 1600 ±60 330 - 600 Crab’s Ledge, Tresco Column VI (basal 20mm of upper peat Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 128 OxA4699 1605 ±50 350 – 570 East Porth, Teän Charred seeds (Hordeum sp.) from lower half of midden – layer (3) Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 98 OxA23862 1632 ±28 340 - 540 Old Town Bay Bulk: mix of herbaceous & monocot stems (humic acid fraction), 4-5cm below surface of intertidal peat Charman et al 2016 SUERC32916 1620 ±30 380 – 540 Porth Coose, St Agnes Dicot stem fragments, 1620 ±30 Charman et al 2016 GU-5062 1570 ±50 390 - 600 Crab’s Ledge, Tresco Sample 3 from top 10mm of intertidal peat Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 128 SUERC32993 1595 ±30 400 - 540 Tresco Organic sediment with ?Monocot roots (humin fraction) Charman et al 2016 C age BP Table 6.2 List of Romano-British radiocarbon dates. (Note, the calibrated dates have been rounded out, see Section 2.1.4.) 146 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 6.10.2 OSL dating Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating was carried out on submarine and intertidal deposits recovered during the Lyonesse Project in 2009 and 2010. One 2010 sample from Bathinghouse Porth, Tresco, dates to the Late Iron Age - Roman period (Roberts and Marshall 2016). Location Lab no. Context Material OSL Age Calibrated date (95% confidence Bathinghouse Porth, Tresco 184/LPTR-4A 0.19m down core Quartz 1890 ±110 BP 110 cal BC–cal AD 340 Table 6.3 List of Romano-British OSL Ages, expressed as years before AD 2010, rounded to the nearest 10 years. 147 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 7 Early medieval (AD 410 – 1066) Edited by Charles Johns from contributions from Kevin Camidge, Dan Charman, Ralph Fyfe, Steve Mills, Jacqui Mulville, Paul Rainbird, Helen M Roberts and Carl Thorpe. 7.1 Introduction In Scilly, as in Cornwall, early medieval society and settlement had its foundations in the Romano-British period, but significant changes did occur, not least the adoption of Christianity, which may have been introduced from Cornwall, Gaul or the Mediterranean. Imported pottery hints at trade with these places and also North Africa and the Occident. Excavations carried out in the mid-twentieth century at small ecclesiastical sites or hermitages are one of our main sources of knowledge for this period in Scilly’s history. The main characteristics of Scilly’s early medieval resource are summarised in this chapter. Fig 7.1 Early medieval sites recorded in the Cornwall and Scilly HER. 7.2 Landscape and environmental background Results from the Lyonesse Project indicate that by the beginning of this period the present pattern of islands had already been formed for nearly 2000 years. During this period the sheltered, low gradient areas between the islands that had been suitable for saltmarsh growth during earlier times became less and less extensive and it seems likely that they were subject to much greater erosion and retreat once an open channel north of St Mary’s existed during most states of the tide. The date of this is difficult to assess with any accuracy but it probably occurred during the early medieval period as the highest part of the Crab’s Ledge saltmarsh peat is dated to the seventh century AD (Charman et al 2016, 192; SUERC-32927; Table 7.1). Pollen from Old Town Beach suggests herb-rich grassland with a background of coastal indicators; aquatic plants suggest standing water throughout the Roman and into the early medieval periods. Samples taken at Bathinghouse Porth, Tresco, indicate a saltmarsh environment at the end of the Roman and beginning of the early medieval 148 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 periods; samples from Porth Coose, St Agnes show low background levels of woodland with wet grassland with very high Plantago and other disturbance indicators becoming increasingly aquatic at this time (Charman et al 2016). 7.3 Chronology There are 19 radiocarbon dates and two Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) ages for this period, and a ceramic sequence has now been set out which will aid dating for this period (Thorpe 2011). 7.4 Settlement The early medieval settlement pattern on Scilly is reflected by the distribution of locally-made grass-marked pottery and sherds of imported wheel-made Gaulish and Mediterranean wares; a dozen or so such sites have been identified. Where settlements have been excavated there is evidence for the continued occupation of stone houses built during the Romano-British period (and earlier). However, a few houses of early medieval date have been identified and these are rectangular, allowing for a ridge roof and an interior free of supporting posts (Ratcliffe and Johns 2003, 13). 7.5 The material world 7.5.1 Metalwork Coins Penhallurick (2001, 16-18) records two Byzantine coins from Scilly which he considers could be modern losses: a small module bronze follis from the ‘Great Tomb’ on Porth Hellick Down, probably of Anastasius (AD 491-518), and a nummi of Constans II (AD 641-668) from North Farm, St Martin’s. The latter was found in the same field as three Roman coins (above, Section 6.5.1), along with a ‘rose’ farthing of Charles II, and he considered that ‘the whole assemblage [is] suspiciously like a collection thrown out with household rubbish to manure a field. More recently, the Portable Antiquities Scheme in Cornwall has produced a number of Late Roman and Byzantine coins. Considered with the finds of post-Roman pottery best known from Tintagel this suggests sea trade with the Eastern Mediterranean via the Straits of Gibraltar and the Bay of Biscay (Tyacke 2011, 75) and perhaps the Byzantine coins from Scilly need to be reconsidered in this light. A possible Anglo-Saxon sceat was found on Peninnis Head, St Mary’s, in 1995, although its identity has not been confirmed (Penhallurick 2009). Other metal artefacts The 1971 excavations at East Porth, Samson, recovered a variety of metal artefacts including a copper alloy buckle. A total of 80 fragments of iron were found there, the majority of which came from the levels associated with the stone house and from beach rubble, but the condition of all the metal was very poor and in many cases all that survived were lumps of iron oxide concreted to sand. Those items which could be identified included a buckle plate, two knives, a fish hook, six nails, three wire fragments, four fragments of iron sheeting, a possible ferrule, together with various other fragments (Neal, forthcoming a and b). 7.5.2 Glass The 1971 excavations at East Porth, Samson, recovered a blue glass bead (Neal, forthcoming a). 7.5.3 Pottery As is the case with the Romano-British period (above, Section 6.5.3), previous work on early medieval period ceramics in Scilly has been hampered by reference being made to 149 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Cornish material of this date, a subject not properly understood until research recently carried out by Henrietta Quinnell and Carl Thorpe. This knowledge has been progressed with the publication and study of several important sites, including Mawgan Porth (Bruce-Mitford 1997), Trethurgy (Quinnell 2004), Launceston Castle (Saunders 2006), Tintagel (Barrowman et al 2007), Boden Vean fogou (Gossip 2013), Gwithian (Nowakowski et al 2007), and Hay Close, Newlyn East (Jones 2014). This research has established a ceramic sequence which is set out in Thorpe (2011). This sequence was first proposed by the pioneering work of Professor Charles Thomas, who was the first to identify and classify both the native wares (Thomas 1960a; Thomas 1968) and the imported wares (Thomas 1957; 1959; 1960a; 1981); however, the recent work has been able to add to the ceramic details (forms and fabrics) and refine the dating for this material. Native wares In the late Roman period, between the fourth and fifth centuries AD, there was a welldeveloped and flourishing pottery industry within Cornwall. Manufactured mostly from gabbroic clays derived from the rocks of the Lizard, the principal repertoire of forms produced was slack-profiled jars (Trethurgy Type 4), the Cornish flanged bowl (Trethurgy Type 22) and the flat grooved-rim bowl (Trethurgy Type 21), together with large storage jars both with cordons (Trethurgy Type 13) and of large cooking pot form (Trethurgy Type 16). The work at Trethurgy suggested that this suite of domestic wares continued into the fifth and possibly sixth centuries, showing that the basic patterns of cooking and eating of the Roman period endured until then (Quinnell 2004). This material has been recognised on Scilly by Henrietta Quinnell. Unlike large parts of Britain where the use or production of ceramics declined or ceased completely in the late fifth and sixth centuries AD, in Cornwall and Scilly native pottery became more experimental and innovative and developed rapidly in many directions (Thorpe 2011). This material was first identified by Charles Thomas (Thomas 1956; 1960a) during excavations at Gwithian and was subsequently termed 'Gwithian Style' wares. Seen as a continuation of the Cornish late Roman potting tradition, forms include numerous styles of jars and bowls (sometimes flanged) with curved and everted rims, often with a concave internal rim bevel. This ware also introduced the use of low walled platters (occurring sometimes without a wall at all). These platters are a completely new form, perhaps connected to some change in the preparation and serving of food. Gwithian Style ware is often in a highly fired, fine, well-sorted and, on Scilly, granitic fabric. (No petrographic study has been done of this material from Scilly.) This is interesting in itself in that it suggests that manufacturing in local granitic clays had recommenced, having been supplanted during the Roman period by mainland gabbroic wares (see above Section 6.5.3). Surfaces are often better finished than their Roman predecessors, sometimes wiped, and occasionally slightly burnished with some patterning in the burnish. The undersides of the bases of the vessels are often sanded, or have been sat on sand prior to firing. The largest collection of Gwithian style material was obtained from the excavations at East Porth, Samson, in 1971 (Neal and Johns, forthcoming). Gwithian Style ware is dated to the sixth to late seventh centuries AD. This is supported by the radiocarbon (AMS) determination obtained from internal residue on a sanded platter sherd from Gwithian (Nowakowski et al 2007) GMI context (2210) of cal AD 550-650 (OxA-14528; 1460±27 BP), and a second date from residue within a platter at Boden (Gossip 2013) of cal AD 550-670 (OxA-14560; 1417±29 BP). Unfortunately no scientific dating has been obtained for the material from East Porth, although its association with imported wares (qv) points to a date probably within the seventh century. A single stray sherd of Gwithian Style ware came from a midden exposed by rabbit burrows at Mays Hill, on Tresco (Thomas 2005). Unpublished drawings from excavations of a midden on Teän, Isles of Scilly (mostly unpublished) carried out in 150 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 1956 and 1960 (Thomas 1985) show at least two Gwithian style jars. This site is important, though, in that these vessels have ‘grass-marking’ on their surfaces. A radiocarbon date of cal AD 600-770 (OxA-4698; Table 7.1) came from the upper part of this midden (Ratcliffe and Straker 1996, 98). This is the earliest date obtained for any vessel with a grass-marked surface, and Thomas has even suggested that this innovation may have started on Scilly (Thomas 2005). Imported wares A feature of early medieval Scilly, reflecting the picture seen in mainland Cornwall, is its wide-ranging international contacts through trade, evidenced by the presence of imported wares within ceramic assemblages on several sites. Wheel-made wares of Mediterranean origin The first group is of imported wheel-made wares of Mediterranean origin, comprising fine red slip tableware and amphorae. The tableware consists of Phocaean Red Slip Ware (PRSW) from western Turkey and African Red Slipped Ware (ARSW), produced in the Carthage region of Tunisia (Hayes 1972; Hayes 1980). Produced over a long period of time, from the fourth to seventh centuries AD, the forms changed rapidly, most likely in response to fashion, which makes them very useful for dating. Forms found in Cornwall suggest dates from c AD 450–550. Only one site in Scilly has produced these fine table wares, with a single sherd of each being identified from material recovered from the excavations at East Porth, Samson (Neal and Johns, forthcoming). The amphorae are Class Bi (Late Roman 2 amphora; Peacock and Williams Form 43) from Greece (for wine and olive oil); Class Bii (Late Roman 1 amphora; Peacock and Williams Form 44) from Cilicia in south-east Turkey (wine and olive oil); and Class Biv Amphorae (Late Roman 3 amphora; Peacock and Williams Form 45) from Sardis in western Turkey (wine or fine oil). These have a long range of use, from the fifth to seventh centuries AD, but the peak period of importation and distribution within Britain appears to have been between the late fifth and mid-sixth centuries AD (Thomas 1981; Fulford and Peacock 1984; Peacock and Williams 1986; Tyers 1996; Dark 2001; Duggan 2018). A single sherd of Bi amphora (a broken disc that may have been part of an unfinished spindle whorl?) has been recovered as a surface find from Mays Hill, St Martin’s (C Thorpe, pers comm). Bii amphora was found in the unpublished excavations at Teän (Thomas 1985) while a single sherd came from the excavations at East Porth, Samson (Neal and Johns, forthcoming). The excavations at Teän also produced several fragments from a single Biv amphora, while the Isles of Scilly Electrification Project recovered a single sherd from immediately south-west of St Martin’s church (Ratcliffe 1991). Thomas (1988b) reconstructs a number of possible voyages in the late fifth or early sixth centuries to trade the imported Mediterranean pottery for streamed tin in ingot form. Voyage no. 1, wherever it began and finished possibly stopped over at the mouth of the river Hayle before traversing the north coast of Cornwall destined for Tintagel. Thomas suggests that it may have been made by a single boat in a single year (ibid 22–3). The first landfall of any kind on this voyage would have been in the Isles of Scilly. Thomas suggests that the islands would have had little to offer a trader beyond freshwater and a sheep or two and that suggests the minimal pattern of Mediterranean sherds found there is consistent with a brief landing by a trading vessel on the way to the north coast of Cornwall (ibid, 16). D and E wares The second group is of imported wheel-made wares, D and E wares, which originated in what is now France (Gaul). 151 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 D wares are fine table wares, forms of which include mortaria and both thick-rimmed and fine bowls. Originating from the Bordeaux area, forms found in Britain suggest an importation date within the sixth to seventh centuries AD (Campbell 2007). A single decorated sherd of this ware (from a carinated bowl) was identified in the material from the unpublished excavation by O’Neil in 1950 on Mays Hill, St Martins (Thomas 1985). E wares are a range of ‘kitchen’ wares, in a wheel-thrown, hard-fired (almost stoneware) fabric. The most recent discussion of this material has been by Campbell (2007). Although the centre of production is not known, it is most likely to have been from the Loire valley. Evidence from Whithorn suggests its date range to be from the late sixth to early eighth centuries (Hill 1998), c 575-700 (Campbell 1991; 1996; 2007). From the excavation of crannog at Loch Glashan a radiocarbon date obtained from internal residue has given a date of 570-670 at 1σ cal AD (Crone and Campbell 2005, 113; GU-11396; 1415±35), while the excavation at Hay Close, Newlyn East (Jones 2014; SUERC-19887; 1610±30) produced a date of 390–540 cal AD (95.4%). No scientific dates have been obtained for material from Scilly. The largest collection of E-ware comes from the unpublished 1956 excavations on Teän (Thomas 1960b; 1985; 2005; Thomas and Johns 2018). Here over 60 sherds from a minimum of 13 vessels were collected. Although none of this material has been scientifically dated the midden was revisited in 1996 and two charred grain samples were dated. The lower part of the midden gave a date of cal AD 340-570 (OxA-4699; Table 7.1) while a date of cal AD 600-770 (OxA-4698; Table 7.1) came from the upper part (Ratcliffe and Straker 1996, 98). Fig 7.2 E ware from East Porth, Samson (photo: Carl Thorpe). The next largest collection is from East Porth, Samson (Neal and Johns, forthcoming). Here approximately 50 sherds were recovered from a minimum of six vessels, including an unusual flagon. This material is closely associated with Gwithian style wares, imported Mediterranean ware and Grass-marked ware (qv) that suggests a date within the sixth century AD. The excavation by O’Neil in 1950 on Mays Hill, St Martins (Thomas 1985), produced eight sherds of E-ware from four vessels (Thomas 2005), while a further three sherds including a rimsherd occurred as chance finds from further down slope from the excavated site in 2010 (C Thorpe, pers comm). Other sites that have produced E-ware are two sherds from Dolphin Town, Tresco (Taylor and Johns 2009-10), a single chance find from Dial rocks, Tresco, four sherds (3 vessels) from Hillside Farm, Bryher (Johns 2002-3) and a single sherd from Veronica Farm, Bryher (Ratcliffe 1991). Two sherds (including a lid) came from excavations in 1977 at Bar Point, St Mary’s (Ashbee 1978; 1996; Thomas 1981; 2005). 152 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Campbell (2007, 119–20) suggests that Scilly was an area where merchants from France resided for considerable periods of time, waiting for fair weather, local pilots, or perhaps the arrival of local traders. The E ware sites could be seen as the temporary residences of these merchants who utilised their own native pottery as cooking wares rather than as containers – this would account for the wide variety of wares found on the islands. Sites such as the plank-built timber hut at East Porth described above, implying the re-use of ship’s timbers, may have been a temporary merchants’ camp. Such sites can hardly be described as emporia – ports of trade or gateway communities – although it is possible that such a site, as yet unidentified, could have existed somewhere on Scilly. These sites are on a much smaller scale, their primary function being as service stations on the western sea routes, places where foreign goods might be exchanged but not having a primary function as trading places. However, as at least three of the sites appear to be occupied in the Roman period, Campbell considers it perhaps more likely that these were native Scillonian sites and that the imported pottery was obtained (as pottery) from traders in return for provisions and possibly shelter, in much the same way as Thomas (1988) suggests the earlier imported Mediterranean wares came to the islands. A third possibility, not considered by Thomas or by Campbell is that the E ware arrived in Scilly as the result of a shipwreck. This would account for the possible re-use of ship’s timbers and the utilisation of the pots for cooking. Situated as they are at the junction of the Bristol, English and St George’s Channels the islands present daunting obstacle to shipping. Low-lying, 45m out in the Atlantic, often shrouded in fog, with navigation complicated by the Rennell Current and with hundreds of jagged rocks lying just below the surface of the sea it is unsurprising that they have claimed c 771 recorded ships and many more for which there is currently no record (Johns et al 2004, 119). Grass-marked ware Sometime in the late seventh or early eighth centuries AD there appears to have been a major cultural change in both Scilly and Cornwall which saw the introduction of a new pottery production technique involving the use of chopped grass to prevent adherence to surfaces prior to firing; this left clear vegetation marks on the bases and sides of vessels. This is termed Grass-marked ware. On Scilly this ware is found in both granitic and gabbroic fabrics, suggesting that although some may have been made locally, other pieces may have been brought in from the mainland, although there is the possibility that gabbroic clay was imported to supplement the local material. No petrographic work has been done on the material from Scilly. This ware has a limited range of forms in platters, dog dish bowls, cooking pots and bar-lug cauldrons. These mark a dramatic change in eating habits, with a turning away from the individual dining and serving sets common in the Roman period and changing to a more restrictive set of vessels that seems to reflect a more communal way of dining. As noted above, the earliest date obtained for grass-marking as a technique (although on Gwithian Style vessels) has been obtained from the midden at Teän. This has led to the suggestion that this technique may have originated in the islands (Thomas 2005). For Grass-marked wares, from material recovered during excavations at Penhale Round on the mainland, a radiocarbon date of cal AD 550-660 (NZA-32927; 1456 ± 35) derived from residue on a platter was obtained (Nowakowski and Johns 2015). This is the earliest known date for Grass-marked ware suggesting an introduction of this ware somewhere in the seventh century. The earliest date for the Grass-marked wares from Gwithian is cal AD 550-660 (SUERC-6158; 1455 ± 35) with cal AD 650-770 (SUERC6160; 1310 ± 35) being the latest, indicating that adoption of the bar-lug element must certainly have been introduced prior to the end of the eighth century AD (Nowakowski et al 2007). 153 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 A further radiocarbon date of cal AD 880-1020 cal AD was obtained from Gunwalloe where a possible new fifth vessel form has been identified (BETA-322809; 1100 ± 30; Wood 2010), while a determination from Nancemere, Truro (Wk-21361; 968±30), gives a date of cal AD 1010-1160 (Gossip, forthcoming b). Two samples taken from the medieval rubbish pit found at Lower Town, St Martin’s, produced dates of cal AD 10201250 and cal AD 900-1170, which are the latest so far recorded (Ratcliffe 1997; GU3411 and OxA-4063; Table 7.1). This corresponds nicely with dendrochronology dates of AD 1080 and AD 1155 that have been obtained in Waterford in southern Ireland (Gahan and McCutcheon 1997). Here the use of Grass-marked ware, unique to one house in the Hiberno-Norse coastal longphort, provides the first evidence of a link between Cornwall and Ireland and the exportation of this style outside Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. The largest collection (over 400 sherds) comes from East Porth, Samson (Neal and Johns, forthcoming). Found in both granitic and gabbroic fabrics, only cooking vessels and platters were present within this assemblage. The excavation at Teän (Thomas 1985; 2005) produced a significant collection but this contained some unusual forms, including what appear to be Gwithian Style vessels (especially jars). Platters were present. Grass-marked ware was found in a midden overlying the first-century cist grave cemetery at Porthcressa, St Mary’s (Ashbee 1974). A significant collection (127 sherds) came from the excavations at Halangy Down, where the vessels included platters, cooking vessels, and bar-lug cauldrons (Ashbee 1996). The Isles of Scilly Electrification Project recorded several sites that produced this material. The largest collection came from the vicinity of Higher Town church, St Martin’s, some 32 sherds being recovered including platters, cooking vessels and barlug cauldrons (Ratcliffe 1991). Further material came from Lower Town, St Martin’s, Dolphin Town, and the Abbey on Tresco, Southward on Bryher, and the Turks Head, Higher Town, Troytown Farm, Middle Town and from middens at Porth Killier and Periglis, all on St Agnes. Some 22 sherds were recovered from the 2003 excavations at Dolphin Town, Tresco (Taylor and Johns 2009-10), but the only diagnostic pieces were a couple of cooking vessel rims. A single unstratified sherd was found associated with one of the settlement trenches (Trench 7) opened to investigate the environs of the Bryher Iron Age sword and mirror cist burial (Johns 2002-3). Finally, some 55 sherds were recovered from midden material in a rubbish pit at Lower Town, St Martin’s. There were a minimum of nine vessels present, all apparently cooking vessels. Limpet shells from the midden were radiocarbon dated to AD cal 10201250 (GU-3411; Table 7.1), while sheep or goat’s bone from the same midden was dated AD cal 900-1170 (OxA-4063; Table 7.1). This is an important collection, the date for which compares with the latest date of cal AD 1010-1160 for material from Nancemere on the mainland (Wk-21361; 968±30; Gossip, forthcoming b). From the excavation at East Porth, Samson, there were some 22 sherds of unidentifiable pottery from early-medieval contexts in unknown fabrics, including some which are granitic. It could be that they are from the mainland, but it is also possible that they may be foreign imports from the continent (Neal and Johns, forthcoming). 7.5.4 Worked bone The 1971 excavations at East Porth, Samson, recovered a decorated bone plate, a semi-circular strip of decorated bone and a cut bone, possibly a spindle whorl (Neal, forthcoming a). 7.5.5 Flint Flints from the level associated with the timber building at East Porth, Samson, included a platform core, three end scrapers, a fabricator, and various waste flakes (Neal, forthcoming c). 154 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 7.5.6 Industry Evidence for iron smelting in the form of slags and the remains of a possible furnace were found at East Porth, Samson (Biek, forthcoming). 7.5.7 Subsistence As in earlier periods our knowledge of the Islands’ early medieval economy comes from excavated sites and in particular middens. The assemblage recovered from the wellsealed midden investigated during BT trenching at Lower Town, St Martin’s, in 1992 is particularly important because animal bones of early medieval date are extremely rare in Scilly and plant macrofossils of this date had not been recovered before (Ratcliffe 1997). Plant remains The density of charred plant macrofossils in the Lower Town midden sample was low (5 per litre of soil), although this may not fully reflect the original contribution of plants to the diet. Cereals are represented by wheat (Triticum sp.) and barley (Hordeum sp.) and the other charred seeds (vetches, knotgrass, bedstraw and brome) could all have grown as arable weeds. With such a small assemblage it is not possible to comment on whether it represents a crop processing accident or ash from a domestic fire. All the weeds could have grown in Scilly and the crops were probably grown locally. Barley, in particular, tolerates salt spray which would have been inevitable in Scilly. The cereal grains are not well enough preserved to suggest which forms of wheat or barley might be represented, and chaff, apart from grass culm nodes, is not preserved to assist identification further. On mainland southern England, hulled six-row barley is most common in deposits of this date and free threshing wheat (rivet or bread wheat type) is also found (Ratcliffe 1997). The early medieval part of the midden at East Porth, Teän, consisted entirely of oats but because of the lack of chaff it is unclear whether this was a crop or a weed (Ratcliffe and Straker 1996, 13). Animal remains Fish, seabirds and shellfish were the major constituents of the Lower Town midden, although it is likely that the plant component may be unrepresentative of what was discarded originally. Shell and animal bones are normally poorly preserved in acidic granite soils but the incorporation of calcareous sands in some coastal sediments in Cornwall and Scilly means that the soils are not acid and bone and shell, especially in the concentration found in the midden pit, do not decay. However, fragile uncharred plant tissues are only preserved where deposits have remained wet or waterlogged since they accumulated. The midden was dry and the only surviving remains of plants were occasional flecks of charcoal and a few charred seeds, meaning that the information did not reflect the probable importance of leaf, root or stem vegetables, and fruits and seeds (Ratcliffe 1997). The small bone assemblage in the midden reflects the exploitation of marine resources, with little evidence of domesticated species. Seal (cf grey seal Halichoerus grypus), ovicaprid/domestic sheep or goat (Ovis sp. domestic/Capra sp. domestic), shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis), razorbill (Alca torda), puffin (Fratercula arctica), black sea bream (Spondyliosoma cantharus), thick lipped grey mullet (Chelon labrosus), ballan wrasse (Labrus bergylta), conger eel (Gadidae indet) and two frog (Rana sp.) tibia shaft fragments were identified. The seal bones consisted of an immature forelimb as well as a porous tarsal from a hind limb showing knife-cuts. In the past, seal was classified as fish, which meant they could be eaten on fish days and could also put into pottage. The only bone from a domesticated animal was part of a small ovicaprid (i.e., sheep or goat) calcaneum and the shaft of a small radius (Ratcliffe 1997). The bird species represented could all have been eaten: shag and razorbill trapped from their breeding colonies on the cliffs and puffins from their nesting colonies in burrows. 155 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 The shag bones include part of a single (?) mature individual and at least five immature birds. One of the femora of the mature bird shows two knife cuts on the proximal surface. The razorbill bones are all mature, except for one porous tibiotarsus, and parts of at least three birds are present. The puffin bones are also all mature and from at least three birds. The unidentifiable vertebrae and phalanges are also likely to belong to these three species, which are known to have been exploited by island and coastal communities in the past. Puffins were also classified as fish, which meant they too could be eaten on fish days (Ratcliffe 1997). The fish are characterised by a common habitat preference for inshore waters. Black sea bream, ballan wrasse and conger eel prefer rocky coasts, while thick lipped grey mullet, although preferring inshore waters, is also found on sandy bottoms. These could all have been caught on lines; conger eel is also caught in traps. A single gadoid vertebral fragment may be cod (Gadus morhua). Remains of ballan wrasse represent at least three individuals, one of which was probably about 0.6 metres long and the other two smaller (Ratcliffe 1997). Limpets dominate the assemblage of marine molluscs, as might be expected. Scallops and cockles are also present as well as single examples of two other species (Callista chione and Monodonta lineata, thick top shell). Scallops, limpets and cockles would all have been collected for food and the other two species could have been gathered accidentally with them. It is not known whether they too would have been edible. It is likely that a variety of methods would have been used to collect the shellfish. The scallops and the Callista both occur from just below low water. Scallops inhabit water up to 100 fathoms deep, although they are most common in 10-15 fathoms (18-46m) of water, just inside or just away from areas of strong currents (Mason 1983). Callista occurs in up to 70 fathoms of water (Tebble 1976). The simplest way to catch scallops in shallow water is to use a hand net. However, the ‘traditional’ method is to use a dredge. This involves towing a metal frame with a net bag attached to it along the sea bed. Mason (1984) cites references to fore-and-aft rigged sailing vessels towing dredges in the English Channel in the 1920s, and it is possible that a simplified system was used in the medieval period. Collecting by net or dredge would inevitably mean that other shells, such as Callista, were gathered from time to time. In addition to these methods of capture, people could easily have dived for scallops in shallow water. Cockles can be collected from mid tide to just below low water, top shells from upper to middle shore and limpets from the upper to lower shore (Ratcliffe 1997). As well as the marine molluscs, fragments of crab claws were retrieved from the midden sample. These consisted of seven claw tips plus other fragments and represented a minimum of one individual. The species of crab was not identified (Ratcliffe 1997). Land snails were also found as a result of sieving the midden sample. Most of the taxa (Cochlicopa lubrica, Vitrea crystallina, and Aegopinella nitidula) will tolerate a range of conditions, such as woods, hedges and grasslands, although in general they prefer damp situations. Capaea also occurs in sand dunes and so tolerates dry conditions. Discus rotundatus tolerates moist sheltered places of all kinds and, with the taxa noted above, could well have lived in the pit amongst the rubbish. Pupilla muscorum is typical of dry calcareous places including coastal sand dunes and would have been common in Scilly. Ceciloides acicula is a burrowing species and may not be contemporary with the rest of the snails. It, too, is typical of calcareous soils. A context such as a midden pit is a rather artificial environment which may include a range of microhabitats suitable for different species and interpretation of precise environmental conditions is not, therefore, possible. The upper part of the midden at East Porth, Teän, dating to the seventh and eight centuries AD, contained more fish species but less bird ones than the lower, late Roman, layers of the midden. There were also more mammals, with deer, the Scilly shrew and Pallas’ vole (Ratcliffe and Straker 1996, 13). 156 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 7.6 Transport No evidence of boats or ships of this period is known from Scilly, although the presence in Scilly of ceramics from France, North Africa and the Mediterranean attests to the existence of trade routes and therefore maritime activity, at the very least to Cornwall and possibly further afield (Johns et al 2004). The most obvious feature of the Nordic tradition of boatbuilding during this period is the use of overlapping planking (clinker). This method of boat building starts with the hull planking being fastened together (usually using iron clench nails or rivets). The internal framework is added afterwards. Hence this type of construction is sometimes called “skin first”. These vessels are double-ended, with overlapped split oak strakes fastened to each other with iron nails, propelled by oar and single square sail. An early example is the late sixth to early seventh century Sutton Hoo ship (McGrail 2001; Hutchinson, 1998). 7.7 Social relations Scilly appears to have been unaffected by sporadic Anglo-Saxon conquests in East Cornwall. The story that Athelstan (King of Wessex AD 935-939) made a short visit to the islands to deal with Scandinavian raiders is probably legendary, as are connections with the mythical British king, Arthur, or Olaf Tryggvason, King of Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland, who the ‘Heimskringla’ saga records visited Scilly at the end of a four-year long raid and was converted to Christianity there (Bowley, 1964, 34). The excavated settlements - St Helen’s, East Porth, Teän and East Porth, Samson – are all ecclesiastical sites and we have very little knowledge of secular life in Scilly during this period. 7.8 Religion and ritual An important result of external trade or other cultural contacts was the introduction of Christianity, probably from Cornwall, France or the Mediterranean, during the late fifth or early sixth centuries. Fig 7.3 Inscribed tombstone in Tresco Abbey Gardens (after Thomas 1985). The earliest evidence for Christianity in the Islands is a sixth-century inscribed tombstone which has been re-used as a threshold stone in the south doorway of Tresco Abbey (Fig 7.3). Broken at some time in the past, it was originally part of an upright pillar, possibly associated with one of the stone-lined graves in the corner of the Abbey Gardens. Its surface is very worn but it is possible to discern part of Latin inscription …THIFILI…COGI, the last element could also be interpreted as COGVI, COCI, COGNI, or COLINI (the first inscribed sideways). The inscription is a standard formula meaning ‘son of’ with Latinised British personal names before and after FILI (Macalister 1945, 462-4; Ratcliffe and Johns 2003, 54). 157 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Fig 7.4 Two of the Early Christian burials from Teän (photo: Vincent Megaw). The stone may have been associated with a nearby Early Christian cist cemetery, one of five identified in Scilly which survive below enclosed land, heathland, dune sand and existing settlements. Although these cemeteries are superficially similar to Romano-British ones, their graves are longer, narrower and coffin-shaped, aligned roughly east-west and contain extended skeletons facing east. They are occasionally covered by simple kerbed cairns or marked by small stones, like the sub-circular slab with a simple incised cross found in one cemetery. Early medieval cemeteries or burials have been found at St Helen’s, East Porth, Samson, East Porth, Teän (Fig 7.4), and in Tresco Abbey Gardens. 7.8.1 Chapels and hermitages Associated with the graves of the dead are the places where the living worshipped, simple rectangular chapels of the eighth to tenth centuries, the remains of which are found on St Helen’s, Teän, and Chapel Brow, St Martin’s. Others may once have stood on St Mary’s, Samson, St Agnes and Tresco, where Early Christian cemeteries have been recorded. Traditionally thought of as insular hermitages, these chapels were reinterpreted in the late 1980s as the earliest parish churches for Scilly, sited near to contemporary settlements (Ratcliffe 1989), although this interpretation was based on Thomas’ model for sea level rise. Eight sherds of early medieval pottery were found in a limpet midden east of the main entrance to the Tresco Abbey gardens (adjacent to the site of the British Airways ticket hut in existence there in 1985). These tenth to eleventh century sherds are further evidence for an early medieval establishment pre-dating the twelfth century St Nicholas’ Priory. The pottery came from a limpet midden but this may not itself be of early medieval date since post-medieval sherds were also found in it. 158 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Fig 7.5 St Helen’s chapel (photo: Katharine Sawyer). The plans of the earliest chapels and oratories in Scilly and Cornwall are consistently rectangular - ‘double-square’ - in plan, 4m by 2m, for example, and have doorways on the south side, not the west as in Irish foundations of the same period (Thomas 1978, 252). The site on St Helen’s was probably founded sometime during the eighth to tenth centuries by St Elidius, reputedly a British bishop and the son of a king. The earliest phase of the site on the south-facing slope of St Helen’s comprised a rectangular ‘Oratory’ or chapel (Fig 7.5), a circular living-cell or hut and up to six Christian graves within a 0.1 hectare enclosure bounded by a rough wall (O’Neill 1964; Thomas 1985, 181). At East Porth on the neighbouring island of Teän, a multi-period site was investigated by Thomas in 1956 and 1960 (Thomas 1960b). Finds from a hut overlying a Roman and early medieval midden were mainly pottery of fifth, sixth and probably seventh century date, including sherds of an imported Bii amphora, a Biv handled jar and nine class Eware pots. During or soon after the occupation of the hut, Christian-type cist-graves were constructed to the east beyond the limits of the midden. Sixteen graves were found during the two seasons of work. Overlying the graves was a small, rectangular stone structure whose internal dimensions, about 4.88m by 2.44m, east-west longer axis and remnant of a south-side doorway indicate that it was a chapel, provisionally dated to the early eighth century and founded by Saint Theona. Thomas suggests that the stone chapel could post-date an earlier wooden structure on the same site, a phenomenon noticed elsewhere in Britain and Ireland (Thomas 1985, 183-6). To the north of the chapel is small sub-circular field which may have originally been the lann or ecclesiastical enclosure associated with the chapel (Johns et al 2011). The chapel on St Martin’s Head, the eastern summit of Chapel Down, St Martin’s, has been mostly robbed of stone but is visible in plan at ground level as a small, 159 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 rectangular, east-west aligned structure measuring 5m by 2.4m internally, with a south doorway. It is not associated with a cemetery and it has been suggested that it was a ‘lighthouse chapel’, a small religious establishment whose duty it was to maintain beacon lights. At least one such chapel is known to have existed on the Land’s End peninsula (Adams 1957; Thomas 1985, 186). A multi-phase Early Christian site at East Porth, Samson was excavated in 1971 (Neal and Johns, forthcoming). The sequence of a timber structure superseded by a stone building is similar to that excavated at Teän. The east-west aligned stone building is rectangular in plan with internal measurements of 3.38m and, probably, 1.98m. The doorway is on the north side, perhaps for practical reasons - if it had been on the south side it would have faced into the dune. Consideration of the occupation debris around the house suggests it was a domestic habitation (perhaps that of a hermit) rather than a chapel. A stone bowl in the corner of the room, similar to but smaller than the stone bowl in Room 1 at Nornour, would also suggest a similar purpose (cf Butcher 1978, fig 40). Fig 7.6 Possible stone font from East Porth, Samson (photo: David Neal). The later history of the site also suggests a religious association, as demonstrated by the presence of three further graves, a wall possibly intended as a boundary to a cemetery and a massive stone basin possibly once used as a font (Fig 7.6), and perhaps originally sited within a chapel. There was no stone building associated with these features, although extending below the present dune to the south of the site are a series of timber structures and associated levels (Neal and Johns, forthcoming). In legend, the Isles of Scilly were renowned for their hermits, as demonstrated by the story recorded in the ‘Heimskringla’ saga of Olaf Tryggvason and the soothsayer in the late tenth century (Fig 7.7; Bowley 1945, 34-38). By the end of the early medieval period Christianity was firmly established in Scilly but it would have assimilated some old pagan beliefs. For example, St Warna’s holy well on St Agnes is probably an early medieval structure, but the tradition of attributing supernatural powers is a survival from pagan times. 160 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Fig 7.7 Olaf Tryggvason and the soothsayer (Peter Nicolai Arbo). 7.9 Human osteoarchaeology Early medieval human bones have been found at St Helen’s (O’Neil 1964), East Porth, Samson (Keepax, forthcoming), and Teän (Thomas 1960b). Of these the bones from Teän have been most extensively examined (Fig 7.4). Sixteen graves were found on Teän, and the skeletons included one adult woman and four young children, seemingly making it a lay cemetery (Thomas 1985, 184), although the female skeleton could have been of a nun or perhaps St Theona herself, so this is not necessarily the right explanation. Two of the male burials were those of lepers, and the disease is likely to have been contracted in a Mediterranean or Middle Eastern land (Thomas 1985, 198; Brothwell 1961, 323-4, pl VI). Another of the skeletons showed healed amputations of the left hand and right foot, possibly the result of a punishment (Mays 1996, 109). The bones from St Helen’s were very friable and only the remains in the altar grave in the chapel were examined. The grave contained two burials placed side by side. One was an adult male, not less than 40-45 years old, with a powerful musculature and a full set of healthy teeth but with severe functional crown attrition. The fragments of the second skeleton, which was probably also male, were excessively decayed and friable but showed similar functional crown attrition. The skeletons probably dated to the early years of the Christian era (O’Neil 1964, 68). Fragments of the vertebrae, sacrum, pelvis, femora and skull of an adult male were present in grave III at East Porth, Samson. The preservation of the bones was poor, with some surface erosion (particularly of the skull). Two loose teeth were present showing a medium amount of wear with some exposure of the dentine but no evidence of caries or calculus deposits. The lower incisor showed very slight hypoplasia of the enamel. The sacro-iliac joint showed roughening and lipping, probably due to a medium degree of osteo-arthritis. The severity of this condition suggests that the individual was probably over thirty years old at the time of death. The skull showed evidence of possible ante-mortem injury, a deep cut mark, although there was no evidence of fracturing of the bone associated with the injury and the cut did not seem to have penetrated to the interior of the skull. This injury is comparable to that which might be 161 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 caused by a blow from a sharp object and it occurred probably only a short time before death (Keepax, forthcoming). 7.10 Discussion Islands appear to have been sought after for specific purposes among the adherents to the new Christian Church. The early Christian mentalité, closely aligned with the long held beliefs of the natives, found powerful magico-religious associations with places on the fringe of the Christian world. In a number of publications Tom O’Loughlin (1997; 1999; 2000) has explored the attraction of the islands on the fringe of the world known to early Christianity. O’Loughlin makes a distinction between the known seas of the Mediterranean, where familiar islands were located, and the sea surrounding the continents, which was the Oceanus, a threatening place where the tides mimicked the breathing of a living animal, possibly the primeval ‘abyss’, a threatening place to be treated with caution. The ocean could be full of demons, and in this it was not unlike the desert spaces of the known world. Monks and hermits were attracted to these places as it was seen as their duty to do battle with the demons. An earlier use of deserts for this purpose appears to have been translated to the ocean in the west. So the ocean as a metaphorical desert hangs strongly in allusions to the monastic heritage of ascetic isolation derived from the Egyptian desert, the inversion of the island/land and sea/water dichotomy is found in the oasis/water and desert/land model, water and sand providing the conditions for otherness and evil. The unknown spaces of the ocean also provided mappers of the world with conceptual spaces in to which they could place known but unlocated places. So, for example, the Garden of Eden was located on an island in the Oceanus, as were other ‘promised lands’. According to O’Loughlin (1999) this is part of the point of the, for him, allegorical tale provided by the voyage of St Brendan, who on a seven-year voyage battles demons and finds marvellous islands. At this date, in the early medieval period of western Europe, it is clear that islands and headlands on the larger islands of the Atlantic Archipelago were being sought out in ‘pursuit of a desert’ (Dumville 2002). In considering the community of monks residing in the island monastery of Iona, O’Loughlin (1997) notes that they had found their desert fastness, as imagined, but also finds in Vita Columbae (The Life of St. Columba) that the monastery was spread over a number of islands, that boat trips were regularly taken between them and indeed much further at sea, with craft going to and arriving from the mainland, Skye, the Orkney Islands, Ireland and France, achieved by rowing and sailing. So, although Horn, White Marshall and Rourke (1990, 3) find that ‘it is among the stone ruins left on the Atlantic islands by small colonists of Irish monks that we find the boldest parallels to early Egyptian monasticism in Europe’, it is also the case that the established monasteries on such islands were connected to distant places, and ultimately to Rome and Jerusalem. Clearly then for a thousand years prior to the fifteenth century islands were regarded as suitable locations for ascetics in monasteries and hermitages. Metaphorical deserts were also provided by forests, deep valleys and mountain peaks; islands then did not have a monopoly on use for this purpose, but Scilly does appear to have been sought out for this purpose (Thomas 1985, Chapter 7), and, perhaps paradoxically, provides an indication of widespread wider contacts at this time. 7.11 Scientific dating 7.11.1 Radiocarbon dates The 23 radiocarbon determinations listed below in Table 7.1 have all been calibrated using OxCal 4.3. Previous modelling of dates has not been used and all are expressed at the full 95.4% confidence level, rather than to the period to which the date may be weighted (for example at 89%). This means that the calibrated dates in the tables may vary significantly from the publications where they appear (see Section 2.1.4 for further discussion). 162 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Lab Ref 14 Wk-5693 Cal AD @ 95% Site Context Reference 1650 ±60BP 250-550 Porth Coose, St Agnes Peat deposit Johns et al, forthcoming GU-5230 (CALIB 4.1) 1600 ±60 330-600 Crab’s Ledge, Tresco Column VI (basal 20mm of upper peat Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 128 OxA4699 1605 ±50 340-570 East Porth, Teän Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 98 OxA23862 1632 ±28 340-540 Old Town Bay SUERC32916 1620 ±30 380-540 Porth Coose, St Agnes Charred seeds (Hordeum sp.) from lower half of midden – layer (3) Bulk: mix of herbaceous and Monocot stems (humic acid fraction) 4–5cm below surface of intertidal peat Dicot stem fragments, 8cm below surface of intertidal peat GU-5062 (CALIB 4.1) 1570 ±50 390-600 Crab’s Ledge, Tresco Sample 3 from top 10mm of intertidal peat Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 128 SUERC32993 1595 ±30 400-540 Tresco Bulk: organic sediment with ?Monocot roots (humin fraction Charman et al 2016 GU-5058 (CALIB 4.1) 1480 ±80 400-680 Crab’s Ledge, Tresco Sample 2 from basal 10mm of exposed peat Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 128 OxA23860 1507 ±29 430-640 Porth Coose, St Agnes Charman et al 2016 Wk-5694 1510 ±50BP 420-640 Porth Coose, St Agnes Plant fragment: Monocot stem, 4cm below surface of intertidal peat Peat deposit Wk-5696 1490 ±60 420-660 Old Town Bay OxA23827 1469 ±25 550-650 Old Town Bay Ratcliffe and Straker 1998 Charman et al 2016 UBA26171 UBA26172 SUERC32927 1398±39 570-680 1359±34 610-770 1390 ±30 600-680 Porthloo, St Mary’s Porthloo, St Mary’s Crab’s Ledge, Tresco OxA4698 1355 ±50 600-770 East Porth, Teän GU-3411 1280 ±50 1020-1250 Lower Town, St Martin’s Top of lower peat deposit Bulk: mix of herbaceous and Monocot stems (humin fraction) 4–5cm below surface of intertidal peat R. subgen Batrachium R. subgen Batrachium Bulk: organic sediment with ?Monocot roots (humic acid fraction) Charred seeds (Aveda sp.) from upper half of midden – layer (3) Limpet shells from midden C age BP Charman et al 2016 Charman et al 2016 Johns et al, forthcoming Johns et al 2014 Johns et al 2014 Charman et al 2016 Ratcliffe & Straker 1996, 98 Ratcliffe 1997 163 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Lab Ref 14 UBA26169 UBA26170 GU-2569 Cal AD @ 95% Site Context Reference 1278±31 660-800 690-890 R. subgen Batrachium Carex sp. Johns et al 2014 1220±31 1030 ±50 890-1160 Porthloo, St Mary’s Porthloo, St Mary’s Big Pool, St Agnes Scourse 1986 ? 998 ±57 890-1170 Old Town Bay OxA4063 995 ±55 900-1170 Lower Town, St Martin’s Lower band of peat & organic sediment Upper peat deposit Ovicaprid bone from midden GU-3412 880±50 1030-1260 Lower Town, St Martin’s Human bone from burial Ratcliffe & Straker 1996 C age BP Johns et al 2014 Ratcliffe & Straker 1998 Ratcliffe 1997 Table 7.1 List of early medieval radiocarbon dates. (Note, the calibrated dates have been rounded out, see Section 2.1.4.) 7.11.2 OSL ages Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating was carried out on submarine and intertidal deposits recovered during the Lyonesse Project in 2009 and 2010. Samples from Old Town Bay, St Mary’s and Bathinghouse Porth, Tresco date to the early medieval period (Roberts and Marshall 2016). Location Lab no. Context Material OSL Age Calibrated date (95% confidence) Old Town Beach, St Mary’s 184/LPOT-1A 0.15 ±0.01m below surface of intertidal peat Quartz 1400 ±90 AD 430–790 Bathinghouse Porth, Tresco 184/LPTR-4B 8.5–9.5cm below surface of inter-tidal peat Quartz 1380 ±110 AD 520-740 Table 7.2 List of OSL Ages expressed as years before AD 2010, rounded to the nearest 10 years. 164 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 8 Medieval (1066 – 1547) Edited by Charles Johns with contributions from John Allan, Eric Berry, Kevin Camidge, Dan Charman, Ralph Fyfe, Jacqui Mulville, Marta Perez, Fraser Sturt and Sue Watts. 8.1 Introduction During the medieval period the administration of Scilly was split between Tavistock Abbey which presided over the northern islands, and secular proprietors of St Mary’s and St Agnes. Piracy and shipwreck are recurring themes throughout the period. Medieval remains include St Nicholas Priory church on Tresco, the second phase of the ecclesiastical complex on St Helen’s and Ennor castle on St Mary’s. The main characteristics of Scilly’s medieval resource are summarised in this chapter. 8.2 Landscape and environmental background Fig 8.1 Inferred submergence model c cal AD 1000 based on data from the Lyonesse Project (Charman et al 2016). The Isles of Scilly were often regarded vaguely as one island during the Middle Ages (Orme 2010, 266), and according to Thomas (1985) model for sea level rise the northern islands were still joined at low water until the early Tudor period. However, as discussed above, the results of the Lyonesse Project indicate that separation of the islands had occurred by the end of the Early Bronze Age (Charman et al 2016). Two charters dating to between 1140 and 1175 refer to the islands of Rentemen (possibly Tresco and Bryher, still connected at low tide), Nurcho (possibly St Martin’s), St Elede (St Helen’s), Sampson and Teän (Orme 2010, 266), indicating that the present pattern of islands had indeed largely formed by that time. Further work is required to reconcile Thomas’ coastal place-name evidence with new environmental data. There is comparatively little environmental data from this period. A peat deposit at Old Town Bay, St Mary’s sampled during coast protection works in 1997 which suggests 165 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 herb rich grassland with background of coastal indicators and aquatic plants indicating standing water (Ratcliffe and Straker 1998). 8.3 Chronology There are only five radiocarbon dates for medieval Scilly (Table 8.2). However, documentary sources do provide a chronological framework for the period. These include the thirteenth century Orkneyinga Saga, the annals of Tavistock Abbey and various pipe rolls and charters. Fig 8.2 Distribution of medieval sites recorded in the Cornwall and Scilly HER. 8.4 The material world 8.4.1 Settlement The main settlement on St Mary’s, known in the medieval period as Ennor, was at Old Town, where secular rule was based. Protected by a castle, first mentioned in 1244, and not visible from the open sea, the village was at the end of a bay that deep-water ships could not penetrate. The harbour, with its medieval quay (Fig 8.3) was then known as Porthenor, ‘the porth or landing-place for Ennor’, and possibly the settlement of Maríuhöfn plundered by Vikings in c 1151 (Thomas 1985, 210). Though Old Town (described by Leland in c 1542 as a ‘poore Town’) was the main settlement in the Islands, the location of others is revealed by documentary and placename evidence and medieval pottery scatters: Churchtown and Lower Town on St Martin's; Old Grimsby, Borough and Dolphin Town on Tresco (as well as around the priory and New Grimsby, which is of later medieval origin); Norrard and Southard on Bryher; Periglis and Middle Town on St Agnes; Trenoweth, Helvear, Holy Vale, Normandy and probably most of the other existing farms on St Mary's (Chope 1918, 23; Ratcliffe 1995, 6). The origins of the name Annet are discussed by Padel (2018). Examples of medieval strip fields are rare in Scilly - the best being that south of the road at Lower Town, St Martin's clearly shown on the 1888 OS map but since sub166 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 divided for flower cultivation. The generally more irregular pattern of most anciently enclosed land indicates that there was no large scale laying out of medieval strip fields, but instead existing field systems continued to be used and modified. It is tempting on the basis of this and artefactual evidence to push the origin of most modern settlements back into pre-medieval times, perhaps as far back as the Iron Age. The sinuous character of many of the roads and trackways connecting these settlements suggests that they too have an ancient origin, having been laid out during medieval (or earlier) times (Ratcliffe 1995, 6). Fig 8.3 The medieval quay at Old Town (photo: Cornwall Council). The hermitage on St Helen’s is the only medieval site to have been excavated in Scilly (O’Neil 1964), so we do not have clear understanding of the character of medieval settlement in the Islands. Large quantities of finds were recovered during the 1985 off islands electrification project watching brief and the possible location of the medieval settlements of Sturtom and Bantom identified on Bryher (Ratcliffe 1991). Detailed evaluation on the site of the new Five Islands School Base at Carn Gwaval, St Mary’s, between Ennor Castle and Old Town Church, did not reveal any evidence for medieval occupation other than a few fragments of pottery (Johns et al 2010). 8.4.2 Subsistence The midden deposit in the rubbish pit at Lower Town, St Martin’s is discussed above (Section 7.5.6). Sheep or goat’s bone from the same midden was dated AD cal 9001165 (OXA-4063; Table 8.2) and is probably indicative of the level of subsistence at the beginning of the medieval period. Rabbits were probably introduced to Scilly early in the twelfth century and by the middle of the century Richard de Wika was obliged to grant tithes on rabbits captured in Scilly (Thomas 1985, 201). Another document of the same time refers to the gifts of areas of ground for turf cutting from peat beds for winter fuel (ibid, 202). 167 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Leland, c 1542, noted that it was a "The Ground of this Isle [St Mary’s] berith exceedingly good Corn, insomuch that, if a Man do but cast corn wher Hogges have rotid it wyl cum up’" (Chope 1918, 23). 8.4.3 Artefacts Metal Coins A Richard II penny from hut 1 on St Helen’s, struck before 1387 (Rigold 1964). A French gold coin in good condition was found on the beach to the west of Innisidgen in 2002. The coin has been identified as an ecu a la couronne from the reign of Charles VI (1380-1422) and was minted in Paris (Cornwall and Scilly HER). Bronze A buckle-plate with traces of gilding, a fragment of gilded, thin bronze band, a bolt of a small barrel padlock and the rim of a cauldron from St Helen’s (Dunning 1964). The rim of a bronze cauldron, probably twelfth century in date, was found near Old Town and acquired by the Isles of Scilly museum in May 1975 (Cornwall and Scilly HER). Copper A copper pilgrim's medallion with rampant lion relief, with traces of gilt on the upper portion and blue enamel around the line, possibly from Ennor Castle, held at the RCM. Iron The rim of a cauldron from St Helen’s (Dunning 1964). Lead A net sinker for use in fishing and part of a window light with a fragment of glass adhering from St Helen’s (Dunning 1964). Ceramics In considering the overall state of ceramic research in this period, reference is made in this assessment to the South West Archaeological Research Framework (Webster 2008). The Medieval Pottery Research Group’s report Research Framework for PostRoman Ceramics (2011), presented on-line at <http://mprgframework.info/>, was in the course of publication as the present document was prepared; it was examined by John Allan in draft form prior to final publication. This assessment is based on a review of all the published and grey literature relating to the medieval and later pottery of Scilly by John Allan, followed by an attempt to examine all the ceramics of this date from the islands which were accessible at the time of writing. It has entailed rapid re-examination of all the material in the Isles of Scilly Museum (IOSM), the Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro (RCM), and at the offices of Historic Environment, Cornwall Council, the first repository holding most of the material. Although an effort was made to view ceramics from wrecks and one private collection of such material was visited, coverage of this important resource is inevitably very patchy. The medieval and post-medieval ceramics of Scilly have attracted far less study and publication than the islands’ collections of prehistoric, Roman and early post-Roman pottery. In this regard the situation on the islands mirrors that throughout the rest of Cornwall, where only a handful of substantial reports have been published on the medieval pottery of the county in the last 30 years, and even less work has taken place on the county’s post-medieval pottery in the same period. It would perhaps be unfair to describe the state of study throughout most of Cornwall as retarded, but appreciably less work has been carried out on later medieval and post-medieval pottery in this area than in most other parts of southern England. This situation does not arise from wilful neglect of the later archaeology of the islands but does reflect the distinctive emphasis 168 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 of archaeological work in the county, with a strong research interest in prehistoric and Early Christian archaeology, alongside restricted opportunities for the kind of work, such as large-scale investigation of urban sites, which provides the best sequences and largest collections of medieval and later finds in many parts of the British Isles. For the medieval period the best individual site collection remains that from St Helen’s, excavated as long ago as 1956 and 1958, published by Dunning (1965) and now stored and displayed at IOSM. This material has not been quantified but the collection is not large; it amounts to about three standard boxfuls of sherds. Naturally, Cornish coarsewares form the bulk of the collection, but there is a range of regional imports from Poole Harbour (Dorset sand-tempered jugs), Bristol (Ham Green) and east Devon/south Somerset (redware jugs), alongside about 30–35 sherds of jugs imported from the Saintonge (the English imports not identified in the initial report; for these identifications see Allan 1991). The collection from King Charles Castle (Miles and Saunders 1970) contains Portuguese coarseware and an important group of maiolica tiles from Seville in arista technique (probably reused monastic spoil of the 1520s) alongside a range of Cornish and North Devon coarsewares. The archaeological watching brief during 1985 Electrification Programme, which recovered 421 medieval sherds from at least 285 vessels, found at a surprisingly wide scatter of sites on St Mary’s, Tresco, St Martin’s, Bryher and St Agnes (Allan 1991). The third collection of any size is that from Dolphin Town, Tresco, studied by Thorpe (2004). Further miscellaneous collections, often unstratified and scrappy, continue to accumulate through watching briefs and casual finds. Ceramics associated with possible shipwrecks are described below in Section 8.5.1. Bone A whalebone tool from St Helen’s, possibly used as ploughshare (Dunning et al 1964). Stone A fragment of the gable end of a shrine or font in Purbeck marble from St Helen’s. There are two fragments of Purbeck marble built into the wall at Tresco Abbey with similar moulded ornament of flutings and a third fragment, but with slightly different moulding and on a smaller scale, was recorded lying loose on the table tomb in the centre of the ruined abbey nave. That this material was being imported and used for decorative purposes on more than one site in Scilly is of interest as it can be closely dated to the twelfth century (Dunning et al 1964). Also a whetstone from St Helen’s (Dunning et al 1964). The HER records various other finds of granite and other stone objects and masonry. Querns continued to be used to grind corn throughout the medieval period. A rotary quernstone was, for example, found during excavation of St. Helens, covering a drain (O’Neil 1964). Roofing slate Quantities of fragments of roofing slates were found at St Helen’s. They were of varying shades of grey-blue-green and typical of the Delabole quarries on the north coast of Cornwall. Ridge tiles Fragments of ridge tiles were found scattered on the slates at St Helen’s and probably date to the thirteenth or fourteenth centuries (Dunning 1964). Plaster The plaster covering the wall of the east end of the chapel on St Helen’s was extremely hard and pure white in colour with straw-like matrix (Dunning 1964). 169 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 8.5 Communications, transport and trade 8.5.1 Shipping The three main medieval ship types were keels, hulcs and cogs (Hutchinson 1998; McGrail 2001). Evidence for the monks being involved in long distance trade is provided by a reference in the Orkneyinga Saga (compiled around 1200) to the plundering of one of their merchant ships. Split dried fish and seabirds from the Islands may have been exchanged for Cornish pottery, tin, slate and cloth; Breton salt, linen and canvas; Irish cloaks and wood; French wine and pottery; and Spanish wine and fruit. Pottery was also imported from other parts of southern England; Dorset, Wiltshire, Bristol and Exeter. The priory may have collected tolls for anchorage in St Helen’s Pool, probably the chief harbour in medieval times (Ratcliffe and Johns 2003, 15). In Scilly, the Right of Wreck, taken as vested in the Crown in the first place, passed to Tavistock Abbey in 1114. Pirates and raiders preying on English merchantmen may have been part of the reason behind Henry I’s grant, and the monk, Turold, was instructed to ‘keep a firm peace’. At a later date, between 1140 and 1175, Reginald, earl of Cornwall confirmed the charter with the amendment ‘All the wrecks, except whale and a whole ship’ (Larn 1993, 10). This was a valuable and often much wrangled-over commodity which would only have any value if wreck was a reasonably common event. A return of Edward I’s Commissioners of 1275 for the Hundred of Penwith (which included Scilly) stated ‘They [the jury] say that John de Allet and the Prior of St Nicholas, Lords of Scilly, take wreck from the sea in those Islands, but they know not by what Environmental background warrant, the ancestors of the aforesaid John and the Prior having done so from the time whereof memory is not’. By the end of the thirteenth century the monks of Tavistock were interested in withdrawing from Scilly if they could do so with advantage. They petitioned the king saying that they had little power to cope with felonious mariners in times of war and suggested exchanging heir lands in Scilly with him for an annual endowment of £60. They pointed out that the Islands had an anchorage for 1000 ships and were frequented by vessels from France, Normandy, Spain and Gascony. The king ordered an enquiry but nothing resulted (Orme 2010, 268). In 1302, Edward I challenged the Tavistock abbot’s right to wreck but the abbot claimed ‘the ship-wrecks happening in all the Islands’, which he and all his predecessors had ‘enjoyed without interruption from time immemorial’, except for whales, gold, scarlet cloth, masts and firs, which were reserved for the king (Bowley 1990, 28). In this period, for the first time, we have evidence of specific shipwrecks in Scilly, the first in 1305 when William le Poer, the king’s coroner of the Isles of Scilly, was imprisoned and held to ransom after going to Tresco to take charge of wreck cargo. Several other wrecks are recorded throughout the fourteenth century (Bowley 1964; Johns et al 2004) attesting to the fact that shipwreck was not unknown in Scilly. To date, however, no medieval wreck remains have been located in Scilly. In 1337 the Right of Wreck in Scilly reverted to the crown, when Edward III endowed his son, Edward, the Black Prince, with the Duchy of Cornwall. Between 1342 and 1345 the cargo and materials of three wrecked vessels was plundered by Scillonians, but no other details survive and it is thought that ships of the period were not identified by names anyway, a custom which did not prevail until the fifteenth century (Larn 1999, 8; Larn 2003, 11). The presence of medieval pottery in Tresco Channel (between Tresco and Bryher) has been known for some time (e.g., Johns et al 2004). It was investigated by the Archaeological Diving Unit (ADU) in 2002 but more recently a fine collection of imported pottery in unusually fresh condition – principally Saintonge green-glazed jugs but also 170 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 including North French (probably Normandy) red-painted wares and some English wares – was newly reported. John Allan has inspected the entire collection recovered by April 2011. This is a find of great importance, since it seems almost certain that it represents a wreck site, with the possibility of recovering organic finds alongside a fine ceramics collection, and of throwing light on the French trade (?wine trade) into Britain. More than 700 pieces of pottery have been recovered, dating to the late thirteenth century and predominantly French in origin. Other finds include 290 pieces animal bones and a number of medieval artefacts. The distribution of these finds was carefully mapped, and the epicentre of the distribution has been established but remains uninvestigated. The pottery from Tresco Channel is by far the most substantial underwater find of medieval ceramics ever made in British waters, and has attracted national and international interest (Camidge 2011a; Camidge 2013; Camidge and Allan 2017; Allan et al, in preparation). The possibility should be considered that another wreck is represented by the small collection of barnacle-encrusted Saintonge pottery from the beach at Porthcressa, St Mary’s, now held at IOSM (IOSM 1927). This includes a fine example of Saintonge polychrome pottery and a rare Saintonge horn (as discussed in Le Patourel 1992), both datable to c 1280–1330. There has also been a find of pottery from Nut Rock, about 750m east of Samson in St Mary’s Road. This find is interesting in showing that the Tresco Channel find is not unique; this too has many Saintonge imports, alongside north French red-painted wares and other rare types, but the chronological range seems longer, with more postmedieval pieces (Allan and Stevens in preparation). It is possible that these sites in Tresco Channel and nearby were regular anchorages on the routes from western France (home of Saintonge pots) to England, Wales and Ireland, and may have been so for long before that. A good search of Tresco Channel site has found no sign of a boat, but any surviving ship’s structure may have been destroyed by sea action. The only comparable find to these three discoveries from the English Channel known to John Allan is the St Peter Port wreck, studied by Duncan Brown and Robert Thomson, which likewise contained Saintonge wares including polychrome sherds and was thought to indicate a ship involved in the Bordeaux wine trade. This possibly betokens direct maritime trade with France rather than transhipment via Cornwall and is worthy of further investigation. Pottery is one of the few trade items which survive well in archaeological contexts. It is probable that it arrived as part of other, more perishable cargos. For instance in the medieval period wine is an important trade item, but other items such as pottery could have accompanied it. Only small quantities of wine were produced in England and wine was imported, principally from Bordeaux. It was a high status commodity mainly consumed by the church and nobility. The measure of a ship’s capacity was in fact derived from the number of standard Bordeaux wine tuns (c 252 gallons) which a ship could carry (Ransley et al 2011). 8.5.2 Pirates and lawlessness Maritime activity could bring problems as well as benefits; there are a number of recorded instances of this in Scilly during the medieval period. The Orkneyinga Saga records how another Viking, Thorbjorn Clerk ‘won a great victory and a massive share of plunder’ by attacking the island of St Mary’s, Maríuhöfn, in 1151 (Orme 2010, 268). Scilly was called Syllingar by the Norse. Some annals of Tavistock abbey record the decapitation of 112 pirates on the Island of St Nicholas in 1209 (ibid). A complaint during the reign of Edward III (1327-1377) that a number of Ralph Vyvyan’s ‘born serfs’ had taken refuge in Scilly suggests that a degree of lawlessness may have existed (or have been perceived to exist). More seriously for the inhabitants, ‘In 1342 six-hundred Welshmen .. were drawn by the sea on to that island staying there for 20 days and carrying away £500 worth of crops’. These Welshmen were apparently on their way to Brittany on the king’s service when becalmed in Scilly. Pirates, apparently 171 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 also a problem, were responsible for the ‘impoverishment occasioned to the Abbey of Tavistock’ in Scilly in 1351. In 1461 Tavistock Abbey and Sir John Colshill, the lay lord of the Islands, appealed to the pope for support. On 10 July of that year Pius II issued a papal bull setting out the grounds for their appeal. Pirates had assaulted, killed, captured, and held to ransom the people of the Islands; clergy, laity, fishermen, pilgrims and shipwrecked mariners. They had plundered and destroyed churches, houses and other buildings, and taken ecclesiastical goods and produce belonging to the abbey and the lay lord. Services were being disrupted, including worship, sacraments, and hospitality to the poor and sick. The evildoers seem to have been identified as men of South West England and Brittany and the pope forbade such activities and granted a large indulgence of seven years and seven Lents to pilgrims visiting the chapel of St Elide (on St Helen’s). This chapel, the pope observed, belonged to Tavistock and was governed by monks but its buildings, books and ornaments had much deteriorated. The indulgence was given to all who gave alms to the chapel, or who visited it at Christmas, Midsummer or the feast-day of St Elide (8 August). When William Worcester visited Tavistock in 1478 he learned that Scilly lay under the power or supervision of Pope Pius 2010, 268). 8.6 Social life Shortly after the Norman Conquest the islands became the property of the Crown of England, and from 1141, part of the Earldom then, after 1337, the Duchy of Cornwall. From the twelfth century the administration of Scilly was divided with Tavistock Abbey presiding over the northern part whilst the de Wika family of Week St Mary in north Cornwall were the proprietors of what are now St Mary’s and St Agnes. In 1248 Dreux de Barrantine was sent to Scilly by Henry III to act as Governor and administer justice (Bowley 1964, 40; Land Use Consultants 1996, 23). At the end of the twelfth century the population of Scilly may have been about 300, and for most of those life would have been harsh and insecure even if there were improvements of a sort and the population underwent a gradual increase from the beginning of the fourteenth century (Thomas 1985, 219). We know little about the day to day life of ordinary people in medieval Scilly. During the last decade of the thirteenth century the civil administration of the Islands passed to the Blanchminsters, an important family holding estates in Yorkshire and Cornwall, and in 1306 Ralph Blanchminster became the first of his family to hold the Captaincy of Scilly. He held the Ennor castle on St Mary’s in return for maintaining twelve men-at-arms for keeping the peace. As tenant-in-chief he paid a yearly tribute to the king of three hundred puffins or 6s 8d - puffins, considered fish rather than fowl, could be eaten during Lent, and their feathers were also valuable, but money seems always to have been paid. The islands under civil administration, together with the Ennor castle were valued at £19 a year. From the Blanchminsters administration of the islands of St Mary’s and St Agnes passed to the Tresillians, Coleshills, and Arundells. In the fourteenth century St Agnes was held by the Hamely family for a considerable period of time. In 1505 John Croker, husband of Anne Arundell, was the ‘tenant-in-chief of the Castle and Manor of Scilly’ (Matthews 1960, 10; Bowley 1964, 43). The traditional punishment for wrongdoers in medieval Scilly appears to have been marooning. A document of 1284 records ‘John de Allet and Isabella, his wife, hold the Isles of Scilly and hold there all kinds of pleas of the crown throughout their jurisdiction and make indictments of felonies. When anyone attainted of any felony, he ought to be taken to a certain rock in the sea [the Bishop Rock], with two barley loaves and one pitcher of water upon the same rock, they leave the same felon until by the flowing of the sea he is swallowed up’ (in Bowley 1964, 43). Records dating to 1302 also refer to a crime and punishment relating to three women from Trenoweth on St Mary’s ‘The jurors present that a certain Muriel de Trenywith and Joan and Margery her daughters in the time of John de Allet, lord of the island who 172 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 died, were indicted of theft and were immediately taken and led to the rock in the sea which is called Maenenescop [Bishop Rock] and there by the judgement of the aforesaid john they were left until drowned by the tide. The chattels of the aforesaid Muriel come to 6s 10½d for which the sheriff answers (in Stanbrook 2010, 8). For a time the Islands may have provided refuge for runaway serfs as is shown in this document of 1354 ‘Edward the [Black] Prince, etc to Walter Hull, Constable of the Castle and Keeper of the Isles of Scilly: At the suggestion of our well-beloved Ralph Vyvyan, one of our tenants in Cornwall, we command you that whereas Robert Martyn, Roger Tregarn, Robert Carngonel, and other his born serfs have run away out of his seignory in Cornwall as far as the said Isles and now remain there. We command that if it be so, you permit that he take them again, and cause them to return to his sieignory as Law and Right require, and do not make any disturbance or maintenance by them against him in this matter to his disinheritance. Done by our Privy seal a London, the 4th February, 27 Edward III’ (in Bowley 1964, 40). In about 1478 the antiquary William Worcester noted the names of two islands, St Mary and Tresco stating that both belonged to Tavistock and that the latter was uncultivated (Orme 2010). In 1484 it seems the Islands were worth forty shillings in time of peace but in time of war nothing (Bowley 1964, 43). In 1501 Tavistock Abbey leased ‘the isles, churches, and chapels of Scilly, with all their tithings, oblations, fruits, and emoluments, concerning and pertaining there to us by the priory of Scilly’, to William Trewynnard and his son James for a period of seven years at an annual rent of £3 13s 4d, five dozen puffins, and a seal (Orme 2010, 269). 8.7 Religion and ritual From the eleventh century there appears to have been a general revival in Christianity in Scilly, which increased under Tavistock’s influence; existing establishments were improved and new ones built, for example, on St Helen’s, and at Old Town, St Mary’s. By 1461, St Helen’s church was in a state of disrepair and, like St Nicholas’ Priory (hardly mentioned in documentary sources after the fifteenth century); it may have become ruined before the Reformation. The priory does not even feature in a list of Tavistock’s possessions drawn up at that time (Ratcliffe 1995). 8.7.1 St Nicholas Priory On 13 September 1114 King Henry I granted ‘all the churches of Scilly with their appurtenances ‘to Tavistock abbey, to be held ‘just as well as ever monks and hermits held them in the time of King Edward [the Confessor] and Burgald, bishop of Cornwall’. The grant was made to Osbert, abbot of Tavistock, and to Turold his monk, and included the order that Turold and ‘all the monks of Scilly’ should enjoy the king’s peace. This points to the existence of a small monastic community by this date, with Turold as its head. The priory is likely to have been a new enterprise founded in or shortly before 1114 (Orme 2010, 266; contra Thomas 1985, 200-1). As prior, Turold would have been one of only two or three brethren, with servants living nearby and farming the adjoining land. The island of Tresco where the church was sited was also known as the island of St Nicholas in the medieval period, after the dedication of the church. The church must have existed there by the early twelfth century and appears to have been substantially rebuilt in the early fourteenth century (Orme 2010, 266-7). 173 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Fig 8.4 William Borlase’s drawing of the ruins of St Nicholas. The remains of the priory are recorded on the 1886 OS map as 'St Nicholas's Abbey (remains of)' and on the 1963 OS map as 'Remains of St Nicholas's Abbey (Benedictine Cell)'. O'Neil (1949c) notes that there are some remains of this monastery in the gardens of the present Tresco Abbey (the nineteenth century residence of the DorrienSmith family). The outline of nave and chancel may be traced although much of the present visible walling is due to modern rebuilding. In the south wall there are two fine arches, perhaps partly rebuilt, which seem to have led, respectively, east to the south transept of the church, and west into the north walk of the cloister. The remaining building is a Listed Building, Grade II and a Scheduled Monument; it is 25m long on its east-west axis and 8m wide. At the point where it incorporates the two arches the wall is 4.5m high; elsewhere it is about 2.5m high, and abutted by raised and other flower beds internally and externally. There is a third, blocked, doorway in the centre of the north wall; and opposing blocked windows at the east end of the building. The interior was modified by use as a graveyard in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and subsequently as a walled garden (Ratcliffe 1993). Elsewhere, built into a wall, is part of an early font, decorated with round-arched arcading. A plan and elevation of the priory church remains were made by Borlase in 1756 (Fig 8.4). A field survey was made by the Cornwall Archaeological Unit in 1991 (Ratcliffe 1993). Priors of Scilly Turold Occurs 13 September 1114 Hugh Occurs 1161x1184 Alan Vacated by 8 June 1233 John Chubbe Vacated 1262 John (of Yalmeton?) Occurs 1305 Robert Deneys Occurs 4 January 1331 John Duraunte Replaced 28 September 1373 Richard Auncell Appointed 28 September 1373; occurs 11 October 1375; vacated by 7 December 1385 John Denyngton Occurs 23 March 1443 Richard Salter Appointed 28 October 1452 Table 8.1 Priors of Scilly (from Orme 2010). 8.7.2 Churches and chapels St Mary’s The present church at Old Town is a restored fragment of the original Norman nave, divided from a side chapel by a round headed arch (Pevsner 1970, 209). Sedding (1909, 167) describes the arch as dating to c 1150, and Thomas (1985, 212-3) 174 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 suggests an original building period for the church of 1130 to 1140, when it acted as equivalent of a parish church for the lay populace of Ennor. According to Laws (1980, 5), the church had become ruinous by the 1820s, was rebuilt in the 1830s, and was again restored by the end of the century (1890). In the east wall, above the granite altar is a three light window of good stained glass depicting the crucifixion with Our Lady and St John, which probably belongs to the last restoration. On the apex of the east gable of the church is one of the crosses which may have marked the limit of the glebe in the Norman period. Thomas (1985, 213) quotes a twelfth century (probably 1176) charter from Bishop Bartholomew of Exeter to the prior and monks of Scilly. This condemns the fact that Richard de Wika had built a chapel within the parish of St Mary's (Old Town) church and a certain priest had dared to celebrate divine offices in it. The offending chapel was presumably closed and the priest removed. Thomas says we have no idea where it stood but guesses that it was on the Old Town side of the inlet. Thomas (1985, 215-7) also identified the almost certain site of St Maudut’s chapel on the south side of 'The Bank' in Hugh Town. There are two fourteenth century references to it (in Thomas 1977, Thomas 1985, 215-7; Doble 1938, 15) and a 1712 reference (CRO DDGO/643) to a 'Papist house' which could be the same building described by Troutbeck (1796). The former chapel described by him had mullioned windows and a burial ground on its south side. He also mentions a cross base. Whitfield (1852, 210) was shown the site (at the foot of Garrison Hill) and met the mason who had pulled down the building, which had ‘a doorway, with a fine pointed arch’ and mullioned windows. Thomas (1985, 215-7) depicts a rectangular building with a west or south doorway, perhaps fourteenth century in date, which may have been built on open ground or replaced a pre-Norman chapel attached to a burial ground. He plots the location of 11 pieces of masonry, in Hugh Town and on the Garrison, which may have come from St Maudut's chapel, including three stones in the Parade, one at Porthcressa, and two opposite the Atlantic Hotel. Part of a re-used mullioned window discovered recently on the Garrison may have come from this site originally. St Helen’s On St Helen’s a larger church was built south of the old oratory/chapel at the beginning of the eleventh century and when Tavistock abbey took over the ecclesiastical administration of Scilly it was extended by the rebuilding of its east end and the addition of a northern aisle (Fig 8.5). At the same time the circular living cell was refurbished, three rectangular rooms built and the walled enclosure remodelled. The church had fallen into disrepair by the fifteenth century and was probably in ruins by the time of the reformation. When recorded by Borlase in 1752 the church still stood to roof height (Borlase 1756) but the walls were tumbled and low when excavated in the 1950s (O’Neil 1964). Fig 8.5 Borlase’s drawing of the arches between the south and north aisles in St Helen’s Church. Entered through its small twelfth century porch the church’s nave has at its east end a sanctuary step and the foundations of a stone altar, which supported a small consecrated super-altar. Stone benches originally ran around much of the nave and the 175 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 north aisle which also had a raised east end where the side altar stood. The fragment of Purbeck marble indicates either a font or a shrine housed St Elidius’ exhumed remains. For several hundred years after his death pilgrims came to revere his holy remains and today the Anglican Church on Scilly holds a service on the site on his feast day (8 August). Fig 8.6 Plan of the St Helen’s ecclesiastical complex from the 1993 CAU survey. The building walls were constructed almost entirely of undressed granite with dressed masonry (granite and imported freestone) used only for architectural detail in the twelfth century church. The church, the refurbished circular cell and two of the rooms were roofed with slate. Borlase’s drawings show the nave and aisle divided by two low arches (Fig 8.5). Dressed stone from these was found during the excavation together with pieces of stone window and a fragment of leaded window light with painted glass attached. The remains of a splayed window can be seen in the aisle’s east wall and the position of three others are shown on a plan drawn by Borlase. The site was cleared scrub and surveyed by the Cornwall Archaeological Unit in 1993 (Fig 8.6; Ratcliffe 1994). St Agnes Leland, c 1542, noted that "St Agnes Isle [is] so caullid of a Chapel therin" (Chope 1918, 24). The 1652 Parliamentary survey noted that 'Bernard Hicks' house at 'Port Eagles' or 'Egles Port' (Periglis) was in part "anciently a chappell" while his garden "hath been and is ye burying place" (Pounds 1984, II). Presumably this was the medieval chapel and cemetery dedicated in honour of the local saint who it is suggested was 'Arana' and not 'Warna' as it later became (Thomas 1977). There is a local tradition that the original burial place of St Agnes was in this area south west of the lifeboat slip and skulls and other bones and a grave have been seen by inhabitants in this vicinity. The Cornwall and Scilly HER records that Mr L Hicks of the lighthouse, St Agnes, thought that the ruined buildings south of the slipway probably incorporated the footings or remains of Bernard Hicks’ house, and that there are surface irregularities nearby in the OS field no 6929, which may represent wall lines of early buildings. St Martin’s The ‘lighthouse chapel’ on St Martin’s Head continued in use through the medieval period and is shown on Captain Greenville Collins’ navigation chart of the Isles of Scilly surveyed between 1691 and 1698 (UKHO B888). The island name St Martin's is at least as old as 1500 and Thomas (1985, 223) thinks there must have been a church on the island which gave rise to this name. Davis's map of 1585 shows a symbol which appears to represent an ecclesiastical site, on the 176 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 northern tip of St Martin's but Thomas implies that this location is a mistake, and that the symbol actually indicates a church or chapel pre-dating Ekins' 1763 church at Higher Town (ibid, 244). The existence of an earlier ecclesiastical site here is corroborated by the presence of an earlier cemetery, and the possible medieval cross base. A papal bull of 1193 mentions "churches" on Scilly owned by the Abbey of Tavistock. Thomas suggests that St Martin's "is the most likely for a second ecclesia", the other being on St Mary's (ibid, 226-7). Also, finds of green-glazed and bar-lug pottery from St Martin's suggest that ‘the whole south west facing inward crescent of St Martin's contains some lost focus of settlement from medieval times... and our legitimate inference can be that the small population possessed a Christian burial ground (where the present church stands), a chapel ascribed to St Martin, sufficient religious standing for this to represent an ecclesia in the 1193 bull, and subsequently to lend its patronal name three centuries afterwards to the whole of the isle’ (ibid, 227). Newman (2015) has studied the two oldest maps of Scilly; one apparently made in the 1640s by Wilde (British Library, 15737, fol. 33b) which has received little attention despite seemingly the earliest detailed map of the archipelago, and the other the sketch map attributed to Captain Davis. Both maps depict a church at the north-western end of St Martin’s, although this is not shown on the later seventeenth charts such as Greenville Collins (1682). The site of the ‘lost’ medieval church may be near the summit of Top Rock Hill where there is an earthwork and a plateau, about 15m by 15m and overgrown with gorse, bramble and heather, overlooking Pernagie Point. Teän Although there is little archaeological trace the chapel on Teän may still have had some sporadic use until about 1120 because the saint’s name was still being cited (Thomas 1985, 202). Samson There was possibly a chapel on Samson, separate to the early medieval features excavated at East Porth in 1971, although this is speculative (Thomas 1985, 202). 8.8 Human osteological remains A shallow grave containing an articulated human skeleton was found during BT trenching at Lower Town, St Martin’s in September 1992 (Ratcliffe 1997). The grave was located beneath the surface of the road, 1.3km from the present graveyard on St Martin's and the bones were unusually well preserved given the normally high acidity of soils in Scilly. The Lower Town skeleton had received a Christian burial since it was lying in an extended position and was orientated east to west with the head at the west. Certain characteristics hinted that it may have been buried during the Early Christian period namely burial without a coffin, the placing of the hands together over the pelvis and the shape of the grave which was very shallow and narrow. Approximately 60% of the skeleton survived although most of the torso was absent. Of the bones present, the right hand limb bones were in a better state of preservation than those on the left. The remains were those of a male who was probably about 1.72m (5 feet 6½ inches) in height and 33 to 45 years old at the time of death (estimated from the degree of dental attrition). The only pathological evidence that could be identified was dental hypoplasia, a structural defect resulting from environmental or dietary factors during the development of the tooth (Ratcliffe 1997). Radiocarbon dating of the skeleton revealed that burial had occurred between 1030 and 1260 (GU 3412; Table 7.1). The crudeness of the Lower Town grave may be evidence for it not being part of a cemetery, but a solitary grave deliberately located away from the island's main burial ground. This may have occurred if the dead man was not local but, for example, a drowned shipwreck victim, or if his family could not afford to have him buried in the graveyard (Ratcliffe 1997). 177 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 8.9 Defence and warfare The principal stronghold of medieval Scilly was the small shell keep castle known as Ennor, or Old Town, Castle which occupies a small but prominent knoll on the east side of the broad Lower Moors valley behind Old Town Bay on the south coast of St Mary’s. The earliest reference to Ennor Castle is in a deed of AD 1244 and by 1306 the castle was held by Ranulf de Blanchminster. A royal licence to crenellate the castle was granted to Ranulf in 1315 but in 1337, the castle along with the rest of Scilly was included in the lands of the newly created Duchy of Cornwall. Leland, c 1542, noted that it was a "meately [moderately] strong Pile, but the Roue of the Buildings in it be sore defaced and woren" (Chope 1918, 23). The castle was superseded by Star Castle as the main fortification of Scilly and is traditionally thought to have been a source of stone for the new fort and for other buildings in Old Town and Hugh Town. Ennor Castle is on private land and was overgrown with mesembryanthemum which was cleared in late spring /early summer 2014 (Fig 8.7). Modern housing in Hugh Town covers a hillock (Mount Holles) on which a medieval keep may have stood. Fig 8.7 The keep of Ennor Castle, probably the only section of unaltered upstanding medieval masonry in Scilly, after vegetation clearance in June 2014 (photo: Cornwall Council). 8.10 Scientific dating 8.10.1 Radiocarbon dates The six radiocarbon determinations listed below in Table 8.2 below have been calibrated using OxCal 4.3. Previous modelling of dates has not been used and all are expressed at the full 95.4% confidence level, rather than to the period which the date may be weighted (for example at 89%). This means that the calibrated dates in the tables may vary significantly from the publications where they appear (see Section 2.1.4 for further discussion). 178 Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Updated Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2019 Lab Ref 14 GU-2569 Cal AD @ 95% Site Context Reference 1030±50 890-1160 Big Pool, St Agnes Scourse 1986 ? 998±57 890-1170 Old Town Bay Lower band of peat and organic sediment Upper peat deposit OxA4063 995±55 900-1170 Lower Town, St Martin’s Ovicaprid bone from midden Ratcliffe 1997 GU-3412 880±50 1030-1250 Lower Town, St Martin’s Human bone from burial Ratcliffe & Straker 1996 UBA26168 SUERC– 39452 748±49 1170 - 1390 Carex sp. Johns et al 2014 689 ±38 1260 - 1400 Porthloo, St Mary’s Lower Moors, St Mary’s C age BP Ratcliffe & Straker 1998 Charman et al 2016 Table 8.2 List of medieval radiocarbon dates. (Note, the calibrated dates have been rounded out, see Section 2.1.4.) 8.10.2 OSL dating Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating on submarine and intertidal deposits recovered during the Lyonesse Project has not produced any medieval OSL ages (Roberts and Marshall in Charman et al 2016). 179 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 9 Post-medieval and modern (1547-present) Edited by Charles Johns from contributions by John Allan, Eric Berry, Eleanor Breen, Allan Brodie, Kevin Camidge, Tom Greeves, Graeme Kirkham, Richard Larn, Rachel Leung, Robert Platts, Fraser Sturt, and Sue Watts. 9.1 Introduction The main characteristics of Scilly’s post-medieval and modern resource are summarised in this chapter. The discovery of the New World increased the strategic importance of Scilly and from the mid-sixteenth century central government exerted much greater influence on the Islands as it became increasingly involved with matters such as defence that had previously been dealt with locally. Their situation as the western most anchorage and the first/last landfall of the South Western approaches has not only physically shaped the Isles, but also the nature of their archaeological record. This record holds significance in its own right, as well as playing a part in nationally and internationally significant stories of colonisation, travel, trade and conflict. Fig 9.1 Post-medieval sites recorded in the Cornwall and Scilly HER. 9.2 Environment and landscape The three historical events which are likely to have had the most impact on the pattern of the farming landscape during the post-medieval period are the leasing of the Islands by Francis Godolphin in 1570 and by Augustus Smith in 1834 and the start of the Scillonian flower industry during the late nineteenth century (see below Section 9.9.6). Godolphin is known to have encouraged Cornish people to settle in Scilly, particularly on St Martin's, and this may have involved the laying out of new field systems or reorganisation of existing ones, but it is not clear yet whether this influence can be detected in the present field pattern, and it is possible that the new immigrants merely brought previously abandoned fields back into use (Ratcliffe 1995, 7). 180 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Fig 9.2 Inferred submergence model c cal AD 1500 based on data from the Lyonesse Project (Charman et al 2016). Augustus Smith was an economic reformer who began his term as landlord by reallocating farm holdings, which had become minute and scattered by subdivision, and introduced a system of inheritance by which land passed only to the eldest son, all other offspring being forced to find alternative employment. This reallocation need not have led to alteration of the existing field pattern. However, given that the aim was to maximise on agricultural yields, it is likely that the straight sided enclosures shown on the 1888 OS map represent new enclosure of areas of heathland and the remodelling of anciently enclosed land during the second half of the nineteenth century. The large enclosure on South Hill, Samson, is definitely of this date, being an abortive attempt by Smith to create a deerpark (Ratcliffe 1995, 7-8). From the Iron Age to the mid-nineteenth century Scilly remained a treeless environment (with the exception perhaps of a few orchards and elm groves). However, in the last one hundred and fifty years pines and elms have been planted as windbreaks within and along the edges of the enclosed farmland (particularly on St Mary's and Tresco). Rhododendrons, eucalyptus, sycamores and evergreen oaks have also been planted on Tresco, mainly on former heathland as shelter and cover for game birds. Together with the hedges planted along the side of bulb fields (tamarisk, pittosporum, escallonia, euonymous) which have in places been allowed to grow to treelike proportions, this nineteenth and twentieth century tree planting has led to Scilly having a more wooded appearance today than it has had at any other time during the last three thousand years (Ratcliffe 1995, 9). Field boundaries are a characteristic feature of Scilly’s farmed landscape. As well as having landscape value the boundaries are of historic importance, both for showing how the landscape has changed and developed and for their archaeological potential; some have prehistoric origins. The islands’ walling techniques are distinct from those of the mainland and in some respects differ 181 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda from island to island, although there are broad similarities in the suite of boundary types. Some field systems are in disrepair. With the progressive loss of traditional drystone walling skills, some field boundaries are losing their traditional character. The 1996 Historic Landscape Assessment (Land Use Consultants and Cornwall Archaeological Unit) identified four historic landscape types in Scilly: Anciently Enclosed Land (AEL) - land enclosed prior to the nineteenth century, which includes field systems which are as early as the Bronze Age in origin or, theoretically, as late as the eighteenth century; Late Post-medieval Enclosures, (LPE) - straight-sided enclosures, usually square or rectangular in shape, but occasionally other less regular shapes. They are probably of nineteenth century date and are the result either of the remodelling of AEL or new enclosure of what was previously heathland; late nineteenth/twentieth century Bulb Strips - small narrow enclosures designed for the cultivation of flowers (daffodils and narcissi). Comparison of the 1888 and 1908 OS 25" maps indicates that most of these strips were created during this 20 year period (with only a relatively few being laid out before 1888 or after 1908); Modern Enclosures - enclosures not shown on the 1908 OS map but which appear on the 1980 map or were recorded during the fieldwork. 9.3 Material culture 9.3.1 Ceramics The methodology for the post-medieval ceramics resource assessment was the same as that for the medieval resource assessment (see above Section 8.4.3). The only additional significant omission from the assessment has been failure to re-examine the collection from King Charles’s Castle, Tresco, believed to be in an English Heritage store but not accessible at the time of writing. The period 1500–1650 From the period 1500–1650 the single informative collection is that from King Charles Castle, published by Miles and Saunders (1970). It is an interesting reflection of the limited progress which has taken place in the subsequent period of more than 40 years that this remains the most important single report on the early modern pottery of Cornwall. Alongside a range of Cornish and North Devon coarsewares, the collection contains Portuguese coarseware and an important group of maiolica tiles from Seville in arista technique (probably reused monastic spoil of the 1520s). The period after 1650 From the late seventeenth century onwards there is a steep increase in the volume of ceramics on the islands. In part this reflects the general rise in the islands’ population (about 650 in 1650, 1960 in 1799, about 2000–2500 in the nineteenth century) but a more important factor is probably the marked increase in the volume of ceramics used at every social level. Nearly all the material of this date is held at IOSM. Some of it comes from unsystematic private excavation (such as the collections from sites around the Garrison, which include some fine examples of late seventeenth century North Devon sgraffito, alongside imported wares. Material of this date is also a regular feature of beachcombers’ collections. It would be easy to dismiss their finds as unstratified collections of little archaeological value, and it may indeed prove impossible to extract much information from the many collections of post-1750 industrial earthenwares and stonewares, but it is unwise to presume this is always the case. Some beachcombers’ finds are certainly of considerable interest; the instance of the 182 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda medieval Saintonge pottery from Porthcressa has been mentioned above, and other casual finds include unusual imports. Significant gaps in current knowledge Much basic work is needed to develop understanding of both the medieval and the post-medieval pottery of Cornwall, which forms the bulk of the Scilly collections. To allow satisfactory reporting, the pottery of the different Cornish kilns needs to be characterised. At present vague terms like ‘Cornish coarseware’ are commonly used to express the wide range of possible identifications represented in sherd collections. Ten different Cornish potting centres are known from seventeenth and eighteenth century documentary evidence (Douch 1969). Kiln waste has been excavated for three of these – in two cases more than 40 years ago. In no case has a report been published. Basic petrological description is needed to aid researchers in establishing the differences between the kilns. The validity of some of the terms in regular use when describing Cornish pottery, such as ‘Sandy Lane ware’ or ‘Stuffle ware’, needs exploration by petrological or chemical analyses. No fabric series for Cornish coarsewares exists. Mason’s excavation and publication of the early nineteenth century (c 1820–50) pottery from a cottage on Samson – the kind of study commonly undertaken on sites of this date in North America and Australia but uncommon in Britain (Mason 1984) – illustrates the point that, when stratified or related to a specific context, the industrial ceramics from the islands need not be dismissed as material of little consequence: they are capable of yielding worthwhile information about the material culture of the islands. 9.3.2 Other artefacts Clay pipes Clay pipe fragments are common finds, usually dating from the seventeenth to late nineteenth centuries and concentrated around area of modern settlement (Ratcliffe 1991, 107-114). Ten clay pipe fragments, probably dating to c 18201840 were found in the post-medieval midden on Samson outside of House A, most if not all were of West Country origin (Mason 1984, 68, fig 11). Coins and tokens Recorded finds include a Charles I Rose Farthing from a field at North Farm, St Martin’s, an Irish Charles II halfpenny minted in 1680 found in a midden at the entrance to Breakaway, St Martin’s, a George III penny dating to 1819 from Myrtle Cottage, St Agnes, a Portuguese 10 Reis of Maria and Peter III (?1791) from a field north west of Old Grimsby, Tresco, and an eighteenth century gaming token found on Higher Town Beach, St Martin’s (Ratcliffe 1991, 115). Metalwork Metalwork recovered from the Samson buildings in 2006/7 includes many iron nails, iron bolts, an iron door hinge, an iron ring door knocker, part of a Cornish shovel, and a nineteenth century clasp knife with a bone handle (Johns et al 2013). Buttons Buttons are frequent finds and include three nineteenth century decorated military buttons found during the off islands Electrification Project (Ratcliffe 1991, 115). Three late eighteenth or early nineteenth century civilian brass buttons and an officer’s coatee button were found in the midden outside House A on Samson, as well as 38 bone buttons and five shell buttons (Mason 1984, 66-7). 183 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Glass seals A sixteenth or seventeenth century Spanish or Portuguese intaglio double seal made of purplish glass was found a Cove Vean, St Agnes (Ratcliffe 1991, 115). Glass Bottle glass occurs frequently (Ratcliffe 1991, 115). Most of the glass from the midden outside House A on Samson was bottle glass from wine bottles. There were a few pieces of window glass inside embedded in the floor (Mason 1984, 67). Glass recovered from the Samson buildings in 2006/7 includes two fragments of a nineteenth century glass candlestick, fragments of window glass (Johns et al 2013). Gunflints Thirteen gunflints dating from the mid-seventeenth to the early nineteenth century were recorded during the off islands Electrification Project, mostly from Tresco and Bryher, with two from St Agnes and one from Bryher (Ratcliffe 1991, 40). Five gunflints were found in the post-medieval midden on Samson outside of House A (Mason 1984, 67). Leather A leather oar collar was recovered from House H on Samson in 2006 (Johns et al 2007, 51). 9.3.3 Building materials Scillonian granite and in some cases, granite from Cornwall, are the principal building materials used on the islands. The granite is usually bedded in local earth mortar using ram. Granite ashlar, more likely to be used for higher status buildings, is usually bedded in lime mortar. The earlier roofing tradition for all but the most prestigious buildings was thatch. The older roofs coverings that survive in Scilly are scantle slate that was imported from North Cornwall. Terracotta tile is another traditional roofing material that was imported to Scilly, usually as a ballast cargo. This was more commonly used on outbuildings. Salvage Every scrap of timber which floated ashore or could be removed from shipwrecks would have been was put to good use by the Scillonians, incorporated into buildings as lintels, door or window frames, floor or ceiling joists or roof timbers, or simply cut up for firewood. In many instances wreck timbers were reused in the building of new vessels in the shipyards of St Mary's and Bryher. Most of the older buildings in Scilly still hold ship's timbers in some form or other, which are frequently exposed during alterations or extensions and identifiable by their iron or wooden treenail fastenings, shape, or cut-out sections. Such finds generally go unrecorded. When the Wesleyan Chapel in Garrison Lane, St Mary's, was being refurbished for conversion to a public library, educational centre and council offices in the 1990s, a large number of wooden ship components were found beneath the floorboards (Johns et al 2004, 146). In 1998, a local builder on lifting the floorboards of Rose Cottage at Trenoweth found they were supported on large curved timber frames from a ship. Building work on the 'Sandpiper' shop at the Bank on St Mary's showed that the ground floor was supported on huge oak keel timbers, some 400mm (16ins) square, which were notched out to hold hull frames. There are also several examples of ship timbers still to be seen around the islands; on St Mary's outside commercial premises at Old Town, and on the concrete hard-standing of the old RNAS seaplane base at Porth Mellon; in Tresco Gardens Valhalla Collection; a door lintel 184 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda in the Pest House, St. Helen’s and a particularly fine example of a eighteenth/nineteenth century part stern-post with bronze gudgeons outside Bank Cottage on Bryher (Johns et al 2004, 146). 9.4 Identities Until the advent of steamship technology in the mid-nineteenth century the voyage to Scilly from the mainland could take anywhere from 12 hours to two days (Hudston 2000, 11); the very remoteness and isolation of Scilly has led to the evolution of a distinctive island culture which is quite separate from mainland Cornwall. This island culture has had a fascination for many writers and was summarised by Gill Arbery (2002). The islanders have a fierce independence and a natural suspicion of anything imposed from outside Scilly, particularly if it has the stamp of Central Government officialdom. Although there are certain affinities with Cornwall, Scilly’s long-established trade links and seafaring legacy has resulted in links with the wider world, so that the islands have developed a cosmopolitan outlook. Although many place-names in Scilly have old Cornish roots Scillonians do not consider themselves to be Cornish. Nearly all the inhabitants of the islands, old Scillonians or relative newcomers alike, develop a fierce protectiveness towards any perceived threats to the island’s unique qualities, and they also wish visitors to love their islands as they do. The traditional life of the islands has been based predominantly on the sea, with coastal industries, and later flower farming and tourism, supplanting subsistence agriculture since the early eighteenth century (Arbery 2002, 25). The population of the islands has remained fairly static at just over 2,000 for the last 20 years with approximately 1,600 on St Mary’s, the largest island. The population is more than doubled by visitors at the peak of summer holiday season (Arbery 2002, 25). Hugh Town on St Mary’s is most akin to the mainland, but the pace is still remarkably quiet and slow. Of the inhabited off-islands, Tresco is run by the Dorrien-Smith family as a private estate, marketed as a sophisticated, unspoilt island paradise, Bryher and St Agnes vie for the honour of being the most unspoilt and traditional of the islands, whilst the inhabitants of St Martin’s were said to be the most independent of the off-islanders. Of necessity, there has always been a strong tradition of recycling materials, ‘make do and mend’, on the islands, especially using wreck wood, which in the past has enhanced many buildings (Arbery 2002, 27). The majority of original Scillonian families can only trace their association with the islands back to the seventeenth century, when their ancestors came to Scilly during the post-Civil War resettlement. Nevertheless, they are proud of their descent and consider that only families with at least ‘three generations under the sod’ can be called Scillonians. These Scillonians are now in a minority due to successive out-migration of the local population and continual influx of people from the mainland wishing to settle or retire. Traditionally, only those born in Scilly can call themselves islanders, others, even individuals who have lived there for many years, can only claim to be residents (Arbery 2002, 25). Locally, the islands are either called ‘the Isles of Scilly’ or ‘Scilly’, the term ‘Scilly Isles’ is regarded as rather derogative and only used by those unacquainted with the place. Certain family names are inextricably linked with certain islands, for example: the Woodcocks and Webbers with Samson (many islanders are proud to trace their descent from these families), the Nances with Teän and St Martin’s, Jenkins with Bryher, Hicks with St Agnes, Mumfords, Banfields, Lethbridges with St Mary’s. 185 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Scilly has an active Family History Group. The social history collection held by the museum, is of great benefit to those carrying out research on their family's life style in years gone by. Photos, articles of clothing, tools and instruments, books and records etc held in the museum, have been acquired mainly from local sources and Island families. 9.5 Food production 9.5.1 Farming Farming continued to be the mainstay of the economy during the post-medieval and modern periods; pigs and cattle were raised and potatoes and wheat were the main crops. During the nineteenth century earlier and better varieties of potato were introduced, the surplus being exported to the Mediterranean. Throughout the post-medieval period farming continued to be the mainstay of the economy. Cattle, sheep, pigs, horses and chickens were the domesticated animals kept. The cattle were initially small, black, hardy beasts, which on some islands were fed on seaweed, but were replaced during the early nineteenth century by Devon X Shorthorn crosses and Jerseys. A peculiar small breed of sheep persisted into the twentieth century. Pigs were very large and plentiful, every householder keeping one. Horses, similar to the Exmoor pony and grazed mainly on furze (gorse), were kept as pack-animals for transporting seaweed (for use as manure) and, together with cattle were used to pull ploughs. However, during the nineteenth century they were largely replaced by donkeys, which could be obtained cheaply from the Cornish mining districts. For most of the postmedieval period the crops grown were potatoes, barley, wheat, peas, oats and a grain called Pillis. Potatoes were grown in large quantities, with some farmers gathering two crops a year; and the introduction of better and earlier varieties during the nineteenth century led to a surplus for export. Enough barley was grown to supply all the Islands with beer, bread for the poorer families and feed for cattle and pigs. Only a little wheat was produced locally, sacks of flour being imported from the mainland, but sufficient quantities of peas, oats and pillis were grown to serve the local need. The pillis was ground and used as an alternative to oatmeal (Ratcliffe 1995, 7-8). Throughout the post-medieval period the heathland which adjoined the enclosed farmland was valuable as rough summer pasture, sub-divided by boundary walls on St Mary's but not elsewhere. In addition, the heathland was an important source of fuel - turf, furze (gorse), broom and ferns (bracken). Bracken was also used as bedding for animals - there are several areas (known as Fern splatts) on St Martin's where farmers had individual or group rights to cut bracken (K Low, pers comm to J Ratcliffe) and such areas presumably also existed on the other islands. Peat was also dug from low-lying wetlands, such as Higher and Lower Moors on St Mary's, and these may also have provided reeds and coppiced willow for thatching, basketwork and fencing. The pattern of anciently enclosed land on St Mary's extends across Higher and Lower Moors, suggesting that these mires were part of the system of enclosed pasture. Scillonians had been making use of heathland and wetland areas in this way since prehistoric times and continued to do so into the twentieth century, and, in the case of rough grazing on heathland, until very recent times (Ratcliffe 1995, 8). Allotments on the Garrison between the walls and the edge of the cliffs were important for locals and soldiers of the Garrison. The Cornwall and Scilly HER records a nineteenth century horse engine and threshing machine at Lower Town Farm, St Agnes (Scheduled Monument, NHLE 15452). 186 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Potato and flower cultivation, and to a much lesser extent the rearing of beef and dairy cattle, have continued into modern times, and a few blocks of bulb strips have been created since the turn of the twentieth century, a few areas of heathland have been taken in as improved grazing and some previously enclosed land has been remodelled. However, farming now accounts for less than 15% of the Scillonian economy and the number of fields which are becoming inundated by invasive vegetation (bracken, brambles and gorse) is gradually increasing (Ratcliffe 1995, 9). Water Mill Troutbeck (nd [c 1794], 96) records remains said to have been a water mill at the head of Watermill Bay, St Mary’s. No remains of this mill were found by the OS field worker in 1978 but he thought it may have been in the vicinity of SV 922 121 where there is a small stream. The track leading down to the bay from the west is called Watermill Lane. The site was visited by the Cornwall Archaeological Unit in 1988 but no remains of the mill were found. It would be useful to revisit the when the vegetation is low. Windmills Grain was ground at communal windmills on St Mary’s - the Garrison (1690s-1726), Peninnis Head (1726-1834) and Buzza Hill (1834 - late nineteenth century). There were two late sixteenth or early seventeenth century windmills on the Hugh. One windmill was purchased in 1593/94 and both were noted by the 1652 Duchy survey which stated that they were employed by the Garrison and used by all the islanders with ‘soake, toll, suite and custome thereunto belonging (Pounds 1984, II). Labelled 'windmills' on the 1655 map and shown with sails on a 1693 chart. Heath confirms that by 1750 they were ruinous: ‘two circular walls of windmills formerly in use’. Troutbeck in 1796 states that they were replaced by Peninnis windmill after a dispute concerning islanders wanting access at hours the commanding officer deemed unreasonable. Plans to reuse the towers as blockhouses during the Napoleonic war in 1803 or 1804 were not pursued, and in 1822 they were daymarks for shipping. One windmill was demolished; its position was located by Alan Brodie and Mark Bowden in 2010, the absence of any large plants in this area indicating the presence of a structure impeding growth. Its site is marked on the 1902 Record Plan of Steval and Woolpack Batteries (Bowden and Brodie 2011, fig 61). The other was allegedly converted into a gun tower, although there is no evidence for this beyond possible 'crenellations' at the top of the older walling. It was used in the mid-nineteenth by the coastguard service and then, in 1869, was acquired by the Shipping Gazette before being taken over in 1871 by Lloyds, who bought it in 1882. Now a private house. A windmill was built on Peninnis by Francis Godolphin in 1726 when it became difficult for civilians to use those within The Garrison. By Troutbeck’s time (c 1794) it was the only grist mill on the island, but was in poor shape and corn had to be sent to Cornwall for milling. By 1798 it was working again with Robert Maybee as the miller, and continued in use until 1834 when superseded by Buzza Tower. The disused mill later served as a signal tower and when Listed in 1954. Demolished in 1960, all that remains is its granite base, housing the lower millstone and bearing a date stone, FG 1726 and another inscribed WT. Buzza Tower on Buzza Hill, St Mary’s was previously called King Edward’s Tower. This well known landmark has been maintained since 1912 as a memorial to the King’s visit, but was originally a windmill built in 1834 to replace the earlier Peninnis Mill. It stands on a kerbed platform which probably incorporates the 187 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda remains of a Bronze Age cairn excavated by William Borlase during the eighteenth century. At Middle Down, Tresco is the bottom stone of a horse-driven mill; a circular platform with a central hole is surrounded by two channels carved out of natural rock. The top stone has been built into a wall elsewhere on Tresco. The mill is said to have been surrounded by a circle of stones at one time. It is of post-medieval character and was mentioned by Troutbeck (nd [c 1794]), but its function is uncertain; suggestions range from a cider press to a corn or even a tin mill. More likely because of its isolated position and the lack of associated buildings, it was used to crush gorse for horse feed (Ratcliffe and Johns 2003, 523). Quernstones Querns continued to be used on Scilly until comparatively recently. William Borlase mentions querns (1756, 28) stating that 'if the Mill [Peninnis] is out of repair, or chances to be too much crouded by the Islanders; people, who cannot be conveniently served here, must grind their Corn at home; for which purpose every house is furnished with a Hand-mill.' He then goes on to describe a handmill. Many of the rotary quernstones to be seen on the islands are probably, therefore, post-medieval/modern in date. Several on St Agnes certainly look to be. However, the problem with querns and other stone objects is that many reside in private collections where they have been collected over the years from fields and beaches and in many cases it is no longer possible to determine where they were found (cf Ratcliffe 1991, 67). 9.5.2 Fishing Fishing was an important source of food but never a major industry. Seine fishing was probably carried since the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries. By this traditional Scillonian (and Cornish) method of fishing pilchards and scad (horse mackerel) were taken by a net laid in a half circle from a beach and then hauled into shallow water. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, at least, scad and potatoes are reputed to have formed the staple island diet (Gill 1975, 107). Tovey and Ginver’s 1779 ‘New Chart of the Islands of Scilly’ depicts a ‘Palace’ at New Grimsby, presumably a pilchard ‘palace’ or fish cellar. New Grimsby Quay is still referred to as ‘Palace Quay’ (ibid, 111) and the row of cottages as ‘Palace Row’. The quality of Scilly ling, caught on long lines, dried and salted, was renowned. In 1750 it was recorded that large quantities of fish were caught in spring and summer. Most of it was destined for local consumption, only the best dried ling finding a market in Penzance (ibid, 107). A letter of 1803 from Lord Nelson in Toulon to a friend in Plymouth thanks him for his present of Scilly Ling. During the 1818-30 economic collapse of the off-islands a national appeal raised £9,000 to establish a commercial fishery. A fish cellar was built on Tresco, two 14-ton boats built for pilchard and mackerel fishing and another six repaired. Much money was spent on nets and other equipment but much more may have been diverted to the Hugh Town shipyards. The pilchard business appears to have made a fair start but soon collapsed (although briefly revived in the early twentieth century; ibid, 107). The Sennen Fishing Company unsuccessfully attempted to establish a seine fishery in Scilly in 1870, but after two years of failure abandoned the attempt (Noall 1972, 129). 188 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda The completion of the London to Penzance railway in 1865 gave a great impetus to the exploitation of Scilly’s fishing grounds. From 1869 to the 1890s the Mount’s Bay mackerel luggers often landed their catches at St Mary’s, as did the ketches and yawls from Yarmouth and Lowestoft, popularly called the ‘Yorkies’, resulting in at least one famous fishermen’s fight in Hugh Town. The fishing prospered with the new flower industry as the shipbuilding and piloting died. Often there were two or three hundred fishing boats in the islands during this time (Noall 1972, 108-9). Shellfish, particularly limpets, continued to be valuable dietary supplement. One of the few studies of Scillonian domestic middens is that of the midden associated with an early nineteenth century building on Samson (Mason and Hayton 1977; Mason 1984). Although other uses such as soil enrichment or fishing bait have been suggested in view of the large numbers present it seems likely that limpets at least occasionally formed part of the diet. The value of a foodstuff such as limpets lies in the reliability of the resource and ease of exploitation when more desirable sources of protein might be in short supply (Light forthcoming). Limpets and shrimps were largely exported in the later nineteenth century and less so until the Second World War. Since then shrimping has mainly been a seasonal leisure activity (Noall 1972, 108). During the 1930s the majority of Scillonian fishermen moved into passenger launches for the tourist trade and local fishing became limited to the catching of lobsters and crabs for the hotels or the Penzance market (Gill 1975, 108). Today there are only small-scale fisheries around the Islands, although all the waters are fished. There are currently only 16 commercial fishing vessels in Scilly with some additional potting and fishing by individuals. Shellfish (including lobster, crab and crawfish) constitute two-thirds of the catch. Evidence for fish processing is represented in the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly HER by only two records. Just above the shore on the east side of Old Town Bay is a deep rectangular trough cut out of a single granite block measuring 2.4m long by 0.9m wide by 0.9m high, with sides 0.1m thick. According to Troutbeck (nd [c 1794]) it is was used for salting, when all the fish of the Islands were brought here for curing and stages were erected in the adjoining field for drying fish in the sun, he estimated that the trough will hold eighteen Winchester bushels and was dug from Salakee Down. At both ends the trough’s inner faces slope inward. Incisions in one of its outer corners may be associated with lifting tackle. A drystone sub-rectangular building in the cliff face on the east side of North Hill, Samson in 1971 was interpreted as a possible fish-smoking house; inside was a stone-built furnace 1.2m long by 0.6m wide by 0.9m deep (Butcher and Neal 2017). An alternative interpretation is that the structure at site A was a ‘barking house’, in which oak or other tree barks were boiled with water to produce a liquid in which fishing nets and sails were steeped to preserve them (Neal and Johns forthcoming). At the southern end of Appletree Point, just north of Long Crow, Tresco there is a long rectangular shellfish bed, bordered with small edge-set stones, which probably represent part of Augustus Smith’s unsuccessful attempt to start an oyster fishery. It lies roughly at LAT level and was photographed by Dave Hooley in 1997. 9.6 Settlement 9.6.1 Introduction Many of Scilly’s modern settlements are historic in origin. Most farms are on the site of medieval or at least early post-medieval ones. Old Town is a settlement of twelfth century origin and the churchtowns on St Martin's and St Agnes probably 189 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda also date back to that time. Following the construction of Star Castle in 1593 the focus of settlement shifted from Old Town to Hugh Town which has an early seventeenth century foundation. The early date of a settlement increases the likelihood of modern development disturbing buried archaeological remains. In addition to the potential for surviving buried remains, many of the buildings within the present settlements are post-medieval historic structures, not just within the main built environments, but also within farmyards where in addition to the farmhouses, nineteenth century (and sometimes earlier) barns, byres, glasshouses and packing sheds represent specific types of farming activity. Scilly’s vernacular architecture was first appraised in a seminal study of the regional styles of the west of England (Richardson and Gill 1924), and was also described briefly by Geoffrey Grigson (1948, 62) and David Bland in John Betjeman’s Shell Guide to Cornwall (1964). The ‘Scilly Isles’ occupy three and a half pages in Pevsner’s Cornwall (Pevsner 1970, 208-11). In 1980 the Isles of Scilly Museum published a short well-illustrated booklet ‘The Buildings of Scilly’ by Peter Laws. In 1996 ‘Scilly’s Building Heritage’ by Peter Madden was published in the Twelveheads Press ‘Heritage’ series (Madden 1996). A rapid examination of the buildings of the Isles of Scilly suggests the following groups and types of architecture that appear in the Islands and some examples of each: Domestic Buildings: Houses in Hugh Town and Old Town that date back to the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries ranging from small vernacular cottages to larger polite houses, Tresco Abbey, Scilly’s twentieth century architecture and the challenges of modern development in an historic environment. Purpose-built hotels could be considered in this category. Religious Buildings: Old Town Church, the remains of the former medieval priory within Tresco Abbey, Anglican churches on each of the islands, the various present and former Methodist chapels, the Roman Catholic Church, gravestones and memorials in churches and churchyards. Public Buildings: Town Hall, Post Office, Museum, schools (old and new), reading room on St Agnes. Agricultural Structures: Windmills, glasshouses and packing sheds, farmsteads and farm buildings that need to be considered as integrated complexes and not just for individual listed or unlisted structures. Maritime: Lighthouses, day marks, harbour arm and buildings, lookouts, gig sheds, structures associated with fishing and smuggling. Military: Old Blockhouse, King Charles’ Castle, Harry’s Walls, Star Castle, Cromwell’s Castle, the Garrison’s defences including buildings in the Garrison including the Powder House, Newman House, the buildings flanking the gate and the c 1900 Defended Ports structures, St Martin’s telegraph station, Telegraph Tower, Tresco Seaplane base and Second World War structures on St Mary’s. Commemorative structures and street furniture: Monument to Augustus Smith on Tresco, K6 phone boxes, commemorative public furniture, street lighting Uninhabited islands: Evidence of the settlement on islands such as Samson, St Helen’s, Teän, will need to be considered. Samson’s vernacular farmsteads are particularly significant archaic survivals – can the same forms be found on other islands but disguised by modern reuse? 190 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 9.6.2 The traditional post-medieval buildings of Scilly Summary An assessment of the historic buildings traditions of the post-medieval period was an important element of SHERF. Some work has been done on this subject before but there has never been an analysis that has looked at all building types on all the islands where traditional post-medieval buildings survive. This study attempts to identify the characteristic building traditions through its building types throughout the islands and to identify what might usefully be achieved by more intensive examination. Results of this brief study show that whilst some particular building types have been examined in detail others have had only superficial analysis and there are some building types that are at risk of almost total loss. It has also been established that the Isles of Scilly contain a built heritage that is unique and very special. The character of the traditional buildings in Scilly deserves better recognition and needs more thorough analysis and interpretation. The full illustrated version of this section of the report is available online on the SHERF webpage. Aims The aim of the study was to identify the interest and importance of the Scilly’s historic building traditions and to place them in a wider context that might lead to further related research, collation, and investigation. Methods The study was predominantly a desk exercise to collate and assess available information about the traditional buildings of the Isles of Scilly. This included publications and reports, and the compilation of the listed buildings descriptions from the Historic England Images of England website with photographs of most of the listed buildings (deposited with the project archive and available online on the SHERF webpage). Discussion relating to further work has been inserted usually following each building type section. The built tradition Context Scillonian granite and in some cases, granite from Cornwall, are the principal building materials used on the islands. The granite is usually bedded in local earth mortar (subsoil) called ram in Scilly (‘rab’ in Cornwall). Granite ashlar, more likely to be used for higher status buildings is usually bedded in lime mortar. The older roofs coverings that survive are scantle slate that was imported from North Cornwall. However, the earlier roofing tradition for all but the most prestigious buildings was thatch. This is generally called ‘rope thatch’ in Scilly due to the ropes that were used to hold the used over the thatch and held in place by stone weights to protect the thatch from the high winds that are common on the islands. There are now no surviving thatched roofs but good evidence for their former existence is contained in old photographs, particularly those in the Gibson Collection. Further evidence is contained in many of the surviving buildings. This evidence includes heightening of buildings from when they were adapted to accept slate roofs and often to insert upper floors to buildings that had been built as single-storey structures. An important source of information about the design of traditional buildings that were originally roofed in thatch are many of the buildings of the ruined settlement on Samson that, except for deterioration, survives virtually unchanged since the settlement was abandoned in the mid-nineteenth century as part of the educational and other reforms that were being carried out by Augustus Smith, the then governor of the islands. Elsewhere there are a few buildings that retain their 191 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda single-storey appearance but many that display their former roof lines in heightened gable ends. Settlement patterns The settlement patterns that now exist in Scilly have evolved as a result of many factors including:       topography; relationship to the sea; access; land use potential; community considerations; and reforms by Augustus Smith in the nineteenth century. The only proper ‘town’ in Scilly is Hugh Town on the largest island of St Mary’s. This was built on an isthmus of land between the main part of the island and the Garrison (a defended headland), originally to service the garrison and passing ships. The town is served by a harbour. On the opposite side of the isthmus is Old Town, a smaller settlement that grew up relating to a Norman church and a sheltered cove. Elsewhere, settlements are small or dispersed. Generally the most recognizable larger groups are hamlets rather than villages in terms of their size but churches that were built in the nineteenth century on St Martin’s, Tresco, Gugh and St Agnes mean that the small settlements to which these relate are technically villages. The use of names such as ‘Higher Town’, ‘Middle Town’, and ‘Lower Town’, as used on the islands of St Martin’s, Bryher, and St Agnes are ways of describing their relative locations as small settlements. The word ‘town’ in Scilly is often used as an abbreviation of ‘townplace’, a term also used in Cornwall as describing a small settlement. Throughout the inhabited islands the distinction between settlements and farmsteads is often blurred and historically complex, usually relating to land use and distribution, and the way that individual Scillonian families have affected their development. The main traditional industries of the islands are farming, horticulture, and fishing or maritime related. Typically, islanders would need to be involved in more than one of these industries to survive, and this is still true for many islanders today. The traditional economy of the islands now is tourism that depends on a ferry and cargo boat link with Penzance in Cornwall, and air transport, that comprises a helicopter service to both St Mary’s and Tresco from Penzance, and a light aircraft passenger service from either Newquay or Land’s End to St Mary’s. Building types The range of principal building types in Scilly is a result of many historical factors including: defence of the islands, farming practice, maritime activity, and the housing and mercantile requirements of the islanders. Date periods Most of the buildings discussed in this report date from the post-medieval period but there is small number of buildings from the medieval period or earlier that have relevance to the evolution of Scilly’s built traditions. Except for buildings relating to the defence of the islands that mostly date from the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries, there are very few buildings that are pre-1700. The vernacular buildings that characterize the simple dwellings of Scillonians date mostly from the late eighteenth to the middle of the nineteenth century. 192 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Materials Granite is the principal traditional building material in Scilly. Many of the hedgerows are built with granite rubble, the stone mostly probably resulting from field clearance. Most of the roofed buildings are constructed from granite rubble bedded in earth mortar. Granite has been used for the construction of buildings in Scilly since prehistoric times. From the late sixteenth century granite has often been dressed to shape in order to create more refined structures. A cross section through a truncated length of defensive wall on the Garrison, St Mary’s provides an opportunity to examine the construction of this walling through its depth; the battered (sloping) outer faces are constructed of granite ashlar but the inner core is constructed from granite rubble. Sources of the granite used on the island are believed to be either from field clearance or from small quarries on the islands. However, granite from Cornwall was brought over for the construction of the Bishop’s Rock Lighthouse. There has been a long tradition for lime-washing granite rubble walls. During the twentieth century many buildings were stripped of their historic layers of lime-washing now leaving the impression that it is a rare tradition. Rock-faced granite has become part of the Scillonian tradition. The more established use of granite rubble appears to have been a strong influence in the development of an exaggerated rustic form of this material as used at the Post Office (1897) at Hugh Town on St Mary’s, probably by Thomas Algernon DorrienSmith, Lord Proprietor (of Scilly) and architectural amateur (list description), who was responsible for the design of the church on Tresco (q.v.). This way of using granite is repeated in a number of buildings including: porches at Palace Row, New Grimsby; Pentle House where rock-faced granite is used extensively, and for the porch of a house at Old Grimsby. Rock-faced copings on the gateway to the harbour at Hugh Town appear to have a design affinity with these examples, and there may well be other examples of this sort of work in Scilly. Granite ashlar is used as a facing material on many of the more prestigious buildings, usually bedded in lime mortar, and even some of the architectural more modest buildings are also faced with granite ashlar to their front walls. Dressed granite is used for many purposes and in a variety of ways. Often the granite is only lightly dressed from granite rubble blocks so that the desired flatness is achieved where it matters. Stucco is also used, more often as a prestige material, particularly on some of the buildings in Hugh Town; it is also used to provide a more refined finish on some of the more rural buildings. Scantle slate roofs survive on many of the older buildings or this very traditional material has been used again when buildings have been re-roofed. However, many of the older buildings had already been re-roofed in slate of uniform size or with the inferior covering of asbestos fibre cement. The ‘quarries’ from where the slate was extracted were probably located in North Cornwall, now represented by two surviving quarries. The largest and oldest quarry is at Delabole (the Delabole Slate Quarry) The Delabole Slate website claims the following: ‘The Delabole slate quarry is one of the largest of its type in England and has run continuously since the fifteenth century making it the oldest working slate quarry in England. In the reign of Elizabeth I the five quarries on the site of the now larger pit assumed considerable importance delivering slate to Brittany and the Netherlands. In 1841 the five quarries combined to make the Old Delabole Slate Quarry.’ The other main quarry is at Trevillett, near Tintagel, an old quarry that was reopened about 50 years ago when it became part of Mill Hill Quarries Ltd. This company own three quarries including Trevillett and Mill Hill 193 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda quarries near Tavistock in Devon. The company website states: Mill Hill Quarries "have been in work for many years.....for two centuries or thereabouts, for roofing slate." The scantle slate tradition has typically 14 inch (350mm) long slates for the eaves courses diminishing by one inch length sizes (each size used for a number of courses of slates) to a 6 inch (150mm) length at courses towards the ridge. This tradition makes good use of the smaller slate sizes that come from quarries. The slates are fastened to laths that are spaced according to the coursing, the lath spacing further closing together wherever there is a change of course size. This change is called a ‘twist’ and this can easily be seen when the roof is viewed from underneath. The slates are fastened with split wooden pegs projecting to the underside so that they hook over the laths. Where the fastening opportunity coincides with rafter locations the slates are nailed directly to the rafters. Scantle slate is either dry laid or wet-laid, in both cases usually rendered underneath onto the laths with either earth or lime mortar. Where earth mortar is used there is usually also a thin layer of lime mortar added as a final finish. This mortar has two main practical functions: it prevents wind-driven rain from entering the building and it also prevents condensation from occurring under the slates and therefore prevents frost damage. Many old roofs are suffering from powdering caused by expansion of successive laminates of slate caused by frozen condensation. Thatch was once common in Scilly for cottages, small houses and farmhouses, as well as outbuildings but this tradition does not survive. The small house called ‘Thatch’ at Old Grimsby on Tresco is thought to have been the last building in Scilly to have had its thatched roof replaced (in 1989). Many buildings were heightened in the later 19th century when their thatched roofs were replaced with slate. Terracotta tile is a further traditional roofing material that was imported to Scilly, usually as a ballast cargo. This was more commonly used on outbuildings. Chimneys on most of the earlier buildings are built from granite rubble or with dressed granite. The latter material was used so that chimneys could be built to more slender proportions needing only one thickness of stone. The traditional for the use of stone for the construction chimneys survives later in Scilly than in Cornwall though this tradition was used quite late in West Cornwall, and within other areas with granite outcrops. Granite chimney stacks in Scilly represent a unique survival of a tradition that dates back to at least the sixteenth century. Enough examples of these survive to enable their detailed study and distribution, their relationship to different building types, and the differences in their character and construction. Granite stacks are a very important part of the historic building character and interest in Scilly. Consequently, their survival is a finite resource that cannot afford further loss or alteration. Brick has been used for chimneys on later buildings or where higher numbers of fireplaces required multiple flues within each chimney. Brick chimneys also deserve detailed study and recording together with a strong policy for their repair and conservation. There has never been a thorough analysis of the building materials of Scilly. There is much work to be done including the changes in tradition through time, the source of the materials and their distribution, the names of architects, builders and crafts people, and the cultural impact of changes of fashion and building methods and the introduction and function of various building types. The location and understanding of granite extraction and dressing, including quarries, is worthy of a special study. 194 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda The roofing tradition in Scilly deserves a special study, both of records of the former tradition for thatch, and the parallel later traditions of slate, and imported tile. Surviving standing buildings provide an opportunity to study the traditional character of roofing materials plus the extensive evidence for buildings that were formerly thatched. It is strongly recommended that all buildings that have evidence for the former uses of thatch are properly catalogued and recorded. Also, there is a stronglyheld view by many on the islands that a selected building should be re-thatched with rope thatch to display this important tradition. Plan forms The subject of plan forms would require extensive investigation of internal arrangement within surviving traditional buildings for the subject to be presented with confidence and accuracy. However, much can be gleaned from external examination and from the few buildings that have interiors known to Henrietta Quinnell or can be established from ruined buildings, or from list descriptions. External examination is usually sufficient to establish whether a building is singledepth (one room deep) or double-depth (two rooms deep), also whether a building has one room at the front accessed by a side passage as with pairs of cottages, or has two rooms at the front usually separated by a central passage or entrance hall. Generally plan types are similar to those used on the mainland. What is distinctive in Scilly is the small scale of so many of its buildings. The simplest buildings in Scilly are single storey and have only two rooms, a kitchen and a parlour, plus sometimes an unlit attic within the roof space. Building types examples Domestic buildings Cottages can be categorized into a number of types that can be better explained by discussion of selected examples. Single-storey cottages are a building type that is now extremely rare in Scilly but was probably one much more abundant. In many ways these buildings resemble crofters’ cottages in Scotland or ‘bothies’ in Ireland and Wales. Many of the best examples now survive as roofless ruins. Others remain as altered structures that were heightened when proper upper floors were added. Study of the smaller houses of Scilly may best be achieved as a thematic exercise so that the buildings get the more intensive assessment that they deserve. Their similarity to other small buildings in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and elsewhere, needs to be better understood and comparisons should be made taking into account all the factors involved in the development of the tradition for these simple but evocative buildings. One-room-plan cottages are very rare in Scilly and are usually found added to small houses. A development of this plan form is to have one room at the front and a service room at the rear. Pairs of cottages whether with single-depth plans, or double-depth plans, are a common building type in Cornwall, usually with a pair of doors together at the front (mirror-image pairs). This building type is found particularly in the industrial towns and villages. However, there appears to be little such building tradition in Scilly (further fieldwork is required to confirm this suggestion with confidence). There are examples of similar one-room-plan cottages built next to each other but these are the result of later addition with one cottage added to another. There are two examples of this on Samson: Houses D and E and Houses Q and R. These are ruined cottages with doorways set to the same side of each ‘pair’. 195 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda The way that rows of cottages/houses have evolved needs to be recorded as a stylistic group. Much can be learned about the sequence of build by studying the quoin-work that usually survives. Rows of small houses survive in reasonable numbers in Scilly. Most of the older vernacular buildings in Scilly are small double-fronted houses. With respect to identifying building types under Historic England guidelines (as used in list descriptions) a house is identified as having at least two ground-floor rooms sideby-side. This means that most of the dwellings in Scilly should be described as small houses, houses, farmhouses, or town houses. Consequently, there are very few dwellings that should properly be called ‘cottages’ though that is probably what many of the smaller houses are popularly called. Planned terraces, except for specialist housing such as coastguards’ housing, are uncommon in Scilly. Most are concentrated in the residential streets of Hugh Town. Grouping of traditional housing clearly has many causes and effects, particularly with respect to the culture and living conditions of the islanders of Scilly. Research needs to be carried out into the way that groupings have come about, their distribution, and their particular character. For example, to what extent have the buildings evolved in a piecemeal way and to what extent have others been planned? The management of the islands since Augustus Smith became Governor is clearly a strong factor but this needs to be better understood and the extent of his influence needs to be identified and described. Principal town houses in Hugh Town stand out from the crowd. These are usually houses built for merchants or worthies of the town. Town houses include many elegant houses in Hugh Town. Some are detached but most adjoin other houses of a similar period, or are within a row of buildings of many different dates. What usually distinguishes them from their more modest neighbours is: good proportions, generous scale, and often classical symmetry or classical features. Town houses with shops are an interesting building type within the commercial heart of Hugh Town, St Mary’s. There are very few purpose-built shops. Most of the shops in the town are the result of town houses having been converted from houses to shops with retained living accommodation above. In many cases the conversion may well have continued the original function of the building as many town houses were originally built as merchants’ houses. However, in the nineteenth century and early twentieth century conversion of a town house to accommodate a shop usually meant installing a ‘show’ shop front that would promote and exhibit the goods that were being offered for sale. Such alterations often meant considerable alteration to the fabric of the building, changing its character forever. It is therefore very fortunate that many of these conversions are now valued for their own particular character. Sometimes the stone frontages were carefully altered and stonework made good to disguise the changes but occasionally, where changes were difficult to hide a whole frontage was stuccoed to conceal the alterations. Town houses deserve attention as a separate group. The story of their builders, architects and occupants is more likely to be unearthed than studies of the more modest building types. However, this can only be achieved by determined research. Results of such a study together with the recording and analysis of the building is likely to yield invaluable results that are important to the story of Scilly. A much better understanding of town houses with shops is possible with detailed research that includes reference to trade directories and other documentation of the commercial activity on the islands. 196 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Notable houses in Scilly are identified here as those that are particularly special or important such as Hugh House, St Mary’s or Tresco Abbey. Some have unexpected origins or were not originally built as houses at all but are nevertheless of considerable historic interest. Some of the most important domestic buildings in Scilly have already been assessed in detail but many others have only received the most limited study, some of this as a result of the listing process. This building group promises the most detailed historical information that should be the subject of further research. Some of these buildings have been a strong influence over the building tradition of the islands from their architecture and methods of construction. Farmsteads include farmhouses and small rural houses in Scilly, building types that are often architecturally indistinguishable from each other. A farmhouse is usually a small house that was built as a farmhouse or has been used as a farmhouse. Most are detached but they sometimes adjoin other houses, or have been extended, often for extended families. Most of the farms are very small and would usually be classified as smallholdings or horticultural holdings. Some of the settlements have evolved from farmsteads and have acquired extra dwelling houses over time. The only planned group of farm buildings belongs to the Abbey Farm, a group that includes a former barley mill and fish smoker of c 1835. These farm buildings have been converted to holiday accommodation. Farmsteads require much research and examination if they are to be better understood and their importance in the story of Scilly properly recognized. Despite the fact that so many farm buildings have now been converted there are still many that retain their original character. Similarly, many of the houses that may have been dubbed farmhouses need their origins explained and other domestic buildings within the settlement investigated. Industrial buildings Industrial buildings appear to be an unusual building type based on the surviving buildings. Scilly probably never supported a strong manufacturing, processing, or storage function, and consequently there are very few buildings that display an industrial heritage. Industrial buildings are an interest group that requires considerable study and research. The buildings that were used for industry need to be identified and recorded and research targeted at their origins and their functions. Community use Anglican churches represent a long tradition for Christian worship on the islands. Early Christian sites include the ruin of the pre-Reformation St Nicholas’ Priory on Tresco, medieval church and oratory on St Martin’s, remains of a pre-Conquest chapel on Teän. Old Town church is probably the oldest roofed building on the islands. There is a 19th century Anglican church on each of the inhabited off islands but St Mary’s has two Anglican churches: the original Norman church at Old Town and a 19th century parish church in Hugh Town. Churches on the offislands replace the earlier church buildings noted by the Cornish antiquarian, Borlase as having been built in the same style and to two different sizes, and all built for the Godolphins. The new church on St Mary’s was built by Augustus Smith between 1836 and 1838. There is only one vicarage: the ‘Chaplaincy’, near the church in Hugh Town. There is also a Catholic Church of 1860 at Higher Strand, Hugh Town, St Mary’s, originally built as St Mary’s School for Girls. While much is known and much has been written about the buildings that represent the established church in Scilly, the stories that they contain in their records, in their monuments, and within their burial grounds needs to be further 197 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda assessed and collated. Also, the buildings themselves deserve better analysis, and recognition for the influence they have had on the evolving building traditions of the islands. Methodist chapels are an important building type in Scilly as they represent a cultural change to the way of life of the inhabitants of the Isles of Scilly. As happened in Cornwall, during the nineteenth century, Methodism was competing with the established church and Methodist chapels were built on all the currently inhabited islands except Tresco. There are three (identified) Nonconformist chapel buildings on St Mary’s. Nonconformity was once a very influential aspect of the culture of the isles of Scilly and deserves further study, particularly with respect to its surviving buildings. Two chapels have already been converted to domestic use and the most important chapel is used as offices. Consequently, the two chapels that remain in use as places of worship should be recorded as a matter of urgency. Educational use In 1834 Augustus Smith was granted a lease by the Duchy of Cornwall. As Lord Proprietor of the Isles of Scilly he became a reforming governor who unlike previous governors took a great interest in the people of the islands and made his home there. Until his death in 1872 he made great changes to the islands. Before coming to Scilly from the home counties Smith had already been a keen advocate of improving education for the common people commenting, “When I find youths, the progeny of hereditary paupers, simply through being able to read, write and cipher, readily obtain in London apprenticeships in various trades, I felt the true or at least the main clue was discovered” (Llewellyn 2005, 16). As a result of his concerns Smith set up a number of non-denominational Parish Schools that were to survive until taken over following the 1870 Education Act. When he came to Scilly he was determined that all the island children should have a good education. During the mid-nineteenth century Smith had schools constructed on St Mary’s, St Martin’s and St Agnes and effectively made education compulsory. In order to achieve this, the declining population on Samson was moved to other islands so that the children could attend school regularly. The 1854 boys’ primary school building at Carn Thomas was designed by Augustus Smith. This was later extended and is now used as the infant and junior school on St Mary’s. Public Houses Public Houses as a building type in Scilly are not a straightforward area of study. There are probably no old purpose-built public houses on the islands. All the traditional buildings now used as public houses appear to have been adapted from former houses or working buildings. This building type is complicated with respect to its origins and history. It is very important to community life in Scilly today but the role of public houses at earlier times needs to be unravelled as a detailed research project together with close examination of the surviving and former public houses. Defence related buildings The Isles of Scilly are strategically placed as a good invasion base at the entrance to the western approaches and consequently many structures have been added to the islands to counter this threat. The defence buildings of Scilly have benefitted from much investigation in recent years and many authoritative reports have been written. However, there is still much to be learned and explained. These buildings need to be studied as a thematic group with all the available information brought into play but with unanswered questions targeted. For example, when the gun platform was added 198 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda to Cromwell’s castle the original stone staircase was cut away to make a new doorway into the building and the walls made good. This kind of analysis is often lacking from available studies. Reconstruction drawings of the defence buildings explaining the way that they originally functioned and the ways that they have been altered to fulfil advancing technologies would greatly add to our understanding of these important buildings. Maritime use buildings Gig sheds, or their ruins, survive on the islands of St Agnes, Bryher, St Martin’s, Samson, and St Mary’s. These buildings were constructed to house the pilot gigs that became an important part of the economy of the islands. All are constructed with granite rubble and all are located for easy launching of the gigs. Lighthouses have a long history in the Isles of Scilly. The lighthouse on St Agnes was built in 168 and is the one of oldest lighthouses in Britain. The Daymark on St Martin’s was built in 1683 and must be one of the earliest examples of this building type. The lighthouse on the Bishop’s Rock is a triumph of engineering over nature. The first lighthouse, built from steel between 1847-9, was washed away in a storm in 1850! The present lighthouse is built from interlocking blocks of granite ashlar initially between 1852 and 1858 but had to be strengthened by adding an outer sheathing of granite ashlar (and heightened) that was completed in 1882. It is the tallest lighthouse in the British Isles. Round Island lighthouse was constructed in 1887. Quay walls or harbours of some kind exist on all the inhabited islands. Some of these have been upgraded in recent years by adding an outer sheathing and by extension. There has been a harbour at Hugh Town since the early 17 th and this has been extended many times. The older granite masonry is extremely interesting. The blocks of granite are shaped so that they fit together as tightly as possible. Harbour walls deserve a special study, both of surviving walls and of archive photographs of walls that can no longer be seen. They should also be compared to harbour walls on the mainland. The walls on Scilly are an important part of the character of the islands. The listing status of the main quay (NHLE 1141209) should be re-assessed. Domestic outbuildings Domestic outbuildings include earth closets, back houses, and the buildings that were used for small scale flower packing and other horticultural uses. All are important to the story and character of Scilly. The modern period (mid-twentieth century onwards) New-build (traditional) The older building traditions in Scilly have been a strong influence on the design and construction of buildings in the modern period. Granite is still a favoured material and has been used well in some of these buildings but rarely with such skill as when granite walls were the prevailing tradition. New-build (contemporary) With the shortage of traditional buildings on the islands much of the new-build has had to be constructed with alternative materials that include rendered concrete block and timber-frame construction. Discussion The results of this brief study demonstrate that the buildings of Scilly are important for many reasons. They include buildings of unique or rare building types and that these buildings are the result of a distinctive island culture. The limited choice of building materials has contributed to a harmonious vernacular built tradition that in many places appears to grow from the landscape that 199 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda surrounds it. In other places there is a more polite kind of architecture, mostly within Hugh Town on St Mary’s. Adding to the diversity are the various specialist building types and structures, most of which share the same materials of construction but add interest in their design fit for function. Comments about each distinct building type are already described in the appropriate sections of the report. What the study has also shown is that interest and importance is not always about status or architectural quality. Many of the simple buildings of the working people of the islands are now recognized as being an essential part of the story of the islands and their simple unpretentious design and appearance attracts the admiration of islanders and visitors alike. Some of these simple buildings are now so rare that they must be considered as a threatened building type. However, all of the traditional buildings of Scilly are significant and contribute to the whole character and interest of the islands. 9.6.3 The historical development and topography of Hugh Town There has been settlement in the area of what is now Hugh Town from at least the Bronze Age. Traces of a group of roundhouses of that period have been recorded at Porthcressa and an apparently extensive late Iron Age – early Roman cist cemetery together with lynchetted fields and a possible roundhouse lie under post-War housing on the south side of the town (Ashbee 1954; Dudley 1960-61). There are also hints of activity in the medieval period. Early medieval grassmarked pottery has come from a shell midden on the lower slope of the Garrison (Ashbee 1954) and sherds of imported French pottery dating from the late twelfth to the fifteenth century are recorded from Porthcressa (Allan 1991, 93). Charles Thomas (1985, 217) has suggested a fourteenth-century date for a stone-built chapel which formerly stood close to the shore near the Bank and survived, converted into a dwelling, until about 1830 (ibid, 189, 215-7). Local tradition of a ‘great quantity of human bones’ found on the south side of the former chapel (Troutbeck nd [c 1794], 60) suggests a burial ground attached to it, presumably pre-dating the twelfth-century foundation of the church and graveyard at Old Town. This in turn suggests an earlier religious structure at the Bank and presumably some nearby settlement. Fig 9.3 An early nineteenth-century reproduction of a view of Hugh Town taken in 1669 (Magalotti 1821, facing page 112). The present town, however, owes its origins to the construction of Star Castle and associated structures in the 1590s and in c 1601 of a quay on the sheltered 200 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda northern side of the island directly below the gateway to the military complex (Cox and Thorp 1993; Bowden and Brodie 2011). (The proximity of the medieval chapel to the location of the new quay suggests that this may already have been an established landing place.) Early development of the settlement was apparently slow: in 1652 there were fewer than 20 houses in the ‘Hugh or New Town near the new castle’, with another handful within the Garrison and a further eight or ten around Carn Thomas and Buzza Hill (Pounds 1984, II, 139-40, 1445). By comparison, the survey recorded around 40 houses in the area of the medieval settlement at Old Town (ibid, II, 140-1, 148). Early visual representations of Hugh Town confirm its small scale and illustrate the early origins of several distinctive elements of its historic topography. Views taken in 1669 and 1715 (Fig 9.3; Bowden and Brodie 2011, fig 38) show an open area south of the quay, below the gate in the Garrison curtain wall. This formed the landward side of a working beach where boats could be loaded and unloaded in the shelter of the quay. This area partly survives as the Bank, now enclosed and with the former long-standing open access to the shore preserved only by the slip adjoining the Atlantic Hotel. The early settlement clustered loosely around this landing place, straggling along the foreshore and extending south east as far as the triangular space fronting the present Lloyds TSB. Beyond this, what is now Hugh Street had a more planned aspect, shown in 1715 with a straight alignment and a continuous row of buildings on both sides as far as the junction with the present Garrison Lane. This appears to have been the furthest extent of the settlement in 1669 but by 1715 it had expanded further east along the two roads which diverged from this point, now fossilised as Silver Street and the narrow link between Hugh Street and the Park. By 1715, a scatter of buildings also lay along what would become Garrison Lane, Well Lane and Jerusalem Terrace, set among small fields or gardens on the lower slopes of the Garrison. Development on the rear of some of the plots on the north side of Hugh Street established what subsequently became the south side of Thoroughfare, facing the foreshore and linked by an alley to the small square which now fronts the Bishop and Wolf pub. This latter area originated as an open space at the edge of the settlement, but gained importance through construction on its south-west side of a house for the Godolphin steward for Scilly, rebuilt after a violent storm surge burst across the isthmus in 1744 (Heath 1750, 26). Fig 9.4 William Borlase’s depiction of Hugh Town in 1752 (Borlase 1756, pl 3). By the mid-eighteenth century Hugh Town had developed beyond its early primary role as a service centre for the military complex on the Garrison to 201 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda become a central place for the whole of Scilly. It was the Customs port and profited from servicing vessels sheltering in the Pool from bad weather or adverse winds. Heath (1750, 26) described the town as ‘one long and two cross streets, of strong stone-built houses, wherein are several shop-keepers and public housekeepers . . .’ A few years later William Borlase reported the town ‘much improv’d of late in building . . .’ (Borlase 1756, 12-13) but his depiction of 1752 (Fig 9.4) suggests little expansion beyond its 1715 extent and the building he referred to was probably replacements of structures damaged in 1744 (Heath 1750, 28-9). Borlase’s illustration again shows the Bank as an open space behind the foreshore with vessels moored in the shelter of the quay. At the south-east edge of the town, the new steward’s house dwarfs clusters of single-storey structures along Silver Street and on the east side of the alley from the space fronting the Bishop and Wolf to the present Thoroughfare, each group apparently set within a compound. Roads to the ‘country’ – Old Town and the eastern parts of the island – are shown diverging from this eastern end of the settlement, their alignments establishing what subsequently became the north and south sides of the Parade (now the Park). Spence’s Maritime Survey of Scilly (1792) shows little change over the preceding four decades, but an original watercolour of Hugh Town in about 1800 (Kirkham, forthcoming) indicates a surge in building activity at the end of the eighteenth century. New buildings with their backs to the sea along the north-eastern side of the Bank now blocked what had previously been a wide area of direct access to the shore and more building is apparent on Well Lane and at the lower end of Garrison Lane. The view also shows the initial stages in enclosing the space which subsequently became the Parade, depicting the surviving row of double-fronted two-storey houses at the west end of the north side and the present Riviera House fronting on to the space from the east. The Parade is shown open to the south and was clearly then at the eastern edge of the town. Beyond it on the track which later became Church Street was an isolated two-storey structure (perhaps the vernacular building now adjoining the Bell Rock Hotel); a long single-storey structure shown fronting onto the shore in the area of the present Lower Strand was perhaps similar to the cottage rows which survived into the early twentieth century on Higher Strand. Hugh House, the officers’ quarters built in 1792 (Laws 1980, 10), dominated the town from immediately within the Garrison wall. Contemporary descriptions suggest a thriving settlement. Henry Spry commented in 1800 on the ‘many new Houses built within the last 20 Years’ and remarked that the town had ‘many good houses and a great number of inhabitants . . .’ (Thomas 1979, 10). He additionally described typical building materials: ‘The Houses are built with Moor Stone which is very plenty [sic] every where, they Cover the best Houses with Slate brought from Cornwall; but all the Common Houses are Covered with Straw, done down and fastened with Straw Ropes . . .’ (ibid, 9-10). Two decades later, George Woodley (1822, 166) described the town as ‘one principal street about three hundred and twenty yards long [i.e., from the quay to the Parade], but very irregular both in its course and in the appearance of the houses; and of several lanes, alleys, courtlages, &c.; most of which are paved with round stones . . .’ (ibid, 164). The present Lower and Higher Strand were by this time lined by a row of small houses extending almost to Carn Thomas (ibid, 171). This area was also a focus for Hugh Town’s shipbuilding industry, which had begun in a small way in the eighteenth century but developed considerably in the early decades of the nineteenth. By the late 1830s four shipyards were active on the foreshore at Town Beach and Porthcressa (Davies 1988; Matthews 1960, 183). 202 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda The lease of Scilly taken up in 1834 by Augustus Smith required completion of a new church – the original island church near Old Town had become ruinous – and a large extension to Hugh Town quay. Both were achieved before the end of the 1830s and marked the beginning of another important period of change. In negotiating his tenure with the Duchy Smith ensured that he would be able to create building leases, to be taken up by local people ‘who have realised a small capital of two or three hundred pounds in the shipping business’ (Matthews 1960, 180-1). This is the context for the flowering of Hugh Town’s distinctive ‘Cornish Regency’ architecture, particularly notable around the Parade and Church Street. Smith’s new church was located in a prominent position facing the settlement along the existing road from Old Town but well outside the then built-up area of the town. This axis between the church and the Parade, now Church Street, became a focus for development over the remainder of the nineteenth century. Most of the modest but well-designed terraces towards its western end were probably built as individual ventures during the later 1830s and 1840s and several of the more substantial houses are almost certainly of the same period, including Lemon Hall and the present Bell Rock Hotel. At about the same period a Bible Christian chapel was constructed in granite ashlar close to the west end of Church Street (Stell 1991, 57). Church Street now has the air of a planned streetscape, rising gently from the green space at the Parade to the church and lined by a mix of genteel domestic and institutional buildings; in fact it was created piecemeal over a period long enough to make it unlikely that any initial master plan was followed. Augustus Smith added an infant school to the original Bible Christian chapel on the north side of Church Street in 1854 – he built a boys’ school at Carn Thomas in the same year and a girls’ school on Lower Strand in 1860 (Matthews 1960, 170; Madden 1996, 38, 39) – but much of the east end of Church Street beyond Well Cross remained undeveloped until late in the century (Fig 9.5): to the south open fields rose onto Buzza Hill and photographs show the north side, between Church Street and the rear of properties on Higher Strand, as a large open space used to store timber for shipbuilding and later as gardens or flower strips (Arlott 1972, figs 90, 101, 104; Cowan 1997, fig 59; 2001, 31). A further terrace and a detached villa were built on the south side before the end of the 1880s but development on the north side ceased until a new Bible Christian chapel was built in 1899 (Madden 1996, 27). The terrace to the east of the chapel may date to the early twentieth century but the final plot on the north side was not occupied until St Mary’s Hall (now a hotel) was built in the late 1930s (ibid 1996, 27). Construction of the Town Hall on the Parade in 1889 (Madden 1996, 30) provided a prestige building to dominate the west end of Church Street. At about the same time the central area of the Parade was enclosed as a public park (Cowan 2001, 30, 31; cf Betjeman and Rowse 1974, fig 157), contributing further to the urban character and developing air of order and gentility around this part of the town. Hugh Street and the Bank area also saw changes. The house from which Tregarthen’s Hotel subsequently developed was built above the end of the quay in Hugh Town’s distinctive ‘Cornish Regency’ style, and the small but imposing midnineteenth century house now occupied by Lloyds TSB was elaborated with a Doric-columned classical porch, enabling it to dominate the three-sided space east of the Bank onto which it faced. The scale and quirky rustic quality of the 1897 Post Office, designed by Augustus Smith’s nephew and successor as proprietor of the islands (Madden 1996, 31), created a significant landmark in this part of the town. Shipbuilding continued into the 1870s and the associated slipways, timber yards, smithies, saw pits and stores were scattered over both the Porthcressa Bank and Strand areas (Davies 1988). Early photographs show an industrial building, 203 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda perhaps a sawmill, adjoining cottages immediately north of the church, facing the area used for storing timber (Llewellyn 2005, 40). The severe, well-constructed terraces of single and double-fronted dwellings on Higher Strand, Well Cross and Buzza Street reflect the prosperous, industrial character of these areas in the middle decades of the nineteenth century. On the Strand these probably replaced more humble housing: a small group of the older thatched houses survived at the eastern end of the Strand, close to Carn Thomas, until at least the late nineteenth century (Arlott 1972, fig 104; Cowan 2001, 22-3). Fig 9.5 Hugh Town on the 1st edition Ordnance Survey 6in: 1 mile map, c 1890. In 1920 the Duchy of Cornwall resumed the lease on the whole of Scilly except Tresco. It began a building programme on some of its properties in Hugh Town, directed by Duchy architects Sir Albert Richardson and C L Gill (Madden 1996, 1415, 31). This included remodelling some significant buildings, among them Strand House, Newman House in the Garrison and the Atlantic Hotel (ibid, 33, 35, 38). The largest impact on the townscape, however, was created by replacing eighteenth- and nineteenth-century cottages and shops in Hugh Street with two new residential terraces (Laws 1980, 22). These were faced in coursed, finelydressed granite and introduced a more ordered if rather severe aspect to the street. Further changes to Hugh Street occurred in the same decade with the construction opposite one of the new Duchy terraces of well detailed premises for Barclays Bank and the Isles of Scilly Steamship Co, the latter replacing the late eighteenth century market and council house (Madden 1996, 36). In the three decades after 1950 Hugh Town experienced the most rapid and farreaching period of change to the built environment in its history. From 1949 the Duchy sold the freeholds of much of its property in the town (Mumford 1967, 82). In the context of rapidly rising demand for visitor accommodation and facilities resulting from the national post-war boom in holidays and travel, the consequence was a surge of both new building and of extensions and conversions to historic buildings. In many instances, these substantially altered the character of the built environment through addition of features such as flat-roofed 204 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda extensions, roof conversions and external stairways. The Council of the Isles of Scilly acquired land at Porthcressa and elsewhere for public housing (Bennett et al, 64, 72-3), but there was also a boom in private housing development, fuelled by demand for holiday and retirement homes. The result over the next two decades was dense development of the slopes of the Garrison, right up to the curtain wall, and large-scale building, predominantly of bungalows, on greenfield sites in Rams Valley, along the road to Old Town and on Jackson’s Hill overlooking Porth Mellon. Several large bungalows were constructed just inside the Garrison curtain wall on prominent sites overlooking the town (Laws 1980, 28). New build within the core of the historic settlement was relatively limited, the most significant instances being the construction of new retail premises at the lower end of Garrison Lane in the late 1960s and a comprehensive redevelopment of Silver Street and the adjacent Porthcressa View in the mid-1970s (Laws 1980, 30). This period also brought several new institutional buildings in the town, including the Isles of Scilly Museum, the secondary school and Park House residential accommodation for the elderly (Laws 1980, 26, 28; Madden 1996, 29, 40; Bennett et al, 88). Demolition of the late nineteenth century Holgate’s Hotel on Lower Strand during the 1970s enabled the creation of an informal grassed promenade overlooking the eastern portion of Town Beach. The last two decades have seen increased interest in Hugh Town’s historic fabric (for example, Madden 1996; Kirkham 2003) and practical conservation measures such as the Historic England-funded Isles of Scilly Grant Scheme introduced in 1999 (Gill Arbery, pers comm). Enhanced recognition of the significance of the historic environment and improved protection for it is inherent within broader strategies towards environmental protection, maintaining and enhancing distinctiveness and sustainable development (for example, Council of the Isles of Scilly 2004; 2005; Buchanan and Context 4D 2006; Isles of Scilly AONB 2010). Research on the historic environment was part of the conceptualisation process for a major regeneration project in the Porthcressa area (Rachel Leung, pers comm). There is substantial further potential for improving understanding of Hugh Town’s development and history through documentary research (not least a continuing search for historic visual representations), fieldwork and detailed building recording. There is also much potential for encouraging public appreciation of the distinctiveness and significance of Hugh Town as an historic settlement through enhanced interpretation and presentation. 9.6.4 The Samson buildings The post-medieval buildings on Samson are described in ‘The Samson Buildings (2) – An assessment of the post-medieval buildings on Samson, Isles of Scilly’ by Eric Berry (2006), from which the following summary is taken. In 1652, Samson was described as having been formerly inhabited but the houses and enclosures had become ruined in the preceding years. Re-occupation had started by 1669. The inhabitants lived mainly by farming and fishing, supplemented by kelp burning and piloting. The population declined after 1833 and about 1855, under economic and social reforms introduced by Augustus Smith, the island was evacuated and an (unsuccessful) deer park created on North Hill. The late seventeenth to mid-nineteenth Samson settlement as it survives today consists of the remains of 19 buildings, at least 10 to 12 houses and cottages, six farm buildings and a boat shed. These were identified with the letters A to U in the 1992 Survey, with K and M being redundant as no remains were found to confirm the historic map evidence. 205 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda One house and a boat shed are located on the Neck of Samson (see Mason 1984) and the rest on South Hill, mainly within the deer park wall. The largest group is towards the bottom of the north slope of the hill, in a sheltered hollow, below what appears to be the only spring on the island. Another group of buildings stands on the ridge, and there are further individual buildings and small groups to the west of these main groups. In addition to these 19 buildings a further four were identified on a map of 182933 by the Driver Brothers. These are a row of three buildings on the south-west slope of South Hill and a gig shed on the south-east side of North Hill. Two gig sheds are also visible close to this latter location in a 1890s photograph by Frank Gibson. No evidence of these buildings has been found in recent surveys. The drystone granite wall enclosing the deer park was partly formed from existing field boundaries and partly newly constructed of stone robbed from other boundary walls. The dating of the houses has been established with some confidence and is from the early eighteenth century to c 1835. The dating of the non-domestic buildings is less certain, due to conflicting evidence, and they are identified only as being either side of the 1829-33 date of the Driver survey. There is evidence that after human habitation of the island ceased c 1855, the buildings were adapted for agricultural use, which probably continued into the early twentieth century. Scillonian houses of this period were generally single storey or low 2-storey. Some of the Samson houses have evidence of upper storeys, apparently reached by staircases; others probably had lofts with ladder access. Some upper storeys seem to have been used for the storage of spars. There are examples of both one-room plan cottages and two room plans (kitchen and parlour). Roofs were generally thatched, rope thatch being the local tradition. Scantle slating was probably used when the upper storeys of some houses were raised, and in the building of the later houses. Fig 9.6 House C on Samson (photo: Eric Berry). 206 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda External walls and chimneys were of granite rubble, with some dressed stones for quoins, jambs and lintels. The bedding mortar was ram, sometimes incorporating lime, and in some examples pointed with lime mortar. Some external walls were limewashed. Internally an earthen render finish was applied, with lime skim. In the lower status buildings the stone was simply limewashed. Drystone walling was first used for the deer park wall and subsequently in the adaptation of the buildings for agricultural use. Upper floors were apparently of softwood, ground floors sanded earth with stone flags to thresholds and hearths. Both sash and casement windows are likely to have been used and window seats were a common feature. Internal partitions would have been of timber. Fireplaces had either granite or timber lintels and some had monolithic granite jambs. There is no evidence of ovens. The non-domestic buildings were of similar construction but simpler. Some were of drystone walling. They were apparently all thatched. The majority were probably designed for general use, i.e. both animal occupation and storage. All of the buildings have lost their roofs, timber floors, windows and doors and internal partitions. Of the surviving external walls and chimneys, some have been reduced to a few courses of masonry or piles of rubble. Others survive almost to full height. Deterioration continues, mainly due to the effects of weather and vegetation damage. They have all been identified as being at high risk in the Historic England Buildings at Risk Register. The need for consolidation and repair of the buildings was considered in the 1992 survey (Berry and Ratcliffe 1994) and, following further deterioration, was addressed in greater detail in the 2003 report (Berry 2003). Ten general structural problems were identified and remedial action proposed for each, building-by building repair proposals were described and an overall six-year conservation programme proposed, including recording and management. Arising from this, the most urgent consolidation work was carried out in 2006-7. Associated archaeological recording was carried out by Cardiff University, including excavation in three of the buildings, and a detailed lichen survey done (Johns et al 2007; Johns et al 2013). The consolidation works were to parts of the buildings considered to be in danger of collapse or where human action might cause movement or dislodgement of the structure. The methods used were aimed at minimal intervention and stones were left undisturbed wherever possible. Techniques included re-bedding displaced stones in resin or lime mortar, lime mortar pointing and over-pointing with ram, reinforcing unstable walls with stainless steel cable and bars resin-bonded to the stones, and reinforcing defective timber lintels with stainless steel bars. In 2008, English Heritage provided funding to the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust for further investigation of suitable methods for the repair and consolidation of the ruins, including trials of typical repair methods and preparation of a revised programme of future repairs. The 2006-7 work was reviewed, an updated condition survey carried out and a long-term repair philosophy proposed in response to a vision statement for Samson drawn up by IOSWT (Parkes Lees Architects Ltd 2009-10). This statement was centred on preserving the wildlife, landscape, historical and archaeological qualities of the uninhabited island. The results of further wildlife surveys became available, covering bats, storm petrels and plants. In contrast with the 2006-7 works, more conventional masonry repair methods were proposed, using lime mortar and ram. A greater level of intervention was considered acceptable including reinstatement and a certain amount of rebuilding where this would enhance the longer term stability of the structure. 207 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda In 2009, the trial repairs were carried out by specialist conservation contractors, based on a detailed technical specification, and monitored by Historic England and the project consultants. The following year, the results were reviewed in terms of the technical performance and conservation impact. The final reports recommended which methods should be used and proposed a 3-year programme for the works (Parkes Lees Architects Ltd 2009-10). Further action is now dependent on the availability of funding. The urgent need for repairs is undiminished. 9.7 Designed landscapes The only example of a planned ornamental landscape in Scilly is Tresco Abbey and its garden. Created largely out of former heathland by Augustus Smith in the mid-nineteenth century, the sub-tropical garden is a Grade 1 Registered Park and Garden (Tresco Abbey Gardens). As well as being of historic interest itself, the garden contains a range of earlier archaeological features - the twelfth century remains of St Nicholas' Priory, a sixth century inscribed stone, a Roman altar, a Bronze Age holed stone, the brazier from St Agnes lighthouse, and various other historic objects. A figurehead museum, ‘Valhalla’, which is part of the National Maritime Museum, is also located within the Tresco Abbey Garden. Fig 9.7 Wooden figurehead from the SS Thames, wrecked in 1841, at the top of the Neptune Steps in Tresco Abbey Gardens (photo: Cornwall Council). 9.8 Transport and communications 9.8.1 Shipping All of the located wrecks in Scilly fall into this period. It is here that we see an enormous increase in maritime trade, the development of the British Navy, two industrial revolutions and the rise and fall of the British Empire. Perhaps, then, it is small wonder that we see a commensurate rise in the known maritime resource. There are 771 known shipping losses in Scilly in this period (Johns et al 2004), and although the majority of these have not been located, the list of wrecks which have been investigated is still impressive (Table 9.1). Many more 208 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda wrecks are known and visited by divers in Scilly, but most of these are iron steamers and only those where recorded recovery of material has taken place are included in the table. Many of these iron wrecks are visited regularly by the thriving dive charter businesses in Scilly and they now form an important part of the Scillonian tourist industry. This is also true of the more historic shipwrecks, with RIB (rigid inflatable boat) tours of the wrecks and illustrated slide shows being held weekly in the tourist season. Ship Unknown Date lost 1595-1600 Black Rock ?C16th Prinses Maria 1686 Association 1707 Eagle 1707 Firebrand 1707 Unknown ?C17th – 18th Unknown ?C17th – 18th Shipwrecks located and investigated in Scilly Details Location Protected wreck site Bartholomew Unknown vessel, wrought iron Ledge guns, lead ingots and bronze bell fragments. Cannon site (approx. 14 small cast iron guns) Excavated and artefacts sold in the 1990s (mostly coins) Dutch East Indiaman The king sent the royal yacht to recover specie (1696). Excavated 1976-7 (Rex Cowan) – large areas of intact timber were found. Artefacts were recovered. Some subsequent commercial salvage work. British Warship (2nd rate) 96 guns Contemporary salvage including the Herbert expedition (1710) recovered iron and brass guns, several chests of money and reported the hull intact. Divers working on construction of Bishops Rock lighthouse saw guns and recovered shot (1847). Relocated in 1967 and subject of much ad hoc salvage. Contracts for salvage issued by MoD in 1967 to several salvage operators. Quantities of artefacts were recovered and many were sold at auction in Penzance and London (predominantly coins). Protected wreck site British warship (3rd rate) 70 guns Recovered artefacts sold at auction British fireship - 8 guns Salvage by the Herbert expedition (1710) Excavated 1976-7 by Roland Morris and others. Bell, nocturnal and carvings recovered Surveyed 2006-9 by CISMAS Seven cast iron guns and an anchor. The guns are lying close together, parallel, muzzle-tobreach suggesting they were possibly cargo. Found (2002) by Todd Stevens. Some artefacts were recovered About 20 cast iron guns and 3 anchors. Possibly the site found by Morris and identified (by him) as the Romney (late 70s – early 80s). Site sketch by IMAG Wreck adopted (NAS) by IMAG Publications (Johns et al 2004) (Craddock and Hook 1987) (Camidge and Johns 2016) Black Rock (Johns et al 2004) Crebinnicks (Johns et al 2004) Gilstone (Lotbiniere 1984) (Mace nd) (Rogers nd) (Morris nd) (Morris 1984 a) (Morris 1984 b) (Morris 1984 c) (Green 1984) (Larn 1985) Tearing Ledge (Larn 1984) (Camidge and Johns 2007) (Camidge 2011) (Larn 2006) (Morris 1982) Smith Sound Innisidgen (Wessex Archaeology 2005) West of Zantman’s Rock on the Crim (Morris 1979) (TS blog site) (NAS adopt a wreck) 209 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Shipwrecks located and investigated in Scilly Details Location Timbers, planking and timber Pendrathen, sheathing St Mary’s Excavated (2005->) by Todd Stevens Some finds recovered suggesting early 18th C date. TS thinks this may be the wreck of the John (1645) Dutch East Indiaman Gunner Rock Salvage by Letheridge, silver (1743) Excavated 1971-77 (Rex Cowan) 50,000 silver coins and over 3000 other artefacts were recovered – some were sold but the remainder (c 90%) was acquired by the Rijksmuseum. Two-masted packet 10 guns Rosevear Salvage work by John Braithwaite in 1784 Investigated by IMAG, artefacts recovered Adopted by Stevens and Cumming under the NAS adopt a wreck scheme Dutch East Indiaman 26 guns Crebinnicks Excavated 1992-7 (Hiron and Larn) Pottery and iron gun recovered Protected wreck site Southward British warship (3rd rate) 74 guns Wells Salvage including Tonkin and Braithwaite (1803), John Dean (1883) Relocated by Roland Morris (1974) when a large number of pot sherds were recovered for the British Museum. Guns and anchors (whereabouts unknown) were also recovered. Stern section located 2001, stern quarter carving recovered (now displayed on Tresco) Ship Unknown Date lost Early ?C18th Publications (Wessex Archaeology 2005) (Stevens 2011) Hollandia 1743 Nancy 1784 Zeelilie 1795 Colossus 1798 Hope 1830 Brig Salvage by John Dean (1832) North of St Martins (Johns et al 2004) Thames 1841 Jacky’s Rock (Johns et al 2004) Douro 1843 Sailing steamer (500 tons) Salvage by Dean six weeks after the wreck Schooner (200 tons) Cargo includes copper alloy manillas (a form of west African currency) and glass beads. This type of manilla was manufactured in Birmingham in the 19th C. Found by divers in 1970. Manillas and beads are recovered from time to time and are occasionally offered for sale on ebay. Round Rock (Craddock and Hook 1987) (Cowan et al 1975) (Larn 1985) (Marsden 1978) (Cowan 1982) (Engelsman 1982) (Gawronski et al 1992) (Stevens and Cumming 2008) (Johns et al 2004) (Camidge 2001) (Camidge 2002) (Camidge et al 2005) (Camidge 2005) (Camidge 2008) (Camidge 2009) (Camidge 2010) (Camidge 2014) (Camidge 2016) (Morris 1979) (Morris 1984 a) (Morris 1984 b) (Morris 1984 c) (Smallwood and Woodford 2003) (Stevens 2007) (Wessex Archaeology 2003) (Wessex Archaeology 2007) 210 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Ship Unknown Date lost Mid-C19th Zelda 1874 Schiller 1875 Shipwrecks located and investigated in Scilly Details Location Protected wreck site (Wheel wreck) South of Discovered in 2005 by IMAG Little divers, some survey and recovery Ganinick of artefacts. Little remains of the vessel but the cargo of ‘mining machinery’ (mainly iron pumping equipment) probably from a Cornish foundry (date post 1850) Iron steamer (1300 tons) Bryher Salvage Western Marine Salvage (c1900) Iron steamship, passenger liner Retarrier 3421 tons. Contemporary salvage Ledges recovered gold coin. Further salvage work (Larn and McBride) in the last ten years. Finds by others reported on various websites Publications (Wessex Archaeology, 2006a) (Camidge 2018) (Camidge and Johns 2019) (Johns et al 2004) (Johns et al 2004) Table 9.1 Known wrecks in Scilly which have been the subject of some kind of investigation and/or salvage. 211 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda English Protected Wrecks - Type Scilly Wrecks - Type 25 6 20 5 4 15 3 10 2 5 1 0 0 English Protected Wrecks - Depth 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Scilly Wrecks - Depth 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Fig 9.8 Comparison of English protected wreck sites with the investigated Scilly wrecks by vessel type, depth and period. 212 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Some of the shipwrecks in Scilly have been the subject of high profile salvage work. In some cases this has been focussed on the recovery of valuable artefacts. Wrecks which fall into this category are Prinses Maria (1686), HMS Association (1707), HMS Firebrand (1707), Hollandia (1743), Zeelilie (1795) and HMS Colossus (1798). In some cases (Firebrand, Hollandia and Colossus) there has been both salvage work and archaeological investigation, but the Association, Prinses Maria, and Zeelillie have had extensive salvage work undertaken, with recovery and sale of many artefacts but little or no publication. In the case of the Association, many different individuals have been involved in the recovery and sale of coin and other artefacts with virtually no account available of what has been ‘recovered’ or of the remaining fabric of the vessel. In the case of the Association there are even reports of explosives being used on the wreck (Morris 1979). Sometimes the exploitation takes place with almost no knowledge even on the part of the tightly-knit Scillonian community. The Black Rock site, where no one knew that material had been recovered from the wreck until after it had been sold at auction, is a good example of this (Johns et al 2004). The Scilly wrecks are comparable with the English protected wreck sites in terms of vessel type discovered (Fig 9.8). Both groups have warships and cargo vessels well represented. The Scilly group does not have as many diverse vessel types represented – but this is to be expected as it is a smaller number of vessels (‘English protected wrecks’ consists of 47 sites, while ‘Scilly investigated wrecks’ consists of only 19 wrecks). The smaller vessels in particular are underrepresented in the Scilly group. It is interesting to compare the depth of the Scilly sites with those of the English protected sites (Fig 9.8). The mean English site depth is 11.2m while the mean for the Scilly wrecks is 15.7m. What is not clear is whether this is due to deeper conditions around Scilly, or to deeper diving activity in Scilly leading to more frequent discovery of deeper wrecks. When we compare the period of English protected sites with those discovered in Scilly (Fig 9.8) it is clear that in both cases the majority of sites fall within the post-medieval and modern category. There are a few earlier sites in the English group, but again this is probably due mainly to the larger sample. This situation probably reflects the relative amounts of maritime activity but poorer survival of the older wrecks may play a part. Another probable factor is the nature of the older vessels: smaller, less substantial and often without large iron objects such as guns and anchors – these factors will all mitigate against discovery. 9.8.2 Navigation and pilotage Situated at the mouth of the English Channel, the Isles of Scilly constituted a considerable hazard to shipping, especially to any vessels unsure of their exact position. Many of the shipping losses in Scilly can be attributed to this cause. One of the most notorious shipping disasters in Scilly was the loss of four ships from Sir Cloudesley Shovell’s fleet which ran into the Western Rocks off Scilly on the night of 22 October 1707. Three ships, Eagle, Romney and Sir Cloudesley’s flagship Association, were lost with only a single survivor between them. The fireship Phoenix struck a rock and eventually grounded between Samson and Bryher. The fireship Firebrand also struck the rocks but managed to get off again. Leaking badly, she made for the beacon of St Agnes lighthouse and foundered in Smith Sound close. Over 1500 men perished in this incident, making it one of the worst disasters in British naval history. Eventually, the disaster led to the 1714 Longitude Act, offering large prizes for a practical method of fixing longitude at sea (Larn 1971; 2006; Roger 2004). Between 1720 and 1870 Scilly (especially St Agnes and St Martin’s) was home to many pilots, who ensured that ships had a safe passage through the Islands and 213 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda beyond. By the beginning of the nineteenth century piloting was restricted to fewer individuals, but in 1850 there were still a good fifteen pilot boats – cutters and gigs (Johns et al 2004). Since 1990 the Scilly has been the home of the World Gig Racing Championships. The gig originated in the eighteenth century as a light-weight clinker built boat with six oars and a sail. The type is recorded as a ship’s boat on board British warships from about 1760 (Lavery 1987). The specific type used in the Scilly race is also known as the Cornish Pilot Gig, the name gives a clue as to one of its uses. In the eighteenth century pilots were used to guide ships into ports and along difficult coastlines. One point for collecting channel pilots was Scilly. It is often said that pilots competed for the job; the fastest boat would reach the vessel first and secure the job. The pilot gigs used in the World championships are said to have their origins in gigs built by the Peters family of St Mawes at the end of the eighteenth century (Gillis 1969). The gig races are now held using boats propelled by six oars, but originally the gigs used sails as well. ‘All the gigs were fitted to sail with a dipping forelug and a standing lug mizen’ (Gillis 1956). The gigs were apparently good sea boats and were used for many different tasks, not always lawful. ‘The gigs were wonderful sea-boats, and often made trips from the Isles of Scilly to France. The Hope was the last of the Isles of Scilly gigs to go to France for a smuggled cargo, but I gather she was sailed most of the way. The Hope was built in the Isles of Scilly by a boat builder named Samuel Tiddy, who built the Sultan, the Leo and the Gipsy. Tiddy had served his time in the Peter’s Yard at St Mawers’ (Gillis 1956). Piloting in Scilly declined with the introduction of steamships (Johns et al 2004), and the hazards of putting a pilot aboard a large iron vessel from a small wooden boat are illustrated by the St Ives gig Guide which was lost putting a pilot aboard SS Pentreath when the Pentreath rolled on to the Guide. The pilot gigs ended their working lives in the early part of last century. ‘The last time a six-oared gig was used to put a pilot aboard a vessel was 22 December 1938. The vessel was called Foremost and the pilot was Jack Hicks of St Agnes’ (Gillis 1969). 9.8.3 Packets and passenger boats The need for regular communications with the mainland grew during the eighteenth century as the maritime importance of St Mary’s developed. The link was provided by open boats at four to six week intervals in summer and longer in winter, but sometimes it was worse and Borlase in 1752 mentioned ‘seventeen weeks without any provisions whatsoever or intelligence’. The Prudence and Jane, carrying essential goods from Penzance to Scilly, was driven by storms to Cherbourg in 1793 (Gill 1975, 145; Chudleigh 1992, 5). In 1804 a mail service was established with a voluntary payment of 2d a letter, the contract being given to James Tregarthen master of the 30-ton Hope, at the recommendation of the garrison commander. From 1827 the mail was carried by the Cherub, commanded by Captain John Tregarthen, and after she was lost in 1837, by the Lord Wellington, on which Augustus Smith had earlier made his first visit to the islands in 1834. The first Lyonesse, a sailing cutter started service in 1845, commanded by Captain Frank Tregarthen, who later took command of the Ariadne, a sloop provided by the islanders as a connecting link between Scilly and Penzance. For about two years the Ariadne and Lyonesse ran in opposition, but eventually the former secured the mail contract worth £300 per annum, running three days a week. On a good day a cutter could make the journey in about six hours, with a light wind it could take all day (Chudleigh 1992, 5). Coastal steamers on the Cork-London run had been passing Scilly since 1823 and excursion steamers calling since 1831. The West Cornwall Steamship Company was formed in 1857, using the steamer Scotia for mails passengers and cargo 214 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda until their new ship Little Western, built in Glasgow, came into service two years later. She was 115ft 7in long with an 18ft beam and gross tonnage of 148 tons. In October 1872 she went to the aid of a disabled brigantine but was overcome by a heavy sea and sank on the Southward Well rocks off Samson (Gill 1975, 146; Chudleigh 1992, 5). The West Cornwall group amalgamated with the Isles of Scilly Steam Navigation Co. and ran the paddle steamer Earl of Arran, which was wrecked on Nornour in 1872. She was succeeded by the Guide, the Queen of the Bay and the Lady of the Isles. The latter was built by Harvey’s of Hayle in 1875 and was in service until 1904, when she hit a rock and sank off Lamorna during an excursion trip. Salvaged and repaired she went on to carry out a relief service when the first Scillonian (later known as Scillonian 1) was away for refit and also helped during busy flower seasons (Chudleigh 1992, 8). The second Lyonesse was also built at Hayle for John Banfield in 1888. She towed the sailing ship Horsa, off the rocks of St Martin’s in 1893, and helped the Queen Mab (not listed by the NMR or UKHO), which struck the Spanish ledges. She was sold in 1918 (Chudleigh 1992, 8). During the First World War a succession of trawlers, drifters and a coaster were provided by the Ministry of Shipping to carry passengers and essential supplies to the Islands. After the end of the war the islanders had to set up their own transport arrangements. The first boat was the Lapwing, and then the Argus, a former fishery protection vessel, renamed the Peninnis. The Isles of Scilly Steamship Company Ltd was formed in March 1920. The first Scillonian was built by the Ailsa Shipbuilding Company of Troon in Scotland, she was steam driven, 177ft in length, with a beam of 28ft 6in and a draft of 10ft 6in. With a speed of 12½ knots she could carry 390 passengers and 165 tons of cargo, making her first regular trip on 2 February 1926. She ‘did yeoman service’ until 1956’, amongst much grounding, that on Wingletang Ledges in September 1951 being the most famous. In 1946/7 a new Steamship Company ship, a second Lady of the Isles, was built at Poole. Scillonian II was launched in 1955; a second ship Queen of the Isles came into service in 1965. Scillonian III, built at Appledore, was launched in 1977. A Norwegian coaster Gry Maritha was bought in 1989 for all-year freight carrying and the Lyonesse Lady, a cargo ship for general interisland service was introduced in 1991 (Chudleigh 1992, 12-102). 9.8.4 Maritime infrastructure Quays First built in 1601, Hugh Town quay is physically and functionally separate from the town but of fundamental importance to it. The structure itself records many of the town’s and islands’ significant milestones: initial construction accompanied the Elizabethan fortification of the Garrison and created the sheltered landing place around which the settlement formed; then refurbishment in the 1740s was part of a major expansion of the Garrison defences and military presence; the new, much larger deepwater quay was built in the late 1830s testified to Augustus Smith’s aspirations for the prosperity of the islands (the curious dressed granite piers at the entrance reputed to have been intended to emphasise his proprietorial control over access); extension in the late nineteenth century was required to serve the expanding flower trade and widening in the late twentieth century to facilitate modern handling methods. The quay structure itself holds evidence of its original construction and successive phases of repair. A number of historic cannon reputed to have come from the wreck of the eighteenth century warship HMS Colossus, have been set into the Augustus Smith quay as mooring posts. Some of these were moved in 1994 during operations to widen the quay but others remain in situ (Kirkham 2003). The following quays, slipways and piers are recorded in the Cornwall and Scilly HER: Bryher – Great Porth, Kitchen Porth; St Mary’s - Old Quay (Old Town), 215 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda slipway Old Town, Old Quay (Hugh Town), Toll’s Island, two quays on Newford Island, Point of Fields, Pendrathen Quay, a pier at Porth Hellick, slipways at Innisidgen Hill, Pendrathen, and Porthcressa, New Quay; St Agnes - a quay and slipway at Periglis, Porth Conger, Uncle Tom’s Quay, Hole of Cove Vean; St Martin’s – The Porth, Old Quay, New Quay; Tresco – slipway at Crow Point, quays at Carn Near, Old Grimsby, New Grimsby; other islands – two at East Porth, Teän, St Helen’s (Pest House quay), Arthur Quay. Lighthouses, lightships and navigation aids One of the earliest measures used to safeguard shipping was the use of lights and markers to help vessels determine their whereabouts, and to warn of hazards. The ‘lighthouse chapel’ on St Martin’s Head continued in use through the medieval period and is shown on Captain Greenville Collins’ navigation chart of the Isles of Scilly surveyed between 1691 and 1698 (UKHO B888). Date Location Type 1680 St Agnes A coal-fired lighthouse 1687 St Martins Daymark, masonry tower 1802 St Agnes The coal-fired lighthouse was converted to oil lamps 1849 Bishop Rock First iron lighthouse, 120 feet high. Washed away in 1850 before it was commissioned 1859 Bishop Rock Second lighthouse, constructed in stone 1887 Bishop Rock Third lighthouse, constructed by encasing the second lighthouse in additional stonework. 167 feet high. Still in use today. 1887 Round Island Lighthouse 1911 Peninnis Head Lighthouse, iron. 1911 St Agnes Lighthouse decommissioned. ? St Mary’s Mount Flagon sea mark 2002 St Agnes Tins Walbert daymark Table 9.2 Lighthouses and daymarks in Scilly (cf Bowley 1964). Trinity House’s involvement in Scilly began as early as 1680 when they built their second lighthouse on St Agnes (the first was at Lowestoft), superseded in 1911 by one on Peninnis Head. To aid navigation a day mark was built in 1687 on St Martin’s by Thomas Ekins, the first steward of the Godolphins to reside on the Islands. The inscribed date stone has been altered to 1637 and should read 1687 (Ratcliffe and Johns 2003, 34; Greeves 2006-7, 164-7). The Bishop Rock lighthouse is of nineteenth century date and still used. On the rocky island of Rosevear, one of the Western Rocks, are the ruins of four rectangular drystone buildings which are the remains of a blacksmith’s workshop and the quarters of the men who built the lighthouse (1847-50 and 1847). There is no evidence to support the theory that these may originally have been built by Edmund Herbert’s expedition to salvage the Association in c 1710. The most prominent building survives up to roof height and incorporates a large natural outcrop at its west end and as part of its base. There is also an anvil made from a naturally hollowed boulder, a rectangular platform made of large blocks and the remains of stone-splitting operations (Ratcliffe 1989, 66). There has been a lightship to mark the Seven Stones reef since 1841. Round Island Lighthouse was erected in 1887, around the same time as Bishop Rock was being strengthened. There is a modern sea mark at Mount Flagon, St Mary’s, and the standing stone beside it may have been used as an earlier mark. The Tins Walbert navigation transit daymark on the north western extremity of St Agnes was completed on 1 May 2002. 216 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda A detailed history of the Bishop Rock has been published recently (Stanbrook 2008) but there is considerable potential for further research into the history of other lighthouses. Isolation hospital The building on St Helen’s known as the ‘Pest House’ is an isolation hospital built in 1764 to house plague cases from visiting ships calling at Old Grimsby and St Helen’s Pool (after a 1754 Act of Parliament decreed that any plague-ridden ship north of Cape Finisterre heading for England should anchor off this island). The building has recently been repaired and stabilised with the benefit of EH funding through the IOS Grant scheme administered by CIOS. Associated with the Pest House are a well and a slipway and a field system along the islands’ southeastern coastal margin bounded by post-medieval banks (Ratcliffe 1989, 66). Signal stations The signal station on Chapel Down, St Martin’s was one of a series set up around the coast of Britain during the Napoleonic Wars to send information and orders to men-of-war waiting offshore (using a flag, pendant and four canvas balls). It was in use from 1810 until replaced by the semaphore tower on St Mary’s around 1814. A two-phased enclosure surrounds the main building, which accommodated four naval operators. Heavily robbed of stone, it still retains its central chimney breast. Several ancillary buildings are incorporated in the enclosure wall and an animal pen built against its east side. The signal post (an old ship’s mast) probably stood to the north-east near the base of a more recent lookout. A small field to the west may also be associated with it (Ratcliffe and Johns 2003, 34-5). One of the sixteenth or seventeenth century windmills on the Garrison was used in the mid-nineteenth century by the coastguard service and then, in 1869, was acquired by the Shipping Gazette before being taken over in 1871 by Lloyds, who bought it in 1882. Telegraph Tower, a circular granite building, was erected on the highest point of the Islands as a gun and semaphore tower. It was built in 1814 but only remained open for two years. Later adapted as a signal station, it was here, in 1898, that Guglielmo Marconi heard wireless signals transmitted from Porthcurno (thirty miles away in West Cornwall). The four-storeyed building, 12m high, serves as the Coastguard headquarters and weather reporting station. Gig sheds Gig sheds (boathouses) remain a characteristic feature of the shoreline on some of the inhabited islands. These are long narrow rectangular buildings, approximately 10m by 3m internally, open at one end and constructed of stoneface walling. Situated just above the beaches and originally thatched, these buildings once housed pilot gigs similar to those used for racing in Scilly today (see above Section 9.8.1). Eleven boathouses are recorded in the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly HER, six destroyed or covered by sand, five definitely extant. Gig sheds are a distinctive component of the historic landscape and providing a visible and tangible link to the history of piloting in the Islands. Lifeboats The lifeboat station on St Mary’s was established in 1837, the first lifeboat arriving in 1840. Her only recorded service was on January 4 1841, when she went to the aid of the steam packet Thames, driven ashore on the Western Rocks. There was a lapse in the service around 1855 and it was re-established in 1874 following the disasters of the Delaware and the Minnehaha. The new lifeboat, the Henry Dundas was a 37ft, 12-oared pulling and sailing lifeboat. She first saw service when the Schiller was wrecked on the Retarrier Ledges on 7 May of the following year. A back-up lifeboat station was established on St Agnes in 1890 and was operational until 1920. The Carn Thomas lifeboat station was built in c 1899 to accommodate a new Watson–type lifeboat (Bird 1991, 66-79, 202- 217 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 4). Gigs were also used for saving lives from wrecked vessels before and after the introduction of lifeboats. Troy Town Maze Troy Town maze is situated close to the cliff edge on the west side of Castella Down, St Agnes. It is circular in plan, 5.6m in diameter and formed of beach pebbles. It is said to have been laid out in 1729 by a bored lighthouse keeper or his son (Nance 1924) but may well be earlier in date and has been periodically rebuilt, latterly by Eddie Prynn in the 1980s and with work by Ben Hicks in 2011. This maze is apparently unique in Britain, resembling in pattern and construction the stone mazes of Scandinavia (Mathews 1922). 9.8.5 Telegraph and telephones The 1868 the Scilly Isles Cable Company attempted to lay submarine telegraph cable from Land’s End, but the cable was five miles too short. The cable was relaid the following year with an office in Scaden’s post office. In 1875 it was moved to John Gibson’s general store in Silver Street. The cable and company failed in 1877-8 and was turned over to the Post Office who laid a new cable from Porthcurno in 1886, and by 1883 inter-island cables were laid, originally for the coastguard but in 1894 the off island post offices were connected for public use. In 1938 telephone connection was established through short-wave radio. An automatic exchange on Tresco also served Bryher and St Martin’s from 1957 and in May 1968 all the islands went automatic on Subscriber Trunk Dialling with 48 channels on the radio link to the mainland (Gill 1975, 154-5). 9.8.6 Air travel On 15 September 1937 an air service was started by Captain Olley’s Channel Air Ferries with the golf course as the St Mary’s terminal. St Just was the mainland terminal with a bus link to Penzance. The service was stopped by the outbreak of the Second World War and the RAF took over the airfield, although a mail service continued (Gill 1975, 151). When civilian airlines were nationalise after the war British European Airways (BEA) took over the service to the Islands in 1947 and facilities were improved In 1959, 29,100 passengers were carried. BEA introduced helicopters in May 1964, and the heliport at Penzance was built in September of that year. By 1973 the annual number of passengers was up to 68,248 and work began in June 1974 on the new airport on Salakee Down, St Mary’s. Aircraft crash sites at sea Thousands of aircraft are likely to have been lost in UK territorial and nearterritorial waters during the twentieth century. A high proportion of these losses are likely to be combat losses or accidental losses of military aircraft that occurred during Second World War. The potential resource is therefore very large (Wessex Archaeology 2008b). The number of known aircraft crash sites on the seabed as recorded by the National Monuments Record (NMR) and the HER is relatively small. The known resource is therefore relatively small. Notwithstanding issues concerning survival, the potential therefore exists for the presence of a very large number of currently unknown crash sites on the seabed and, to some extent, in the intertidal zone. Recent discoveries of previously unknown aircraft crash sites in licenced marine aggregate dredging areas suggests that there is a need for urgent national and local record enhancement in areas of seabed likely to be impacted by human activities (ibid). NMR records for crash sites of identified aircraft around Scilly are shown below in Table 9.3. 218 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda NMR no Name Date Aircraft type Nation Source Easting Northing 1329887 SUNDERLAND U N9045 1939 Flying Boat British NMR 89320 11480 1329127 SPITFIRE MK I N3101 1941 Fighter Aircraft British NMR 89320 11480 1357319 WELLINGTON MK IC W5631 1941 Bomber Aircraft British NMR 89320 11480 1318392 WELLINGTON IC DV661 1942 Bomber Aircraft British NMR 89320 11480 1323502 HURRICANE MK I R4228 1942 Fighter Aircraft British NMR 83910 6280 1329565 TIGER MOTH MK II N6598 1942 Trainer Aircraft British NMR 90180 10840 1352701 BRISTOL BEAUFIGHTER MK VI T5156 1942 Fighter Aircraft British NMR 89320 11480 1354000 WELLINGTON MK IC W573 1942 Bomber Aircraft British NMR 89320 11480 1354579 WHITLEY MK VII Z9524 1942 Bomber Aircraft British NMR 89320 11480 1353071 WALRUS MK I W3026 1943 Flying Boat British NMR 89320 11480 1353996 WELLINGTON MK IC W5714 1943 Bomber Aircraft British NMR 89320 11480 1355229 WELLINGTON MK X HZ957 1943 Bomber Aircraft British NMR 89320 11480 1356762 LANCASTER MK III ED717 1943 Bomber Aircraft British NMR 89320 11480 1317923 SUNDERLAND MK III DD836 1944 Flying Boat British NMR 90180 10840 1343345 HURRICANE MK IIB BW949 1944 Fighter Aircraft British NMR 90180 10840 1356384 HALIFAX MK II JD176 1944 Bomber Aircraft British NMR 89320 11480 1340976 SUNDERLAND MK III ML770 Reconnaissance 1945 Aircraft British NMR 89320 11480 Table 9.3 NMR records for crash sites of identified aircraft around Scilly. 9.9 Technology and production 9.9.1 Stonecutting Evidence for stonecutting over four centuries (c 1550-1950) survives well on Scilly, although there has not been a dedicated study or detailed report on the history of stonecutting on the Islands (Greeves 2010, 151-3). For hundreds of years most stone used for buildings was cut or drilled from natural outcrops of rock (called ‘moorstones’ in Cornwall) and then dressed for use as quoin stones, window frames, arches, gateposts etc. Earlier stonecutting was done by cutting slots in the stone with chisels and splitting it using iron wedges – the ‘wedge and groove’ technique - evidence of the use of this method can be seen on the Garrison and the roofing stones of Innisidgen entrance grave on St Mary’s (ibid). The ‘tare (or plug) and feather’ method of stone splitting was introduced in Cornwall from America in about 1800. The technique of splitting granite using plug-and-feather is described by Peter Herring in Volume Two of the Bodmin Moor Archaeological Survey: ‘A line of holes 0.075-0.10m deep and 0.10 to 0.15 apart was drilled along the intended cleavage line by giving hand-held stone borers or chisels part-turns between blows... Holes drilled in the first half of the 19th century tended to have larger diameters (0.028 – 0.035m) than more recent ones (0.015m)... Iron ‘plugs’, (short chisels), were placed between pairs of iron feathers reaching the 219 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda bottoms of the holes. The plugs were struck in turn by a sledgehammer (thus splitting the stone)’ (Herring 2008, 87-88). Two main areas of stone cutting were recorded on Samson Flats during the CISMAS survey where large granite boulders have been split using drilled holes and plug-and-feather splitting (Camidge et al 2010). Quarries on the west side of Buzza Hill mostly date to the later nineteenth or twentieth centuries (Greeves 2010, 151). Robert Maybee records that stone was cut from Carn Thomas to build the new pier on St Mar’s in 1889 (Greeves 2010, 151-3). 9.9.2 Limeburning Demand for lime has come from two principal sources. Firstly, the development of agriculture in the nineteenth and nineteenth centuries and the need to neutralise acid soils led to an increasing demand for lime. In particular a shortage of grain in the Napoleonic Wars encouraged landowners to cultivate marginal areas of land and many limekilns were built as a result. Secondly, lime was used in the building industry for creating mortars and for limewash finishes. Lime kilns were usually built near to harbours where limestone and coal to fuel the kilns could easily be brought by sea. By the mid-nineteenth century there was a constant trade was carried on around the south-western coasts by small ships bringing limestone from the quarries near Plymouth or coal from South Wales as ballast (Johns et al 2004, 109). There may have been a lime kiln in Hugh Town since an early date as lime was being produced on site in 1593 for Star Castle (Brodie 2010, 35; Johns and Sawyer 2017). A bill of works of 1743 includes items and labour associated with limeburning (in Brodie 2011, 63–4) and Captain Robert Heath noted in his account of Scilly that, ‘They make their Lime by burning of English Lime-stone, brought over in Shipping for Ballast’ although he does not mention a lime kiln in his description of the Garrison (Heath 1750, 29, 30–4). At the end of the century the Revd Troutbeck recorded that a large lime kiln near King George’s Battery which was in use when the garrison works were carried out in 1742 (Troutbeck nd [c 1794], 43) and it is probable that the lime kiln was located in what are now the grounds of ‘White Horses’, a private house. (MCO30722). The lime kiln is shown as a red dot on William Kane Horneck’s 1744 map of the Garrison (in Bowden and Brodie 2011, fig 43) and also on Graeme Spence’s 1792 map of St Mary’s. An archaeological watching brief in the grounds of ‘White Horses’ in 2016 recovered several fragments of limestone (Johns and Sayer 2017). Spence’s map shows another 18 th century lime kiln in the Thoroughfare area between Hugh Town and the pier. This lime kiln is referred to in a letter of 1784 from a Mr Phillips requesting permission ‘to build [a house] anywhere between the Lime Kiln and the Quay … not to encroach on the Street but on the Beach’ (CRO GO/559/1) and is shown on Christian Lilly’s 1715 plan of the Garrison and on William Borlase’s panorama of Hugh Town (Borlase 1756, plate III). The 1862 plan of Hugh Town by Capt Williams shows two limekilns, one on Rat Island, the other at the end of Silver Street, at the back of Porthcressa beach. 9.9.3 Kelp industry The history of the kelp industry in Scilly has been summarised by Luke Over (1987). The copious quantities of kelp available on Scilly gave rise to the kelp burning industry, which was introduced to the islands in 1684 by the Nance family from Falmouth who settled on the small island of Teän for several generations. Kelp burning formed an important part of Scilly’s economy for some 220 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 150 years. The seaweed was collected, dried and burnt in small stone-lined pits close to the water’s edge. The obnoxious smelling process produced soda ash, which was shipped to Bristol and Gloucester to be used in the manufacture of glass, soap and bleach. After the Napoleonic Wars, increased foreign supplies of soda ash and new chemical processes for the manufacture of alkali led to the decline of Scilly’s industry, which ceased in 1835. Although a hundred fires are said to have burnt at one time, the remains of only a dozen kelp pits are now visible although others become intermittently exposed in section in eroding dune faces e.g. south of Lower Town, St Martin’s (Over 1987; Ratcliffe and Johns 2003, 20-21). 9.9.4 Shipbuilding There is good summary of the history of shipbuilding in Scilly by Davies (1988) and the industry features in several accounts of the Islands (e.g., Gill 1975). Small sailing ships were built in Scilly for about a century starting in the late eighteenth century. These were all wooden sailing ships and relatively small vessels. The largest ever built in Scilly was the John Banfield, a barque of 528 tons built by T Edwards in 1859. The earliest record of shipbuilding in Scilly is contained in Robert Heath’s ‘Account of the Islands’, written about 1750 where he records only one boat builder in Scilly. The subsequent records of boatbuilding on the islands are due mainly to the Merchant Shipping Act of 1786 which required all vessels of over 15 tons to be registered (Davies 1988). Shipbuilding on Scilly seems to have been largely confined to the island of St Mary’s, with only a single vessel (Antelope, 1837) built on Bryher. The lack of shipbuilding materials on the islands (also attested in Heath’s account) would have necessitated timber and other materials being shipped to Scilly from the mainland or further afield. One early vessel built in Scilly was the Grace, built in 1779. In 1780 she was registered as a privateer, working in company with the Dolphin of Penzance. Between them they captured ten Dutch ships with ‘valuable cargo’ (1780–91) (Davies 1988). Shipbuilders would also have undertaken repair work, especially when vessels arrived damaged in Scilly. For example, in 1805 the brig Henry (for London with wheat), Better Luck Still (for Newport), Mary (for Plymouth with flour and beef), Martha (cargo of timber) and Governor Milne (cargo of sugar) were all ‘hauled up on the beach for large repairs’ in Scilly. The first vessel of over 100 tons built in Scilly was the Union, a 137 ton brig built by B Banfield in 1804. Smaller vessels were also constructed; in 1815 ‘at least’ five open boats were built for fishing. Vessels built in Scilly were mainly registered in Scilly, but some were also built for mainland owners – only seven Scilly-built ships were sold to mainland owners in the nineteenth century. Hugh Town was dominated by the shipbuilding industry for most of the nineteenth century ‘with stacked timber, sawpits, stores, sheds, offices, etc. spread inland from the beaches’. The 1840s was the heyday of shipbuilding in the islands with four yards on Porthcressa alone. (Davies 1988). One of the largest yards was that of William Mumford who operated from 1821 to 1868 on a site later occupied by Holgate’s Hotel on the Strand. Timber used for the shipbuilding included English oak from the New Forest, red and pitch pine from North America, white and yellow pine from Scandinavia, teak from the East Indies and Africa, and mahogany from Central America and India. This would have generated maritime traffic to Scilly, whether via the mainland or directly shipped. Thus it can be seen that at this time shipbuilding would have affected the life and economy of Scilly. The launch of ships was often recorded in the local papers and apparently the launch was often accompanied with elaborate celebrations. Scilly-built ships were of good quality and well thought of ‘generally, the Scilly-built ships were very well rated…They gained a reputation of being amongst the best afloat at that time, and most engaged in foreign trade’ (Davies 1988). 221 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Fig 9.9 Shipbuilding (the David Auterson) on Porthcressa, St Mary’s c 1870 (©Gibson Collection). By the 1860s, the demand for wooden ships was in decline. Steamships saw not only the decline of shipbuilding on the islands but also of ship ownership. With the exception of the Little Western (wrecked south of Samson not far from the wreck of Colossus) and the Lady of the Isles, no steamships were registered in Scilly in the nineteenth century. The last Scilly-built ship recorded was the Gleaner, a 171 ton brig built in 1878 (Davies 1988). The account of shipbuilding on Scilly by Davies (1988) contains a table of 163 vessels built between 1774 and 1877. This gives details of ship name, tonnage, date and builder as well as many interesting details of the ship’s career. The figurehead from one of the Scilly-built ships the Bosphorus, a schooner built in 1840, is now in the Valhalla collection on Tresco. The two shipbuilding yards on Town Beach and Porthcressa are jointly recorded in the Cornwall and Scilly HER. The shipyard on Bryher is yet to be recorded. 9.9.5 Tin There was little tin to mine in Scilly and the evidence of tinworking is slight but there are records of working on St Mary’s, Northwethel and Tresco. The remains on Castle Down, Tresco, are of significant interest as they include an openwork, lode-back pits and classic tinners’ reservoir with earthwork dam which are probably the result of venture by Francis Godolphin in the mid-seventeenth century. 9.9.6 Flower industry Scilly's flower industry is said to have started in a small way in c 1879, when William Trevellick of Rocky Hill farm on St Mary's sent an experimental consignment of cut flowers to Covent Garden in a hat box. Its long term success was due to two factors - the establishment of a through railway service to Penzance and steamer service to Scilly which made transportation to market viable, and investment in the industry by Smith's nephew, Thomas Algernon 222 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Dorrien-Smith, who studied the Dutch system, introduced new kinds of daffodils and narcissi to the Islands and encouraged islanders to turn their smallholdings into flower farms. The narrow, hedged enclosures (bulb strips) created for this flower cultivation form a very distinctive pattern and are the most visually striking aspect of Scilly's presently enclosed farmland (Ratcliffe 1995, 7). 9.10 9.10.1 Trade and interaction Piracy and privateering Leland noted in 1548 that ‘Few men be glad to inhabite these islettes, for al the plenty, for robbers by sea that take their cattail by force. The robbers be Frenchmen and Spaniards’ (in Bowley 1964). Scilly had a notorious reputation as a base for pirates until the end of Elizabethan era. On 1603 Stephen Treveleck, gentleman was interviewed as being from St Martin’s in connection with piracy and receiving (Thomas 1985, 222). Contemporary records state that in 1625 there were said to be thirty Saleemen off Scilly and in 1626 it was reported that Scilly had been taken by Flemish privateers. Further research on the subject of piracy and privateering in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries is desirable. 9.10.2 Smuggling Smuggling was a major part of the Scillonian economy during the later seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and both the Admiralty and the Customs Department had various controls of the coast-watching organisations. The first Custom House was built in Well Lane; Hugh Town in 1696, the second was built in c 1840 and is now incorporated into the Atlantic Hotel (Johns et al 2004, 110). Smuggling was made more difficult by the stationing of a protection vessel in the Islands after 1784, and by an Act of Parliament of 1790 that allowed the cost of court proceedings to be met out of the sale of seizure and also allocated revenue officers to keep a small share of the proceeds as an inducement. After this smuggling declined and became a still more risky pastime as a result of the Napoleonic Wars and the formation of the Preventative Water Guard in 1809 that patrolled coastal waters to tackle smugglers who had slipped past the existing Revenue Cruisers operating further out to sea. The Cornwall and Scilly HER records two smuggler’s caches, cavities dug into the cliff face or below ground and used to conceal smuggled goods. One, a good example of its type, is exposed in the cliff face on the north-east side of Porth Mellon, St Mary’s. The other, named ‘Tobaccoman’s Hole’ is at Pendrathen although recent monitoring work suggests it is an Iron Age or Romano-British house drain (D Hooley, pers comm. to C Johns). We know of two Preventative Service vessels that were lost, Fanny, in 1820 and in 1821, another whose name was not recorded. Six chasse-mareés, French coasting luggers often used for smuggling or privateering, were also wrecked in Scilly during the nineteenth century (Johns et al 2004, 110). In addition to revenue work the Guard was detailed to assist in lifesaving after a shipwreck and was a forerunner of The Coast Guard formed in 1822 by an amalgamation of the Preventative Water Guard, cruisers and Riding Officers. In 1831 the main island station was established on the Garrison with subsidiary stations at Telegraph and on Tresco, St Agnes and St Martin’s with auxiliary coastguards on Bryher (Gill 1975, 113; Cowan 2001, 13–14). In 1856 the coastguards were transferred to the Customs Department of the Admiralty. The Turk’s Head public house, at Porth Conger, St Agnes was originally a coastguard house; part of the coastguard station shown on the 1889 and 1908 OS maps which also comprised a slipway, quay and two ancillary buildings within a levelled area on the cliff top. The two buildings are gigsheds, the Obadiah & Mary, which has been restored with grant aid, and the Gypsy, which now houses the Shah gig. 223 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda The 1908 OS map also shows a coastguard lookout at Giant’s Castle on St Mary’s, on the cliff edge within the Iron Age cliff castle (Johns et al 2004, 110). 9.10.3 The nineteenth century Scillonian merchant fleet The sailing ships built in Scilly in the nineteenth century were owned by islanders and often officered and crewed by them too. Ownership was divided into 64 shares in the English way; command often depended on the investment of the would-be captain. Such investments could be profitable and the best voyages paid 30% to the shareholders. Two shipping companies were formed in the islands. In 1864 the largest fleet of 13 vessels belonged to the Banfields, but only 18 of the 35 registered vessels in that year were built in Scilly. Cargoes included tea from China, grain from the Black Sea, guano from the Chincha Islands, wool and grain from Australia, currants from the Mediterranean and fish from Newfoundland; voyages could last several years (Gill 1975, 103–4). The Scilly fleet faded as steamships took over, the last survivors were ketches carrying coal to the islands and other cargoes such as china clay from Fowey or onions from Roscoff. Peat was the main fuel in the islands until well into the nineteenth century, the coal trade developing from the 1860s (Gill 1975, 104–5). 9.10.4 Tourism As well as providing a means of transporting flowers to Covent Garden, the improved rail and sea transport of the mid-nineteenth century marked the beginning of Scilly's tourist industry and this now forms the largest part (85%) of its economy with 37% of the Islands’ PAYE employees working in the tourism sector. The Islands attract about 90,000-100,000 visitors per year which is about 50 times the resident population of the Islands. Repeat visitors account for 65%75% of tourists, the majority of whom are over 45 years old. The main attractions for visitors are walking (95%), inter-Island boat trips (85%), eating out (80%), wildlife/bird-watching (60%), arts/crafts (30%) and sailing/water sports (20%). 64% of visitors choose Scilly as their main holiday with 48% staying 5-7 days, 9% for 8-10 days and 25% for 11 days or more (Isles of Scilly AONB Unit 2010, 107). While the main visitor season has traditionally run from Easter to October, such as the ‘Walk Scilly’ festival in late-March and the promotion of winter breaks have begun to extend the season into the shoulder periods. An increasing number of cruise-liner passengers come ashore on Tresco and St Mary’s, and Scilly also attracts thousands of visiting yachts, each contributing to the Islands’ economy. In addition to direct economic benefit through visitor spending, tourism helps to sustain a broader range of shops, services and entertainment than Scilly’s small resident population could support alone (ibid, 108). 9.11 Religion and ritual 9.11.1 Anglican From the Reformation to the end of the Civil War there are very few direct references to religious establishments in Scilly. Today’s Anglican churches were built or refounded in the 50 years or so after the Restoration (Thomas 1985, 222, 230). St Martin’s church was built around 1683 by Thomas Ekins, the Godolphins’ Steward in the Islands, and repaired in 1820 by George Woodley (SPCK missionary minister for St Agnes and St Martin’s). All Saints, Bryher dates from about 1742 and was enlarged in 1882. The church at Dolphin Town, Tresco was built in before 1722, and a new church was built on, or nearby, the site of the old one in 1879 (Matthews 1960, 225). On St Agnes the salvage reward from a deserted French boat was used to pay for a new church in 1685, the present church is early Victorian (Thomas 1985, 230). The new church on St Mary’s was built to Augustus Smith’s own design by 1839. 224 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda A clergyman known as the ‘Chaplain’ was appointed to the Islands in 1662, but some of these spent little time in Scilly (Cowan 1991, 6). Since 1932, the Chaplain has been legally Vicar of St Mary’s but with rectorial oversight of all the inhabited islands which constitute a single dispersed parish in the diocese of Exeter from 1838 to 1877 and from then on in the newly constituted Diocese of Truro (Thomas 1985, 222, 230; Matthews 1960, 225). 9.11.2 Methodist John Wesley visited Scilly in September 1742 and preached twice in the streets of Hugh Town. In 1788 a Wesleyan Society was formed on St Mary’s by the Rev Joseph Sutcliffe from St Ives with church in Garrison Lane. Chapels were added at Holy Vale in 1815, Old Town in 1819 and Tresco in 1819. The Garrison Lane church was rebuilt between 1825 and 1828 (Gill 1975, 177–8). In 1821 the Bible Christians, a Cornish breakaway movement from Wesleyans, sent a young missionary, Mary Anne Wherry, to Scilly. By 1832 they had chapels in Hugh Town and on St Martin’s and St Agnes, with three resident ministers. In 1836-7 they built a church in Church street, rebuilt again in 1900 (Gill 1975, 178). In 1851 there were five Anglican churches with 1,274 seats, three Wesleyans with 734 seats and four Bible Christian with 515 seats (Gill 1975, 78). In 1907 a national merger made the Bible Christians into the United Methodists, who in turn amalgamated with the Wesleyans in 1932 to become the Methodist Church. The Scilly Union came in 1934 and eventually established itself in the former Bible Christian Church. St Martin’s is the only off island which still has Methodist Church, in the care of local preachers and the St Mary’s minister since the last resident minister in the 1950s (Gill 1975, 178). 9.11.3 Baptist The Baptists arrived in the Islands in the early nineteenth century. The Rev G C Smith of Penzance who first visited Scilly in 1814 was the main agent in calling national attention to the distress of the off islands. The Baptist Itinerant Aid Society established Scilly as their first missionary station with chapels on the Strand in Hugh Town, at Maypole and on all the inhabited islands including Samson. Augustus Smith fell out with the Baptists and in 1843 ‘caused notice to be served at all the chapels’ so that they were closed, although a new Baptist chapel was built on Bryher in 1874 which continued in use for nearly a century before being converted into private house in 1972 (Gill 1975, 178–9). 9.11.4 Roman Catholic The Roman Catholic Church returned to Scilly in 1930 when the Canons Regular of the Lateran from Bodmin Priory took over a building in the Strand which Augustus Smith had built as girls’ school in 1860, and which became the Church of St Mary Star of the Sea (Gill 1975, 179). 9.11.5 Institutional ritual Hugh Town had its first lodge of Freemasons in 1756, formed by the Collector of Customs, Isaac Head, who had been appointed by the Grand Lodge of England as Provincial Grandmaster of the Province of the Isles of Scilly and Adjacent Isles. He was the first master of Lodge Dolphin (no 365), reformed as Lodge Godolphin (no 281) in 1783. Its members seem to have been formed by non-islanders although a few pilots were members. Its strength diminished after the arrival of Augustus Smith, although he was a Freemason and later Provincial Grand Master of Cornwall. The lodge was erased in 1851 and reformed in 1961 (no 7790) (Gill 1975). 225 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 9.12 Social provision ‘Social’ provision is a wide area which touches upon other areas such as burial and cremation. While coverage by archaeologists is patchy, much has been done by economic, social, cultural or popular historians and writers (e.g. Matthews 1960; Gill 1975). Many surviving structures feature in the Cornwall and Scilly HER but there is need to identify and record lost or buried elements or sites to complete the record (cf Bone and Dawson 2008, 241). 9.12.1 Water supply, sewerage and drainage The main source of water for the Islands has always been wells, augmented by collected rainwater. Since the 1950s Hugh Town has had piped water from reservoirs on Buzza Hill and Garrison Hill to which water from wells is pumped. In 1955 only 97 out of 528 houses on St Mary’s were without piped water but over third were without water closets. The Duchy installed mains sewerage in Hugh Town in 1938. Outside of Hugh Town cesspits have gradually replaced earth closets. All Tresco had piped water by 1969, and water mains were laid on Bryher in that year. St Martin’s and St Agnes remained without any mains facilities although a sewerage scheme for St Martin’s was prepared in 1974 (Gill 1975, 164). 9.12.2 Heat, light and public power supply Hugh Town had its first street lights in 1883. The Jubilee in 1933 was celebrated by the installation of 21 electric lights throughout the town which was made possible by the formation in 1931 of the St Mary’s Electricity Supply Co Ltd which built power station in Worsall’s quarry off Church Road. The South Western Electricity Board (SWEB) took over in 1957 (Gill 1975, 166). Tresco Estate set up its own generator at the back of the home farm, linking up the entire island. The other off islands set up their own generators too, Bryher and St Agnes in 1945 followed by St Martin’s. Mains electricity was finally brought to the off islands in 1985 by the Off Islands Electrification Project (Ratcliffe 1991). 9.12.3 Waste disposal, burial and cremation Coastal communities on Scilly used the beach and tide to remove rubbish. Rubbish collections started on St Mary’s after the First World War with a tip on Porth Minick replaced by another on Lower Moors, which is still in use. An incinerator was installed there in 1969. On the off islands the disposal of rubbish is still largely a private affair (Gill 1975, 164–5). 9.12.4 Dealing with poverty, sickness and disability Hard times Life on the off islands always may have been harsh but the failure of potato and corn harvests in 1817 was disastrous, and boiled limpets became the mainstay of the diet. The ‘distress period’ is described in detail by Matthews (1960, 125–62) who divided it into two periods from 1818 to 1819 and from about 1822 to 1834. There were a number of contributory factors including the curtailment of smuggling which, with pilotage and kelp burning, had become a major component of the Islands; non-agricultural economy (Thomas 1985, 253). The Revd Lane, the SPCK clergyman on Tresco alerted the authorities regarding the misery of the people on Tresco. The Baptist Minister, the Revd G C Smith raised substantial relief fund and visited Scilly distribute food and later to make an inspection of the poverty there. The Magistrates of West Penwith Hundred sent a deputation under Sir Rose Price to report on conditions. After much petitioning the Government made a grant, which with an improved kelp and lobster season in 1818 eased the situation. With the aim of establishing a fishery and other relief projects in the Islands nearly £10,000 was donated following a national appeal and there was temporary recovery in 1821-22. 226 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda However, in 1822 the kelp industry was threatened by the introduction of barilla, an alkali mainly produced in Spain, Sicily and the Canary Islands, and the lobster fishery suffered a setback when vessels refused to come from Southampton to purchase them, as they had before. The pilchard fishery set up under the relief fund had initial success but the nets were wearing out, moreover there were questions about the management of the fund. By the end of 1822 the second period of distress had set in. The Revd George Woodley who was now the SPCK missioner for St Agnes and St Martin’s drew attention the Society’s and the Home Secretary’s (Robert Peel) attention to the matter writing, ‘In some huts were found six or nine individuals crowded together indiscriminately on a most wretched substitute for a bed: having no other furniture than a large stone, with a sod on it, for seat, & a couple of planks serving for A table…this is comparatively trifling to the distress which had existed a short Time before, when misery and starvation prevailed to a degree that would shock the most unfeeling heart to witness’ (Revd Woodley quoted in Cowan 1991, 31). Peel called for a report as a result of which the Government sent a quantity of barley and £100 for the purchase of necessary clothing and later 100 quarters of wheat. The situation was exacerbated by the demand of payment of arrears of rent by the Duke of Leeds in 1825, the withdrawal of Government external relief and prolonged drought in the summer of 1825. Although there was an increase in kelp production the failure of the potato crop throughout the Islands in 1826 brought disaster in 1826. The distress lasted until 1834; however, reports of it became less frequent. Augustus Smith For Augustus Smith, an energetic Victorian interested in ‘improving the lot of the labouring classes’, Scilly (for years misruled by the agents of absentee landlords and struggling under difficult economic conditions) represented the ideal challenge. Adopting an autocratic role, he began by reallocating farm lands, which had become minute and scattered by sub-division, and introduced a system of inheritance by which land passed only to the eldest son, all other offspring being forced to find alternative employment. Smith encouraged this by financing existing and new local industries, building schools on all the main islands and making education compulsory (thirty years before this became law on the mainland). He broke with tradition by becoming a resident landlord and erecting his house not on St Mary’s but on Tresco, next to the remains of the medieval priory, around which he created a sub-tropical garden out of bare moorland. In fulfilment of a condition of his lease, in 1838 Smith built a new quay (connecting Hugh Town Old Quay with Rat Island) and St Mary’s church (Ratcliffe and Johns 2003). By 1834, when Augustus Smith took over the lease of Scilly, a vulnerably small population, chronic water shortage and fragmented farms made life on Samson very difficult. As part of his economic reform Smith initially encouraged people to leave and in 1855 evicted those few who remained. Their ruined houses and stone-walled fields lend a sad air to South Hill, which Smith later enclosed in an abortive attempt to create a deer park (Ratcliffe and Johns 2003). We only know about very limited aspects of Augustus Smith’s administration. For instance, we still know very little about his actual impact on landholding, the reshaping of farms and creation of new boundaries, for example, or the impact of his policies on other aspects of the historic environment. He is believed to have made building leases which provide the context for the ‘re-building’ of Hugh Town from about the 1830s, for example, but apart from a couple of lines in Matthews (1960) the process is not documented. Health services In Robert Heath’s time (1750s) there were no doctors on the Islands except for the occasional Garrison surgeon. A ‘society of skilful aunts’ cured with herbs and 227 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda limited medical supplies and were midwives, dentists etc. Resident doctors arrived in the nineteenth century (Gill 1975, 165). An influenza epidemic led to the formation of a Nursing Association which set up two nurses on St Mary’s and Tresco to supplement the doctor’s work (Gill 1975, 165). The introduction of the National Health Service in 1948 brought many improvements to island facilities. By 1950 there were two resident doctors and resident dentist. Special hospital cases were sent to the mainland but six specialists attended the island hospital. In 1953 health clinics were opened on St Martin’s and St Agnes in addition to the long-established district nurse’s cottage on Tresco. The hospital was extended in 1965 and there has been a special medical launch since 1972 (Gill 1975, 165–6). 9.12.5 Emergencies and law and order Scilly has been comparatively free of serious fires although Holy Vale and Mount Todden were burnt down in the eighteenth century and one side of Hugh Street was destroyed by fire. The only fatality of modern times was in 1944 fire at Borough, Tresco. Until the late 1930s only bucket chains and extinguishers were available although there were calls for voluntary brigade after a fire in Hugh Town in 1930. During the Second World War Auxiliary Fire Service crews came over and trained local men, by that time there were eight hydrants in Hugh Town (Gill 1975, 168–9). When the National Fire Authority reverted to local control in 1948 the Council of the Isles of Scilly became a fire authority, the smallest in Britain, and without any professionals (Gill 1975, 169). The fire station was formerly at the east end of Porthcressa and is now the Dibble & Grub café (Leung nd [2010]). The fire station is now located on the Porth Mellon industrial estate. On the off islands heath fires have always been a problem. When a house burnt down on Bryher in 1955 a fire engine was taken across from St Mary’s, subsequently each island was supplied with modern portable fire-fighting equipment and volunteers trained (Gill 1975, 169). Scilly has long had reputation for being law abiding and many doors are still left unlocked. Each parish vestry used to elect its constable annually. After a spell of drunkenness and fighting between visiting fishermen in 1861 the constable of St Mary’s was given a uniform and a small wage and was required to patrol the town and ensure the public houses closed at 11pm (Gill 1975, 168). In 1892 a Joint Police Committee was set up of the council and magistrates. This body amalgamated with the Cornwall Constabulary, which supplied first one and then two constables based in the Police House on the Parade with a cell at its back. With the regionalisation of police forces Scilly came under the Devon and Cornwall combined police authority and in 1974 had a sergeant and two constables in a specially built police station in Hugh Town (Gill 1975, 168). Magistrates meet in the Town Hall to hear minor cases. 9.12.6 Education and learning Godolphin set up charity schools in the Islands in 1747. The first interest of the SPCK was educational and the society established schools in the six then inhabited islands by 1774. These were essentially ‘dame schools’ with mainly aged teachers, although there was Duke of Leeds School in Hugh Town whose master was sufficiently educated to be clerk to the Council of Twelve, and in 1808 the SPCK missioner on St Agnes (Gill 1975, 179). After the SPCK departure Augustus Smith built new schools on all the islands. In 1851 there were ten schools with 755 pupils and Smith made attendance compulsory in 1856 by charging parents 1d a week but 2d for children who stayed at home. In Hugh Town he built a new infants’ school (now the Church 228 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Hall) and a girls’ school behind the Strand (now the Roman Catholic church), the boys remained at Carn Thomas which was rebuilt in 1878 (Gill 1975, 180). With the Education Act of 1902 the Council of the Isles of Scilly became the local education authority. Carn Thomas was enlarged and took back the infant and girls; departments in 1906; children of Grammar School standard were boarded on the mainland. The Butler Education Act of 1944 which required Secondary education for all meant building a second school on St Mary’s or sending all over children over 12 to the mainland. The new school opposite Carn Thomas started as a secondary modern in 1965, but was opened as a Comprehensive in 1958. Off island children boarded and went home at the weekends and sixth formers were boarded on the mainland (Gill 1975, 181–2). The new Five Islands School Base at Carn Gwaval St Mary’s, which enabled sixth-form education on the Islands, was opened by the Queen in 2011. There are still primary schools on St Agnes, St Martin’s and Tresco. 9.12.7 Recreation and leisure The main inter-island sport is gig racing (see above Section 9.8.3). Gig racing is now an international sport with the World Championships held every May on the islands. Cricket was introduced by Augustus Smith and there are cricket pitches on the Garrison, St Mary’s, Tresco, St Agnes and St Martin’s. There are two football teams, formerly called the Rovers and the Rangers and now the Woolpack Wanderers and the Garrison Gunners, both based on St Mary’s. There are tennis courts on the Garrison and on St Agnes and St Martin’s. The St Mary’s golf club was founded by Dr Brushfield in 1904 (Gill 1975, 171–2). St Mary’s first cinematographic show was in the Town Hall in 1898. Film shows were begun in the Bible Christian Hall in 1927 and the first talking movie was shown in the Atlantic Hotel in 1934 by Bertie Ashford in partnership with Harold Solomon he took over the old Wesleyan chapel and installed 16mm talking cinema projectors, in 1950 the building reopened as the Plaza, under new management from 1963 it eventually closed in early 1973 (Gill 1975, 173). The building was bought by the Council in 1975 and demolished within a year. There is an account of the history if the cinema in the monthly magazine ‘Scilly Now & Then’ nos 41 and 42. Colour slide shows of various aspects of Island life – natural history, archaeology, shipwrecks, diving etc – are still a popular summer evening entertainment for visitors. The social centres on the off islands were the Reading Rooms. St Martin’s Reading Room was built by the islanders in 1932 (Gill 1975, 173–40). 9.13 Defence and warfare Military matters have been the subject of a number of publications, for instance ‘Scilly at War’ which focuses on the Civil War and First and Second World Wars (Bowley 2001). The post-medieval and modern defences recently been studied in the well-researched Historic England publication ‘Defending Scilly’ (Bowden and Brodie 2011). In addition survey reports have recently been published by Historic England (Bowden 2011; Brodie 2011) papers written on Scilly’s Tudor defences and Abraham Tovey (Brodie 2010; Brodie nd), The collapse of the north-east corner of Lower Benham Battery in a storm in October 2004 (Johns and Sawyer 2005) provided an impetus for the development of a Conservation Plan for St Mary’s Garrison, which was completed in 2010 (Johns and Fletcher 2010). ‘The Isles of Scilly in the Great War’ by Richad Larn was published in 2017. There are also original sources such as J P Osborne’s Scillonian War Diary 1914–18 (1990, 4 volumes). 229 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 9.13.1 Fortifications In the mid-sixteenth century the defence of Scilly, strategically important as the most westerly anchorage and the first landfall for naval ships and merchantmen assumed a new importance resulting in the building of fortifications to guard the main approaches, harbours and anchorages. Erected between 1548 and 1554, they include King Charles’ Castle, Tresco and three blockhouses; one on the site of Cromwell’s Castle and another south of Old Grimsby, both on Tresco, and a third on the north east coast of St Mary’s. A fort, Harry’s Walls, incorporating newly-introduced angled bastions, was begun but never completed on Mount Flagon, overlooking St Mary’s Pool, and guns were mounted on The Hugh (perhaps in an earlier castle on Mount Holles or in a fort on the south side known as The Folly). Henry VIII maintained a garrison at Ennor Castle, from 1544-47 and during Edward VI’s reign it continued to defend Old Town harbour, being used as the armoury for the main body of the garrison which by 1554 consisted of 150 men with five light cannon (Leland in Chope 1918, 23). Removal of debris and trial excavation at King Charles’ Castle were carried out in 1954 (Miles and Saunders 1970, and see above Section 9.3.1) and the 1627 earthwork on the landward side of the castle was surveyed by the Cornwall Archaeological Unit in 1992 (Ratcliffe 1993). From the late sixteenth century the defence of Scilly has centred on the Hugh, the southern promontory of St Mary’s which became known as The Garrison and which attracted to its isthmus the island’s main settlement, Hugh Town, a shift of focus from Ennor Castle in Old Town. The site was chosen to counter Spanish privateering and invasion threats because it controls deep water channels to Scilly’s main harbour. With advice from Robert Adams, England’s coastal defence expert, Star Castle was built by the Governor Sir Francis Godolphin for Elizabeth I in 1593 (Fig 9.10). A curtain wall and batteries across the land approach followed with ancillary buildings within, and a quay in the harbour below. Most of the cliff top earthworks and gun platforms date to the Civil War (1642–1651 in Scilly). Scilly was Royalist in sympathies, The Garrison surrendered in 1646, but the islands rebelled to become the last Royalist stronghold, the base for up to ‘800 men, besides an immense number of officers’, before final defeat in 1651. Most of the earthen breastworks and batteries around the main islands’ coasts date from this period. Cromwell’s Castle on Tresco, erected in 1651–2, is believed to have been built on the site of a Tudor period blockhouse. In 1990 CAU carried out recording of the early batteries of the Garrison following severe storms (Ratcliffe and Parkes 1990). A survey of Star Castle was undertaken by Keystone Historic Buildings Consultants in c 1992 (Cox and Thorp 1993), and a watching brief was carried out there during cable laying in 1992 (Young et al 1993). In May 2006 Historic England carried out an evaluation of the seventeenth century breastwork and a gun platform at Doctors Keys to inform the Conservation Plan (Fellows 2007), which was completed in 2010 (Johns and Fletcher 2010). During the Spanish Wars between 1715 and 1750 the Garrison was refortified under Abraham Tovey, when the walls were extended round all but the northwest coast, inside the old breastworks, Elizabethan structures were rebuilt and new buildings added. The sequence of construction is detailed in Bowden and Brodie (2011). 230 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Fig 9.10 Star Castle and the Garrison (photo: Cornwall Council). During the Napoleonic Wars (1793–1815) the Garrison was rearmed and ‘Great soldiery kept up on all the Islands’; stations were built on St Martin’s and St Mary’s, signalling via ships to posts along England’s south coast. A proposed roadstead for men-o-war in St Mary’s Roads, which would have entailed dredging the harbour is shown on a chart of 1808 but was never realised. After Waterloo the Garrison was occupied by army invalid gunners who maintained the barracks and cliff top gardens, but the fortifications with their ancillary buildings were neglected or rented out by mid-century. During the period 1890–1910 the Islands were intended as a signalling and refuelling base in the event of war with France. Scilly was refortified principally by the massive Woolpack and Steval batteries and associated works on the summit of the Garrison, including three DELs (Defence Electric Lights) which were rangefinding searchlights below Steval Point and Woolpack Batteries. Extending south east in a straight line across the rocky shore from Southward Well Point, Samson is an extant line of upright stone posts used to calibrate the range finder at Steval Battery. The Garrison was not extensively remodelled to maintain its defence of Scilly in the twentieth century; some of the new works such as a First World War kite balloon observation base and Second World War firebreaks and barbed wire entanglements have left very little trace. Adaptions of existing fortifications ranged from the occupation of Star Castle to the skilful concealment of the Second World War pillboxes in eighteenth century batteries such as the Woolpack Battery. Twenty-seven pillboxes were built around the coast of St Mary’s. Charles Thomas has studied the derivation of the names of the batteries on the Garrison (Thomas 1979). The Garrison SMR was updated in the early 1990s and a popular leaflet for a circular walk was produced (CAU 1992), there is also an AONB guided walk leaflet (Sawyer nd) and one by Archaeological and Archival and Mainmast Conservation (2008). Paul Ashbee (1985) considered that ‘Scilly’s Garrison, as progressively modified and developed down the years, is probably the most impressive work of its kind extant in England’ while Richardson and Gill 231 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda (1924) described the Star Castle as ‘one of the most perfect Elizabethan structures in existence’. 9.13.2 Flying Boat stations The Cornwall and Scilly HER records two First World War flying boat stations, in Scilly At Porth Mellon, St Mary’s all that survives above ground is a concrete base, at Abbey Farm, Tresco some original 1916-18 buildings survived and also a concrete base, iron railings and slipway and an earlier wooden slipway and footprint of buildings. These were affected by the redevelopment of Abbey Farm in 2006-7 (Wessex Archaeology 2006b; Sawyer 2008). 9.14 Scientific dating 9.14.1 Radiocarbon dates The two radiocarbon determinations listed below in Table 9.5 below have been calibrated using OxCal 4.3. Previous modelling of dates has not been used and all are expressed at the full 95.4% confidence level, rather than to the period which the date may be weighted (for example at 89%). This means that the calibrated dates in the tables may vary significantly from the publications where they appear (see Section 2.1.4 for further discussion). Lab Ref GU-2520 SUERC50252 14 C age BP 280±50 Cal AD @ 95% Site Context Reference 1460-1960 Big Pool, St Agnes Scourse 1986 191±30 1640-1960 Churchtown Farm, St Martin’s Upper band of peat & organic sediment Animal bone Johns & Taylor 2016 Table 9.4 List of post-medieval radiocarbon dates. (Note, the calibrated dates have been rounded out, see Section 2.1.4.) 9.14.2 OSL dating Optically Stimulated Luminescence dating of quartz from marine and aeolian deposits on St Agnes was carried out in 1999 (Bannerjee et al 2001). Proposed tsunami-laid deposits at Big Pool provided ages of 230±40 and 380±60 years; both are consistent with an expected age of 244 years (the Lisbon earthquake occurring in 1755). An OSL age of 6±3 years was obtained on a modern subaqueous beach deposit. These results suggest that the OSL signal in the tsunamilaid quartz was completely reset before deposition, and that these sediments can be dated accurately by OSL dating techniques. Sand dunes at Bergecooth, 250 m south of Big Pool, were also dated using OSL. These ages indicate phases of aeolian activity at ~ 300a and 1000a in the Scilly. OSL dating was carried out on modern quartz as a control during the Lyonesse Project in 2010. OSL ages of 3±2 were obtained from samples from Crab’s Ledge and Bathinghouse Porth, Tresco (Aberystwyth Lab Nos 161/LPTR1-M and 161/LPT3-M) (Roberts and Marshall 2016). Location Lab no. Context Material OSL Age BP Big Pool, St Agnes BP-90S marine and aeolian deposits Quartz 380±60 Big Pool, St Agnes BP-22S marine and aeolian deposits Quartz 230±40 Nr Big Pool, St Agnes SA-295 modern subaqueous beach deposit Quartz 6±3 232 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Location Lab no. Context Material OSL Age BP Crab’s Ledge, Tresco 161/LPTR1-M 0.005 ± 0.005 down core 0.005 ± 0.005 3±2 Bathinghouse Porth, Tresco 161/LPT3-M 0.005 ± 0.005 down core 0.005 ± 0.005 3±2 Table 9.5 List of post-medieval OSL ages, expressed as years before AD 2010, rounded to the nearest 10 years. 10 A Research Agenda for the historic environment of the Isles of Scilly Edited by Charles Johns 10.1 Introduction The Resource Assessment has provided an overview of the current state of knowledge and demonstrated the depth and diversity of Scilly’s historic environment. This Research Agenda sets out to identify a) gaps in the current state of knowledge, b) the potential of the historic environment resource and research priorities, and c) key research themes and aims. The structure and research themes of the SHERF Research Agenda are based on the South West Archaeological Research Framework (SWARF), to which it relates (Webster 2008). The SHERF research themes and aims are also presented chronologically by period in Section 10.4 to make them more accessible for those researchers who specialise in certain periods or for artefact types e.g. Roman ceramics. 10.2 Research Themes and Aims 10.2.1 Methodology Some of the research aims can be classified as a need for improved methodologies; not questions about the past itself but suggestions to improve the way we find out about it. In some periods this extends to the very discovery of sites and deposits that could be studied; in early prehistory because of geomorphological change and later because of a lack of diagnostic artefacts. There are also techniques that, once developed, are not applied routinely when they would provide very valuable basic data. Research Aim 1: Extend the use of proven methodologies for site location and interpretation, and encourage the development of new techniques. 1. There is a need to improve the existing Lidar coverage of Scilly. The existing resolution is not really good enough for archaeological purposes and it would be good to have better resolution flown at 0.5m or less. In addition to its use in surveying relatively small topographic detail indicating the former presence of earthworks, Lidar intensity can be used to show variations in soil moisture and thereby look for ditches and palaeochannels that may have no surface visibility using other techniques. 2. There is a need for further geophysical survey to be carried out for both land and marine sites. The efficacy of using marine geophysical survey to prospect for and map submerged palaeoenviromental deposits has been demonstrated by the Lyonesse Project (Charman et al 2016). 3. A systematic programme of fieldwalking archaeological sites (see below Research Project, for example, demonstrated archaeological sites in Scilly from artefact would help to identify potential Aim 5). The 1985 Electrification the potential for identifying distributions (Ratcliffe 1991). 233 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 4. There is a need for synthesis of existing data from all periods to better understand the resource and relevant research questions and for excavation using modern techniques and recording systems order to address these. Comparatively few excavations have been carried out in the Scilly since the early 1970s while over the same time period investigative and analytical techniques have markedly improved (e.g., Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) and Amino Acid Racimization (AAR) dating). 5. Greater use should be made of ceramic petrology, lipid analysis and other techniques to track pottery production and use in all periods. 6. Considerable potential exists to study life-time mobility, diet and health through re-analysis of human and animal remains. Extensive analysis of oxygen and strontium isotopes, in both people and animals, should revolutionise our understanding of patterns of mobility during these periods, which is especially important with an island population. 7. We should consider revising or updating the way wrecks on the seabed are recorded, terrestrial archaeology utilises a context-based recording system but underwater – the recording is usually based on a plan or survey. Although this is mainly due to the constraints of operating underwater, we should consider the use of context-based systems underwater and improved position fixing, carefully appraising the gains made in the record but setting these against the additional time taken to complete the recording. Synthesis There is a need for up to date, thematic and period-based synthetic studies which draw on the ‘grey literature’ resource. Research Aim 2: Encourage works of synthesis within and across periods, settlements, monuments and areas. 1. It would be extremely useful to draw together and disseminate existing information on earlier Bronze Age grave assemblages from Scilly. This may facilitate a better understanding of material sequences, object biographies (such as the presence of heirlooms), the expression of social identity through material culture, and bodily display. 2. The later Bronze Age is lacking in synthetic treatment and thus interpretation often remains at the site level. This is exacerbated by the large and increasing amount of data for the Middle Bronze Age, particularly for settlements. A systematic Scilly-centred review of Middle and Late Bronze Age and Iron Age data would significantly increase our understanding of the period, particularly if it is integrated with the often good burial data and well-documented metalworking traditions. 3. Synthesis is needed for the Roman period in Scilly – settlement forms, material culture, external contacts, the Nornour shrine, Mount Holles altar, potential harbours and landing places, etc. See 10.3.1.7/9 and 10. 4. During the entire historic period, the current interpretive framework is still conditioned by the meagre historical narrative. Greater weight needs to be attached to multi-disciplinary work with colleagues in areas such as landscape studies, historical geography, economic history and exploring the relationship between the land, sea and cultural identity, etc. 5. Much important work remains unpublished and the contents of ‘grey literature’ are not always easily accessible. There is, therefore, an urgent need for synthesis to develop our understanding of work already 234 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda completed and to encourage the development of a broader archaeological view of the period. Spatial and Temporal Biases The Resource Assessment exercise has highlighted the uneven coverage of some periods in the Islands. Some of this is due to a bias towards areas with good evidence at certain periods but, as Robinson (2007, 5) has pointed out, much of the fieldwork carried out in Scilly until the later twentieth century had a ‘vacational aspect’, resulting in a piece-meal approach to research. This has also has resulted in the reiteration of the study of a number of recurring major themes, namely:  Entrance graves;  The submergence and paleoenvironmental history of the islands;  Porthcressa-type cist graves;  Early medieval hermitages and chapels; and  The post-medieval and modern defences of the Islands. Research Aim 3: Address apparent “gaps” in our knowledge and assess whether they are meaningful or simply biases in current knowledge. 1. The early prehistory of Scilly is poorly understood and we do not know whether the Islands were permanently or seasonally / sporadically occupied. 2. We know little about non-ecclesiastical early medieval settlement. 3. The systematic scrutiny of Scilly’s historic buildings, advocated by Paul Ashbee (1986), remains to be carried out. 4. The archaeological investigations which have taken place on the Garrison have mainly been directed towards the military works and almost nothing is known of human activity on the Garrison prior to the late sixteenth century. 5. Apart from a reputed drop in population, we know very little about life on Scilly, especially on the smaller islands, during the century following the Civil War. Community Involvement Public interest in the historic environment has never been higher and there is a need to continue to respond to this. Increased public involvement is a requirement for many funding streams and also raises the profile of the historic environment with decision-makers. Many people already volunteer their time and enthusiasm to care for and interpret the historic environment resource in Scilly and to draw in other resources to help them achieve their goal. They do this through the Isles of Scilly Museum (IOSM), the Family History Group, on an individual basis, or through the Isles of Scilly Community Archaeology Group (CAG) which was formed in March 2014 and works in partnership with the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust. They have a vital role in conserving the historic environment resource, in spreading appreciation for the historic environment and an enormous potential for improving public understanding of it. Research Aim 4: Encourage wide involvement in archaeological research and present modern accounts of the past to the public. 1. The IOSM plays a vital role in engaging the public with the historic environment of Scilly. 235 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2. The Isles of Scilly Community Archaeology Group was formed in March 2014 and works in partnership with the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust. The CAG hold monthly meetings, activities mainly concentrate on scrub clearance on designated and undesignated sites, but there are also guided walks, talks and occasional opportunities to learn excavation and survey techniques. 3. Continue to encourage community monitoring programme of archaeological sites threatened by coastal erosion (see Research Aim 21). In May 2012 a ‘Shorewatch’ event was organised by CAU, Cardiff University and CBA South West to establish baseline surveys of key sites: Porthcressa, Halangy Porth and Pendrathen on St Mary’s; Old Quay on St Martin’s, the site below Bonfire Carn on Bryher, and Nornour. Annual photographic records have been made of these sites and added to an ongoing report (Johns 2018). 4. Establish a database of sites threatened by coastal erosion and a coordinated coastal monitoring programme. 5. The Isles of Scilly Family History Group has huge potential to help address Research Aim 40 ‘Use archaeological and historical evidence to better understand Scillonian identity through time’. 6. There is scope for a structured programme of recording oral histories of the Islands. Recording Many of the artefacts that survive from the past are not found in the secure contexts of an archaeological excavation. Whether found by beachcombers, field walkers, dog-walkers, or earlier excavators, these finds need to be collated to provide the widest possible evidence-base for study. Responsibility for collection, recording and preservation of archaeological remains needs to be recognised as a fundamental role held in common by all archaeological institutions, including archaeological societies. There is scope for far greater collaboration in carrying out research and applying standards of approach, process, preservation and dissemination of the resulting information. Research Aim 5: Encourage the study of artefact scatters using traditional and innovative methodologies both in the field and on previous collections. 1. Attention should be paid to lithic scatter resources, in particular the specific evaluation and/or re-evaluation of ‘grey collections’, and the development of appropriate interpretive methodologies which maximise the potential value of this landscape-scale, off-site resource. The ‘grey collections’ principally consist of artefact assemblages from both museums and private collections. Emphasis should also be given to assessing the presence and potential size of the non-flint lithic component of Scilly’s archaeological record. 2. Lithic scatter artefacts remain problematic, given the frequent absence of independent dating and the tendency of much of the material to be highly undiagnostic although the absence of bevelled pebbles may be noteworthy. There is therefore a need to review the relationships between the resource, the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS), the IOSM and the RCM, and consider developing or modifying strategies to promote the accurate reporting of lithic material and providing (where possible) artefact identification services. 3. Approaches to the investigation and interpretation of lithic scatters have become rather mechanical. We need to think of new forms of interrogation 236 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda and interpretation, perhaps working within finer temporal and spatial scales. 4. Mapping of the scatter of previously recorded medieval pottery, especially if accompanied by systematic fieldwalking, may well have the potential to make a contribution to understanding the location of early medieval and medieval settlement and farmland. 5. The presence in Scilly of unusually large amounts of medieval French pottery such as the assemblage on the seabed in Tresco Channel is of interest – the possibility that the remains of a medieval wreck (c 1300) exists there cannot be discounted. Given the apparent absence of any boat or ship remains in Scilly before the post-medieval period, this merits further study. The need for more systematic study of pottery from the shipwrecks of Scilly has been highlighted. Where possible, this should be integrated with existing projects on these sites (see below Research Aim 12). Research Aim 6: Encourage the accurate reporting and identification of stray finds in ways that benefit archaeological research as a whole. 1. We need to publicise the finds reporting process more widely; the IOSM has a useful Code of Conduct leaflet which could be updated. 2. New finds are always being made, and this combined with the rolling out of the Portable Antiquities Scheme will continue to offer new opportunities to examine the depositional contexts and associations of new finds. This will also represent a great opportunity to increase our understanding of older ‘isolated’ or ‘stray’ finds. 3. The data produced by the Portable Antiquities Scheme needs to be critically reviewed to assess its quality – both in terms of identification and locational accuracy. There is an urgent need to link PAS data to HER records for Scilly and see if it tells any stories other than chance loss! Specifically anything that enhances the Cornwall and Scilly HER should be encouraged. 4. The potential for identifying (and the costs of dealing with) any surviving context for the finds also needs to be considered. Research Aim 7: Improve the recording and utilisation of archaeological collections and other information sources. The Isles of Scilly Museum is recognised as the appropriate repository of archaeological material and archives by all involved in the process of acquiring archaeological evidence in Scilly. However, specialised storage requirements (e.g. for metalwork) and adequate space (e.g., for large stone artefacts) may present future issues which may need to be kept under review. Transitions Most archaeological research is concerned with the tangible evidence of cultural change. It is perhaps easier to recognise that activities and artefacts have altered than it is to understand the significance and meaning of continuity; ironically the periods that cause us most trouble are characterised to a large extent by a lack of change. However, significant transitions between one period and another are used too often as academic boundaries. Study, both across and between boundaries, should be encouraged to define and explore the changes that occur in these transitional periods. 237 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Research Aim 8: Address our lack of understanding of key transitional periods Understanding of the processes behind, rates of change, and local consequences of the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition is hindered by a long-standing scholarly divide between people working on these periods. There is a need for a ‘joined-up’ approach to the events of the late fifth–early fourth millennium BC. What does the apparent absence of ‘complexity’ in Scilly’s late Mesolithic tell us about the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition? We need to know more about the extent and chronology of coastal change during this period, given the evidence elsewhere for the coastal focus of latest Mesolithic communities. Understanding this critical transition will also require the excavation of the right sorts of contexts, for instance further investigations in the vicinity of Old Quay, St Martin’s. How do we expect ‘transitional’ sites to manifest themselves, and can we confidently identify transitional lithic assemblages? We need to establish better dated chronologies to improve understanding of this crucial period in British prehistory. High resolution analyses are needed over a 1000-year period. Specialists should also look for evidence of domestication in deposits considered to be late ‘Mesolithic. Further information could be obtained from a study of insect evidence for browsing under woodland conditions around the transition (suggestion from Robinson 2002). Key transitional periods are:  The Mesolithic/Neolithic transition.  The Neolithic/Beaker/Early Bronze Age transition.  The Middle/Late Bronze Age transition.  The Late Bronze Age/Iron Age transition.  The Romano-British/early medieval transition. Hidden Resources Many of the archaeological resources of the Islands lie not in the ground but in the stores of museums, archive offices, contracting units, the HER and in individual collections. Study of these records and artefacts can be far more costeffective than excavation or other fieldwork. Museum collections need constant reworking to ensure that material is reassessed and where appropriate reclassified in the light of recent fieldwork. Skilled identification of any artefact type of any period can only derive from such research. Some of this work can be very low cost and on-going (such as the work of the South West Implement Petrology Committee); other programmes can be more intensely dedicated to artefactual or ecofactual assemblages or involve the reinterpretation of previous fieldwork. The insights which have come from quite brief re-assessments of the pottery archives from Maen Castle and Gurnards Head (in West Penwith), for example, have identified very much longer sequences from these sites than would have been predicted from their characterisation as ‘cliff castles’ or were recognised by the original excavators (Nowakowski and Quinnell 2011, 329-30, 373-4). Museums contain not only collections of chance finds but also some large excavation archives that have never been published. The publication project on the 1971 excavations at East Porth, Samson (Neal and Johns, forthcoming) shows that it is possible to revive and reinterpret these old excavation projects but it is a challenge to find funding for assessment, analysis and publication. Research Aim 9: Improve knowledge and study of all relevant museum collections and archives. 1. Many collections are often catalogued under very general classifications because of lack of skilled identification. Important diagnostic artefacts, 238 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda such as post-Roman imports or post-medieval coarsewares, may lie unrecognised. Similarly many finds made on sites primarily of a different period are not recognised for their importance as part of an overall pattern of finds. 2. As well as the excavation archives in museums there are also extensive artefact collections that deserve study; recent work on quernstones (Shaffrey 2006) shows the potential for this kind of study. 3. Study of lithic and faunal remains assemblages from excavated sites. Research Aim 10: Improve access to, and synthesis of ‘grey literature’. OASIS, the online access to archaeological investigations, and the Cornwall and Scilly HER provide vital indices and portals to the growing amount of archaeological information but this is biased towards information generated by the planning process. Mechanisms need to be agreed to access the growing volume of ‘grey literature’ that is accumulated by colleges, universities, museums and others and to signpost new and ongoing projects in Scilly. Research Aim 11: Identify and bring to publication key unpublished excavations. There exists a legacy of important unpublished work from Scilly including: 1. George Bonsor’s notes on his work in Scilly between 1899 and 1902. 2. Bryan O’Neil’s archive. The Roman-period houses excavated by O’Neil on St Martin’s need publication to modern standards. 3. The 1956/60 excavations at East Porth, Teän (Thomas 1960b). Charles Thomas’ original excavation report has been published (Thomas and Johns 2018), but there is still scope for further assessment and analysis of the archive. 4. David Neal’s 1971 excavation at East Porth, Samson is anticipated to be published in the near future (Neal and Johns, forthcoming). 5. The 1971 excavation at Bar Point, St Mary’s (Butcher and Johns, forthcoming?). The archive for this project needs to be reviewed to ascertain whether there is sufficient data for publication. 6. Results of the 1996 Coast Protection Scheme recording at Porth Killier, St Agnes are anticipated to be published in the near future (Johns et al, forthcoming). Artefact Studies There has been a move away from ‘traditional’ artefact studies over the past few years which has led to a slowing in the growth of our understanding of this fundamental class of archaeological evidence. There have also been advances in analytical techniques which have shown the potential for improved provenance studies, with their implications for improved understanding of trade and social relations. Most of the effort appears to be concentrated on the development of novel techniques with few resources available to follow this up with large numbers of routine analyses that provide the quantity of data that we need. These techniques could be more widely employed, given better dissemination of their benefits and the availability of appropriate personnel and equipment. 239 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Research Aim 12: Widen our understanding of Scillonian material culture of all periods. Ceramics (general) 1. A well-illustrated guide (with colour photographs), identifying the main types of pottery (prehistoric to modern) to be found on Scilly would be especially useful (for researchers as well as beachcombers). 2. In the last 20 years a key advance in South West English pottery studies has been the development of sophisticated chemical characterization of pottery fabrics by Inductively-Coupled Plasma–Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES) and Inductively Coupled Plasma–Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) (e.g. Hughes 1998; 2002; 2002–3; 2003; 2018). For much of Somerset, and for parts of Devon and Dorset, there is now a database which gives sophisticated fingerprinting of fabrics and aids greatly in more precise interpretation of sources and fabric types. Little published work of this type has been conducted on Scilly or on mainland Cornwall. This kind of analysis, once regarded as too expensive for routine pottery studies, is now comparable in price to thin-sectioning; the two techniques need to be used together, and to be combined with traditional identification of pottery types and forms, to get the best results. Prehistoric and Romano-British Ceramics 1. Compile a list by period of all sites with ceramics referred to in the literature but which have not received full publication. Check what is now held in museums and what appears to be lost. Subsequently develop a project design for publishing material, checking against the above agenda. 2. Given the easy sea access, the possibility of imported vessels occurring at all periods is very real and emphasises the importance of good petrological input into all ceramic research work. 3. The analysis of lipids in ceramics has great potential on Scilly for establishing the proportions of marine resources in diet with any chronological changes. 4. The work of identifying basketry, cordage, etc, from Scillonian ceramics, initiated by Mary Owoc should be encouraged with results published with clear illustrations. This provides an unusual opportunity to throw light on organic artefacts which do not survive in most contexts. 5. Publish, with appropriate petrographic studies and illustrations, all the Neolithic pottery assemblages from the Islands. There are currently six related radiocarbon dates from Old Quay, St Martin’s, but, as far as is known, no material associated with the other assemblages has suitable dating material. It is of great importance that potential dateable material is looked for among any future assemblages located. Currently the range of forms present is restricted. Study of any future assemblages should pay special attention to forms and decoration to establish whether a Scillonian ceramic identity is evident at this time. 6. There is currently a gap in ceramic sequences which, on mainland data, extends from c 3300 to 2000 BC. It is highly important that any possibilities of future finds of material from this period be followed up and the ceramics studied in detail and dated. The question of Scillonian ceramic identity is again important for this period. 7. For entrance graves the material from Bonsor’s excavations now located in the British Museum needs publication supported by petrological analysis. This should establish the full understanding of Trevisker-type material 240 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda from Porth Hellick which has so far been overlooked, and also possibly indicate whether mainland imports were involved. 8. The new radiocarbon dates from cremated bone from the Knackyboy Cairn burial sequence should do much to provide a firm basis for chronology for the Scillonian Bronze Age pottery from entrance graves. Any other opportunities to provide dates for material from entrance graves, cairns or cists should be followed up. 9. Any sequence of types in Scillonian Bronze Age pottery from settlements is currently unclear, largely because the largest and most important site, Nornour, appears to have much material redeposited in structured contexts. Any future opportunities of examining, with supporting dates and petrology, pottery from settlement sites with short phases of occupation will be very important. 10. Unpublished settlements excavated by O’Neil, whether with reputed Scillonian Bronze Age pottery or with that of the 1 st millennium BC, need publication with supporting petrology and radiocarbon dates if material is available. 11. Material from the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age is currently sparse on the Islands. Full investigation and publication of any sites found with material of these dates is important. 12. The Middle and Late Iron Ages appear to have assemblages following mainland styles, with Island clays gradually giving way to mainland, gabbroic, fabrics by the end of this period. A more detailed establishment of these changes is important for indications of the Islands’ integration with mainland cultural practices. The assemblage from the west side of Nornour excavated by Dudley (1967) could be usefully re-examined. 13. For the Roman period any future sites need publication with full petrological work. This will enable better understanding of whether the full suite of gabbroic forms present on the mainland is represented or whether local based cultural preferences were evident. This should also provide better information about the provision of ceramics from beyond Cornwall and from the continent. Early medieval pottery 1. We need to publish, with appropriate petrographic studies and illustrations, all the early medieval assemblages from the Islands. These ceramic assemblages should also be searched for any internal residues that would also be suitable for radiocarbon dating. 2. Petrographic study and dating of future assemblages is also very important. This will enable better understanding of whether the full suite of vessel forms present on the mainland is represented on the islands or whether local cultural preferences are evident. This should also provide better information about the provision of ceramics from beyond Cornwall and from the continent. 3. Discovery of further early medieval sites would aid in our understanding of the development and sequence of early medieval pottery. Any assemblage that appears to have a combination of imported and native wares should be studied in detail and scientifically dated. 4. The concentration of sites with E ware in Scilly, seven in an area of 8 by 5km, is far higher than anywhere else in Britain. Campbell (2007, 119– 20), notes that East Porth, Samson, and East Porth, Teän, were only partially excavated and must have originally have had more. The 241 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda assemblage of 30 E ware vessels from Scilly is as large as that from the most productive site in the British Isles, Dunadd, and shares with such major sites a proportion of the rarer forms other than E1 and E2. The assemblage from Scilly also shows signs of being used as cooking vessels, a feature which is uncommon on E ware vessels in general. (And see below, ‘Medieval and post-medieval ceramics’, bullet point 13). 5. It needs to be determined if pottery production actually occurred within the Islands during the early medieval period. This is important, certainly with respect to the adoption of grass-marking, which may have originated in Scilly. 6. The East Porth, Teän, site (Thomas 1960b; Thomas and Johns 2018) is crucial to furthering our understanding of the development of earlymedieval ceramics (especially the introduction of grass-marking) and the interaction between native and imported wares, and the archive would benefit from further assessment and analysis. This has significance not just for the early medieval period within the Islands but is critical for helping to elucidate the situation occurring in mainland Cornwall (see Research Aim 11). 7. The excavation at Mays Hill, St Martins (O’Neil nd d), needs to be revisited and published in full. Recent finds have indicated that the site may be of much greater extent than originally thought. With foreign imports of Mediterranean ware and both D and E wares, and its situation overlooking the potential harbour of Nornour Sound, further field survey and excavation is recommended to explore the full potential of this site (see Research Aim 42). 8. The occurrence of mainland forms of pottery in a granitic fabric is often taken as a pointer towards local manufacture. However, this has never been fully tested petrographically. Though ceramics found on the mainland are predominantly in a gabbroic and mixed gabbroic fabric, some granitic does occasionally occur. What the petrography needs to determine is, were the granitic wares found on Scilly manufactured out of local granitic clays, or have the vessels been imported from granitic sources on the mainland? 9. A further complicating factor is that recent work on material from Gwithian has shown that raw, unfired gabbroic clay was shipped out of the Lizard area to be manufactured into pots elsewhere, at times being mixed with local clays or filler. Does this explain the gabbroic vessels found on Scilly? Or were these actually imported as complete vessels from the mainland. Petrological examination of the inclusions with the pots may help to answer this. Medieval and post-medieval ceramics During the medieval and post-medieval periods the Isles of Scilly were not, as far as is known, producers of ceramics, but a peripheral market for potters making and selling their wares in west Cornwall and beyond. Progress in understanding the pottery of the islands is inseparable from that of west Cornwall. Although contexts on the islands will have a part (sometimes an important one) to play in building up an overall picture, progress needs to be made with the bigger picture if we are to get further in understanding the pottery of Scilly. 1. How does the overall pattern of pottery consumption in the medieval and post-medieval periods compare with that from mainland Cornwall, and with the ceramics of collections from other islands in the English Channel and Bristol Channel? 242 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2. Since the 1960s detailed petrological examination, leading to the accurate identification of pottery types and sources, has been the foundation of progress in medieval and later pottery studies in many other parts of Britain. No pottery from Scilly of these periods has been the subject of this kind of study. Although hand-sorting of sherds and identification of fabrics solely in hand specimen can go some way towards characterising the Scilly collections, analyses now need to be based on a more precise footing. Petrological study – either by means of thin-sectioning in the manner now traditional amongst archaeologists, or by identification of hand specimens in the manner developed so successfully elsewhere in South West England by Dr Roger Taylor – is fundamental to progress (Quinnell 2002-3a; 20092010). A programme comparing samples from the islands with kiln material on the mainland, such as that from Mawgan-in-Meneage, St Germans and Lostwithiel, is much needed. The medieval pottery may prove to be more receptive to analysis of this type than post-medieval, but even post-medieval coarsewares of the sort commonplace in early modern Cornwall have research potential in this field. 3. Reference collections are widely seen as valuable aids to identification, both by specialist researchers and by members of the wider public; many archaeological units, museums, independent researchers and university departments hold such collections. In the case of Scilly, such a tool would be especially useful to the wider public. The possibility of building a resource which could be accessed in the two museums which hold major collections from the islands (IOSM and RCM) should be explored. This might make a project suitable for external funding. The question of holding a reference collection of thin-sections for Scilly and for the rest of Cornwall should also be considered; at present the only South West collection with Cornish material is held at Exeter Museum. 4. Understanding of chronology is limited. Charles Thomas’ pioneering work on the post-Roman pottery for the Scillies was a fine achievement, but the later medieval part of the sequence was poorly dated, and relied principally on general understanding of the picture of medieval ceramics emerging in mainland England. Decades later, this problem still obtains; dating is based largely on evidence from far away, such as Launceston Castle, Exeter, Plymouth and Bristol. Fundamental uncertainties include: the date at which bar lug pottery is superseded by medieval Cornish micaceous cooking pots or jars; the date when wheel-thrown vessels were generally adopted in the later Middle Ages; the period when jugs came into use; the date when bowls came into use. 5. Some uncertainties in site dating may be resolved by evidence from sites outside the region where better conditions survive – a point illustrated by the discovery of Cornish bar lug pottery from waterlogged contexts in Waterford, Ireland, in contexts dated by dendrochronological evidence to the end of the eleventh century and early twelfth centuries. Nevertheless, more local evidence is essential to make progress. 6. Thought should be given to the question of whether a programme of radiocarbon dating of residues from carefully chosen vessels, both on the islands and the mainland, would make progress with this question. This, however, is unlikely to resolve the problems, for example, of distinguishing pre-Conquest from twelfth century material, since fluctuations in atmosphere will probably produce inseparable results for these two periods (J Meadows, pers comm to J Allan). 7. In view of the high research potential of ceramics from the wrecks around Scilly (arguably far exceeding that of the Islands’ landward sites, 243 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda especially for the post-medieval period), the chaotic state of artefact recovery, conservation, study and ownership which has characterized such sites in the past, and continues to do so to some extent, should be a matter of great concern. The fact that it is at present very difficult to find any solid information about the overall volume and research value of the ceramics recovered from wrecks around Scilly is a clear indication that the situation is unsatisfactory. This is, of course, a large and complex problem; the strong likelihood of the loss of valuable information in the last generation and the potential value of future finds are emphasised here. 8. The existing publications relating to the medieval and later pottery of the islands hardly serve the subject: the report on the principal medieval collection (Dunning 1965) is now 45 years old; the sole attempt at a general survey (Allan 1991) is quite brief; more recent work is buried in grey literature and some finds have escaped any form of publication. Publication of key sites, a priority highlighted in the Mellor report (1994), remains an important goal; in this case the newly-discovered medieval wreck in Tresco Channel (Allan et al, in preparation), and re-publication of the medieval material from St Helen’s, are the most pressing cases. A fresh general review would be very desirable, but it needs to be based on fresh analytical work. 9. One of the stated aims of SHERF is to ‘encourage a more active role amongst visitors and residents by putting the historic environment to the fore as a visitor attraction and thereby enhancing the quality of visitors’ experience’. It also seeks to ‘enhance opportunities for intellectual access to this rich resource by the islands’ community and by the broader visiting and academic communities’. In the field of medieval and later finds the local museum with its engagement in the community offers important opportunities to advance these aims. In the case of Scilly, the IOSM currently has an active role in building up ceramics collections – particularly because a striking feature of the medieval and later pottery of the islands is the extraordinary amount of material recovered by beachcombers, much of which we may presume is never seen by an archaeologist. The IOSM has an admirable policy of encouraging finders of this kind of material to show and sometimes display their finds at the museum, and has taken advantage of visiting specialists to build up an instructive display of the common and exotic wares found in this way. This practice has brought some significant finds (e.g., the possible medieval wreck from Porthcressa) to the fore (see Research Aim 4). 10. Consideration should be given to the way in which the results of this work find their way onto the Cornwall & Scilly HER. Since it would not be feasible to retain the masses of industrial pottery of the last 250 years, development of a collection and retention of the most significant material can only be undertaken if they are based on a good working knowledge of ceramics. 11. Cornish medieval and later coarsewares form the bulk of the collection on medieval and later sites on Scilly. A programme of petrological and chemical study in which the finds from the islands are examined as part of a wider programme with material from the mainland is needed; in Cornwall work in this field lags behind other parts of the South West. 12. Imported ceramics are an exciting aspect of the island assemblages, including as they do various sorts of ceramics which are unusual throughout the British Isles. The publication of a report drawing together, 244 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda analysing, discussing and illustrating these finds is a highly desirable and achievable goal. 13. E ware has been identified on a number of sites on Scilly, and is well known to pottery researchers and excavators in Cornwall. Many of these identifications are probably secure, but in instances where later medieval occupation overlies post-Roman sites, for example at Hillside Farm, Bryher 1999 (Quinnell 2002–3a), and East Porth, Teän (Thomas 1960b), the complicating problem arises that some of the material previously identified as E ware may really be Normandy Gritty ware of the twelfth to fifteenth centuries. The latter material may reasonably be expected on Scilly; it is the most common coarseware on the Channel Isles. In view of the high academic interest in E ware, this problem deserves exploration. Since quartz inclusions are common, chemical analysis probably represents the best chance of resolving this problem. Chemical examination of material of related type from Padstow, Hamwic (Southampton), Exeter and elsewhere provides an initial database which could be built up by fresh analyses (Hughes 2002–3). 14. In its current national review of the state of ceramic studies, which highlighted many areas of concern about the state of the discipline, the Research Framework for Post-Roman Ceramics (Irving 2011) outlined the need for a fresh Statement of Best Practice. This document does not yet exist but is promised soon. It will provide archaeologists engaged in the planning process with guidance about national standards for reporting medieval and later ceramics from commercial sites. Adoption of its standards throughout the country should make a significant difference to the quality of pottery studies throughout England. Lithics 1. The unprovenanced nature of much of the IOSM lithics archive means that more detailed study would only be of limited value. However, there are assemblages held at the RCM from excavations such as Halangy, Knackyboy and Little Bay, which have not been examined in any detail or published (see Research Aim 9). These would benefit from full analysis, adding to our knowledge of the sites, and would also provide an opportunity to examine full working lithic assemblages (Jones et al 2018). The information that could be gleaned from the examination of assemblages containing a full range of debitage and tools would add significantly to our knowledge of the prehistory of the Islands. Debitage, the waste material produced during tool manufacture, will provide information about the nature of knapping technologies and has the potential to clarify the typological dating of particular tool types. 2. Aside from the examination of excavated lithic assemblages, there are a number of known findspots which could be systematically investigated in order to recover complete in situ assemblages. At Old Quay, St Martin’s, the Neolithic Stepping Stones project recovered 57 comparable microliths within a much larger spread of 5738 pieces of prehistoric worked flint from the small fields behind the cliff. The artefact scatter was contained within the ploughsoil and subsoil and residually within later features. No features dating to the Mesolithic period were identified (Garrow and Sturt 2017). A further scatter of lithics has been recovered from a garden on the south side of St Martin’s which has produced a small assemblage of material including two scrapers. Further investigation of both sites is desirable (See Research Aim 8). 245 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 3. Fieldwalking in available fields could also be undertaken to identify further scatters and determine their distribution within the landscape (see Research Aim 5). Stonework 1. Stone artefacts are especially common from Scillonian settlements of all periods but have received little detailed study and, until the last few decades, all but the most obvious artefacts were probably not recognised. Querns, for instance, continued to be used on Scilly until comparatively recently and many of the rotary quernstones to be seen on the islands are probably, therefore, post-medieval/modern in date. 2. The long-term curation of large stone artefacts, such as querns, from excavations is an issue that needs to be addressed. It has generally been the practise to incorporate such stones into ornamental features on the island on which they were found. The main problem with storing querns is their size and weight. Inside, smaller fragments can be stored in boxes. Large fragments and complete stones should be placed on low shelves, preferably slatted, not on the floor where they are at risk of being knocked and are also more difficult to move. Outside, querns should ideally be stood on stone or concrete, or preferably on gravel and kept free of vegetation; complete rotary quernstones can be leant against a wall. Stones kept on grass or earth are in danger of becoming overgrown, suffer from staining where they are bedded in the ground and are also subject to eventual damage from water penetration. The general problem with storage outside, however, is that the surfaces will become weathered. Also, the dished grinding surfaces of saddle querns if kept upright may tend to collect water. This is generally the most stable and safest way to stand them, however. 3. One of the overlooked classes of stone in Scilly is pumice objects, of which Katharine Sawyer has located five (possibly six) during her research. Another 23 pieces were found during the Neolithic Stepping Stones’ excavation as at Old Quay, St Martin’s. These are the only examples known in England and deserve more detailed study. Research Aim 13: Use innovative techniques and methodologies to ask sophisticated questions of post-medieval to modern artefacts and buildings. 1. There is much work still to be done at the basic typological level. It has been demonstrated that a low level of resources continuously applied to, for example, pottery studies can achieve a great deal. Such an approach should not be lost among demands for resources for larger scale programmes. 2. At a higher level the value of the recording and study of artefacts in context has been demonstrated but rarely applied. Locations and assemblages should be identified for specific study to address issues such as identity. Where themed issues are being addressed opportunities should be identified of applying these techniques as well as recording structures. 3. Chemical characterisation of pottery fabrics by ICP-AES and ICP-MS has not been done for Scilly and would be good step forward, as would increased petrological analysis (see above Research Aim 12). 4. Lipid residue analysis, particularly on Neolithic ceramics and Bronze Age cremation vessels to understand their use prior to burial. 246 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 5. Stable isotope analysis of human and animal bone to place Scilly in context with research being carried out on other island groups. 6. Genetic and morphometric analysis of faunas to look at the effects of island isolation. 10.2.2 Science The routine application of archaeological science can bring great benefits, particularly in the areas of chronology and past environments. These are issues where the study of the past has a direct relevance to modern issues such as climate change. Dating Many areas of research are hampered by the lack of the detailed and accurate chronologies that should be available with modern techniques. More radiocarbon and other scientific dates are required on well-contexted samples, or internal pottery residues, where the date obtained will accurately reflect the archaeological event. Existing dates need to be re-evaluated by a stringent examination of the taphonomy, composition and final contexts and associations of the samples on which they were measured. This should include the collation of radiocarbon determinations available from watching briefs, evaluations, excavations and environmental recording projects, many of which are unpublished, exist in ‘grey literature’, or in geological or geographical publications. The example of the (re)dating programme of the Early Neolithic enclosures of Southern Britain and Ireland (Whittle et al 2011) shows what can be achieved by the combination of rigorous sample selection and Bayesian modelling of the results. Targeted keyhole excavation could provide an efficient technique for obtaining dating and environmental samples. Research Aim 14: Increase the use and improve the targeting of scientific dating. 1. The expanded application of recently developed and/or modified dating techniques, principally optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and amino acid ratio (AAR) to open-landscape deposits. Recent research for the Lyonesse project has indicated that OSL dating is particularly effective on sand lenses in peat deposits (Roberts 201?; Charman et al 2016). Use of these techniques will aid contextualisation of Scilly’s terrestrial, intertidal and subtidal palaeoenvironmental deposits. 2. Scientific dating for the recent Lyonesse Project almost doubled the previously existing radiocarbon measurements for Scilly. There is a need for more radiocarbon dates from excavated sites to provide a better definition of key transitional phases (such as the beginning of the Neolithic, the Neolithic/Beaker/Early Bronze Age transition, and the change from the Earlier to the Later Iron Age). 3. A suite of radiocarbon determinations from the remaining baulk at the east end of the settlement at Nornour might provide secure dates for the earliest phases of settlement there. The baulk is being eroded by the sea and this is considered a priority. 4. The Late Bronze Age is poorly defined chronologically for several reasons. Burials with accompanying grave goods are very rare, in contrast to the situation in the Early and Middle Bronze Age, perhaps because excarnation was practised increasingly frequently. Pottery styles become less distinctive, and pottery use may have been less common. There is a lack of radiocarbon dates and a lack of a systematic collation of those that do exist for this period. 247 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 5. In the medieval and post-medieval periods diagnostic material culture becomes more commonplace but there is a need to link scientific dating techniques to documented medieval sites such as Ennor Castle and Tresco Priory. Past environments As well as providing information on the conditions in which people lived in the past and their relationships with nature, environmental archaeology has a valuable part to play in one of the great debates of our time: the evidence for environmental change and the likely impacts of global warming. The Isles of Scilly contain wide expanses of shallow subtidal and intertidal environments flooded by rising relative sea levels during the late Holocene. It has long been known that the islands in their current form are a result of past marine transgressions that flooded early sites. The archipelago is therefore valuable for studying continual sea level rises within an historical context and research studies in Scilly can make a unique contribution to understanding the effect of climate and coastal change on the historic environment. Research Aim 15: Improve the quality and quantity of environmental data and our understanding of what they represent. 1. We need to improve consistency in sampling, assessment and analysis for all types of palaeoenvironmental evidence. 2. A range of context types should be sampled for plant macrofossils. For example, sampling only obviously rich deposits can miss evidence for crop processing and leads to misinterpretation of site function and plant use. 3. We should maximise sample size by targeting areas where preservation of animal bones (including micro vertebrates) is good. However, this needs to be balanced to make sure that context related variation is also understood (Serjeantson, forthcoming). 4. We should look at the environmental evidence that exists in new ways, such as by conceptualising what we would expect to find under different scenarios and then interrogating the archaeological record. This approach could particularly lend itself to a new understanding of past farming. Research Aim 16: Target specific soil and sediment contexts for environmental information, including a focus on sand deposits and the preservative qualities of midden deposits. 1. Targeted use should be made of pollen analysis to investigate particular archaeological questions or gaps in knowledge and not just carried out on long sequences “because they are there”. Examples include the Mesolithic to Neolithic transition; the timing and duration of Neolithic and Bronze Age clearance and reforestation; the development of heathland and the immediate post-Roman/early medieval period. High resolution dating strategies will be needed to allow detailed interpretation and not restricted to top, middle and base of sequences unless judged to be appropriate. 2. Little is known about when, how and where soils were artificially improved in the past. Are there temporal trends in soil improvement? Micromorphological studies can begin to address these questions and carbon isotope and geochemical studies can also be used in some circumstances. Scilly, being an archipelago, should be particularly amenable to this type of study because of extensive use of seaweed and bracken as animal litter, subsequently composted and used as manure or soil dressing. 248 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 3. Colluvial and alluvial sequences as markers for forest clearance and agricultural intensification need to be exploited. In order to do this both types of stratigraphy need to be investigated in more detail than at present and much better dated, rather than being written off as archaeological and palaeoenvironmentally sterile. Magnetic and geochemical techniques can be used to source such deposits and suggest why deposition occurred, while OSL dating is very useful for dating inorganic sediments if they are of suitable type. Research Aim 17: Improve our understanding of insect faunas and what they can tell us about past environments. The following specific targets for insect studies are based on the SWARF Research Agenda (Webster 2008, 284-5), taken from Robinson (2002), but the opportunities to address them are limited to wet or waterlogged deposits. 1. Insect faunas where conditions are most Atlantic. 2. Carbon and oxygen isotope measurements on insect faunas from sequences which suggest climate change, to give direct measurements for dating and temperature. 3. Insect assemblages that can be closely related to the elm decline. 4. Early–Middle Bronze Age insect faunas. 5. Insects from Iron Age cliff castles and coastal settlements in relation to aspects of the synanthropic insect fauna. 6. Post-Roman/early medieval insect faunas. 7. Medieval insect faunas. 8. Insect faunas from Hugh Town. 9. Comparative studies of assemblages from modern graveyards which can be related to the surrounding habitats from which they were derived. 10. The development of improved techniques of data analysis to cover more aspects of the fauna. Research Aim 18: Continue to collect evidence for past climate change and sea level changes together with their effects on peoples' relationships with landscapes and the sea. 1. Establish a database of sites threatened by coastal erosion and a coordinated coastal monitoring programme (see Research Aim 4). 2. Baseline (?drone) surveys should be made of intertidal sites such as Crab’s Ledge and Bathinghouse Porth, Tresco, to assist with future monitoring and management. 3. Opportunities should be taken to further understand the scale and nature of sea level change throughout Scilly. This will involve multi-disciplinary biostratigraphic analyses and high resolution dating programmes. 4. The probable continuation of Mesolithic archaeology beyond the present coastline highlights the need for topographic modelling, deposit and site prediction, and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions to be extended below the current tidal limits to improve understanding of the landscapes occupied by Mesolithic populations. 5. The submerged forests and intertidal peat bed and organic soil resources of Scilly are an endangered resource, with widespread evidence for their ongoing erosion. These locations contain well preserved proxy data for prehistoric and later environments that have only rarely been studied in 249 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda South West England. It is important that the remaining resources continue to be studied in detail before they are destroyed. 6. In light of the importance of Mesolithic coastal strategies (as indicated by key midden sites such as Westward Ho! Devon (Balaam et al 1987), the extant terrestrial resource should be integrated with the marine resource (such as submerged forest landscapes and artefact/ecofact material. Particular focus should also be given to the palaeoenvironmental evidence for possible coastal management during the Mesolithic (such as reed beds management). Research Aim 19: Improve our understanding of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic islandscapes (landscapes and seascapes). Scilly provides an opportunity to study the Mesolithic/Neolithic transition, for example at Old Town Quay and Par Beach, St Martin’s, and in the submerged and coastal peat deposits where there may be relevant preserved stratified artefactual or ecofactual material. An example is the calf’s tooth from the peat on Par Beach. Dating to the Early Bronze Age, it is the earliest indicator of animal husbandry on the Islands (Ratcliffe and Straker 1996, 29; Marshall and Bronk Ramsey 2012; Charman et al 2016). 10.2.3 Settlement Changing patterns of land-use and settlement form a key component of any study of the past. The size of the resource means that innovative techniques will be needed to study it at an appropriate scale. There is also a need to recognise activity that took place off traditional ‘sites’, including the locations of boundaries and also understand the locational forces that produce settlement patterns in different periods. Hugh Town on St Mary’s is Scilly’s only town. The town developed after the building of Star Castle in 1593, but here has been settlement in the area of what is now Hugh Town from at least the Bronze Age. There is potential in Hugh Town, and in the Islands’ smaller settlements, for concentrations of buried deposits containing well-stratified artefacts and often well-preserved environmental evidence. Although the buildings of Scilly have been studied and written about more than many other parts of the British Isles there is much more to be done that is in accordance with the very special interest of the archipelago as a community with a very distinctive character. Each building type is worthy of further recording and investigation. This would best be carried out as a phased programme over several years with as much community involvement as possible. Better understanding and presentation of the special character of the buildings of Scilly would be good for its economy as well as for the conservation of its buildings. A particular aspect of the present heritage protection situation in Scilly is that whilst the Listing process has been interpreted in a flexible way with respect to some of the buildings there are still gaps in the coverage with respect to the rarer building types. For example, it is a serious omission that no gig sheds are individually listed, except for the ruin on Samson that is protected within the Scheduled area. Listing criteria need to be applied consistently but always in Scilly with its unique context as a major consideration. Conservation Area status for all the islands has enabled considerable enhancement of many of its buildings through national and local funding schemes in recent years. Improvements have included replacement of inappropriate windows and the reinstatement of scantle slate roofs. This work is a credit to those concerned and has changed the perception of what the buildings represent. One result of this is that some buildings that might have appeared marginal for listing now look better than some of those that are already listed. 250 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Certain key points of recommendation are as follows: 1. All building types deserve further recording and investigation. 2. Documentary sources should be further consulted to unravel some of the finer details about island life of the past and with respect to the buildings that are involved. 3. Enhancement schemes should be encouraged and supported. 4. New-build opportunities should be assessed very carefully to ensure that the special architectural character of the islands is not compromised. Research Aim 20: Improve our understanding of prehistoric and RomanoBritish settlements, monuments and landscapes. 1. Ceremonial landscapes – we need to reassess the Early Bronze Age monuments of Scilly in their landscapes and detailed survey is needed of the two or more stone rows recorded on the north end of Tresco. 2. The fogou on Peninnis Head, discovered in 2001, is an important and unique addition to Scilly’s range of later prehistoric/Romano-British monuments and requires a detailed survey. 3. Structured deposition – structured deposition and ‘middening’ (the ritualistic re-working and re-deposition of midden deposits) have scarcely been considered in regard to prehistoric settlement in Scilly and would be rewarding subjects for future work. 4. Longevity and change. 5. Vernacular styles. 6. Coastal settlement – we need to investigate the inland extent of cliffexposure sites such as Halangy Porth. 7. Changing coastline. 8. Field systems - Scilly’s prehistoric field systems are undated and it is analogy with mainland systems that leads to their provisional attribution to the Middle Bronze Age or Iron Age and Romano-British period. The results of the Lyonesse Project suggest that that the intertidal field systems are Early Bronze Age. Research Aim 21: Improve our understanding of early settlements, religious buildings, monuments and landscapes. medieval 1. Our knowledge of early medieval settlement in Scilly is based on the excavations carried out in the mid-twentieth century at small ecclesiastical sites, or hermitages: St Helen’s (O’Neil 1964); Teän (Thomas 1960b; Thomas and Johns 2018) and (probably) East Porth, Samson (Neal and Johns, forthcoming). We need to learn more about secular life in Scilly during this period. 2. This is not to say that ecclesiastical sites are unimportant. The excavations at East Porth, Teän and East Porth, Samson, are crucial to understanding the introduction of Christianity into the Islands and also the furthering our understanding of the development of early-medieval ceramics (see Research Aim 11). Research Aim 22: Improve our understanding of medieval and later settlements, buildings and landscapes. 1. Prioritise a systematic recording strategy for the built environment and improve the recording and utilisation of archaeological collections and other information sources. Recording buildings should embrace recording evidence and analysis of current and earlier active use of space. There needs to be a greater understanding of different kinds of structure and the detail to be recorded. There is considerable potential for documentary 251 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda research, oral history, etc, to aid interpretation from physical remains. We need to improve our understanding of settlement at Old Town, St Mary’s, and around St Mary’s church. 2. We need to improve our understanding of the history of settlement on the off islands. 3. We need to undertake analysis of evidence for medieval field systems and study of fields associated with farms of known medieval date or having names of Cornish origin. 4. How do we reconcile the coastal place-name evidence used by Thomas (1985) to support his model for sea level rise with the current environmental data from the Lyonesse Project? 5. We need to improve our understanding of the development of Hugh Town. 6. We need to learn more about the impact of Augustus Smith’s s administration on landholding, the re-shaping of farms and creation of new boundaries and other aspects of the historic environment such as the ‘rebuilding’ of Hugh Town from about the 1830s, for example, but apart from a couple of lines in Matthews (1960) the process is not documented. 7. Some of the most important domestic buildings in Scilly have already been assessed in detail but many others have only received the most limited study, some of this as a result of the Listing process, or none. The architecture and methods of construction of vernacular buildings should be the subject of further research. 8. Grouping of traditional housing clearly has many causes and effects, particularly with respect to the culture and living conditions of the islanders of Scilly. Research needs to be carried out into the way that groupings have come about, their distribution, and their particular character. For example, to what extent have the settlements evolved in a piecemeal way and to what extent have others been planned? The management of the islands since Augustus Smith became Lord Proprietor is clearly a strong factor but this needs to be better understood and the extent of his influence needs to be identified and described. 9. Town houses deserve attention as a separate group. The story of their builders, architects and occupants is more likely to be unearthed than studies of the more modest building types. However, this can only be achieved by determined research. Results of such a study together with the recording and analysis of buildings is likely to yield invaluable results that are important to the story of Scilly. 10. A much better understanding of town houses with shops is possible with detailed research that includes reference to trade directories and other documentation of the commercial activity on the islands. 11. A special study of the plan, type, date evolution and distribution of the traditional buildings in Scilly would enable a much better understanding of the way that they have evolved and were used. This study would need strong community involvement and permissions for access. Exemplar types should be surveyed by professionals/experts but much useful recording and analysis could be achieved by enthusiastic amateurs under the supervision of a central organisation or group. 12. Study of the smaller houses of Scilly may best be achieved as a thematic exercise so that the buildings get the more intensive assessment that they deserve. Their similarity to other small buildings in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and elsewhere, needs to be better understood and comparisons 252 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda should be made taking into account all the factors involved in the development of the tradition for these simple but evocative buildings. 13. The way that rows of cottages/houses have evolved needs to be recorded as a stylistic group. Much can be learned about the sequence of build by studying the quoin-work that usually survives. 14. The history and of the small nineteenth century schools that have played an important part in the development of Island society should also be studied. 15. Compilation of a database of known inscribed and dated stones, and a record and analysis of graffiti inside Cromwell’s Castle. 16. We need to carry out a study of the history, fabric and distribution of known wells in Scilly. 17. More systematic studies of vernacular architecture as applied to both housing and other rural buildings are required, particularly at the humbler end of the scale. 10.2.4 Maritime Scilly is an archipelago. As well as providing a valuable food resource, the sea was vital for communications, bringing Scilly into contact with Wales, Ireland, Brittany and, later, Africa, America and the rest of the world. There is a complete lack of any boat remains from Scilly dating from before the early sixteenth century. This perhaps reflects the scarcity of remains from mainland Britain as a whole. The situation in Scilly is probably exacerbated by the effects of sea level rise which has caused large changes in the coastline. We know that prehistoric and later people made journeys by boat to Scilly. What we do not know is what type of boats they made the journey in, nor how often. Any traces, however fragmentary, of early boats found in Scilly should be treated as of international significance (until or unless proven otherwise). Detailed study of ancient coastlines should help us to define areas of the seabed which are most likely to yield evidence of early boats and landing places, about which we know very little. Trade and seafaring in Scilly can be charted by the presence of artefacts (mainly ceramics) which have originated outside the islands, for example prehistoric and Romano-British gabbroic pottery, early medieval Mediterranean and Gallic wares, the assemblage of imported medieval ceramics recently found in Tresco Channel and the designated Wheel Wreck, which comprises a discrete mound of mining equipment dating to between 1770 and 1820. This cargo of national significance because of its rarity and potential for informing use about the international trade in mining equipment and technology and connection with the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site. The archaeology and history of fishing in Scilly cross-cuts the maritime/land divide but has received comparatively little attention. As well as the strictly maritime resource there is also a considerable intertidal resource. Onshore assemblages of structures, artefacts and fish-bones, and isotopic studies of human skeletal remains, also need to be integrated into any understanding of fishing and its importance. Research Aim 23: Increase our knowledge of maritime archaeological sites. 1. There is a considerable body of documentary evidence for early shipwrecks that has yet to be researched. 253 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2. Given the maritime nature of Scilly, with the occurrence of many foreign imports emphasising external contacts during the early medieval and medieval periods (as well as maintaining contact with the Cornish mainland); the potential for possible shipwrecks and/or wreck cargoes, of these periods is high. 3. We need to carry out further research on piracy and privateering in Scilly in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. 4. Due to its relatively sheltered position and ease of access, the protected wreck site of HMS Colossus is an ideal platform for developing systems and experimental underwater techniques. The site has already been used in experimental stabilisation trials commissioned by Historic England to determine the most effective method of stabilising the exposed wreckage on the seabed (Camidge 2005; 2009). Further work has begun on studying the mobility and deterioration of artefacts situated on the seabed of this site (Camidge 2010). This is particularly important as diver access to the site is being actively encouraged by means of the diver information trail on the site. Some work has also been done on artefact reburial on this site, and hopefully this can be developed into a long-term trial of in situ reburial of artefacts from underwater sites. 5. A historical study of each lighthouse is required (other than Bishop Rock which has its own recent publication, Stanbrook 2008). 6. Study of the history of salvage and diving in Scilly. 7. The high-profile salvage work undertaken on some of the Scilly wrecks needs to be properly documented during the lifetime of those who undertook the work and a record made any artefacts that appear for sale on the open market. 8. The presence in Scilly of a number of thriving dive charter businesses could be used to archaeological advantage. The three charter skippers already administer the dive trail on the protected wreck site of HMS Colossus; the divers might be encouraged to undertake useful tasks. These could include systematic monitoring of visited wrecks for (inevitable) deterioration, or even actively searching new areas of the seabed. 9. There is a need for a holistic interpretation of the historic and natural marine world around Scilly. Research Aim 24: Improve our understanding of how the waters around the islands have been used over time. 1. Currents 2. Navigation routes 3. Anchorages Research Aim 25: Assess the information for early ports, harbours and landing places. 1. Landing places and safe harbours have always been of the utmost importance in the day to day life of the islanders and, as Robinson (2007, 79) points out, they are also deeply symbolic, marking the transition between land and sea. Despite the obvious importance of the sea to Scilly, very few of these sites have been studied and there is a need for a more comprehensive study of the early ports, harbours and landing places of the archipelago. 254 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 2. We need to compile an illustrated inventory of Scillonian quays of all periods. 3. We need to further assess the evidence for a harbour for Roman Scilly as at the location suggested by Thomas (1985). Although has its disadvantages (Charman et al 2016), it is interesting to note that the eastern side of St Martin’s was the tradition anchorage of Breton fishermen until the 1950s or 1960s. We also to investigate the possible harbour at the south end of Arthur recorded in the 1960s. 4. Harbour walls deserve a special study, both of surviving walls and of archive photographs of walls that can no longer be seen. They should also be compared to harbour walls on the mainland. The harbour walls on Scilly are an important part of the character of the Islands. The listing status of the main quay (NHLE 1141209) should be re-assessed. 10.2.5 Production and trade Industry and Technology We need to improve our knowledge of industry and technology in Scilly, including tinworking, stonecutting, shipbuilding and the early development of the kelp burning industry. Research Aim 26: Widen our understanding of technology and industry in Scilly. 1. We need to encourage further study for evidence of salt making, tinworking, quarrying, stonecutting, shipbuilding, limeburning and the early development and subsequent history of the kelp burning industry. 2. A detailed survey is required of the tinworking features at the north end of Tresco – openwork, lodeback pits, reservoir etc + assessment of methods of working/water storage. 3. A detailed study should be made of the distribution of known stonecutting quarries and main areas of surface work. Distribution of known wedgecut stones (i.e., pre-c 1800). 4. Industrial buildings in Scilly are an interest group that still requires considerable study and research. The buildings that were used for industry need to be identified and recorded and research targeted at their origins and their functions. 5. We need to undertake analysis of structures associated with the flower industry. Food procurement Food production is central to human existence, from the earliest periods of hunting and gathering, through the development of agriculture and animal husbandry to the predominantly farming-derived landscape and associated infrastructure that we see today. While the overall picture is moderately well understood there are specific periods, places and processes that need more work. For example, middens as evidence of gathering; red deer remains possibly indicating early hunting. Field systems of different periods may reflect different types of, or changing emphases within, agriculture, shifts in technology, etc’ Research Aim 27: Improve our understanding of the use of wild and domestic animals in the past. A series of questions regarding the faunal data from the islands need to be further addressed. Part of this can be undertaken via a review and re-analysis of 255 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda the resource itself, for instance Frank Turk’s work on Nornour; however, there is also the need for new excavations to obtain new data. 1. Is there evidence for endemic populations of terrestrial fauna? 2. What wild species were present on the islands during early prehistory? What do we know of the island histories for wild species such as the Scilly Shrew, Pallas Vole, toad etc? 3. When were domesticates introduced to the islands? Where were they introduced from? What effect, if any did they have on endemic fauna? 4. How do the species that were exploited, change over time? 5. How were the herds of food animals maintained and managed? What strategies were employed to maintain herds’ health, security and productivity on these limited land masses? Is there any evidence for foddering or byring of these animals or feeding them on seaweed? 6. How did these species respond to the insular environment in terms of size and health? This can be linked with analysis of lipids in pottery fabric. 7. When was milk first produced on the islands? Were there specialist faunal economies? 8. Were the first cats domesticates or introduced wild cats? Are the small dogs mentioned by Turk dogs or foxes? When did dogs and cats first breed on the islands? 9. When was the domestic fowl introduced? 10. When were red and roe deer imported to the islands? Were there breeding populations? Are there morphometrical changes associated with these insular populations? 11. Is there evidence for the failed introduction of other species? 12. What evidence is there for the social or symbolic role of animals? 13. How do stable isotopic values of animals and humans change over time? 14. Need to investigate treatment and disposal of animal remains within houses and middens. Research Aim 28: Improve our understanding of the exploitation of marine resources in the past. 1. Which methods of fishing were used? How were fish processed? 2. What contribution did marine mammal resources make to the diet? Is there evidence for persistence of marine foods throughout prehistory? 3. Which seal colonies were targeted? Excavations at Nornour and at Porth Killier and Higher Town, St Agnes have provided rare evidence for exploitation of seals in the Bronze Age deserving further study. 4. Were cetaceans hunted, driven ashore or stranded? 5. Which sea bird colonies were exploited? We know, for example, from medieval documentary evidence that the rent for the islands was at one time given as a number of puffins to be paid and there is also a reference to the export of salted puffins from Scilly to the West Indies in the late seventeenth century. 6. Why are there no mussels on Scilly? 7. Were there oysters? 8. Prawns are very abundant on the Flats but were they exploited? 256 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 9. Was edible seaweed exploited? Research Aim 29: Improve our understanding of the use of wild, cultivated and domesticated plants in the past. 1. We need to be open to the possibilities of local distinctiveness in the contribution of unusual or infrequently cultivated plants. Our understanding of plant cultivation in the past is based on a small range of species, largely because of the processes responsible for preservation in non-waterlogged conditions. Thirsk (1997) gives some indication of the possibilities for the historic period. 2. Evidence from pollen, insects and plant macrofossils needs to be integrated to provide information on the historic management of pasture. Did meadows / hay production play a role in Scillonian agriculture or was there more reliance on rough ground grazing? Evidence from waterlogged deposits which provide information on this important aspect of farming should be a high priority for all periods as the information is of use both to archaeologists and to the nature conservation sector. 3. The evidence of grain/plant impressions on ceramics could also be investigated/considered. Research Aim 30: Understand better the relationships of early prehistoric people to plants and animals. 1. Further work is needed on the early use of woodland resources and woodland management. 2. The changing role of marine and freshwater resources requires more adequate investigation. 3. Identification and verification of possible fish traps would be very useful. Were they used on Scilly, and in any specific area? 4. Isotopic studies need to be carried out on animal as well as human bone assemblages to understand pasturing practices and trade in domesticated animals. 5. Better understanding is needed of the status of arable in the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age as the debate on the importance of arable versus collection of wild plant resources continues. More assemblages are needed from a range of contexts, particularly associated with domestic rather than ritual activity. All Neolithic and Early Bronze Age samples are important, but any waterlogged deposits are particularly so as they may preserve material not susceptible to charring. The study of crop waste (weed seeds and chaff) will tell us more about the nature of arable fields and farming practice for all periods and also pick up introductions of crops and weeds as they reach Scilly. Research Aim 31: Improve our understanding of agricultural intensification and diversification in later prehistory, including establishment of a chronology for prehistoric field systems. 1. There is a need to better understand the chronology and regionality of crop diversification and intensification of production, which appears to take place from around the Middle Bronze Age onwards. Well-dated assemblages from a range of settlement contexts are required to examine introductions of new crops and associated wild species. 2. Further work is required to examine the archaeological evidence of agricultural improvement apart from a few specific examples of landscape. 257 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Research Aim 32: Improve our understanding of the environmental impacts of farming. 1. Our knowledge of plant use especially remains patchy. This extends beyond food; fibres, building materials, adhesives, medicinal herbs and drugs should also be considered. 2. Better understanding is needed of how the process of agricultural intensification can be detected on archaeological sites. Better use of the evidence should be made by integrating environmental and artefactual evidence to test theory, coupled with comprehensive dating programmes. For example, better understanding of the development of field systems during the Bronze Age is particularly important. 3. Later prehistory is often characterised as the domestication of the land, with the appearance of permanent settlements and fields; from wildscape to landscape. The environmental evidence for agriculture, whether charred plant remains or animal ones, remains poorly studied in comparison to structures or ceramics. In this regard archaeological science needs to be taken out of the black box and treated as mainstream. 4. There is a very limited amount of environmental evidence in the medieval period and further work is needed to link sites to the wider landscape and better-dated contexts. This will provide opportunities for understanding what happened at documented historical events in Scilly. Understanding the changing patterns of land use and their environmental impact has yet to be fully realised. Research Aim 33: Assess the character of food procurement in the Romano-British period. 1. We know little about plant and animal use and cultivation methods in the Romano-British period. 2. Did Scilly’s mild climate result in the growth of crops and garden plants that could not flourish elsewhere before the post-medieval period? Research Aim 34: Investigate the origins of the chronology of use of free-threshing wheat. Despite this being a priority for archaeobotany for many years, when, where and how the change from cultivation of hulled to free-threshing wheats took place is still not understood. This major change which will have affected husbandry and crop-processing practices occurred sometime in the centuries covering the late/post-Roman–early medieval periods. Efforts must be made to target suitable assemblages in Scilly as elsewhere in the South West. Research Aim 35: Improve our understanding of medieval, post-medieval and modern farming and food production. 1. There is very little direct environmental evidence for the use of grassland and pasture in Scilly. The pastoral side of the landscape was a major land use and vital for producing winter food for stock. However, the types and management of grassland and pasture is very poorly understood. The integration of plant macrofossil and insect evidence and in some cases pollen as well, is the key to success here. 2. Better use should be made of documentary evidence to help interpret plant and animal assemblages. Plant and animal assemblages could also be used to challenge or confirm the accuracy of the documentary record. Monastic accounts, for example, may give insights into the control of Tavistock Abbey on the farming of large parts of the medieval landscape of 258 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Scilly. Better understanding of how farming was managed could lead to more innovative and useful interpretation. 3. The question of how food production changed in the post-medieval and Modern periods might be profitably addressed by selecting locations for a more holistic approach relating buildings, landscape, land use and artefacts. There are relatively good documentary sources on agriculture in Scilly, plus potential for oral history to illuminate more recent practise. 4. The impacts on Scilly of agricultural developments at a regional/national scale in the post-medieval period, and particularly from the eighteenth century onwards, should be assessed. Trade, Transport, and Communications The movement of objects, people and ideas is most widespread in more recent periods but, obviously, began with the first humans to explore the region. Ports and landing places and the fast disappearing remains of modern communications are identified as important areas to be considered. 1. There are only two instances of briquetage in Scilly, from Dolphin Town, Tresco (Quinnell 2009–10) and, possibly, Samson Hill, Bryher (Thorpe and Johns 2014). Although briquetage is by definition related to salt production it is unclear whether these discoveries relate to salt production. Identification of possible salt production sites should be a priority. Research Aim 37: Assess the archaeological potential for studying early medieval and medieval economy, trade, technology and production. 1. Trade and interaction in the South West generally expanded considerably during the medieval period with the growth of market towns, ports and an improved communication network. By the medieval period pottery production developed at several centres in the South West and the study of markets and trade with Scilly is a key research item. Trade could also include ‘exotic’ plant foods which may survive in the archaeological record. 2. What preceded the development of Hugh Town as the market for the Island population? 3. Was there also a separate economic structure for fishing in that all fish had to be brought to the steward and were marketed through him (i.e., not a ‘free’ market). Research Aim 38: Widen our understanding of post-medieval and Modern transport and communications. 1. We need to improve our understanding of Scilly as part of the wider ‘signalling world’ in the post-medieval and modern periods. 2. Recent telecommunications systems are subject to rapid change and need to be studied, recorded and artefacts conserved, as a priority. 10.2.6 Social Relations Perhaps the most difficult area of human existence for archaeology to attempt to understand, issues such as social groupings and population movements are key in some periods in Scilly - changing ownerships of in the medieval and postmedieval periods, associated in-migration, creation of local ‘elites’, possible archaeological evidence in terms of buildings, material culture, size of holdings, etc? Modern identities have their origins in the past but are poorly understood in material terms. Information may also come from studies of religious activity, mortuary behaviour or defence and conflict (see below). 259 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Research Aim 39: Improve our knowledge of prehistoric and RomanoBritish social organisation and change through time. 1. Was early prehistoric settlement on Scilly dispersed rather than nucleated, developing into a segmentary society which demonstrated its territoriality through dispersed monuments? Or was settlement more fluid and transient? 2. Can the varying size and form of different Early Bronze Age entrance graves or Iron Age/Romano-British cist graves be seen as reflecting differences in social status or perhaps in function? Research Aim 40: Use archaeological and historical evidence to better understand Scillonian identity through time. 1. Undertake osteological and isotopic analysis of human remains, such as the early medieval skeletons from Teän which are unusual in showing signs of leprosy and amputation. 2. Link isotope and strontium analysis to diet and early movement of early medieval people (cf Hemer 2012). 3. The majority of ‘original’ Scillonian families can only trace their association with the Islands back to the seventeenth century, when their ancestors came to Scilly during the post-Civil War resettlement. We need to use archaeological and historical evidence to better understand Scillonian identity through time. The IOS Family History Group has potential to help address this Research Aim. Research Aim 41: Improve our knowledge of the historic development of the tourism industry in Scilly. Improved rail and sea transport from the mid-nineteenth century marked the beginning of Scilly's tourist industry and this now forms the largest part (85% of its economy, with 120,000 visitors received annually at the beginning of the twenty-first century. We need to improve our knowledge of the development of Scilly’s tourism industry. 10.2.7 Religion and Ritual Religious activities are another difficult area for archaeology but have resulted in significant archaeological remains in some periods, such as Roman Nornour, the Roman Altar from Mount Holles, and extensive Early Christian activity. At other times, for instance in the later Roman period, we know from historical sources of significant change which is, as yet, practically invisible to us. Research Aim 42: Widen our understanding of prehistoric monumentality, including exploration of the relationships between monuments, topography, landforms and seascapes. 1. Phenomenology and the appropriation of natural features such as carns and other prominent topographical features and the manipulation of the natural world to create, for example, propped stones is a subject that has received little study. Research Aim 43: Improve our understanding of Iron Age and Roman religion. 1. We need to improve our understanding of the local and wider context of Nornour in the Romano-British period and the remarkable collection of Roman artefacts there. The suggestion that this represented mariners’ votive offerings could perhaps be explored by conducting a detailed survey on the island to establish whether any structures remain which could represent any kind of shrine (or even beacon). The intertidal zone should 260 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda not be neglected. It may also be worth considering a detailed bathymetric - and possibly a sidescan sonar - survey of the seabed around Nornour. Research Aim 44: Utilise surviving buildings and records to understand liturgical and social change in post-medieval to Modern places of worship and cemeteries. 1. Whilst much is known and much has been written about the buildings that represent the established church in Scilly, the stories that they contain in their records, in their monuments, and within their burial grounds needs to be further assessed and collated. Also, the buildings themselves deserve better analysis, and recognition for the influence they have had on the evolving building traditions of the islands. 2. Nonconformism was a very influential aspect of the culture of the Isles of Scilly and deserves further study, particularly with respect to its surviving buildings. Two chapels have already been converted to domestic use and the most important chapel is used as offices. Consequently, the two chapels that remain in use as places of worship should be recorded as a matter of urgency. 3. There are probably no old purpose-built public houses on the Islands. All the traditional buildings now used as public houses appear to have been adapted from former houses or working buildings. This building type is complicated with respect to its origins and history. It is very important to community life in Scilly today but the role of public houses at earlier times needs to be unravelled as a detailed research project together with close examination of the surviving and former public houses. Mortuary Practices Often seen as part of religious behaviour, new approaches are stressing the social processes that influence the treatment of the dead by the living. Study of key episodes can, hopefully, be used to shed light on wider social questions as can scientific analysis of the body itself. Scilly has distinctive mortuary rites during much of prehistory – Bronze Age entrance graves and cairns, the Iron Age and Romano-British cist graves and cist grave cemeteries. The Bryher sword and mirror burial, for instance, links Scilly with the wider traditions of warrior burials and mirror burials. Research Aim 45: Identify Neolithic mortuary practices, with particular reference to Scilly’s regional, national and international context. There is an interesting absence in Scilly of Neolithic megalithic tombs such as portal dolmens which are found in Penwith, Ireland, and France. It is possible that ‘propped stones’ could have acted as small megalithic monuments although these have been dated or systematically studied. Research Aim 46: Refine our understanding of Early Bronze Age mortuary practices. 1. We need to understand why there are so many entrance graves on Scilly compared with Penwith (and south-east Ireland). 2. We need to find out more about cairnfields and better understand the relation of cairns to field systems. Research Aim 47: Widen our understanding of Iron Age and Roman burial traditions with reference to regional funerary practices. Approximately 37 Porthcressa-type cists have been discovered in Scilly. We need to learn more about their distribution and contents and relation to the wider South West cist burial tradition. 261 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Research Aim 48: Utilise the potential for good evidence from early medieval burials to address research questions The early-medieval/medieval burial found during BT trenching at Lower Town, St Martin’s in 1992 demonstrates the potential for analysis (Ratcliffe 1997). The three excavated early medieval sites - St Helen’s (O’Neil 1964), East Porth, Teän (Thomas 1960b; Thomas and Johns 2018), and East Porth, Samson (Neal and Johns, forthcoming), all produced human bone from inhumations, although preservation was poor at Teän and Samson. The bone needs to be located for further analysis. 10.2.8 Defence and Conflict Conflict usually manifests itself in the archaeological record as defensive structures but may also be represented by artefact scatters or evidence of trauma on human remains. There has been much study of surviving monuments but some types of site, particularly those peripheral to actual fighting (such as garrison life and military procurement), are less well known. Broadening the study of conflict archaeology may throw light on wider social questions, large scale historical change and changing technology. Research Aim 49: Address the limited knowledge of prehistoric and Romano-British fortifications and conflict. 1. The traditional interpretation of cliff castles as coastal hillforts and places of refuge for the local populace in times of danger is currently being reassessed. In west Cornwall such defended central places have been reinterpreted as economic and social centres under the control of tribal chief. We need to better understand the character of occupation of the two confirmed cliff castles on the Isles of Scilly (Giant’s Castle, Shipman Head) and to investigate the possibility of others at Burnt Hill, and Pernagie Point, St Martin’s and on St Agnes. Research Aim 50: Examine the evidence for early medieval defence and conflict sites in Scilly. 1. We currently know very little about defence and conflict in early medieval Scilly other than a probably legendary story that Athelstan (King of Wessex AD 935-939) made a short visit to the islands to deal with Scandinavian raiders. Research Aim 51: Deepen our understanding of medieval and later defence and conflict sites. 1. We need to learn more about Ennor Castle during the medieval period and carry out fieldwork to assess its context and collect and analyse pottery from gardens in immediate vicinity. 2. The defence buildings of Scilly have benefitted from much investigation and research. However, there is still much to be learned and explained. These buildings need to be studied as a thematic group with all the available information brought into play but with unanswered questions targeted. For example, when the gun platform was added to Cromwell’s castle the original timber or stone staircase was cut away to make a new doorway into the building and the walls made good. This kind of analysis is often lacking from available studies. Reconstruction drawings of the defence buildings explaining the way that they originally functioned and the ways that they have been altered to fulfil advancing technologies would greatly add to our understanding of these important buildings. 3. A survey is needed of sites on the Garrison revealed by IOSWT grazing. 262 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 4. We need to continue to record and monitor the condition of seventeenthcentury coastal earthworks. 5. The structures related to the proposal to convert Scilly into the southern equivalent of ‘Scapa Flow’ for the home fleet in the early twentieth century should be investigated further, especially to elucidate how much was actually done before plans were aborted. 6. A full survey and record needs to be made of all Second World War constructions, establishments and defences. 263 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 10.3 Appendix: Research themes and aims by period Period Research Theme Overarching Methodology Research Aim Page 1 Extend the use of proven methodologies for site location and interpretation, & encourage the development of new techniques Synthesis 2 Encourage works of synthesis within & across periods, settlements, monuments and areas Spatial & temporal biases 3 Address apparent “gaps” in our knowledge & assess whether they are meaningful or simply biases in current knowledge Community involvement 4 Encourage wide involvement in archaeological research & present modern accounts of the past to the public Recording 4 Encourage the study of artefact scatters using traditional and innovative methodologies both in the field & on previous collections 5 Encourage the accurate reporting & identification of stray finds in ways that benefit archaeological research as a whole 7 Prioritise a systematic recording strategy for the built environment & improve the recording & utilisation of archaeological collections & other information sources Transitions 8 Address our lack of understanding of key transitional periods Hidden resources 9 Improve knowledge and study of all relevant museum collections and archives 10 Improve access to, & synthesis of ‘grey literature’ 11 Identify & bring to publication key unpublished excavations Artefact studies 12 Widen our understanding of Scillonian material culture of all periods Science Dating 14 Increase the use & improve the targeting of scientific dating Past environments 15 Improve the quality & quantity of environmental data & our understanding of what they represent 16 Target specific soil & sediment contexts for environmental information, including a focus on sand deposits & the preservative qualities of midden deposits 17 Improve our understanding of insect faunas & what they can tell us about past environments 18 Continue to collect evidence for past climate change & sea level changes together with their effects on peoples' relationships with landscapes and the sea Maritime 23 Increase our knowledge of maritime archaeological sites 24 Improve our understanding of how the waters around the islands have been used over time 25: Assess the information for early ports, harbours & landing places Production trade & Industry technology & 26 Widen our understanding of technology and industry in Scilly Food procurement 27 Improve our understanding of the use of wild & domestic 264 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Period Research Theme Research Aim Page animals in the past 28 Improve our understanding of the exploitation of marine resources in the past 29 Improve our understanding of the use of wild, cultivated & domesticated plants in the past 32 Improve our understanding of the environmental impacts of farming Social relations 40 Use archaeological & historical evidence understand Scillonian identity through time Religion & ritual 42-48 Defence conflict 49-51 & to better Palaeolithic & Mesolithic (c 700,000 BP – c 4000 BC) National & Regional Thematic and Chronological Research Frameworks Research Strategy for Prehistory Consultation Draft June 2010 https://historicengland.org.uk/content/docs/research/draft-prehistoric-strategy-pdf/ Research and Conservation Framework for the British Palaeolithic (English Heritage/Prehistoric Society, 2008) https://content.historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/research-and-conservation-framework-forbritish-palaeolithic/palaeolithic-framework.pdf/ Mesolithic Research and Conservation Framework for England (2012/13) Resource Assessment consultation: https://sites.google.com/site/mesolithicframework/ Webster, C, 2008. The Archaeology of South West England: South West Archaeological Research Framework Resource Assessment and Research Agenda, Taunton (Somerset County Council) http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/swarf/index.htm Research Frameworks for Holocene Lithics in Britain (Lithic Studies Society, 2004) Maritime and Marine Historic Environment Research Framework: Ransley, J, Adams, J, Blue, L, Dix, J, and Sturt, F, 2011. England’s Maritime and Marine Historic Environment Resource Assessment and Research Agenda, Oxford DTI, 2002-2006. Offshore Strategic Environmental Assessments in regard to prehistoric archaeological remains http://www.offshore-sea.org.uk/site/scripts/category_info.php?categoryID=37) English Heritage/RCHME, 1997. England’s Coastal Heritage Historic England. Strategy for Water and Wetland Heritage (2012) https://historicengland.org.uk/content/docs/research/strategy-water-wetland-heritage-pdf/ Historic England Regional Environmental Reviews (available as HE Research Department Reports; see https://historicengland.org.uk/research/research-results/research-reports/ SHERF Research Themes & Aims Methodology Transitions 8 Address our lack of understanding of key transitional periods Hidden resources 11 Identify & bring to publication key unpublished excavations Artefact studies 12 Widen our understanding of Scillonian material culture of all periods Science Past environments Production 19 Improve our understanding of Palaeolithic & Mesolithic islandscapes (landscapes & seascapes) & 265 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Period Research Theme Research Aim Page trade Industry technology & 26 Widen our understanding of technology and industry in Scilly Food procurement 26 Widen our understanding of technology and industry in Scilly 27 Improve our understanding of the use of wild & domestic animals in the past 28 Improve our understanding of the exploitation of marine resources in the past 29 Improve our understanding of the use of wild, cultivated & domesticated plants in the past 30 Understand better the relationships of early prehistoric people to plants & animals Trade, transport & communications 36 Assess the archaeological potential for studying prehistoric & Romano-British economy, trade, technology & production Social relations 39 Improve our knowledge of prehistoric and Romano-British social organisation and change through time Neolithic & Early Bronze Age (c 4000 BC – c 1500 BC) National & Regional Thematic and Chronological Research Frameworks Research Strategy for Prehistory Consultation Draft June 2010 https://historicengland.org.uk/content/docs/research/draft-prehistoric-strategy-pdf/ Webster, C J, 2008. The Archaeology of South West England: South West Archaeological Research Framework Resource Assessment and Research Agenda, Taunton (Somerset County Council) http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/swarf/index.htm Research Frameworks for Holocene Lithics in Britain (Lithic Studies Society, 2004) Historical Metallurgy Society, 2008. Metals and Metalworking: a research framework for archaeometallurgy Maritime and Marine Historic Environment Research Framework: Ransley, J, Adams, J, Blue, L, Dix, J, and Sturt, F, eds, 2011. England’s Maritime and Marine Historic Environment Resource Assessment and Research Agenda, Oxford DTI, 2002-2006. Offshore Strategic Environmental Assessments in regard to prehistoric archaeological remains http://www.offshore-sea.org.uk/site/scripts/category_info.php?categoryID=37) English Heritage/RCHME, 1997. England’s Coastal Heritage Historic England. Strategy for Water and Wetland Heritage (2012) https://historicengland.org.uk/content/docs/research/strategy-water-wetland-heritage-pdf/ Historic England Regional Environmental Reviews (available as HE Research Department Reports; see https://historicengland.org.uk/research/research-results/research-reports/ SHERF Research Themes & Aims Methodology Transitions 8 Address our lack of understanding of key transitional periods Hidden resources 11 Identify & bring to publication key unpublished excavations Artefact studies 12 Widen our understanding of Scillonian material culture of all periods Production trade & Industry & 26 Widen our understanding of technology and industry in 266 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Period Research Theme Research Aim Page technology Scilly Food procurement 27 Improve our understanding of the use of wild & domestic animals in the past 28 Improve our understanding of the exploitation of marine resources in the past 29 Improve our understanding of the use of wild, cultivated & domesticated plants in the past 31 Improve our understanding of agricultural intensification & diversification in later prehistory, including establishment of a chronology for prehistoric field systems 32 Improve our understanding of the environmental impacts of farming Trade, transport & communications 36 Assess the archaeological potential for studying prehistoric & Romano-British economy, trade, technology & production Social relations 39 Improve our knowledge of prehistoric and Romano-British social organisation and change through time 40 Use archaeological & historical evidence understand Scillonian identity through time to better Religion & ritual 42 Widen our understanding of prehistoric monumentality, including exploration of the relationships between monuments, topography, landforms & seascapes Mortuary practices 45 Identify Neolithic mortuary practices, with particular reference to Scilly’s regional, national & international context 46 Refine our understanding of Early Bronze Age mortuary practices Defence conflict & 49 Address the limited knowledge of prehistoric & RomanoBritish fortifications & conflict Middle Bronze Age - Iron Age (c 1500 BC – AD 43) National Thematic and Chronological Research Frameworks Research Strategy for Prehistory Consultation Draft June 2010 https://historicengland.org.uk/content/docs/research/draft-prehistoric-strategy-pdf/ Wessex Archaeology, 2001. Understanding the British Iron Age: an agenda for action Webster, C J, 2008. The Archaeology of South West England: South West Archaeological Research Framework Resource Assessment and Research Agenda, Taunton (Somerset County Council) http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/swarf/index.htm Historical Metallurgy Society, 2008. Metals and Metalworking: a research framework for archaeometallurgy Maritime and Marine Historic Environment Research Framework: Ransley, J, Adams, J, Blue, L, Dix, J, and Sturt, F, eds, 2011. England’s Maritime and Marine Historic Environment Resource Assessment and Research Agenda, Oxford DTI, 2002-2006. Offshore Strategic Environmental Assessments in regard to prehistoric archaeological remains http://www.offshore-sea.org.uk/site/scripts/category_info.php?categoryID=37) English Heritage/RCHME, 1997. England’s Coastal Heritage Historic England. Strategy for Water and Wetland Heritage (2012) https://historicengland.org.uk/content/docs/research/strategy-water-wetland-heritage-pdf/ Historic England Regional Environmental Reviews (available as HE Research Department Reports; see https://historicengland.org.uk/research/research-results/research-reports/ 267 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Period Research Theme Research Aim Page SHERF Research Themes & Aims Methodology Transitions 8 Address our lack of understanding of key transitional periods Hidden resources 11 Identify & bring to publication key unpublished excavations Artefact studies 12 Widen our understanding of Scillonian material culture of all periods Settlement 20 Improve our understanding of prehistoric & Romano-British settlements, monuments & landscapes Production trade & Industry technology & 26 Widen our understanding of technology and industry in Scilly Food procurement 27 Improve our understanding of the use of wild & domestic animals in the past 28 Improve our understanding of the exploitation of marine resources in the past 29 Improve our understanding of the use of wild, cultivated & domesticated plants in the past 32 Improve our understanding of the environmental impacts of farming Trade, transport & communications 36 Assess the archaeological potential for studying prehistoric & Romano-British economy, trade, technology & production Social relations 39 Improve our knowledge of prehistoric and Romano-British social organisation and change through time 40 Use archaeological & historical evidence understand Scillonian identity through time Religion & ritual to better 42 Widen our understanding of prehistoric monumentality, including exploration of the relationships between monuments, topography, landforms & seascapes 43 Improve our understanding of Iron Age & Roman religion Mortuary practices Defence conflict 47 Widen our understanding of Iron Age & Roman burial traditions with reference to regional funerary practices & 49 Address the limited knowledge of prehistoric & RomanoBritish fortifications & conflict Romano-British AD 43 - 410 National Thematic and Chronological Research Frameworks S James & M Millett, eds, 2001. Britons and Romans: Advancing a Research agenda, CBA Research Report, 125 Webster, C J, 2008. The Archaeology of South West England: South West Archaeological Research Framework Resource Assessment and Research Agenda, Taunton (Somerset County Council) http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/swarf/index.htm A Research Strategy and Updated Agenda for the Study of Roman Pottery in Britain Study Group for Roman Pottery. 2012 http://romanpotterystudy.org/SGRPPublications/strategy/strategy.html D Perring, 2002. Town and Country in England: frameworks for archaeological research (CBA) Historical Metallurgy Society, 2008. Metals and Metalworking: a research framework for archaeometallurgy Maritime and Marine Historic Environment Research Framework: Ransley, J, Adams, J, Blue, L, Dix, J, and Sturt, F, eds, 2011. England’s Maritime and Marine Historic Environment Resource Assessment and Research Agenda, Oxford 268 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Period Research Theme Research Aim Page English Heritage/RCHME, 1997. England’s Coastal Heritage Historic England. Strategy for Water and Wetland Heritage (2012) https://historicengland.org.uk/content/docs/research/strategy-water-wetland-heritage-pdf/ Historic England Regional Environmental Reviews (available as HE Research Department Reports; see https://historicengland.org.uk/research/research-results/research-reports/ SHERF Research Themes & Aims Methodology Transitions 8 Address our lack of understanding of key transitional periods Hidden resources 11 Identify & bring to publication key unpublished excavations Artefact studies 12 Widen our understanding of Scillonian material culture of all periods Settlement 20 Improve our understanding of prehistoric & Romano-British settlements, monuments & landscapes Production trade & Industry technology & 26 Widen our understanding of technology and industry in Scilly Food procurement 27 Improve our understanding of the use of wild & domestic animals in the past 28 Improve our understanding of the exploitation of marine resources in the past 29 Improve our understanding of the use of wild, cultivated & domesticated plants in the past 32 Improve our understanding of the environmental impacts of farming 33 Assess the character of food procurement in the RomanoBritish period 34 Investigate the origins of the chronology of use of freethreshing wheat Trade, transport & communications 36 Assess the archaeological potential for studying prehistoric & Romano-British economy, trade, technology & production Social relations 39 Improve our knowledge of prehistoric and Romano-British social organisation and change through time 40 Use archaeological & historical evidence understand Scillonian identity through time to better Religion & ritual 43 Improve our understanding of Iron Age & Roman religion Mortuary practices 47 Widen our understanding of Iron Age & Roman burial traditions with reference to regional funerary practices Defence conflict & 49 Address the limited knowledge of prehistoric & RomanoBritish fortifications & conflict Early medieval AD 410 - 1066 National Thematic and Chronological Research Frameworks Webster, C J, 2008. The Archaeology of South West England: South West Archaeological Research Framework Resource Assessment and Research Agenda, Taunton (Somerset County Council) http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/swarf/index.htm A Research Framework for http://www.mprgframework.info/ Post-Roman Ceramic Studies in Britain – Irving 2011 269 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Period Research Theme Research Aim Page Historical Metallurgy Society, 2008. Metals and Metalworking: a research framework for archaeometallurgy D Perring, 2002. Town and Country in England: frameworks for archaeological research (CBA) Maritime and Marine Historic Environment Research Framework: Ransley, J, Adams, J, Blue, L, Dix, J, and Sturt, F, eds, 2011. England’s Maritime and Marine Historic Environment Resource Assessment and Research Agenda, Oxford English Heritage/RCHME, 1997. England’s Coastal Heritage Historic England. Strategy for Water and Wetland Heritage (2012) https://historicengland.org.uk/content/docs/research/strategy-water-wetland-heritage-pdf/ Historic England Regional Environmental Reviews (available as HE Research Department Reports; see https://historicengland.org.uk/research/research-results/research-reports/ SHERF Research Themes & Aims Methodology Transitions 8 Address our lack of understanding of key transitional periods Hidden resources 11 Identify & bring to publication key unpublished excavations Artefact studies 12 Widen our understanding of Scillonian material culture of all periods Settlement 21 Improve our understanding of early medieval settlements, religious buildings, monuments & landscapes Production trade & Industry technology & 26 Widen our understanding of technology and industry in Scilly Food procurement 27 Improve our understanding of the use of wild & domestic animals in the past 28 Improve our understanding of the exploitation of marine resources in the past 29 Improve our understanding of the use of wild, cultivated & domesticated plants in the past 32 Improve our understanding of the environmental impacts of farming 34 Investigate the origins of the chronology of use of freethreshing wheat Trade, transport & communications 37 Assess the archaeological potential for studying early medieval & medieval economy, trade, technology & production Social relations 40 Use archaeological & historical evidence understand Scillonian identity through time to better Ritual & religion Mortuary practices Defence conflict 48 Utilise the potential for good evidence from early medieval burials to address research questions & Examine the evidence for early medieval defence and conflict sites in Scilly Medieval (1066 - 1547) National Thematic and Chronological Research Frameworks Webster, C J, 2008. The Archaeology of South West England: South West Archaeological Research Framework Resource Assessment and Research Agenda, Taunton (Somerset County Council) http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/swarf/index.htm A Research Framework for Post-Roman Ceramic Studies in Britain – Irving 2011 270 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Period Research Theme Research Aim Page http://www.mprgframework.info/ Historical Metallurgy Society, 2008. Metals and Metalworking: a research framework for archaeometallurgy D Perring, 2002. Town and Country in England: frameworks for archaeological research (CBA) Maritime and Marine Historic Environment Research Framework: Ransley, J, Adams, J, Blue, L, Dix, J, and Sturt, F, eds, 2011. England’s Maritime and Marine Historic Environment Resource Assessment and Research Agenda, Oxford English Heritage/RCHME, 1997. England’s Coastal Heritage Historic England. Strategy for Water and Wetland Heritage (2012) https://historicengland.org.uk/content/docs/research/strategy-water-wetland-heritage-pdf/ Historic England Regional Environmental Reviews (available as HE Research Department Reports; see https://historicengland.org.uk/research/research-results/research-reports/ SHERF Research Themes & Aims Methodology Artefact studies 12 Widen our understanding of Scillonian material culture of all periods Settlement 22 Improve our understanding of settlements, buildings & landscapes medieval and later Production trade & Industry technology & 26 Widen our understanding of technology and industry in Scilly Food procurement 27 Improve our understanding of the use of wild & domestic animals in the past 28 Improve our understanding of the exploitation of marine resources in the past 29 Improve our understanding of the use of wild, cultivated & domesticated plants in the past 32 Improve our understanding of the environmental impacts of farming 35Improve our understanding of medieval, post-medieval & modern farming & food production Trade, transport & communications 37 Assess the archaeological potential for studying early medieval & medieval economy, trade, technology & production Social relations 40 Use archaeological & historical evidence understand Scillonian identity through time Defence conflict 51 Deepen our understanding of medieval & later defence & conflict sites & to better Post-medieval & modern (1547 to present) National Thematic and Chronological Research Frameworks Webster, C J, 2008. The Archaeology of South West England: South West Archaeological Research Framework Resource Assessment and Research Agenda, Taunton (Somerset County Council) http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/swarf/index.htm Historical Metallurgy Society, 2008. Metals and Metalworking: a research framework for archaeometallurgy M Palmer, 1991. Industrial Archaeology: Working for the Future, Association for Industrial Archaeology D Gwyn & M Palmer, 2005. Understanding the Workplace: A Research Framework For Industrial Archaeology in Britain, Industrial Archaeology Review, Vol XXVII, 1, (Association for Industrial Archaeology) J Bayley, D Crossley, and M Ponting. Metals and Metal Working; a research agenda for archaeometallurgy, Historical Metallurgy Society (HMS Occasional Publication, London) 271 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Period Research Theme Research Aim Page National Association of Mining History Organisations Research Framework * *underway – publication April 2013 Cornish Mining World Heritage Site http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=17376 D Perring, 2002. Town and Country in England: frameworks for archaeological research (CBA) Maritime and Marine Historic Environment Research Framework: Ransley, J, Adams, J, Blue, L, Dix, J, and Sturt, F, 2011. England’s Maritime and Marine Historic Environment Resource Assessment and Research Agenda, Oxford English Heritage/RCHME, 1997. England’s Coastal Heritage Historic England. Strategy for Water and Wetland Heritage (2012) https://historicengland.org.uk/content/docs/research/strategy-water-wetland-heritage-pdf/ Historic England Regional Environmental Reviews (available as HE Research Department Reports; see https://historicengland.org.uk/research/research-results/research-reports/ 272 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 11 References 11.1 Primary sources Sixteenth century (British Library Cotton MS. Augustus http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/unvbrit/s/zoomify82874.html) I.***.18. A chart in the Bibliotheque Nationale de France, prepared by Romain de Hooge in 1693, shows St Mary’s with the fort set in the middle of the Garrison and the early wall across the hillside cutting the Garrison off from Hugh Town. However, the single fort shown is not Star Castle, but the plan of the ‘old Fort’, including its diamond-orientation (Bibliotheque Nationale de France Cartes et Plans – GE AF PF – 35 (46)) 1640s? (British Library Additional MS. 15737, fol. 33b) – The Wilde map of Scilly 1715 (British Library King’s Manuscript 45 f.7) – useful block plan of Hugh Town 1750 (Star Castle) – sketchy depiction of Hugh Town Tithe Map and Apportionment, c 1840. Scilly Islands (microfiche copy at HE) Ordnance Survey, c 1891. 25 Inch Map First Edition (licensed digital copy at HE) Ordnance Survey, c 1908. 25 Inch Map Second Edition (licensed digital copy at HE) Ordnance Survey, 2007. Mastermap Digital Mapping 11.1.1.1 National Monument Record 1741 (NMR Works 31/1147) - very sketchy 1742 (NMR Works 31/1148) - useful block plan of Hugh Town 1744 (National Archives MPH 1/413) - useful block plan of Hugh Town 1746 (NMR Works 31/1149) - little of Hugh Town is shown 11.1.1.2 Cornwall Record Office 1655 (Cornwall Record Office GO/574) General Map of Islands, little detail c 1655 (Cornwall Record Office GO/575) Map of the Garrison, Hugh Town not depicted Godolphin Rental of 1712 (CRO DDGO/643) c 1840 TM/206/1 St Mary’s Tithe Map 1847 TM/206/2 Tresco Tithe Map Justin Brooke Parochial Mines Index: Isles of Scilly Mines CRO X745 Folder 37 or 39 11.1.1.3 Tresco Abbey However, between 1829 and 1831 George and Edward Driver carried out a rental survey of the islands for the Duchy of Cornwall. They listed all the holdings, tenements and occupiers. The originals are held in the archives at Tresco Abbey. 11.1.1.4 Duchy of Cornwall George Driver, 1831. Report, Duchy of Cornwall Office, London Edward Driver, 1829. Report on the Survey of the Islands, Duchy of Cornwall Office, London There are reduced photographic copies in the archives of the Duchy of Cornwall Office in London of four Driver Bros manuscript maps (1829-31) covering (1) St Agnes, Annet, Gugh, St Martin’s and White Island; (2) Bryher, Tresco, Gweal, St Helen’s etc; (3) St Mary’s; and (4) Samson, Teän and the Eastern Isles. 273 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 11.1.1.5 UK Hydrographic Office Date Held at Reference Shelf No Surveyor Title c 1585 Copy in ‘The Scillonia n, no 122 n/a n/a Capt Davis Les Sorlinges 1691-8 UKHO B888 Historic al Capt Greenville Collins The Isles of Scilly Press John c 1708 PRO n/a n/a Edmund Gostello A Map of the Islands of Scilly Showing all the Rocks and Ledges with the Soundings & Barings And y Exact Places where the Association, Eagle Rumney & Firebrand were Lost. 1772 UKHO 642 Ik Mackenzie Part of Cornwall Channel 1779 UKHO B327a Oh A Tovey & N Ginver A New Chart of the Islands of Scilly with their Soundings Channels and Sailing Marks 1789 UKHO L48 Qe Capt Salisbury Unknown 1792 UKHO 637 1g G Spence Survey of Scilly 1792 UKHO 671 13k G Spence Tide Table, Scilly 1792 UKHO 674 15e G Spence Maritime Survey of Scilly 1792 UKHO 700 Dd G Spence Maritime Survey of Scilly [1796 copy by Walker?] 1792 UKHO 702 Dc G Spence Trig. Of Scilly, Land’s End & Lizard 1792 UKHO 702 Dc G Spence Maritime Survey of Scilly 1792 UKHO 702a 38d G Spence Maritime survey of Scilly Nd UKHO 742 Di Unknown Scilly Isles 1800 UKHO 688 51b G Spence Torbay & part of Scilly Isles 1803 UKHO B312 Dk Heather New and Improved Chart of the Isles of Scilly 1808? UKHO 728 Dk G Spence Scilly Isles with proposed roadstead for man of war 1808 UKHO 28a 13i G Spence Scilly Isles with proposed roadstead for man of war inside St Mary’s the coast of in the English 274 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Date Held at Reference Shelf No Surveyor Title 1808 UKHO 790 Dd McKenzie / G Spence England, Wales and Scilly Isles nd UKHO 811 Englan d Folio 4 Capt White M Chart of Harbour nd UKHO 836 O1 Capt White M Position of Seven Stones from Mudge’s Trigomy Survey nd UKHO L4911 Qb Unknown New Grimsby The Scilly Isles 1847 Tithe map for the Isles of Scilly (St Mary’s) & Tresco (microfiche copy at CAU) 1860-3 UKHO D7043 13i Capt Williams Scilly’s depth soundings 1862 UKHO D6366 6d Capt Williams Scilly’s Stones 1862 UKHO D6364 Qg Capt Williams St Mary’s Pool 1862 UKHO D6365 Oh Capt Williams St Mary’s Town] 1863 UKHO D7042 Ih Capt Williams Scilly’s depth soundings round south sheet 1863 UKHO D7041 Ih Capt Williams Scilly’s depth soundings round North Star including seventres 1863 UKHO D7044 31b Capt Williams Scilly’s and Seven Stones 1863 UKHO A2039 40e Imray sons 1889 OS 1897 UKHO B6241 Oi* Capt Maxwell St Mary’s pool 1898 UKHO B6825 11n Capt Maxwell St Mary’s Road 1898 UKHO B6826 16m Capt Maxwell St Mary’s Road 1904 UKHO 9774 12h Capt Maxwell Western Approaches Broadside Scilly Isles 1908 OS 1983 UKHO & and the Seven Town [Hugh Scilly’s and Seven Stones 25 Inch Map First Edition (microfiche copy at CAU) to 25 Inch Map Second Edition (microfiche copy at CAU) 883 Dl Isles of Scilly, St Mary’s and the Principal Offshore Islands 275 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 11.2 Publications Adams, J H, 1957. The Medieval Chapels of Cornwall, Jnl Royal Inst Cornwall, ns, 3, 1, 48–65 Allan, J P, 1991. Medieval and later pottery, in Ratcliffe 1993, Fieldwork in Scilly: 1991 and 1992, 93–99 Allan, J P, and Langman, G, 1998–9. The pottery: Investigations at Nos 4–6 Pydar Street, Truro, Cornish Archaeol, 37–38, 180–189 Allan, J P, Brown, D, Camidge, K and Hughes, M J, in preparation. A find of medieval pottery in Tresco Channel, Isles of Scilly, Medieval Ceramics Allan, J P, and Stevens, T, in preparation. Medieval pottery from Nut Rock, Isles of Scilly, Cornish Archaeol Anderson-Whymark, H, and Thomas, J, eds, 2011. Beyond the mundane: regional perspectives on Neolithic pit deposition, Oxford Anderson-Whymark, H, Garrow, D, and Sturt, F, eds, 2015. Continental connections: exploring cross-channel relationships from the Mesolithic to the Iron Age, Oxford (Oxbow Books) Anderson-Whymark, H, Garrow, D, and Sturt, F, 2015. Microliths and maritime mobility: a continental European-style Late Mesolithic flint assemblage from the Isles of Scilly, Antiquity, 89, 346, 454‒971 Anthony, D, 1990. Migrations in archaeology: the baby and the bathwater, American Anthropologist, 92, 895–914 Arbery, G, 2002. The Isles of Scilly Heritage and Culture Strategy, Consultation Draft, St Mary’s (Council of the Isles of Scilly) Archaeological and Archival and Mainmast Conservation, 2008. A walk around the fortifications and artillery of Garrison Hill (The Hugh), St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, Archaeological and Archival Arlott, J, 1983. Island camera: the Isles of Scilly in the photographs of the Gibson family, Newton Abbot Armit, I, Murphy, E, Nelis, E, and Simpson, D, eds, 2003. Neolithic settlement in Ireland and Western Britain, Oxford Ashbee, P, 1952. Two Stone Cists on St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, Proc West Cornwall Field Club, 1, 28–30 Ashbee, P, 1954. The Excavation of a Cist-grave Cemetery and Associated Structures near Hughtown, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, 1949–50, Archaeol Journ, 111, 1–25 Ashbee, P, 1963. The Chambered Tombs on St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, 1965–1966 Cornish Archaeol, 2, 20–27 Ashbee, P, 1966. Halangy Down, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, 1965–1966 Cornish Archaeol, 5, 9–18 Ashbee, P, 1974. Ancient Scilly, from the first farmers to the Early Christians: an introduction and survey, Newton Abbot Ashbee, P, 1976. Bant’s Carn, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly: an entrance grave restored and reconsidered, Cornish Archaeol, 15, 11–26 Ashbee, P, 1979. The Porthcressa Cist-Graves, St Mary’s, isles of Scilly: A Postscript, Cornish Archaeol 18, 61–80 Ashbee, P, 1981. George Bonsor: an archaeological pioneer from Spain on Scilly, Cornish Studies, 8, 53–63 276 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Ashbee, P, 1982. Mesolithic Megaliths? The Scillonian entrance-graves: a new view, Cornish Archaeol, 21, 3–22 Ashbee, P, 1983a. Halangy Porth, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, excavations 1975–1976, Cornish Archaeol, 22, 3–46 Ashbee, P, 1983b. An Iron Age spiral bronze ring from Scilly, Cornish Archaeol, 22, 120–1 Ashbee, P, 1986. Ancient Scilly: retrospect, aspect and prospect, Cornish Archaeol, 25, 186–219 Ashbee, P, 1988. Luftwaffe aerial photographs of the Isles of Scilly, Cornish Archaeol, 27, 201–3 Ashbee, P, 1996. Halangy Down, St Mary’s Isles of Scilly: Excavations 1964–1977, Cornish Archaeol, 35, 1– 201 Ashbee, P, and Thomas, C, 1990. Scilly’s statue-menhir rediscovered, Antiquity, 64, 571–5 Bailey, G N, 1978. Shell middens as indicators of postglacial economies: a territorial perspective, in P Mellars, ed, The Early Postglacial Settlement of Northern Europe, London, 37–63 Bailey, J, and Butcher, S, 2004. Roman brooches in Britain: a technological and typological study based on the Richborough Collection, Soc Antiq London, Repts Res Cttee, 68, Society Antiq London Balaam, N, 1981. Bar Point: pollen analysis, DoE AML Rep, 4109 Balaam, N, 1984. Charred plant remains, in J G Evans, Excavations at Bar Point, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, 1979–80, Cornish Studies, 11, 30 Balaam, N D, Bell, M G, David, A, Levitan, B, Macphail, R I, Robinson, M, and Scaife R G, 1987. Prehistoric an Romano-British sites at Westwad Ho!, Devon: archaeological and palaeoenvironmental surveys 1983 and 1984, in N D Balaam, B Levitan and V Staker, eds, Studies in Palaaeoeconomy and Environment in South West England, Brit Arch Repts, Brit Ser, 181, Oxford , 163-264 Banerjee, D, Murray, A S, and Foster, A D L, 2001. Scilly Isles, UK: optical dating of a possible tsunami deposit, Quaternary Science Review, 20, 715–8 Barnatt, J, 1982. Prehistoric Cornwall: The Ceremonial Monuments, Wellingborough Barrett, J, 1994. Fragments from Antiquity, Oxford (Blackwell) Barrett, J, Bradley, R, and Green, M, 1991. Landscape, Monuments and Society: The Prehistory of Cranbourne Chase, Cambridge Barrowman, R C, Batey, C E, and Morris, C D, 2007. Excavations at Tintagel Castle, Cornwall, 1990–1999, Soc Antiq London, Repts Res Cttee, 74, Soc Antiq London Beagrie, N, 1989. Excavations by Bryan and Helen O’Neil on the Isles of Scilly, in M Bowden, D Mackay and P Topping, eds, From Cornwall to Caithness, Some Aspects of British Field Archaeology: Papers Presented to Norman V Quinnell, Brit Arch Repts, Brit Ser, 209, Oxford, 49–54 Bell, M, 1984. Environmental Archaeology in South West England in H C M Keeley, ed, Environmental Archaeology: A Regional Review, Directorate of Ancient Monuments and Historic Buildings, Occasional Paper 6, Department of the Environment, 45–7 Bender, B, Hamilton, S, and Tilley, C, 1997. Leskernick: stone worlds: alternative narratives, nested landscapes, Proc Prehist Soc, 63, 147–78 277 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Bennett, M, Bushell, R, Mumford, C T, Pritchard, S, and Watt, S, 1991. One Hundred Years of the Council of the Isles of Scilly, St Mary’s Berridge, P, and Roberts, A, 1986. The Mesolithic Period in Cornwall, Cornish Archaeol, 25, 7-34 Berry, E, 2006. The Samson Buildings (2): An Assessment of the post-medieval buildings on Samson, Isles of Scilly. A report to the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust Betjeman, J, 1964. Cornwall, a Shell Guide, London Betjeman, J, and Rowse, A L, 1974. Victorian and Edwardian Cornwall from old photographs, London Bevan A, Colledge S, Fuller D, Fyfe R, Shennan S, Stevens C, 2017. Holocene fluctuations in human population demonstrate repeated links to food production and climate. PNAS, 114, 10524 - 10531 Biek, L, forthcoming. The slags, in D S Neal and C Johns forthcoming, The 1970/1 excavations at East Porth, Samson, Cornish Archaeol Binford, L R, 1968. Post-Pleistocene adaptations, in S R and L R Binford, eds, New Perspectives in Archaeology, Chicago Binford, L, 2001. Constructing frames of reference: an analytical method for archaeological theory building using ethnographic data sets, Berkeley Bird, S, 1991. Mayday! Preserving Life from Shipwreck off Cornwall, Bradford on Avon Birks, H J B, 1989. Holocene isochrone maps and patterns of tree-spreading in the British Isles, Journ Biogeography, 16, 503–40 Bishop, R, Church, M, and Rowley-Conwy, P, 2013. Seeds, fruits and nuts in the Scottish Mesolilthic, Proc Scociety of Antiquaries of Scotland, 134, 9‒72 Blaauw, M, 2010. Methods and codes for ‘classical’ age-modelling of radiocarbon sequences, Quaternary Geochronology 5, 512-518 Blackman, T, 2011. Pseudo-quoits to propped stones, in S Pearce, ed, The Archaeology of South Western Britain: Recent Research: Papers in Honour of Henrietta Quinnell, Brit Arch Repts, Brit Ser, 548, 41–7 Bland, D, 1964, The Isles of Scilly, in J Betjeman, Cornwall: A Shell Guide, London, 133-137 Bone, M, and Dawson, D, 2008. Post-medieval, Industrial and Modern, in C J Webster, ed, The Archaeology of South West England: South West Archaeological Research Framework Resource Assessment and Research Agenda, Taunton (Somerset County Council), 213–267 Bonsor, G, 1899-1900, An Archaeological Exploration of the Scilly Isles 1899-1900, Seville (Archivo General de Andalucia) Borlase, W, 1753. Of the great alterations which the Isles of Scilly have undergone since the time of the ancients, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, XIVIII, 1, 55–67 Borlase, W, 1756. Observations on the Ancient and Present State of the Isles of Scilly, Oxford (W Jackson) Borlase, W, 1769. Antiquities Historical and Monumental of the County of Cornwall, London Borlase, W C, 1879. Archaeological Discoveries in the Parishes of St Just-in-Penwith and Sennen, Made During the Past Year by the President, W C Borlase MA, Journ Roy Inst Cornwall, 21 (May), 190–212 Bowen, E G, 1969. Saints, Seaways and Settlements in Celtic Lands, Cardiff 278 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Bowen, E G, 1970. Britain and the British seas, in D Moore, ed, The Irish Sea Province in Archaeology and History, Cardiff (Cambrian Archaeological Association), 13– 28 Bowen, E G, 1972. Britain and the Western Seaways, London Bowden, M, 2011. Isles of Scilly Military Defences, 1540–1951: earthwork sites and minor features, English Heritage Bowden, M, and Brodie, A, 2011. Defending Scilly, Swindon (English Heritage) Bowden, M, Mackay, D, and Topping, P, eds, 1989. From Cornwall to Caithness, Some Aspects of British Field Archaeology: Papers Presented to Norman V Quinnell, Brit Arch Repts, Brit Ser, 209, Oxford Bowley, R, 1964. The Fortunate Isles: A History of the Isles of Scilly, 5th edtn, Reading Bowley, R L, 2010. Scilly at War, St Mary’s Brace, S, Diekmann, Y, Booth, T J, Faltyskova, Z, Rohland, N, Mallick, S, Ferry, M, Michel, M, Oppenheimer, J, Broomandkhoshbacht, N, and Stewardson, K, 2018. Population replacement in early Neolithic Britain. BioRxiv, https://doi.org/10.1101/267443 Bradley, R, 1990. Passage of Arms: An Archaeological Analysis of Prehistoric Hoards and Votive Deposits, Cambridge Bradley, R, 2000. The good stones: a new investigation of the Clava Cairns, Edinburgh Bradley, R, 2007. The Prehistory of Britain and Ireland, Cambridge Bradley, R, and Gardiner, J, eds, 1984. Neolithic Studies: a Review of Some Current Research, Oxford, Brit Arch Repts, Brit Ser, 133 Bradley, S L, Milne, G A, Shennan, I, and Edwards, R, 2011. An improved Glacial Isostatic Adjustment model for the British Isles, Jnl Archaeol Sci, 35:8, 21112118 Breen, E, 2006. Constructing meanings from the architecture of landscape on the isles of Scilly, in Approaching "prehistoric and protohistoric architectures" of Europe from a "dwelling perspective": proceedings of the TAG session, Sheffield 2005, V O Jorge, with the assistance of J M Cardoso et al, eds, Journal of Iberian Archaeology, 8 Breen, E, 2008. Encounters with place in prehistory: writing a case study for Shipman Head Down, Isles of Scilly, in A Chadwick, ed, Recent Approaches to the Archaeology of Land Allotment, Brit Arch Repts, Brit Ser, 75, Oxford, 97–109 Brett, C, Hickox, M, and Payne, C, 2006. John Brett: a Pre-Raphaelite in Cornwall, Bristol Brodie A, 2010. The Tudor Defences of Scilly, English Heritage Historical Review, 5, 24– 43 Brodie, A, 2011. The Garrison, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly: the defences of the Garrison 1500–1945, survey report, English Heritage Brodie, A, nd. Abraham Tovey (1687–1759) – Matross, Master Gunner and Mastermind of Scilly’s Defences, The Georgian Group Journal, 19, 50–66 Bronk Ramsey, C, 2005. OxCal, Research Laboratory for Archaeology, University of Oxford, 3.10 edition Broodbank, C, 2000. An Island Archaeology of the Early Cyclades, Cambridge Brophy, K, and Barclay, A, eds, 2008. Defining a Regional Neolithic: evidence from Britain and Ireland, Oxford 279 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Brothwell, D, 1961. The Palaeopathology of Early British Man: an essay on the problems of diagnosis, Journ Roy Anthropological Inst of Great Britain and Ireland, 91, 2, 318–44 Brothwell, D R, 1981. Digging up bones: the excavation, treatment and study of human skeletal remains, 3 edn, London Brown, A P, 1977. Late-Devensian and Flandrian vegetational history of Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, B276, 251-32 Brown, A, 2017. Land at Seaways Farm, Porthloo, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly: results of archaeological monitoring and recording, Bradninch, Exeter (AC archaeology) Bruce-Mitford, R, 1997. Mawgan Porth. A settlement of the late Saxon period on the north Cornish coast, English Heritage Brück, J, 1996. The Early – Middle Bronze Age Transition in Wessex, Sussex and the Thames Valley, Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Cambridge Brück, J, 1999a. Houses, Lifecycles and Deposition on Middle Bronze Age Settlements in Southern England, Proc Prehist Soc, 65, 145–166 Brück, J, 1999b. What’s in a settlement? Domestic practice and residential mobility in Early Bronze Age southern England, in J Bruck and M Goodman, eds, Making places in the prehistoric world: themes in settlement archaeology, London, 55– 77 Buchanan, C, and Context 4D, 2006. Isles of Scilly design guide, St Mary’s (Council of the Isles of Scilly) Butcher, S A, 1978. Excavations at Nornour, Isles of Scilly 1969–73: the pre-Roman settlement, Cornish Archaeol, 17, 29–112 Butcher, S, 1993. Nornour, Isles of Scilly Museum Publication, 7, St Mary’s Butcher, S, 2000–1. Roman Nornour, Isles of Scilly: reconsideration, Cornish Archaeol, 39–40, 5–44 Butcher, S A, 2002. Two cist graves at Lunnon Farm, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, unpublished field report Butcher, S, 2016. The Roman brooches from Nornour, Isles of Scilly, Cornish Archaeol, 39–40, 1–80 Butcher S A, 2016. The brooch, in C Johns and S R Taylor, Excavation of a Porthcressatype cist grave at Churchtown Farm, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, Cornish Archaeol, 55, 163–80 Butcher, S A, and Johns, C, forthcoming. Excavation of a prehistoric site at Bar Point, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, 1972, Cornish Archaeol Butcher, S A, and Neal, D S, 1971. Samson, Isles of Scilly, Cornish Archaeol, 10, 94–5 Butler, J, 1997. The Prehistoric Settlement of Dartmoor, Unpublished PhD thesis, University of London Callaghan, R, and Scarre, C, 2009. Simulating the Western Seaways, Oxford Journ Archaeol, 28, 357–372 Campbell, E, 2007. Continental and Mediterranean imports to Atlantic Britain and Ireland, AD 400 – 800, CBA Res Repts, 157, London Camidge, K, 2001. HMS Colossus Survey Report. Unpublished report for English Heritage, Penzance (CISMAS) Camidge, K, 2002. HMS Colossus Survey Report. Unpublished report for DCMS/EH, Penzance (CISMAS) 280 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Camidge, K, 2005. HMS Colossus Stabilisation Trial. Unpublished report for English Heritage, Penzance (CISMAS) Camidge, K, 2008. HMS Colossus Stabilisation & Recording. Unpublished report for English Heritage, Penzance (CISMAS) Camidge, K, 2009. HMS Colossus, an Experimental Site Stabilization. Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites, 11(2), 161–88 Camidge, K, 2010. HMS Colossus Monitoring Survey, Unpublished report for English Heritage, Penzance (CISMAS) Camidge, K, 2011. Firebrand Shipwreck Recording Project, Penzance (CISMAS) Camidge, K, 2011a. Tresco Channel Survey Report, Penzance (CISMAS and Promare) Camidge, K, 2013. Tresco Channel: Exploratory Excavation Project, Penzance Camidge, K. 2014. HMS Colossus Sediment Level Monitoring, Unpublished report for English Heritage Camidge, K, 2016. HMS Colossus, Samson, Isles of Scilly: Conservation Statement and Management Plan, Penzance Camidge, K, 2017. Scilly Designated Wrecks Interpretation, Penzance Camidge, K, 2018. Wheel Wreck investigation, 2018, Penzance Camidge, K, Witheridge, J, and Witheridge, R, 2005. HMS Colossus, CISMAS Debris Field Survey Project Report, Penzance (CISMAS) Camidge, K, Charman, S, Rees P, and Randall, L, 2010. Samson Flats intertidal survey: project report 2010, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Maritime Archaeology Society report 5694, Penzance Camidge, K, and Johns, C, 2016. Bartholomew Ledges, St Mary’s Sound, Isles of Scilly: Conservation Statement and Management Plan, Truro (Cornwall Archaeological Unit) Camidge, K, and Johns, C, 2017. Tearing Ledge, Western Rocks, Isles of Scilly: Conservation Statement and Management Plan, Truro (Cornwall Archaeological Unit) Camidge, K, and Johns, C, 2019. The Wheel Wreck, Little Ganinick, Isles of Scilly: Conservation Statement and Management Plan, Penzance Campbell, E, 1991. Imported goods in the Early Medieval Celtic West with special reference to Dinas Powys. Unpublished PhD thesis, Cardiff University Campbell, E, 1996. The archaeological evidence for contacts: imports, trade and economy in Celtic Britain AD 400–800, in K R Dark, ed, External Contacts and the Economy of Late Roman and Post-Roman Britain, Woodbridge, 83–96 Campbell, E, 2007. Continental and Mediterranean Imports to Atlantic Britain and Ireland, AD 400–800, CBA Research Report, 157, York Caseldine, C J, and Maguire, D J, 1986. Late glacial early Flandrian vegetation change on northern Dartmoor, southwest England, Jnl Biogeography, 13, 255–64 Charman, D J, Johns, C, Camidge, K, Marshall, P, Mills, S, Mulville, J, Mills S, Roberts, H M, and Stevens, T, 2016. The Lyonesse Project: a study of the historic coastal and marine environment of the Isles of Scilly, Truro (Cornwall Archaeological Unit and Historic England) Cherry, J, 1981. Pattern and process in the earliest colonization of the Mediterranean islands, Proc Prehist Soc, 47, 41–68 Chope, R P, 1918. Early Tours in Devon and Cornwall, Newton Abbot (reprinted 1967) 281 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Chudleigh, D, 1992. Bridge over Lyonesse. Isles of Scilly Steamship Company Clark, A J, 1978. Radiocarbon and magnetic dating, in S A Butcher, Excavations at Nornour, Isles of Scilly 1969–73: the pre-Roman settlement, Cornish Archaeol, 17, 66–7 Clark, A J, Tarling, D H, and Noel, M, 1988. Developments in archaeomagnetic dating in Britain, Journl Archaeol Science, 15(6), 645–667 Clark, J G D, 1934. The classification of a microlithic culture: The Tardenoisian of Horsham, Archaeol Jnl, 90, 52–77 Clark, P, ed, 2004. The Dover Bronze Age Boat in Context: Society and water transport in prehistoric Europe Clark, P, 2004a. Discussion, in P Clark, ed, The Dover Bronze Age Boat in Context: Society and water transport in prehistoric Europe, 305–330 Clark, P, 2004b. The Dover Boat ten years after its discovery, in P Clark, ed, The Dover Bronze Age Boat in Context: Society and water transport in prehistoric Europe, 1–12 Clelland, S, and Batt, C M, nd. Summary of the results of the re-evaluation of the magnetic data from Little Bay, Isles of Scilly, Bradford Coate, S, 1994. The Problems of the Scillonian Entrance Graves: the Evidence Reconsidered, unpublished undergraduate dissertation, Exeter University Cole, D, and Jones, A M, 2002–3. Journeys to the Rock: archaeological investigations at Tregarrick Farm, Roche. Cornish Archaeol, 41–42, 107–143 Cole, D, and Thorpe, C, 1996. Penhale Round/SWEB 5 - An Archaeological Watching Brief, Truro (Cornwall Archaeological Unit) Cooke, J, 1883. The Shipwreck of Sir Cloudesley Shovell on the Islands in 1707, London Cook, S F, and Treganza, A E, 1950. The quantitative investigation of Indian Mounds, University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology, 40 (5), 223–262 Cooney, G. 2004. Neolithic worlds: islands in the Irish Sea, in V Cummings and C Fowler, eds, The Neolithic of the Irish Sea: Materiality and traditions of practice, 145–159 Cornwall Archaeological Unit, 1999. The Garrison, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly: a Walk around the walls [leaflet], Truro (Cornwall Archaeological Unit, Cornwall County Council) Cornish, T, 1874. The Conversazione, Jnl Royal Inst Cornwall, 5, ixvii Council of the Isles of Scilly, 2004. A heritage and cultural strategy for the Isles of Scilly, St Mary Council of the Isles of Scilly, 2005. The Isles of Scilly Local Plan. A 2020 vision, St Mary’s Courtney, L H, 1867. A week in the Isles of Scilly, Penzance Cowan, R, 1982. The Pleinschaal from the Hollandia. IJNA, 11(4), 287–91 Cowan, R, 1997. A century of images: photographs by the Gibson family, London Cowan, R, Cowan, Z, and Marsten, P, 1975. The Dutch East Indiaman Hollandia wrecked on the Isles of Scilly, IJNA, 4(2), 267–300 Cowan, Z, 2001. Francis Frith’s Isles of Scilly, Salisbury Cowan, Z T, 1991. The Story of Samson – an Island Community of Scilly – The Webbers and the Woodcocks, Cirencester 282 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Cox, J, and Thorp, J R L, 1993. Star Castle, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, Exeter (report to English Heritage by Keystone Historic Buildings Consultants) Craddock, P, and Hook, D, 1987. Ingots from the sea: The British Museum collection of ingots. IJNR, 16(3), 201–06 Cramp, L J E, Whelton, H L, Sharples, N, Mulville, J, and Evershed, R P, 2013. Contrasting patterns of resource exploitation on the Outer Hebrides and Northern Isles of Scotland during the Late Iron Age and Norse period revealed through organic residues in pottery, Journal of the North Atlantic Crawford, O G S, 1927. Lyonesse, Antiquity I, 5–14 Crawford, O G S, 1928. Stone Cists, Antiquity, 2, 418–422 Crawford, O G S, 1946. Editorial, Antiquity, 20, 21 Crone, A, and Campbell, E, 2005. A Crannog of the First Millenium AD: Excavations by Jack Scott at Loch Glashan, Argyll, 1960, Soc Antiq Scotland Cumming, E, and Stevens, T, 2016. Shipwrecks and maritime history in and around the Isles of Scilly, St Mary’s Cummings, V, and Fowler, C, eds, 2004. The Neolithic of the Irish Sea: Materiality and traditions of practice, Oxford Cummings, V, and Fowler, C, 2004a. Introduction: locating The Neolithic of the Irish Sea: materiality and traditons of practice in V Cummings and C Fowler, eds, 2004, The Neolithic of the Irish Sea: Materiality and traditions of practice, 1–8 Cummings, V, and Whittle, A, 2004b. Places of special virtue: megaliths in the Neolithic landscapes of Wales, Oxford Cummings, V, and Fowler, C, 2007. From cairn to cemetery. An archaeological investigation of the chambered cairns and early Bronze Age mortuary deposits at Cairnderry and Bargrennan White Cairn, south-west Scotland, Brit Arch Repts, Brit Ser, 434, Oxford Cunliffe, B, 2001. Facing the Ocean: The Atlantic and its peoples, 8000 BC–AD 1500, Oxford Cunliffe, B, 2001a. The extraordinary voyage of Pytheas the Greek, London Curet, L A, 2005. Caribbean Palaeodemography, Tuscaloosa Daire, M-Y, Dupont, C, Baudry, A, Billard, C, Large, J-M, Lespez, L, Normand, E, Scarre, C, Bertin, F, Martin, C and Sharp, K, 2013. Ancient Maritime Communities and the Relationship between People and Environment along the European Atlantic Coasts, BAR Intl Series 2570, Oxford (British Archaeological Reports Publishing) Daniel, G E, 1941. The dual nature of the megalithic colonisation of Europe, Proc Prehist Soc, 7, 1–49 Daniel, G E, 1950. Prehistoric Chamber Tombs of England and Wales, Cambridge Dark, K, 2001. Byzantine Pottery, Oxford Davies, C J, 1988. Shipbuilding on the Isles of Scilly, Jnl Royal Inst Cornwall, ns, 10, 187–220 Dennis, I, Mulville, J, and Johns, C, 2013. New evidence for Mesolithic occupation and environments in the Isles of Scilly, PAST, 73, 14–6 Dimbleby, G W, 1976–7. A buried soil at Innisidgen, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly. Cornish Studies, 45, 5–10 283 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Dimbleby, G W, Greig, J R A, and Scaife, R G, 1981. Vegetational history of the Isles of Scilly, in D Brothwell and G W Dimbleby, eds, Environmental aspects of coasts and islands, Brit Arch Repts, Int Ser, 94, Oxford, 127–143 Dimbleby, G W, 1996. The soil pollen, in P Ashbee, Halangy Down, St Mary’s Isles of Scilly: Excavations 1964–1977, Cornish Archaeol, 35, 171–4 Doble, G H, 1938. Saint Mawes, Abbot and Confessor (Cornish Saints I, 2nd edn, revised), Long Compton Douch, H L, 1969. Cornish earthenware potters, Journ Roy Institution Cornwall, ns, 6, 33–64 Doumas, C, 2003. Santorini: A Guide to the Island and Its Archaeological Treasures, Athens (Ekdotike Athenon Travel Guides) Dudley, D, 1956. An excavation at Bodrifty, Mulfra, near Penzance, Archaeol Jnl, 113, 47-54 Dudley, D, 1960–1. Some cist-graves in Poynter’s Garden, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, Proc W Cornwall Fld Clb 2, 5, 221–229 Dudley, D, 1967. Excavations on Nornour in the Isles of Scilly 1962–1966, Archaeol Journ, 124, 1–64 Dudley, P, and Johns, C, 2013. Historic Seascape Characterisation: South West Peninsula, Truro (Historic Environment Projects, Cornwall Council) Duggan, M, 2018. Links to Late Antiquity: ceramic exchange and contacts on the Atlantic Seaboard in the 5th and 7th centuries AD, Brit Arch Repts, Brit Ser, 639, Oxford Dumville, D N, 2002. The north Atlantic monastic thalassocracy: sailing the desert in early medieval insular spirituality, in N E Crawford, ed, The Papar in the North Atlantic: Environment and History. The ‘Papar’ Project, Vol. 1, St. John’s House Papers, 10, St Andrews, 121–31 Dunning, G C, 1964. Objects of metal, stone and bone, in O’Neil 1964, Excavation of a Celtic hermitage on St Helens, Isles of Scilly, 1956–58, Archaeol Journ, 121, 66–8 Dunning, G C, 1965. Medieval pottery from the Celtic hermitage on St Helen’s, Isles of Scilly, Archaeol Journ, 121, 55–66 Edmonds, M, 1997. Taskscape, technology and tradition, Analecta Praehistorica Leidensia, 29, 99–110 Engelsman, S, 1982. The navigational ruler from the Hollandia (1743), IJNA, 11(4), 291–92 English Heritage, 1996. Frameworks for our Past, English Heritage English Heritage, 2011. National Heritage Protection Programme, English Heritage Evans, C D R, 1990. United Kingdom offshore regional report: the geology of the Western English Channel and its western approaches, British Geological Society, London Evans, D H, 1984. Clay pipes, in H Mason, 67–68 Evans, J D, 1973. Islands as laboratories for the study of cultural process, in C Renfrew, ed, The Explanation of Culture Change: Models in Prehistory, London, 517–20 Evans, J G, 1984. Excavations at Bar Point, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, 1979–80, Cornish Studies, 11, 7–32 284 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Fairnell, E H, and Barrett, J H, 2007. Fur-bearing species and Scottish islands, Journ Archaeol Science, 34, 463–84 Fellows, D, 2007. The Garrison, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly: archaeological evaluation report project 4792, English Heritage Research Department, Rept Ser no 69/2007 Fenwick, V, and Gale, A, 1998. Historic Shipwrecks Discovered, Protected and Investigated, Stroud Fleming, A, 2005. St Kilda and the Wider World, Macclesfield Forster, E, and Robinson, D E, 2011 The West Cornish heath: landscape studies in southwest England, English Heritage Research Department Report Series, 53/2011, Portsmouth Fowler, P J, and Thomas, C, 1979. Lyonesse revisited: the early walls of Scilly, Antiquity, 53, 175–189 Fox, C, 1932. The Personality of Britain, Cardiff Fox, A, 1995. Tin ingots from Bigbury Bay, Proc Devon Archaeol Soc, 53, 11–23 Fulford, M, 1989. A Roman Shipwreck off Nornour, Isles of Scilly, Britannia, 20, 245–49 Fulford, M, Champion, T, and Long, A, 1997. England’s Coastal Heritage: A Survey for English Heritage, London Gahan, A, and McCutcheon, C, 1997. Medieval pottery in M F Hurley, O M B Scully, and S W J McCutcheon, eds, Late Viking Age and Medieval Waterford: excavations 1986–1992, Waterford, 285–359 Gamble, C, Mellars, P A, Healy F, Wymer, J, Aldhouse-Green, S, Ashton, N, Barton, N, Lawson, A, and Pettitt, P, 1999. Research frameworks for the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic of Britain and Ireland. A report by the working party for the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Annual Day Meeting and The Council of the Prehistoric Society, Salisbury Garrow, D, 2010. The temporality of materials: occupation practices in Eastern England during the 5th and 4th millennia BC, in B Finlayson and G Warren, eds, Landscapes in Transition: understanding hunter-gatherer and farming landscapes in the early Holocene of Europe and the Levant, Oxford, 208–220 Garrow, D, and Sturt, F, 2011. Grey waters bright with Neolithic argonauts? Maritime connections and the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition within the ‘western seaways’ of Britain, c 5000–3500 BC, Antiquity, 85, 59–72 Garrow, D, Griffiths, S, Anderson-Whymark, H, and Sturt, F. 2017. Stepping Stones to the Neolithic? Radiocarbon dating the Early Neolithic on islands within the ‘Western Seaways’ of Britain, Proc Prehist Soc, 83, 97–136 Garrow, D, and Sturt, F, 2017. Neolithic Stepping Stones: Excavation and survey within the western seaways of Britain, 2008–2014, Oxford (Oxbow) Gater, J, 1999. Geophysical Survey Report 99/67. Dolphin Town, Tresco, Isles of Scilly, Bradford (GSB) Gawronski, J, Kist, B, and Stokvis-van Boetzelaer, O, 1992. Hollandia Compendium: a contribution to the history, archaeology, classification and lexography of a 150 ft. Dutch East Indiaman (1740–1750), Amsterdam (Elsevier Science B.V.) Gibson, A, 2003. What do we mean by Neolithic settlement? Some approaches, 10 years on, in I Armit, E Murphy, E Nelis and D Simpson, eds, Neolithic Settlement in Ireland and Western Britain, 138–145 Gill, C, 1975. The Isles of Scilly, Newton Abbot 285 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Gillis, R, 1956. The Isles of Scilly Gigs, Mariner's Mirror, 42, 2, 159 Gillis, R, 1969. Pilot Gigs, Mariner's Mirror, 55, 2, 117 Gossip, J, 2013. The evaluation of a multi-period prehistoric site and fogou at Boden Vean, St Anthony-in-Meneage, Cornwall, 2003, Cornish Archaeol, 52, 1–98 Gossip, J, forthcoming a. Life outside the round – Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements at Higher Besore and truro College, Threemilestone, Truro, Cornish Archaeol Gossip, J, forthcoming b. Excavations at at Nancemere Fields, Truro, Cornwall, Cornish Archaeol Gossip, J, and Jones, A, M, 2007. Archaeological investigations of a later prehistoric and a Romano-British landscape at Tremough, Penryn, Cornwall, Brit Arch Repts, Brit Ser, 443, Oxford Gray, A, 1972. Prehistoric Habitation Sites on the Isles of Scilly, Cornish Archaeol, 11, 19–49 Gray, A, 1983. The animal remains, in P Ashbee, Halangy Porth, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, excavations 1975–1976, Cornish Archaeol, 22, 38–9 Green, J, 1984. Further comment on the hand-guns ex Association. IJNA, 13, 4, 334 Green, M J, 1997. Exploring the world of the Druids, London Gregory, R A, Murphy, E M, Church, M J, Edwards, K J, Guttmann, E B, and Simpson, D D A, 2005. Archaeological evidence for the first Mesolithic occupation of the Western Isles of Scotland, The Holocene, 15, 7, 944–50 Greig, J R A, and Keeley, H M, 1978. Appendix 2: A report on the soils and their pollen from north of the site at Nornour, Isles of Scilly, in S A Butcher, Excavations at Nornour, Isles of Scilly 1969–73: the pre-Roman settlement, Cornish Archaeol, 17, 106–112 Greeves, T, 2006–7. Who built the Daymark on St Martin’s – and Why?, Scillonian, 266, 164–7 Greeves, T, 2010. Stonecutting on the Isles of Scilly, Scillonian, 271, 151–3 Grigson, G, 1948. The Scilly Isles, London Grimes, W F, 1960. Salakee Down chambered cairn, St Mary’s, Scilly, in W F Grimes, Excavations on Defence Sites, 1939–1945: Mainly Neolithic-Bronze Age, London (Her Majesty’s Stationery Office) Guthrie, A, 1969. Excavation of a settlement at Goldherring, Sancreed, 1958–61, Cornish Archaeol, 8. 5–39 Hambleton, E, 1999, Animal Husbandry Regimes in Iron Age Britain, Brit Arch Repts, Brit Ser, 282, Oxford Harkness, D D, 1983. The extent of the natural 14C deficiency in the coastal environment of the United Kingdom. Journal of the European Study Group on Physical, Chemical and Mathematical Techniques Applied to Archaeology. PACT 8 (IV.9), 351–64 Harris, D, 1986. Cornwall in the Bronze Age, Cornish Archaeol, 25, 81–110 Hayes, J W, 1972. Late Roman Pottery, London Hayes, J W, 1980. A Supplement to Late Roman Pottery, London Hazell, Z, 2008. Coastal peat resource database (Isles of Scilly), Historic England Heath, R, 1750. A Natural and Historical Account of the Islands of Scilly, London (reprinted Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1967) 286 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Heathcote, J A, 2000. Hillside Farm, Bryher, Isles of Scilly. Geoarchaeological assessment, in C Johns and J Ratcliffe, Sword Burial at Hillside Farm, Bryher, Isles of Scilly: Assessment and Updated Project Design, Truro (Historic Environment Service, Cornwall County Council), 69–72 Hemer, K A, 2012. A bioarchaeological study of the human remains from the early medieval cemetery of Cronk Keeillans, Isle of Man, Proc Isle of Man Nat Hist and Antiq Soc, 12, 3, 469–86 Hencken, H O’N, 1932. The Archaeology of Cornwall and Scilly, London Hencken, H O’N, 1933. Notes on the Megalithic Monuments in the Isles of Scilly, Ant Journ, 13, 17–38 Herring, P, 1994. The cliff castles and hillforts of West Penwith in the light of recent work at Maen Castle and Treryn Dinas, Cornish Archaeol, 33, 40–56 Herring, P, ed, 2008. Bodmin Moor: an archaeological survey: Vol 2 The Industrial and Post-medieval landscapes, Truro (English Heritage) Herring, P, Thorpe, C, Quinnell, H, Reynolds, A, and Allan, J, 2000. St Michael's Mount Archaeological Works 1995–98, Truro (Historic Environment Service, Cornwall County Council) Hill, J D, 2002–3a. The mirror, in C Johns, An Iron Age Sword and Mirror Burial from Bryher, Isles of Scilly, Cornish Archaeol, 41–42, 32–6 Hill, J D, 2002–3b. The shield fittings, in C Johns, An Iron Age Sword and Mirror Burial from Bryher, Isles of Scilly, Cornish Archaeol, 41–42, 27–8 Hill, J D, 2002–3c. The brooch, in C Johns, An Iron Age Sword and Mirror Burial from Bryher, Isles of Scilly, Cornish Archaeol, 41–42, 28–32 Hill, J D, 2002–3d. The ring, in C Johns, An Iron Age Sword and Mirror Burial from Bryher, Isles of Scilly, Cornish Archaeol, 41–42, 36 Hill, J D, 2002–3e. The shattered tin object, in C Johns, An Iron Age Sword and Mirror Burial from Bryher, Isles of Scilly, Cornish Archaeol, 41–42, 36 Hill, P, 1998. Whithorn and St Ninian; the excavation of a monastic town, 1984–91, Stroud Horn, W, White Marshall, J, and Rourke, G D, 1990. The Forgotten Hermitage of Skellig Michael, Berkeley Hosfield, R, Straker, V and Gardiner, P, 2008. Palaeolithic and Mesolithic, in C Webster, ed, The Archaeology of South West England: South West Archaeological Research Framework Resource Assessment and Research Agenda, Taunton (Somerset County Council), 23–62 Hudston, S, 2000. Islomania, Bridport Hughes, M J, 1998. ICP-AES analysis of South Somerset pottery and South Netherlands tin-glazed maiolica from Cleeve Abbey, in J P Allan, Cleeve Abbey: the pottery, Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society, 142, 59–75 Hughes, M J, 2002. Report on the analysis by Inductively-Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES) of late 13th- to 14th-century pottery sherds from Haycroft Farm, Membury, in J P Allan and G Langman, A group of medieval pottery from Haycroft Farm, Membury, Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society, 60, 67–72 Hughes, M J, 2003. Report on the analysis by Inductively-Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Analysis (ICP–AES) of 13th-century pottery sherds from Sherborne Old Castle, in J.P. Allan, A group of early 13th-century pottery from Sherborne Old 287 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Castle and its wider context, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 125, 79–82 Hughes, M J, 2018. Plasma spectrometry analysis in Industry and the Making of a Rural Landscape, in C Smart, ed, Iron and pottery production at Churchills Farm, Hemyock, Devon, British Archaeological Reports, 636, 139-145 Hutchinson, G, 1979. The Bar-Lug Pottery of Cornwall, Cornish Archaeol 18, 81–103 Hutchinson, G, 1998. Medieval Ships and Shipping, London Ingrem, C, 2000. The animal bone from Romano-British deposits at Atlantic Road, Newquay, Cornwall, unpublished report for Cornwall Archaelogical Unit Ingrem, C, 2002–3. Animal bone, in C Johns, An Iron Age Sword and Mirror Burial from Bryher, Isles of Scilly, Cornish Archaeol, 41–42, 53–8 Ingrem, C, forthcoming. The animal bone, in S R Taylor and C Johns, Archaeological investigations at Higher Town, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly 2009–10, Cornish Archaeol Innes, J, Blackford, J, and Davey, J, 2003. Dating the introduction of cereal cultivation to the British Isles: early palaeoecological evidence from the Isle of Man, Journ Quaternary Science, 18, 603–613 Irving, A, 2011. A Research Framework for Post-Roman Ceramic Studies in Britain, Medieval Pottery Research Group Occasional Paper, 9 Isles of Scilly Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, 2010. AONB management strategy, 2010–2014, Hugh Town Isles of Scilly Museum, 1974. Scarcer Maps and Books of Scilly, Isles of Scilly Museum, Publication No 8, St Mary’s (Isles of Scilly Museum) Jellicoe, G A, 1965. A landscape charter for the Isles of Scilly, London (report by Jellicoe and Coleridge, London, for the Council of the Isles of Scilly) Johns, C, 2002–3. An Iron Age Sword and Mirror Burial from Bryher, Isles of Scilly, Cornish Archaeol, 41–42, 1–79 Johns, C, 2012. The Isles of Scilly Historic Research Framework: Project Design, Truro (Historic Environment Projects, Cornwall Council) Johns, C, Berry, E, and Edwards, B, 2007. The Samson buildings project 2006–7, Samson, Isles of Scilly: lichen assessment, archaeological recording and building consolidation, Truro (Historic Environment Projects, Cornwall County Council) Johns, C, and Fletcher, M, 2010. The Garrison, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly: Conservation Plan, Truro (Historic Environment Projects, Cornwall Council) Johns, C, Larn, R, and Tapper, B P, 2004. Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment for the Isles of Scilly, Truro (Historic Environment Service, Cornwall County Council) Johns, C, and Mulville, J, 2011. Islands in a Common Sea: archaeological fieldwork in the Isles of Scilly September 2005, Truro (Historic Environment Projects, Cornwall Council) Johns, C, and Sawyer, K, 2008. Off islands quays refurbishments, Isles of Scilly, 2007: archaeological recording, Truro (Historic Environment Service, Cornwall County Council) Johns, C, Sturgess, J, and Shepherd, F, 2010. The new Five Islands School Base proposed site, Carn Gwaval, St Mary’s Isles of Scilly: archaeological assessment, evaluation and building recording, Truro (Historic Environment Projects, Cornwall Council) 288 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Johns, C, and Sawyer, K, 2005. Lower Benham Battery, The Garrison, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly: archaeological watching brief, Truro (Historic Environment Service, Cornwall County Council) Johns, C, and Sawyer, K, 2008. Off islands quays refurbishments, Isles of Scilly, 2007: archaeological recording, Truro (Historic Environment Service, Cornwall County Council) Johns, C, Mulville, J, and Berry, E, 2013. The Samson buildings project 2007–8, Samson, Isles of Scilly: archaeological recording and building consolidation, Truro (Historic Environment Projects, Cornwall Council) Johns, C, Berry, E and Mulville, J, 2011. Teän farmhouses project 2007–8, Teän, Isles of Scilly: archaeological recording and building consolidation, Truro (Historic Environment Projects, Cornwall Council) Johns, C, and Mulville, J, 2011. Islands in a Common Sea: archaeological fieldwork in the Isles of Scilly September 2005, Truro (Historic Environment Projects, Cornwall Council) Johns, C, Mulville, J, and Dennis, I, 2018. ShoreWatch Scilly: coastal monitoring in 2012‒18, Truro (Cornwall Archaeological Unit and Cardiff University) Johns, C, and Quinnell, H, 2014. Two nested Bronze Age vessels from St Agnes, Isles of Scilly, Cornish Archaeol, 53, 171–182 Johns, C, and Quinnell, H, 2015. An assemblage of Middle Bronze age pottery from Parting Carn, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, Cornish Archaeol, 54, 183–192 Johns, C, and Sawyer, K, 2017. Powder House, The Garrison, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly: Archaeological Watching Brief, Truro (Cornwall Archaeological Unit, Cornwall Council) Johns, C, Taylor, S R, Fyfe, R, and Perez, M, 2014. Porthloo Boat Park Improvement Scheme, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly: Archaeological Recording, Truro (Cornwall Archaeological Unit, Cornwall Council) Johns, C, Ratcliffe, J, and Young, A, forthcoming. Results of archaeological recording during the Coast Protection Scheme at Porth Killier and Porth Coose, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly, 1996, in A M Jones, ed, Later prehistoric settlement in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly: Evidence from recent excavations Johns, C, and Taylor, S R, 2016. Excavation of a Porthcressa-type cist grave at Churchtown Farm, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, Cornish Archaeol, 55, 163–80 Johnson, N, and Rose, P, 1994. Bodmin Moor: An Archaeological Survey. Volume 1: the Human Landscape to c 1800, English Heritage Archaeological Report, 24, London Jones, A M, 1998–9. The Excavation of a Bronze Age Structure at Callestick, Cornish Archaeol, 37, 5–55 Jones, A M, 2005. Cornish Bronze Age Ceremonial Landscapes, c 2500–1500 BC, Brit Arch Repts, Brit Ser, 394, Oxford Jones, A M, 2014. Hay Close, St Newlyn East: excavations by the Cornwall Archaeological Society, 2007, Cornish Archaeol, 53, 115 – 56 Jones, A M, and Goskar, T, 2017. Hendraburnick ‘Quoit’; recording and dating rock art in the west of Britain, Time and Mind, 10, 272–92 Jones, A, and Quinnell, H, 2006. Cornish Beakers: new discoveries and perspectives, Cornish Archaeol, 45, 31–70 289 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Jones, A M and Quinnell, H, 2011. The Neolithic and Bronze Age Periods in Cornwall, c 4000 cal BC to c 1000 cal BC: an overview of recent developments, Cornish Archaeol, 50, 197–230 Jones, A M, and Quinnell, H, eds, 2018. An Intellectual Adventurer in Archaeology: Reflections on the Work of Charles Thomas, Oxford Jones, A M, Quinnell, H, Lawson-Jones, A, Tyacke, A, 2018. The North Cliffs Project, Mesolithic Miscellany Jones, A M, and Reed, S J, 2006. By land, sea and air: an Early Neolithic pit group at Porthscatho, Cornwall, and consideration of coastal activity during the Neolithic, Cornish Archaeol, 45, 1–30 Jones, A M, Taylor, S, and Sturgess, J. 2012. A Beaker structure and other discoveries along the Sennen to Porthcurno South West Water pipeline, Cornish Archaeology, 51, 1–67 Jones, A M, and Thomas, C, 2010. Bosiliack and a Reconsideration of Entrance Graves, Proc Prehist Soc, 76, 271–96 Jones, J R, Mulville, J A, and Evershed, R, 2013. Fruits of the Sea: Investigating Marine Resource use in the North Atlantic Islands, in M-Y Daire et al, Ancient maritime communities and the relationship between people and environment along the European Atlantic coasts, 501-11 Jordan, D, Haddon-Reece, D, and Bayliss, A, 1994. Radiocarbon dates from samples funded by English Heritage and dated before 1981, London Keeley, H C M, 1974. Samson, Isles of Scilly - Soils, Ancient Monuments Laboratory Report 24/74 Keeley, H M, 1978. Soils, in S A Butcher, Excavations at Nornour, Isles of Scilly 1969– 73: the pre-Roman settlement, Cornish Archaeol, 17, 97–8 Keeley, H M, 1983. Soil report for the site at Little Bay, St Martin’s, Isles of Scilly, DoE, AML rep, 3846 Keeley, H M, ed, 1984. Environmental Archaeology: A Regional Review, Directorate of Ancient Monuments and Historic Buildings, Occasional Paper 6, Department of the Environment Keepax, C A, and Morgan, G, 1978. Charcoal in S A Butcher, Excavations at Nornour, Isles of Scilly 1969–73: the pre-Roman settlement, Cornish Archaeol, 17, 98 Keepax, C A, forthcoming. Human bones from Grave III, in Neal and Johns forthcoming Kelly, A, Charman, D J, and Newnham, R M, 2010. A Last Glacial Maximum pollen record from Bodmin Moor showing a possible cryptic northern refugium in southwest England, Jnl Quaternary Science, 25, 296–308 Kingsford-Curram, R, 1963. Traces of the Roman (archaeological work in the Scillies by Guildford BS-AC), Triton Magazine (August) Kirk, T, 2004. Memory, tradition and materiality: the Isles of Scilly in context, in V Cummings and C Fowler, eds, The Neolithic of the Irish Sea: Materiality and traditions of practice, 233–244 Kirk, T, 2009. A Research Framework for the Archaeology of the Isles of Scilly (P McMahon revision), Council of the Isles of Scilly Kirkham, G, 2003. Cornwall and Scilly Urban Survey: Hugh Town, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, Truro (Historic Environment Service, Cornwall County Council) Kirkham, G, forthcoming. ‘One principal street about three hundred and twenty yards long’: the historical development and topography of Hugh Town, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, Cornish Archaeol 290 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Kirkham, G, Shepherd, F, and Johns, C, 2011. Field boundaries in the Isles of Scilly: historic environment study to inform management for conservation, Truro (Historic Environment Projects, Cornwall Council) Knowles, D, and Haddock, R N, 1971. Medieval Religious Houses, Harlow Land Use Consultants and Cornwall Archaeological Unit, 1996. Isles of Scilly Historic Landscape Assessment and Management Strategy, Truro (Cornwall County Council) Larn, R, 1971. Cornish Shipwrecks: The Isles of Scilly, Newton Abbot Larn, R, 1984. Unidentified Artifacts I. IJNA, 13(1), 65 Larn, R, 1985. Unidentified artefacts 6. IJNA, 14(3), 261–2 Larn, R, 1993. Shipwrecks in the Isles of Scilly, Nairn Larn, R, ed, 1999. Ships, Shipwrecks and Maritime Incidents around the Isles of Scilly, Isles of Scilly Museum Publication, 3, St Mary’s Larn, R, and Larn, B, 1995. Shipwreck Index of the British Isles Vol 1. Lloyd’s Register of Shipping, London Larn, R, ed, 2006. Poor England has Lost so many Men, St Mary's (Council of the Isles of Scilly) Larb, R, 2017. The Isles of Scilly in the Great War, Barnsley Lavery, B, 1987. The Arming and Fitting of English Ships of War 1600–1815, London Law, M, forthcoming. Shell, in S R Taylor and C Johns, Archaeological investigations at Higher Town, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly 2009–10, Cornish Archaeol Laws, P, 1980. The Buildings of Scilly, Isles of Scilly Museum Publication, 12, St Mary’s and Redruth Le Carré, J, 1997. The inheritor, in R Cowan, A century of images: photographs by the Gibson family, London, 1–10 Le Patourel, H E J, 1992. Ceramic horns, in D Gaimster and M Redknap, eds, Everyday and Exotic Pottery From Europe c. 650–1900: Studies in Honour of John G. Hurst, Oxford, 157–66 Leung, R, nd [2010]. Historic Building Report: Former Lifeboat Station/Bulb Treating Station, Porthcressa Beach, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, St Mary’s (Council of the Isles of Scilly) Lewis, H A, 1948. St Martin’s, St Helen’s and Teän (Isles of Scilly) in legend and history, Truro (2nd revised ed) Light, J, forthcoming. Shell, in C Johns, J Ratcliffe and A Young, Results of archaeological recording during the Coast Protection Scheme at Porth Killier and Porth Coose, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly, 1996 Lister, A M, 1995. Sea Levels and the Evolution of Island Endemics: the Dwarf Red Deer of Jersey, Geological Soc Special Publications, 96, 151–172 Llewellyn, S, 2005. Emperor Smith: The Man Who Built Scilly, Wimborne Minster Locker, A, 1983. The bones, in D S Neal 1983, Excavations on a Settlement at Little Bay, St Martins, Isles of Scilly, Cornish Archaeol, 22, 66–70 Locker, A, 1996. The Mammal Bones, in P Ashbee, Halangy Down, St Mary’s Isles of Scilly: Excavations 1964–1977, Cornish Archaeol, 35, 118–127 Locker, A, forthcoming. The animal bone, in C Johns, J Ratcliffe and A Young, Results of archaeological recording during the Coast Protection Scheme at Porth Killier and Porth Coose, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly, 1996 291 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Lotbiniere, S D, 1984. Gunflint recognition, IJNA, 13(3), 206–09 Lousley, J E, 1971. The Flora of the Isles of Scilly, Newton Abbot Lynch, F, 1975. Excavations at Carreg Samson megalithic Pembrokeshire, Archaeologia Cambrensis, 124, 15–35 tomb, Mathry, Macalister, R A S, 1945. Corpus Inscriptionum Insularum Celticarum, Vol 1, Dublin Mackenzie, M, 1967. Recent discoveries at St Mary's, Isles of Scilly, Cornish Archaeol, 14, 111-12 McArthur, R H, and Wilson, E O, 1968. The Theory of Island Biogeography, Princeton McAvoy, F, 1980. The Excavation of a Multi-period Site at Carngoon Bank, Lizard, Cornish Archaeol, 19, 31–62 McBride, P, and Larn, R, 1999. Admiral Shovell’s Treasure and Shipwreck in the Isles of Scilly, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly McGrail, S, 2001. Boats of the World from the Stone Age to Medieval Times, Oxford McGrail, S, 2004. North-west European sea-going boats before AD 400, in P Clark, ed, The Dover Bronze Age Boat in Context: Society and water transport in prehistoric Europe, 51–66 McGrail, S, 1998. Ancient Boats in North-West Europe: The Archaeology of Water Transport to AD 1500, Harlow MacPhail, R I, 1981. Soil report on Bar Point, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, DoE, AML rep, 3299 McQuade, M, and O’Donnell, L, 2007. Late Mesolithic fish traps from the Liffey estuary, Dublin, Ireland, Antiquity, 81, 569–584 Mace, M, nd. HMS Association: Sank 1707, St Marys (Scillonian Diving Service) Madden, P, 1996. Scilly’s Building Heritage, Truro Magalotti, L, 1821. Travels of Cosmo the Third, Grand Duke of Tuscany, through England, during the reign of King Charles the Second (1669), London Manske, K, Owoc, M A, Greek, M, Illingworth, and Advisio, J M, nd. Island Threads: Bronze Age Textile Production and Identity on the Isles of Scilly, UK. Poster in the Isles of Scilly Museum (Merceyhurst Archaeological Institute, Erie, Pennsylvania) Marsden, P, 1978. A reconstruction of the treasure of the Amsterdam and the Hollandia, IJNA, 7(2), 133–48 Marshall, P, 2002–3. Radiocarbon dates, in C Johns, An Iron Age Sword and Mirror Burial from Bryher, Isles of Scilly, Cornish Archaeol, 41–42, 23 Marshall, P, and Bronk Ramsey, C, 2012. Par Beach, St Martin’s, Isles of Scilly (Lyonesse Project): Radiocarbon Dating, unpublished English Heritage report Martin, A, 2014. Viewing the Past: the photographic heritgae of the Isles of Scilly, St Mary’s (Isles of Scilly Museum) Mason, H, 1984. The excavation of a cottage on Samson, Isles of Scilly, 1977, Cornish Studies, 11, 49–68 Mason, J, 1983. Scallop and queen fisheries in the British Isles, Fishing News Books Mason, H, and Hayton, C, 1977. Excavations on Samson, Isles of Scilly, Unpublished interim report Mathews, W H, 1922. Mazes and Labyrinths, London 292 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Matthews, G F, 1960. The Isles of Scilly: a constitutional, economic and social survey of the development of an island people from early times to 1900, London Matthews, G K, 1965–66. A Complete Survey of Holdings, Tenements and Occupiers in Scilly 1829–31, Part 1, Scillonian, 164 Matthews, G K, 1966a. A Complete Survey of Holdings, Tenements and Occupiers in Scilly 1829–31, Part 2, Scillonian, 166 Matthews, G K, 1966b. A Complete Survey of Holdings, Tenements and Occupiers in Scilly 1829–31, Part 3, Scillonian, 167 Matthews, G K, 1967–68. A Complete Survey of Holdings, Tenements and Occupiers in Scilly 1829–31, Part 4, Scillonian, 168 Maybee, R, 1884. Sixty-eight years’ experience on the Scilly Islands, Penzance Mays, S A, 1996. Healed limb amputations in human osteoarchaeology and their causes: a case study from Ipswich, UK, Int Journ of Osteoarchaeology, 6, 101– 13 Mays, S, Turner-Walker, G, and Brown, K, 2002–3. Human bone, in C Johns, An Iron Age Sword and Mirror Burial from Bryher, Isles of Scilly, Cornish Archaeol, 41– 42, 20–3 Mellars, P, ed, 1978. The Early Postglacial Settlement of Northern Europe, London Mellars, P, and Andrews, M V, 1987. Excavations on Oronsay: prehistoric human ecology on a small island, Edinburgh Mellor, M, 1994. Medieval Ceramic Studies in England, a Review for English Heritage, London (English Heritage) Melton, N D, and Nicholson, R A, 2004. The Mesolithic in the Northern Isles: the preliminary evaluation of an oyster midden at West Voe, Sumburgh, Shetland, Antiquity, 78, 299 Melton, N D, and Nicholson, R A, 2007. A Late Mesolithic – Early Neolithic midden at West Voe, Shetland, in Milner, Craig, and Bailey, eds, Shell middens in Atlantic Europe, Oxford, 94–100 Mercer, R J, 2003. The early farming settlement of south western England in the Neolithic, in I Armit, E Murphy, E Nelis and D Simpson, eds, 2003. Neolithic settlement in Ireland and Western Britain, Oxford, 56–70 Miles, H, 1975. Barrows on the St Austell granite, Cornwall, Cornish Archaeol, 14, 5–81 Miles, T J, and Saunders, A D, 1970. King Charles’s Castle, Tresco, Scilly, Post-med Archaeol, 4, 1–30 Milner, N, Craig, O, Bailey, G, Pedersen, K, and Andersen, S, 2004. Something fishy in the Neolithic? A re-evaluation of stable isotope analysis of Mesolithic and Neolithic coastal populations, Satchell, J and Gillespie, J, 2011. Mesolithic occupation at Bouldnor Cliff and the submerged prehistoric landscapes of the Solent, York (The Council for British Archaeology) Momber, G, Tomalin, D, Scaife, R, Satchell, J, and Gillespie, J, 2011. Mesolithic occupation at Bouldnor Cliff and the submerged prehistoric landscapes of the Solent, The Council for British Archaeology, CBA Research Repts, York Moore, D, ed, 1970. The Irish Sea Province in Archaeology and History, Cardiff (Cambrian Archaeological Association) Morris, R, 1969. Island Treasure: The Search for Sir Cloudesley Shovell’s Flagship ‘Association’, London 293 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Morris, R, 1979. HMS Colossus: the Story of the Salvage of the Hamilton Treasures, London Morris, R, nd [1978]. Treasure Trove Islands: the Scilly Isles, Penzance Morris, R, 1982. The Dive which found Firebrand, Subaqua Scene, 8–9 Morris, R, 1984a. Ferrous clib concretion on small guns. IJNA, 13(1), 65–71 Morris, R, 1984b. Unidentified artefacts 2. IJNA, 13(3), 211–14 Morris, R, 1984c. More finds from Scilly Islands wrecks 2, IJNA, 13(4), 329–33 Mortimer, T A, 2011. Mapping 13,000 years of intertidal change in the Isles of Scilly, unpublished MSc thesis, Bangor University Mothersole, J, 1910. The Isles of Scilly, Their Story, Their Folklore and Their Flowers, London Mumford, C, 1967. Portrait of the Isles of Scilly, London Mulville, J, 2010. Wild Things? The prehistory and history of Red Deer on the Hebridean and Northern Isles of Scotland, in T O’Connor and N Sykes, eds, Extinctions and Invasions: A social history of British fauna, Oxford (Windgather Press) Mulville, J A, Dennis, I, Johns, C, Mills, S, Pannett, A, and Young, T, 2007. Islands in a Common Sea: archaeological fieldwork in the Isles of Scilly 2006 (St Mary’s and St Martin’s), Cardiff Studies in Archaeology Specialist Rep, 27, Cardiff Nance, R M, 1924. Troy Town, Journ Roy Institution Cornwall, 21, 261–279 Nayling, N, and Caseldine, A, 1997. Excavations at Caldicot, Gwent: Bronze Age palaeochannels in the lower Nedern Valley, CBA Res Rep, 108, York Neal, D S, 1983. Excavations on a Settlement at Little Bay, St Martins, Isles of Scilly, Cornish Archaeol, 22, 47–80 Neal, D S, and Johns, C, forthcoming. The 1970/1 excavations at East Porth, Samson, Cornish Archaeol Neal, D S, forthcoming a. Miscellaneous objects of bronze, bone and glass, in D S Neal and C Johns, The 1970/1 excavations at East Porth, Samson, Cornish Archaeol Neal, D S, forthcoming b. Objects of iron, in D S Neal and C Johns, The 1970/1 excavations at East Porth, Samson, Cornish Archaeol Neal, D S, forthcoming c. The flints, in D S Neal and C Johns, The 1970/1 excavations at East Porth, Samson, Cornish Archaeol Needham, S, 2009. Encompassing the sea: ‘maritories’ and Bronze Age interactions in P Clark, ed, Bronze Age connections, cultural contact in prehistoric Europe, Oxford, 12–37 Newman, T J, 2015. Two manuscript maps of Scilly, and riddle of St Martin’s, Jnl Roy Inst Cornwall, 45–66 Noall, C, 1972. Cornish Seines and Seiners: a history of the pilchard fishing industry, Truro North, I W, 1850. A Week in the Isles of Scilly, Penzance and London (reprinted Truro 2006) Nowakowski, J, 1991. Trethellan Farm, Newquay: Excavation of a Lowland Settlement and Iron Age Cemetery. Cornish Archaeol 30, 5–242 Nowakowski, J, 1999. The Excavation of a Bronze Age Settlement at Stannon, St Breward, Cornwall Archaeological Unit Excavation Bulletin, 17 August 2000 294 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Nowakowski, J, 2001. Leaving Home in the Cornish Bronze Age: Insights into Planned Abandonment Processes, in J Brück, ed, Bronze Age Landscapes, Oxford Nowakowski, J, Quinnell, H, Sturgess, J, Thomas, C, and Thorpe, C, 2007. Return to Gwithian: shifting the sands of time. Cornish Archaeol, 46, 13–76 Nowakowski, J A and Quinnell, H, 2011. Trevelgue Head, Cornwall: the importance of C K C Andrew’s 1939 excavations for prehistoric and Roman Cornwall, Truro (Cornwall Council) Nowakowski, J A, and Johns, C. 2015. Bypassing Indian Queens, Cornwall, Archaeological Excavations 1992–1994: Investigating prehistoric and RomanoBritish settlements and landscapes in Cornwall, Truro (Cornwall Archaeological Unit, Cornwall Council) O'Connor, T P, and Kitchener, A C, 2010. Wild, domestic and feral cats, in T P O'Connor and N Sykes, eds, Extinctions and Invasions: A social history of British fauna, Oxford (Windgather Press), 83–94 O’Loughlin, T, 1997. Living in the Ocean, in C Bourke, ed, Studies in the Cult of Saint Columba, Dublin, 11–23 O’Loughlin, T, 1999. Distant islands: the topography of holiness in the Navigatio Sancti Brendani, in M Glasscoe, ed, The Medieval Mystical Tradition. England, Ireland and Wales, Woodbridge, 1–20 O’Loughlin, T, 2000. Journeys on the Edges: The Celtic tradition, London. O’Neil, B H St J, 1949a. Excavation of a Romano-British Hut in Scilly, Scillonian, 24, 99, 163–164 O’Neil, B H St J, 1949b. The Excavation of a Bronze Age House in Scilly, Scillonian, 24, 99, 164–165 O’Neil, B H St J, 1949c. Isles of Scilly: Guide to Ancient Monuments, London (HMSO) O’Neil, B H St J, 1952. Excavations at Knackboy Carn, Antiq Journ, 32, 21–34 O'Neil, B H, St J, 1961. Isles of Scilly MOW Guide, London (HMSO, 2nd edtn) O’Neil, B H St J, nd a. Excavations at Par Beach, St Martin’s Scilly, Site A, (unpublished archive transcript), National Monuments Records Office No 904 O’Neil, B H St J, nd b. Excavations at Par Beach, St Martin’s Scilly, Site C, (unpublished archive transcript), National Monuments Records Office No 904 O’Neil, B H St J, nd c. Excavations at Par Beach, St Martin’s Scilly, Site F, (unpublished archive transcript), National Monuments Records Office No 904 O’Neil, B H St J, nd d. Excavation of May’s Hill, St Martin’s, Scilly, (unpublished archive transcript), National Monuments Records Office No 901 O’Neil, B H St J, nd e. Excavation of Hillbenigates Cairn, St Martin’s, (unpublished archive transcript), National Monuments Records Office No 897 O’Neil, B H St J, nd f. Excavation of Hut I on Little Arthur, Scilly, (unpublished archive transcript) National Monuments Records Office No 899 O’Neil, B H St J, nd g. Excavation of Hut I. Perpitch, St Martin’s, Scilly, (unpublished archive transcript), National Monuments Records Office No 906 O’Neil, B H St J, nd h. The Excavation of a Hut at English Island Cairn, St Martin’s, Scilly, (unpublished archive transcript), National Monuments Records Office No 896 O’Neil, B H St J, nd i. Excavation of a Hut at Little Bay, St Martin’s, Scilly, (unpublished archive transcript), National Monuments Records Office No 900 295 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda O’Neil, B H St J, nd j. Pernagiey, St Martin’s, Scilly, (unpublished archive transcript), National Monuments Records Office No 905 O’Neil, B H St J, nd k. Field Notebooks of Bryan O’Neil (unpublished archive transcript), National Monuments Records Office No 915 O’Neil, H E. 1964. Excavation of a Celtic hermitage on St Helens, Isles of Scilly, 1956– 58, Archaeol Journ, 121, 40–69 Orme, N, 2010. The Victoria History of the Counties of England: a History of the County of Cornwall, Volume II, Religious History to 1560, London Osborne, J P, 1990. Scillonian War Diary 1914–18 (2 vols) Ottaway, B, and Roberts, B, 2008. The emergence of metalworking, in A Jones, ed, Prehistoric Europe: theory and practice, Oxford, 193–225 Over, L, 1987. The Kelp Industry in Scilly, Isles of Scilly Museum Publication, 14, St Mary’s Over, L, 1993. The Isles of Scilly, Chichester (Phillimore & Co Ltd) Owoc, M A, Adovasio, J M, Illingworth, J, Greek, M, and Manske, K, 2003. Perishables and Pots in Later Prehistory: Unravelling a Distinctive Scillonian Cultural Tradition. Lecture presented at the 68th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Padel, O J, 1988. A Popular Dictionary of Cornish Place-Names, Penzance Padel, O J, 2018. The name of Annet (Scilly), in A Jones and H Quinnell, eds, An Intellectual Adventurer in Archaeology: Reflections on the Work of Charles Thomas, Oxford, 183–90 Pailler, Y, and Sheridan, A, 2009. Everything you always wanted to know about... La Néolithisation de la Grande-Betagne et d’Irlande, Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Francaise, 106, 25–56 Palmisano A, Bevan A, Shennan, S, 2017. Comparing archaeological proxies for longterm population patterns: an example from central Italy. Journal of Archaeological Science, 87, 59-72 Palmer, S, 1999. Culverwell Mesolithic habitation site, Isle of Portland, Dorset: excavation report and research studies, Brit Arch Repts, Brit Ser, 287, Oxford Pannett, A, 2007. Isles of Scilly Museum Lithic Archive: morphology of the collection and potential for further work, in J Mulville et al, Islands in a Common Sea: archaeological fieldwork in the Isles of Scilly 2006 (St Mary’s and St Martin’s), Cardiff Studies in Archaeology Specialist Rep, 27, Cardiff, 35–7 Parker Pearson, M, 1990, The production and distribution of Bronze Age pottery in south-west Britain, Cornish Archaeol, 29, 5-32 Parkes, C and Ratcliffe, J, 1990. Early Batteries on the Garrison, St Mary’s: Archaeological Fieldwork in the Isles of Scilly 1990, Truro (Cornwall Archaeological Unit, Cornwall County Council) Parkes Lees Architects Ltd, 2009–10. Buildings on Samson, Isles of Scilly: Proposals for Future Conservation. Reports, drawings and specifications for The Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust Parslow, R, 2007. The Isles of Scilly, London Parslow, R, 2017. The Isles of Scilly, London Peacock, D, and Williams, D, 1986. Amphorae and the Roman economy, an introductory guide, London and New York 296 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Pearce, S M, 1978. The kingdom of Dumnonia: studies in history and tradition in SouthWestern Britain, AD 350–1150, Padstow Pearce, S, 2011. The Archaeology of South Western Britain: Recent Research: Papers in Honour of Henrietta Quinnell, Brit Arch Repts, Brit Ser, 548, Oxford Penhallurick, R D, 2009. Ancient and early medieval coins from Cornwall and Scilly, Royal Numismatic Society Special Publication, 45, London Pérez-Fernández, M, 2013. A palaeoecological approach to understanding the impact of coastal changes in Late Holocene societies using the Isles of Scilly as a case study, unpublished PhD thesis, University of Plymouth Perez, M, Fyfe, R M, Charman, D J, and Gehrels W R, 2015. Later Holocene vegetation history of the Isles of Scilly, UK: coastal influence and human land use in a small island context, Journal of Quaternary Science, 30 (8), 764‒78 Pernetta, J C, and Hanford, P T, 1970. Mammalian and avian remains from possible Bronze Age deposits on Nornour, Isles of Scilly, Journal of Zoology, 162, 235– 40 Pettitt, P, 2008. The British Upper Palaeolithic. In J Pollard, ed, Prehistoric Britain, Wiley Blackwell Studies in Global Archaeology, Oxford, 18–57 Pevsner, N, 1970. The Buildings of England: Cornwall, London (2nd editon, revised by E Radcliffe) Piggott, S, 1941. Grooved Stone Cists, Scotland and the Scillies, Antiquity, 15, 81–83 Piggott, S, 1954. The Neolithic Cultures of the British Isles, Cambridge Pollard, J, 2008, ed, Prehistoric Britain, Wiley Blackwell Studies in Global Archaeology, Oxford Pollard, J, and Healy, F, eds, 2008. Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, in C Webster, ed, The Archaeology of South West England: South West Archaeological Research Framework Resource Assessment and Research Agenda, Taunton (Somerset County Council), 75–102 Pollard, J, Healey, F, Griffith, F, Jones, A, Lawson, A J, Lewis, J, Mercer, R, Mullin, S, Nowakowski, J, Wickstead, H, and Woodward, P, 2008. Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, in C Webster, ed, The Archaeology of South West England: South West Archaeological Research Framework Resource Assessment and Research Agenda, Taunton (Somerset County Council), 75-102 Pounds, N J G, ed, 1984. The Parliamentary Survey of the Duchy of Cornwall, Devon and Cornwall Record Society, ns, 27, Exeter (2 vols) Pryor, F. 2004. Some thoughts on boats as Bronze Age artefacts, in P Clark, ed, The Dover Bronze Age Boat in Context: Society and water transport in prehistoric Europe, 31–34 Powell, T G E, 1941. A New Passage Grave Group in Southeastern Ireland, Proc Prehist Soc, 7, 142–3 Powell, T G E, 1969. Megalithic Enquiries in the West of Britain, Liverpool Quinnell, H, 1986. Cornwall during the Iron Age and the Roman period, Cornish Archaeol, 25, 111–34 Quinnell, H, 1991. Prehistoric and Roman pottery, in Ratcliffe 1991, Lighting up the Past in Scilly: archaeological results from the 1985 electrification project, Camborne and Truro, 73–83 Quinnell H, 1994. Isles of Scilly Coastal Erosion Project 1989–93: The Pottery and Other Significant Artefacts from Sites with Recorded Stratigraphy: Archive Report, copy in Cornwall and Scilly HER, ER 557 297 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Quinnell, H, 2002–3a. The pottery, in C Johns, An Iron Age Sword and Mirror Burial from Bryher, Isles of Scilly, Cornish Archaeol, 41–42, 44–50 Quinnell, H, 2002–3b. Flint, in C Johns, An Iron Age Sword and Mirror Burial from Bryher, Isles of Scilly, Cornish Archaeol, 41–42, 52–3 Quinnell, H, 2004. Trethurgy: Excavations at Trethurgy Round, St Austell, Community and Status in the Roman and post-Roman Cornwall, Truro (Cornwall County Council and English Heritage) Quinnell, H, 2009–10. The prehistoric pottery, in S R Taylor and C Johns, 2009–10, Archaeological recording of a multi-period site at Dolphin Town, Tresco, Isles of Scilly, 1999–2003, Cornish Archaeol, 48–59, 109–116 Quinnell, H, 2010. Prehistoric and Roman pottery, in A M Jones and SR Taylor Scarcewater, Pennance, Cornwall. Archaeological excavation of a Bronze Age and Roman landscape, Brit Arch Repts, Brit Ser, 516, Oxford, 93–113 Quinnell, H, 2011. a summary of Cornish ceramics in the first millennium BC, Cornish Archaeol, 50, 231–40 Quinnell, H, 2013. The pottery, in J Gossip 2013, The evaluation of a multi-period prehistoric site and fogou at Boden Vean, St Anthony-in-Meneage, Cornwall, 2003, Cornish Archaeol, 52, 26-49 Quinnell, H, 2017a. Prehistoric pottery, in D Garrow and F Sturt, Neolithic Stepping Stones: Excavation and survey within the western seaways of Britain, 2008– 2014, Oxford (Oxbow), 91–7 Quinnell, H, 2017b. Worked stone, in D Garrow and F Sturt, Neolithic Stepping Stones: Excavation and survey within the western seaways of Britain, 2008–2014, Oxford (Oxbow), 114–120 Quinnell, H, 2017c. The finds, in A Brown, Land at Seaways Farm, Porthloo, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly: results of archaeological monitoring and recording, Bradninch, Exeter (AC archaeology), 4–5 Quinnell, H, forthcoming a. Early Neolithic pottery, in D s Neal and C Johns, The 1970/1 excavations at East Porth, Samson, Cornish Archaeol Quinnell, H, forthcoming b. Pottery, in S R Taylor and C Johns, Archaeological investigations at Higher Town, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly 2009–10, Cornish Archaeol Quinnell, H, forthcoming c. Stone, in S R Taylor and C Johns, Archaeological investigations at Higher Town, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly 2009–10, Cornish Archaeol Quinnell, H forthcoming d. Pottery, in J Gossip, forthcoming, Life outside the round – Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements at Higher Besore and truro College, Threemilestone, Truro, Cornish Archaeol Quinnell, H forthcoming e. Pottery, in Gossip, forthcoming, Excavations at at Nancemere Fields, Truro, Cornwall, Cornish Archaeol Quinnell, H, forthcoming f. The prehistoric pottery, in C Johns, J Ratcliffe and A Young, Results of archaeological recording during the Coast Protection Scheme at Porth Killier and Porth Coose, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly, 1996 Quinnell, H, forthcoming g. Stone, in C Johns, J Ratcliffe and A Young, Results of archaeological recording during the Coast Protection Scheme at Porth Killier and Porth Coose, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly, 1996 Quinnell, H, forthcoming h. Flint, in C Johns, J Ratcliffe and A Young, Results of archaeological recording during the Coast Protection Scheme at Porth Killier and Porth Coose, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly, 1996 298 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Quinnell, H, 2012. Trevisker pottery: Some recent studies, in W Britnell and R J Silvester, eds, Reflections on the past: Essays in honour of Frances Lynch, Welshpool (Cambrian Archaeological Association), 146-171 Quinnell, N, 1978. The Borlase Altar Stone, Tresco, Isles of Scilly, Cornish Archaeol 17, 140–141 Quinnell, N V, 2009–10. The archaeological revision of Scilly, 1978, by the Ordnance Survey: some recollections, Cornish Archaeol, 48–49, 227–242 Rainbird, P, 2007. The Archaeology of Islands, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Rainbird, P, 2017. Discussion in A Brown, Land at Seaways Farm, Porthloo, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly: results of archaeological monitoring and recording, Bradninch, Exeter (AC archaeology), 5–6 Ransley, J, Adams, J, Blue, L, Dix, J, and Sturt, F, eds, 2011. England’s Maritime and Marine Historic Environment Resource Assessment and Research Agenda, Oxford Ransom, V I, 1984. Catalogue of Perforated Implements from Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, University of Exeter, unpublished M Phil thesis Ratcliffe, J, 1989. The Archaeology of Scilly: an assessment of the resource and recommendations for its future, Truro (Cornwall Archaeological Unit, Cornwall County Council) Ratcliffe, J, 1991. Lighting up the Past in Scilly: archaeological results from the 1985 electrification project, Camborne and Truro (Institute of Cornish Studies and Cornwall Archaeological Unit, Cornwall County Council) Ratcliffe, J, 1992. Scilly’s Archaeological Heritage, Truro, (Cornwall Archaeological Unit, Cornwall County Council) Ratcliffe, J, 1993. Fieldwork in Scilly: 1991 and 1992, Truro (Cornwall Archaeological Unit, Cornwall County Council) Ratcliffe, J, 1994. Fieldwork in Scilly: July 1993, Truro (Cornwall Archaeological Unit, Cornwall County Council) Ratcliffe, J, 1995. Isles of Scilly Historic Landscape Assessment, report for Land Use Consultants, Truro (Cornwall Archaeological Unit, Cornwall County Council) Ratcliffe, J, 1997. British Telecom Trenching on St Martin’s, Isles of Scilly, Summer 1992: the results of the archaeological watching brief, Truro (Cornwall Archaeological Unit, Cornwall County Council) Ratcliffe J, 1999. Project design and costing for analysis of finds from Porthcressa, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, Truro (Cornwall Archaeological Unit, Cornwall County Council) Ratcliffe, J, and Johns, C, 2003. Scilly’s Archaeological Heritage, Truro Ratcliffe, J, and Parkes, C, 1989a. Fieldwork in the Isles of Scilly: March 1989, Truro (Cornwall Archaeological Unit, Cornwall County Council) Ratcliffe, J, and Parkes, C, 1989b. Lost and found on Chapel Down: idol speculation, Cornish Archaeol, 28, 259–60 Ratcliffe, J, and Parkes, C, 1990. Archaeological Fieldwork in the Isles of Scilly: September 1989, Truro (Cornwall Archaeological Unit, Cornwall County Council) Ratcliffe, J, and Sharpe, A, 1991. Fieldwork in Scilly, Autumn 1990, Truro (Cornwall Archaeological Unit, Cornwall County Council) Ratcliffe, J, and Straker, V, 1996. The Early Environment of Scilly, Truro (Cornwall Archaeological Unit, Cornwall County Council) 299 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Ratcliffe, J and Straker, V, 1997. The changing landscape and coastline of the Isles of Scilly: recent research, Cornish Archaeol, 36, 64–76 Ratcliffe, J, and Straker, V, 1998. Old Town Bay Coast Protection Scheme, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly: Results of the Archaeological Recording, Truro (Cornwall Archaeological Unit, Cornwall County Council) Reece, R, 2011. The Coins, in J A Nowakowski and H Quinnell, Trevelgue Head, Cornwall: the importance of C K C Andrew’s 1939 excavations for prehistoric and Roman Cornwall, Truro (Cornwall Council), 245–56 Reimer, P J, Baillie, M G L, Bard, E, Bayliss, A, Beck, J W, Bertrand, C J H, Blackwell, P G, Buck, C E, Burr, G S, Cutler, K B, Damon, P E, Edwards, R L, Fairbanks, R G, Friedrich, M, Guilderson, T P, Hogg, A G, Hughen, K A, Kromer, B, McCormac, G, Manning, S, Bronk Ramsey, C, Reimer, R W, Remmele, S, Southon, J R, Stuiver, M, Talamo, S, Taylor, F W, van der Plicht, J and Weyhenmeyer, C E, 2004. IntCal04 terrestrial radiocarbon age calibration, 0–26 cal kyr BP. Radiocarbon, 46(3), 1029–58 Reimer, P J, Bard, E, Bayliss, A, Beck, J W, Blackwell, P, Bronk Ramsey, C, Buck, C E, Cheng, H, Edwards, R L, Friedrich, M, Grootes, P M, Guilderson, T P, Haflidason, H, Hajdas, I, Hatté, C, Heaton, T J, Hoffmann, D L, Hogg, A G, Hughen, K A, Kaiser, K F, Kromer, B, Manning, SW, Niu, M, Reimer, R W, Richards, D A, Scott, E M, Southon, J R, Staff, R A, Turney, C S M, and van der Plicht, J, 2013. IntCal13 and Marine13 radiocarbon age calibration curves 0–50,000 years cal BP. Radiocarbon, 55, 1869–87 Richards, C and Thomas, J, 1984. Ritual activity and structured deposition in later Neolithic Wessex, in R Bradley and J Gardiner, eds, Neolithic Studies: a Review of Some Current Research, Oxford, Brit Arch Repts, Brit Ser, 133, 189–218 Richards, M, and Hedges, R, 1999. A Neolithic revolution? New evidence of diet in the British Neolithic, Antiquity, 73, 891–7 Richardson, A, and Gill, C A, 1924. Regional Architecture of the West of England, London Richie, A, ed, 2000. Neolithic Orkney in its European Context, McDonald Institute Mongraphs, Cambridge Rigold, S E, 1964. The coin, in H E O’Neil, Excavation of a Celtic hermitage on St Helens, Isles of Scilly, 1956–58, Archaeol Journ, 121, 66 Roberts, H M, and Marshall, P, 2016. Optically Stimulated Luminence (OSL) dating, in Charman et al 2016, 129–49 Roberts, O, 2004. Round the headland or over the horizon? An examination of evidence for British prehistoric efforts to construct a seaworthy boat, in P Clark, ed, The Dover Bronze Age Boat in Context: Society and water transport in prehistoric Europe, 35–50 Robinson, G, 2007. The Prehistoric Island Landscape of Scilly, Brit Arch Repts, Brit Ser, 447, Oxford Robinson, G, 2013. Sea of Small Boats': places and practices on the prehistoric seascape of western Britain', Internet Archaeology, 34, https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.34.2 Robinson, M, 2002. English Heritage Reviews of Environmental Archaeology: South Region Insects, English Heritage Centre for Archaeology Report 39/2002 Rogers, B, nd. Excavation of HMS Association: Sank 1707, Diver's Report, Scilly Roger, N, 2004. The Command of the Ocean, London 300 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Rogers, P W, 2002–3. Remains of textile and animal pelt, in C Johns, An Iron Age Sword and Mirror Burial from Bryher, Isles of Scilly, Cornish Archaeol, 41–42, 36–40 Rowley-Conwy, P, 2003. No fixed abode? Nomadism in the northwest European Neolithic, in G Burenhult and S Westergaard, eds, Stones and bones: formal disposal of the dead in Atlantic Europe during the Mesolithic-Neolithic interface 6000–3000 BC, Brit Arch Repts, Int Ser, 1201, Oxford, 115–144 Russell, V, 1980. Isles of Scilly Survey, St Mary’s and Truro (Isles of Scilly Museum and the Institute of Cornish Studies) Sabin, D, and Donaldson, K, 2010. Five Islands School, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly: Magnetometer and Earth Resistance Survey Report for Kier Western, Archaeological Surveys Ltd, Ref no 319 Samuels, J, 1975. A Coarse Storage Vessel in a Clay-lined Pit, Pendrathen, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, Cornish Archaeol, 14, 117 Samuels, J, 1996. The Halangy Down pottery, in P Ashbee, Halangy Down, St Mary’s Isles of Scilly: Excavations 1964–1977, Cornish Archaeol, 35, 81–88 Saunders, A, 1962. Harry’s Walls, St Mary’s, Scilly: a new interpretation, Cornish Archaeol, 1, 85–91 Saunders, A, 2006. Excavations at Launceston Castle, Cornwall, Society for Medieval Archaeology Monograph, 24, Leeds Saville, A, 2000. Orkney and Scotland before the Neolithic Period, in A Richie, ed, Neolithic Orkney in its European context, McDonald Institute Mongraphs, Cambridge, 91-100 Sawyer, K. 2008. Abbey Farm, Tresco, Isles of Scilly: archaeological recording, St Mary’s (Katharine Sawyer) Sawyer, K, 2015. Isles of the Dead? The Setting and Function of the Bronze Age Chambered Cairns and Cists of the Isles of Scilly, Oxford (Archaeopress) Sawyer, K, 2017. Pumice, in D Garrow and F Sturt, Neolithic Stepping Stones: Excavation and survey within the western seaways of Britain, 2008–2014, Oxford (Oxbow), 120–123 Sawyer, K, nd. Walk Around Hugh Town and the Garrison [leaflet], St Mary’s (Isles of Scilly Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) Scaife, R G, 1980. The vegetational history of the Isles of Scilly I: pollen analysis of Higher Moors, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, AML Report 3047, English Heritage Scaife, R G, 1982. The vegetational history of the Isles of Scilly II: radiocarbon dating and interpretation of Higher Moors, St Mary’s, AML Report 3500 (English Heritage) Scaife, R G, 1984. A history of Flandrian vegetation in the Isles of Scilly: palynological investigation of Higher Moors and Lower Moors peat mires, St Mary’s, Cornish Studies, 11, 33–47 Scaife, R, 2011. Environmental analysis: pollen, in C Johns and J Mulville, Islands in a Common Sea: archaeological fieldwork in the Isles of Scilly September 2005, Truro (Historic Environment Projects, Cornwall Council), 17–18 Schulting, R. 1998. Slighting the sea: the transition to farming in northwest Europe, Documenta Praehistorica, 25, 203–18 Schulting, R J, and Richards, M P, 2002. The wet, the wild and the domesticated: the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition on the west coast of Scotland, European Jnl Archaeol, 5, 147–189 301 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Schulting, R, Richards, M P, and Hedges, R E M, 2003. Sharp shift in diet at onset of Neolithic, Nature, 425, 366 Scourse, J D, 1985. Late Pleistocene Stratigraphy of the Isles of Scilly and Adjoining Regions, unpublished PhD thesis, University of Cambridge Scourse, J D, ed, 1986. The Quaternary of the Isles of Scilly Field Guide, Cambridge (Quaternary Research Association) Scourse, J D, 1991. Late Pleistocene stratigraphy and palaeobotany of the Isles of Scilly, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 334, 405–488 Scourse, J D, ed, 2006. The Isles of Scilly: Field Guide, London (Quaternary Research Association) Scourse, J D, 2010. A Last Glacial maximum pollen record from Bodmin Moor showing a possible cryptic northern refugium in southwest England, Jnl Quaternary Sci, 25, 826-7 Seaney, R J, 2010a. The Druid Temple on St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, Hawkhurst, (privately produced report) Seaney, R J, 2010b. The High Stone, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, Hawkhurst, (privately produced report) Sedding, E H, 1909. Norman Architecture in Cornwall. A Handbook to Old Cornish Ecclesiastical Architecture with Notes on Ancient Manor Houses, London Shaffrey, R, 2006. Grinding and Milling: A Study of Romano-British Rotary Querns and Millstones made from Old Red Sandstone, Brit Arch Repts, Brit Ser, 409, Oxford Sheridan, A, 2000. Achnacreebeag and its French connections: vive the ‘auld’ alliance, in J Henderson, ed, The prehistory and early history of Atlantic Europe, Brit Arch Repts, Int Ser, 861, Oxford 1–16 Sheridan, A, 2010. The neolithization of Britain and Ireland: the big picture, in B Finlayson and G Warren, eds, Landscapes in Transition: understanding huntergatherer and farming landscapes in the early Holocene of Europe and the Levant, Oxford, 89–105 Sheridan, A, Schulting, R, Quinnell, H, and Taylor, R, 2008. Revisiting a small passage tomb at Broadsands, Devon, Proc Devon Archaeol Soc, 66, 1–26 Shiel, D, 1999. Geophysical Survey Report 99/103. Dolphin Row, Tresco, Isles of Scilly, Bradford (GSB Prospection) Smallwood, V, and Woodford, S, 2003. Fragments from Sir William Hamilton's second collection of vases recovered from the wreck of HMS Colossus, London Smith, A, 1863. Narration on the Discovery and Opening of a Kist-Vean on the Island of Samson at Scilly, 3rd September 1862, Report of the Royal Institute of Cornwall, 45, 53–55 Smith, G, 1984. Excavations on Goonhilly Down, The Lizard, 1981, Cornish Archaeol, 23, 3–46 Spence, G, 1792. A Maritime Survey of Scilly, London Stanbrook, E, 2008. Bishop Rock Lighthouse, Truro Stead, I, 2002–3. The sword and scabbard, in C Johns, An Iron Age Sword and Mirror Burial from Bryher, Isles of Scilly, Cornish Archaeol, 41–42, 24–7 Stead, I M, 2006. British Iron Age swords and scabbards, London Stell, C, 1991. An inventory of nonconformist chapels and meeting houses in southwest England, London (HMSO) 302 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Stevens, T, 2007. Wreck of Colossus: The find of a lifetime, St Mary’s Stevens, T, 2011. The Search for the John, St Mary’s Stevens, T, and Cummings, E, 2008. Ghosts of Rosevear and the Wreck of the Nancy Packet, St Mary’s Stewart, R J, 2012. The role of chert in later prehistoric lithic industries with specific reference to South-West England, Geoscience in South-West England, 13, 123– 30 Straker, V, 2002–3. Overview of the results of the environmental analyses, in Johns, 58–60 Straker, V, Brown, A, Fyfe, R, Jones, J, and Wilkinson, J, 2008. Later Bronze Age and Iron age Environmental Background, in C Webster, ed, The Archaeology of South West England: South West Archaeological Research Framework Resource Assessment and Research Agenda, Taunton (Somerset County Council), 103– 116 Stuiver, M, and Reimer, P J, 1993. Extended 14C data base and revised CALIB 3.0 14C age calibration program, Radiocarbon, 35, 215-30 Sturt, F, 2005. Fishing for Meaning: lived space and the early Neolithic of Orkney in V Cummings and A Pannett, eds, Set in Stone: New Approaches to Neolithic Monuments in Scotland, Oxford, 68–80 Sturt, F, Garrow, S, and Bradley, S, 2013. Mew models of north west European Holocene palaeogeography and inundation, Jnl Archaeol Sci, 40, 11, 3973-76 Taylor, S R, in preparation. Down the Bright Stream: the Prehistory of Woodcock Corner and the Tregurra Valley Taylor, S R, and Johns, C, 2009–10. Archaeological recording of a multi-period site at Dolphin Town, Tresco, Isles of Scilly, 1999–2003, Cornish Archaeol, 48–59, 99– 125 Taylor, S R, and Johns, C, forthcoming. Archaeological investigations at Higher Town, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly 2009–10, Cornish Archaeol Taylor, S R, and Thorpe, C, 2008. Grass-marked pottery found at Trelissick, Feock, Cornish Archaeol, 47, 179–82 Tebbutt, C F, 1934. A cist in the Isles of Scilly, Antiq J, 14, 302–4 Thirsk, J, 1997. Alternative Agriculture, Oxford Thomas, A C, 1956. Excavations at Gwithian, Cornwall 1955: The Early Christian settlement, the Bronze Age barrow group, and medieval manor, Proc West Cornwall Field Club, ns, 1 (appendix) Thomas, A C, 1957. Some Post Roman Imported Sherds in Cornwall and their origin. Proc West Cornwall Field Club, ns, 2, 1, 15–22 Thomas, A C, 1959. Imported Pottery in Dark Age Western Britain, Medieval Archaeol, 3, 89–111 Thomas. A C, 1960a. People and pottery in Dark Age Cornwall. Old Cornwall, 5, 11 Thomas, A C, 1960b. Excavations on Teän, Isles of Scilly, 1956 and problems of the Scillonian submergence, unpublished report, University of Edinburgh Thomas, A C, 1963. Unpublished material from Cornish Museums: 2 Gunwalloe pottery, Helston Museum. Cornish Archaeol 2, 60 – 64 Thomas, A C, 1966. The character and origins of Roman Dumnonia, in C Thomas, ed, Rural settlement in Roman Britain, CBA Res Rep, 7, London, 74–98 303 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Thomas, A C, 1968. Grass marked pottery in Cornwall, in B Coles and D D A Simpson, eds, Studies in Ancient Europe, Leicester Thomas, A C, 1975. Recent fieldwork in the isles of Scilly, Cornish Archaeol, 14, 87-94 Thomas, A C, 1977. The Book of the Church in Scilly Thomas, A C, 1978. Imported Late-Roman Mediterranean pottery in Ireland and Western Britain: Chronologies and Implications, Proc RIA, 76, C, 245–255 Thomas, A C, 1979. Three early accounts of the Isles of Scilly, Penzance Thomas, A C, 1981. A Provisional List of Imported Pottery in Post-Roman Western Britain and Ireland, Institute of Cornish Studies Special report, 7, Truro Thomas, A C, 1985. Exploration of a drowned landscape: archaeology and history of the Isles of Scilly, London Thomas, A C, 1988a. Views and Likenesses: Photographers and Their Work in Cornwall and Scilly 1839–1870, Truro Thomas, A C, 1988b. The Context of Tintagel: a new model for the diffusion of postRoman Mediterranean imports, Cornish Archaeol, 27, 7–26 Thomas, A C, 1989. The Names of the Batteries on the Garrison, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, in M Bowden, D Mackay and P Topping, eds, From Cornwall to Caithness, Some Aspects of British Field Archaeology: Papers Presented to Norman V Quinnell, Brit Arch Repts, Brit Ser, 209, Oxford, 251–9 Thomas, A C, 1990. Gallici Nautae de Galliarum Provinciis – A Sixth / Seventh Century Trade with Gaul Reconsidered, Medieval Archaeol, 34, 1–26 Thomas, A C, 1991. Early Medieval Pottery, in J Ratcliffe, Lighting up the Past in Scilly: archaeological results from the 1985 electrification project, Camborne and Truro (Institute of Cornish Studies and Cornwall Archaeological Unit, Cornwall County Council), 87–92 Thomas, A C, 1993. Tintagel, Arthur and Archaeology, London Thomas, A C, 2005. An interim assessment of Post 400, Pre 1200 Native Pottery, and Mediterranean and Gaulish Imported wares in Cornwall and Scilly, unpublished background paper, 3 Thomas, A C, 2010. A preliminary note on a boat-decorated Bronze Age sherd from St Agnes, Isles of Scilly (privately circulated document) Thomas, A C, and Johns, C, 2018. Excavations on Teän, Isles of Scilly, 1956, in A Jones and H Quinnell, eds, An Intellectual Adventurer in Archaeology: Reflections on the Work of Charles Thomas, Oxford, 101–46 Thomas, J, 2003. Thoughts on the ‘repacked’ Neolithic Revolution, Antiquity, 77, 67–75 Thomas, J, 2008. The Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in Britain, in J Pollard, ed, Prehistoric Britain, Wiley Blackwell Studies in Global Archaeology, Oxford, 58–89 Thomas, J, 2013. The Birth of Neolithic Britain: an interpretive account, Oxford Thorpe, C, 2003. Mullion Church, Cornwall. Archaeological Watching Brief, Truro (Historic Environment Service, Cornwall County Council) Thorpe, C, 2004. Finds summary report, in S R Taylor, Dolphin Town Playing Field, Tresco, Isles of Scilly: Archaeological Watching Brief, Truro (Historic Environment Service, Cornwall County Council) Thorpe, C, 2011. The Early Medieval Native Pottery of Cornwall (c 400–1066 AD), in S Pearce, ed, The Archaeology of South Western Britain: Recent Research: Papers in Honour of Henrietta Quinnell, Brit Arch Repts, Brit Ser, 548, Oxford, 151–158 304 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Thorpe, C, and Johns, C, 2014. Some unusual pottery from Bryher, Isles of Scilly, Cornish Archaeol, 53, 239–44 Threipland, LM, 1956. An Excavation at St Mawgan-in-Pyder, North Cornwall, Archaeol Journ, 113, 33–81 Tilley, C, 1995. Rocks as resources: landscapes and power, Cornish Archaeol, 34, 5–57 Tilley, C, and Bennett, W, 2001. An archaeology of supernatural places: the case of West Penwith, Journ Royal Anthropological Inst, 7, 2, 335–363 Tingle, M, and Anderson-Whymark, H, 2017. Worked flint, chert and quartz, in D Garrow and F Sturt, Neolithic Stepping Stones: Excavation and survey within the western seaways of Britain, 2008–2014, Oxford (Oxbow), 97–114 Todd, M, 1987. A Regional History of England: the South West to AD 1000, Harlow Tonkin, J C, and Tonkin, R W, 1882. Guide to the Isles of Scilly, Penzance Topping, P, ed, 1997. Neolithic landscapes: Neolithic Studies Group seminar papers 2. Oxford (Oxbow) Townsend, M, 1967. The Common Limpet (Patella vulgata) as a source of protein. Folia Biologica, 15, 3, 343–351 Tresset, A, 2004. French Connections II: of cows and men, in I Armit, E Murphy, E Nelis and D Simpson, eds, Neolithic Settlement in Ireland and Western Britain Troutbeck, J, nd [c 1794]. A survey of the ancient and present state of the Scilly Islands, Sherborne Turk, FA, 1960. Deer on the Isles of Scilly, 127th report Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Soc, 42–49 Turk, F A, 1967. Report on the animal bones from Nornour, Jnl Roy Inst Cornwall, 55, 250-66 Turk, F A, 1968. Notes on Cornish mammals in prehistoric and historic times 1, Cornish Achaeol, 7, 73–9 Turk, F A, 1971. Notes on Cornish mammals in prehistoric and historic times: 4. Cornish Archaeol, 10, 79–91 Turk, F, 1973. Notae de ossibus in Cornubia inventis: manipulus 1, Cornish Studies, 1, 49–52 Turk, F A, 1978. The animal remains from Nornour: a synoptic view of the finds, in S A Butcher, Excavations at Nornour, Isles of Scilly 1969–73: the pre-Roman settlement, Cornish Archaeol, 17, 99–103 Turk, F A, 1984a. A study of the vertebrate remains from May’s Hill, St Martins, Cornish Studies, 11, 76–77 Turk, F A, 1984b. The Sub-Fossil Fauna of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Cornish Biological Records, 7 Turk F, 1991. Report on Bone Samples from the Isles of Scilly, unpublished Specialist Report for English Heritage and Cornwall Archaeological Unit Tyacke, A, 2011. The work of the Portable Antiquities Scheme in Cornwall, Cornish Archaeol, 50, 71–6 Tyers, P, 1996. Roman Pottery in Britain, Batsford Vander Linden, M, 2007. What linked the Bell Beakers in third millennium BC Europe?, Antiquity, 81, 343–352 Van de Noort, R, 2004. An ancient seascape: the social context of seafaring in the Bronze Age, World Archaeology, 35, 404–415 305 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Vaughan, D, 1984. Seeds, in J G Evans, Excavations at Bar Point, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, 1979–80, Cornish Studies, 11, 30 Walker, M, Johnsen, S, Rasmussen, S O, Steffensen, J P, Popp, T, Gibbard, P, Hoek, W, Lowe, J, Andrews, J, Bjorck, S, Cwynar, L, Hughen, K, Kershaw, P, Kromer, B, Litt, T, Lowe, D J, Nakagawa, T, Newnham, R, and Schwander, J, 2008. The Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the base of the Holocene Series/Epoch (Quaternary System/Period) in the NGRIP ice core, Episodes, 31, 264–67 Warren, G, 2015. Britain and Ireland inside Mesolithic Europe, in H Anderson-Whymark, D Garrow and F Sturt, eds, Continental connections: exploring cross-channel relationships from the Mesolithic to the Iron Age, Oxford (Oxbow), 43‒58 Warren, J H, 2017. Neolithic axes from the Isles of Scilly and Maritime connections with South West England, unpublished BA dissertation, University of Reading Watts, S, 2013. The life and death of querns, Southampton (Highgrove Press) Weatherhill, C, 1985. The Ships of the Veneti: a fresh look at the Iron Age tin ships, Cornish Archaeol, 24, 163–69 Webster, C J, ed, 2008. The Archaeology of South West England: South West Archaeological Research Framework Resource Assessment and Research Agenda, Taunton (Somerset County Council) Wessex Archaeology, 2003. HMS Colossus Desk-Based Assessment, Unpublished report for English Heritage, Salisbury Wessex Archaeology, 2004. St Mary’s Harbour Geophysical Survey: Archaeological assessment of sidescan sonar and sub-bottom profiling data, Salisbury Wessex Archaeology, 2005. Pendrathen, St Mary's, Undesignated Site Assessment, Salisbury Wessex Archaeology, 2006a. Wheel Wreck, Isles of Scilly. Undesignated Assessment. Undesignated Site Assessment, Salisbury Site Wessex Archaeology, 2006b. Abbey Farm Redevelopment, Tresco: Report on deskbased research and building recording, Salisbury Wessex Archaeology, 2007. HMS Colossus Designated Site Assessment. Unpublished report for English Heritage, Salisbury Wessex Archaeology, 2008. Tresco quays watching briefs, Salisbury White, W, 1872. A Londoner’s walk to the Land’s End and a trip to the Scilly Isles, London (3rd edn; first published 1855) Whitfield, H J, 1852. Scilly and its legends, Penzance and London Whittle, A, 1997. Moving on and moving around: Neolithic settlement mobility, in P Topping, ed, Neolithic landscapes: Neolithic Studies Group seminar papers 2. Oxford (Oxbow), 15–22 Whittle, A, Bayliss, A, and Healy, F, 2011. Gathering time: dating the early Neolithic enclosures of southern Britain and Ireland, Oxford Wickham-Jones, C, and Firth, C R, 2000. The Mesolithic settlement of northern Scotland: first results of fieldwork in Caithness and Orkney, in R Young, ed, Mesolithic lifeways: current research from Britain and Ireland, Leicester Archaeol monogrs, 7, 119–32 Wilkinson, K and Straker, V, 2008. Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Environmental Background, in C J Webster, ed, The Archaeology of South West England: South West Archaeological Research Framework Resource Assessment and Research Agenda, Taunton (Somerset County Council), 63–73 306 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Wood, I, 2010. A new light on Dark Age Gunwalloe: excavations summer 2010, interim report for the National Trust Wood, I, 2015. Gunwalloe through the Ages: Middle Bronze Age to the 12th century AD, Lizard Peninsula, Cornwall: Evaluation Report for works carried out 2011-2012, Exeter (Quddos Publishing) Wooding, J, 1996. Communication and Commerce along the Western Sealanes AD 400– 800, Brit Arch Reports, Int Ser, 654 Woodley, G, 1822. A View of the Present State of the Scilly Islands, London Woodman, P, and McCarthy, M, 2003. Contemplating some awful(ly interesting) vistas: importing cattle and red deer into Prehistoric Ireland, in I Armit, E Murphy, E Nelis, and D Simpson, eds, Neolithic settlement in Ireland and Western Britain, Oxford, 31–39 Young, A, Ratcliffe, J, and Allan, J, 1993. Cable laying operations at Star Castle, Isles of Scilly, Truro (Cornwall Archaeological Unit, Cornwall County Council) Young, T, 2011. Geophysical Survey, in C Johns, E Berry, J Mulville, Teän farmhouses project 2007–8, Teän, Isles of Scilly: archaeological recording and building consolidation, Truro (Historic Environment Projects, Cornwall Council), 15, 20–1 11.3 Websites Heritage Gateway website – http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/gateway/ Images of England (Online database of Listed Buildings) http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/ Isles of Scilly museum – http://iosmuseum.org/ Isles of Scilly museum, family history https://www.iosmuseum.org/familyhistory Isles of Scilly museum, family history https://www.scillyaonb.org.uk/ Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework – http://www.scilly.gov.uk/planning/heritage-conservation-environment Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust https://www.ios-wildlifetrust.org.uk/ Isles of Scilly scillypedia http://scillypedia.co.uk/ScillyAtoZ.htm 12 Project archive The CAU project number is 146518 The project’s digital archive is housed at the offices of Cornwall Archaeological Unit, Cornwall Council, Fal Building, New County Hall, Truro, TR1 3AY. OASIS online reference: cornwall2-346328 307 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda 308 Isles of Scilly Historic Environment Research Framework: Resource Assessment and Research Agenda Cornwall Archaeological Unit Fal Building, County Hall, Treyew Road, Truro, Cornwall TR1 3AY (01872) 323603 enquiries@cau.org.uk www.cau.org.uk 309