J Wetland Archaeol 5

Recent archaeological surveys on estuaries in Britain and Ireland have uncovered evidence for medieval and post-medieval fish traps, which often exhibit regional characteristics and long-term continuities of fishing practices. The author argues that this may reveal that past fishing communities would have been aware of this `archaeology of the mudflats' and would have actively used their local knowledge to construct and negotiate their social identities and economic practices.

The paper considers that the discovery of the Dover boat (1550 cal BC) suggests that contemporary models of Middle Bronze Age social structure, focused on the extended family group, are not the whole story in that such vessels would not have served a single household. The author argues that many people would have been involved in its construction and supplying its crew, whilst its very existence implies long-distance contact between wider level social polities, raising questions concerning who would have had the expertise to build such a vessel and sail it across open seas. Taking the Dover boat as a starting point, the paper speculates on the nature of social structure during the Middle Bronze Age.

Report on a panel discussion between Roy Carlson, Bryony Coles, John Coles, Richard Daugherty, Glen Doran, Rhonda Foster, Akira Matsui, Aidan O'Sullivan and Barbara Purdy.