Journeys to the Rock: Archaeological Investigations at Tregarrick Farm, Roche, Cornwall,Cornish Archaeology 41-42, 107-143

Cornish Archaeology, 2017

In August 2017 Cornwall Archaeological Unit was commissioned by Qila Energy to undertake an archaeological watching brief at Penans Farm near Grampound, during the phase 2 groundworks associated with the construction of an anaerobic digester / gas injection plant. Two significant features were uncovered: a pit which produced a middle fourth millennium cal BC radiocarbon determination and, a tree throw hollow with prehistoric pottery and flint. A small quantity of mostly residual and unstratified flint from the site is of later Neolithic or Early Bronze Age date. The context of the Neolithic pit is reviewed in the light of radiocarbon dates from similar sites across Cornwall and Devon.

Cornish Archaeology , 2010

Cornish Archaeology 51, 2012, 165-190, 2012

Geophysical survey in advance of development at Penmayne, identified a series of curvilinear anomalies thought to represent late prehistoric settlement. Targeted evaluation trenching revealed three ring-gullies associated with roundhouses of probable Middle Iron Age date. Three smaller structures, superimposed upon the ring-gullies indicated a later phase of Iron Age settlement. The work also discovered an Early Neolithic pit, associated with sherds of carinated bowl pottery and providing two radiocarbon dates in the mid fourth millennium cal BC. The investigation has added further information about the character of Early Neolithic occupation in north Cornwall and is particularly important for providing close dating for carinated bowl pottery in the south west. A third determination of 380-190 cal BC came from a hearth associated with a small assemblage of broadly Middle Iron Age pottery. The archaeological recording has provided another late prehistoric unenclosed settlement site for comparison with others in lowland Cornwall and increases the number of open settlements dating to the Iron Age.

Cornish Archaeology, 2019

Past, 2014

Excavations at Hendraburnick, Cornwall led to the first radiocarbon dates in southern Britain to be obtained from a site associated with rock art. http://www.prehistoricsociety.org/files/PAST_78_for_web.pdf

Cornish Archaeology , 2011

An overview of the period 4000 cal BC to 1000cal BC - based on recent work

Cornish Archaeology Vol 58

A prehistoric pit at Helston, Cornwall BOB CLARKE with contributions by phil harding, inés lópez-dóriga and grace jones A geophysical survey in advance of development at Helston Business Park, Helston, identified a number of possible features and further investigations were undertaken (a strip, map and record and watching brief). An area of approximately 0.3 hectares was investigated; a single archaeological feature, a pit, was revealed. The pit contained two fills; two undiagnostic sherds of gabbroic pottery came from the upper layer, while a flint core of Neolithic date was recovered from the lower fill. Environmental material was recovered from both fills on which radiocarbon dates were obtained. The flint core is of such superior quality that it may have been intentionally deposited in the pit.

Cornish Archaeology, 2005

Between 1998 and 2000 three seasons of archaeological recording were carried out by Cornwall Archaeological Unit within Imerys’ Stannon China Clay Works. The first two seasons of fieldwork focused on excavation of an Early Bronze Age cairn group and Middle Bronze Age and Middle Iron Age settlement activity. The third season was evaluative, designed to confirm the existence of a number of cairns and a field system and to sample palaeoenvironmental sites on the Northern Downs. The cairn group comprised three ring cairns and two ‘tailed’ cairns. One ring cairn, Site 9 was reused as a ceremonial monument in the Middle Bronze Age and again in the Iron Age as a house site. An artefactual assemblage including Bronze and Iron Age pottery and stonework was recovered. Three beads, one of faience, one of amber and another of glass, were also found. Twelve radiocarbon determinations spanning the Early to Middle Bronze Age and two Iron Age determinations were obtained from three of the excavated cairns. Two pollen columns on the Northern Downs were also dated, one of which provided environmental information from the Mesolithic to the early medieval period. The dating revealed that significant impact on the vegetation of the Down commenced during the Neolithic, with more extensive clearance during the Bronze Age. Widespread open grassland was in evidence by the Middle Bronze Age. The results from analyses of charred environmental material produced only limited evidence for cereal cultivation and the palynological evidence suggests that the economy in the Middle Bronze Age was based on pastoralism. It is suggested that the cairns formed a coherent group of monuments which were part of a wider landscape cosmology, which involved the grouping of particular monument types and the referencing of prominent rocks and tors.

Cornish Archaeology, 2020

Cornwall Archaeological Unit undertook a watching brief at Tyringham Road, Lelant, during groundworks associated with a housing development. The most significant discovery was a pit associated with Beaker pottery and a worked stone assemblage. An initial date on charcoal from the pit produced an Early Neolithic radiocarbon determination, reflecting much earlier activity than the pottery. Interestingly, the pit was overlain by deposits of sandy soils which had preserved a quantity of animal bone. Animal bone rarely survives in Cornwall’s harsh acidic soils, so a few fragments were submitted for radiocarbon dating. These produced a later medieval date, with a range from the mid-fifteenth to early sixteenth century AD.

Cornish Archaeology, 2008

Archaeological monitoring during the construction of the A39 Carnon Gate road improvements revealed a well-preserved Bronze Age roundhouse. The roundhouse was a particularly well-preserved example of its kind, comprising curvilinear stone-faced walling around a hollow cut into the hillslope, subsequently sealed by downhill movement of soil deposits. Deposits cleared from the top of the roundhouse produced finds of Trevisker-style Middle Bronze Age pottery, worked flint and a perforated stone weight. The small Trevisker pottery assemblage provided evidence for the transport of gabbroic clays from the Lizard for manufacture near the site. Residues from two sherds of pottery were submitted for radiocarbon dating, producing a date of 1500-1300 cal BC. The results of the investigation help to characterize the nature and date of Bronze Age occupation in lowland Cornwall and increase understanding generally of prehistoric settlement activity in the Mid Cornwall After recording of its upper levels, the roundhouse was reburied for preservation in situ.