Title: |
Archaeological Test Pit Excavations in Shillington, Bedfordshire, 2013 |
Series: |
Access Cambridge Archaeology unpublished report series
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Downloads: |
accessca1-193314_1.pdf (9 MB)
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Licence Type: |
ADS Terms of Use and Access
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DOI |
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Publication Type: |
Report (in Series)
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Abstract: |
This report presents the results of a programme of archaeological excavation of 23 1m2 'test pits' in the Bedfordshire village of Shillington carried out in summer 2013. The programme was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) through its 'All Our Stories' programme and supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Connected Communities theme which funded the Cambridge Community Heritage programme at the University of Cambridge in 20012-13. The landscape was used by humans in the prehistoric period, apparently favouring the area nearer the small brook running west of the prominent hill which dominates the land around the parish. One test pit near this stream produced convincing evidence for undisturbed settlement remains in the immediate vicinity. Small quantities of pottery of Roman date came from five different sites, two of them away from the Brookside area hinting at a pattern of settlement or agricultural land use moving beyond the lower lying zones. No evidence was found for any activity dating to the period between the 5th - 9th centuries AD, but Saxo-Norman pottery of 10th - 11th century date was found in two distinct concentrations, suggesting more than one hamlet present, possibly part of a nucleated pattern of settlement, at this time. The high medieval period saw settlement at these sites grow and that at three other 'ends' appear, indicating a pattern of mixed dispersed and nucleated settlement. This growth ceases in the late medieval period, with Shillington particularly badly affected in this period of widespread demographic and settlement contraction compared to many settlements in the eastern region. In the post-medieval period, however, the test pit data indicates that Shillington gradually recovered, with former dispersed settlements mostly reoccupied, although it did not achieve its pre-14th century levels and some of the medieval 'ends' remained uninhabited until the 19th century. |
Author: |
Carenza Lewis
A Pryor
D W T Turner
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Publisher: |
Access Cambridge Archaeology
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Other Person/Org: |
Historic England (OASIS Reviewer)
Central Bedfordshire HER (OASIS Reviewer)
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Year of Publication: |
2014
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Locations: |
Site: |
Shillington |
County: |
Bedfordshire |
District: |
Central Bedfordshire |
Parish: |
SHILLINGTON |
Country: |
England |
Grid Reference: 512562, 234625 (Easting, Northing)
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Subjects / Periods: |
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Identifiers: |
OASIS Id: |
accessca1-193314 |
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Note: |
A4, 132 pages, comb bound
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Source: |
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Created Date: |
01 Feb 2018 |