| Abstract: |
The study of battlefields is one of the most recent areas of archaeological investigation. Originating in the USA in work at the Little Bighorn in 1984, the first archaeological investigations in England were undertaken in the mid 1990s, at Naseby (Northamptonshire) and then at Towton (North Yorkshire). Over the last ten years several more large-scale projects have been carried out. In the process, important advances have been made in refining and applying systematic methods. The present book is based upon a resource assessment of English battlefields of the pre-industrial era, prepared for English Heritage in 2006–08. This has been revised and updated to include results of subsequent research up to the end of 2010. While the focus of the book is on the nature and recognition of archaeological evidence, some consideration is also given to interpretative and commemorative aspects of the subject. A key objective has been to describe the evolving methodology for the investigation of battlefields. Such study involves the integration of techniques of military history, archaeological survey (particularly with metal detectors), and landscape history. It divides into four main stages, the first of which is analysis of primary written sources for the action. Next comes reconstruction of the historic terrain in which the battle was fought, using written, physical and (where available) graphical evidence. A third step is to place the events of the battle in that landscape context using the topographical clues in the accounts. After this, the resulting hypotheses are tested by investigation of battle archaeology in the field. The main thrust of the book is accordingly towards the unstratified metal artefact scatters which form the core component of battle archaeology – material left by the fighting itself. It is also in this area that the most important advances are to be made, and where effective conservation management is most urgently required. Mass graves are discussed. However, since this is a specialist area in which England has seen only one modern excavation, and since publication of that work has already demonstrated the rich potential of its field, no attempt is made here to repeat that discussion. Instead, the focus is upon the challenge of actually locating mass graves, for if their potential is to be realised then they must be found, and in practice they are extremely elusive. Until this problem is solved they are a resource which cannot be exploited or conserved. The analysis of battlefields presented here is underpinned by a newly revised database of fields of conflict in England, which provides the basis for period surveys from prehistory to the early modern age. In each phase the current state of knowledge is discussed and the research potential explored. While some attention is given to other types of place where fighting occurred, the main emphasis is upon battles – from earliest times to 1685. This is because it is on battlefields that the majority of information currently exists and where the main research potentials have been revealed. While general observations are made on other fields of conflict, only for the early modern period has a consideration of sieges been attempted. A key conclusion is that battlefields older than 1066 are at present almost improssible to locate, and, accordingly, little is currently possible in the way of their investigation. This may change, but for present purposes the last millennium is the centre of attention, for it is here that historically rewarding analysis of individual battlefields is now possible. Moreover, as one moves closer to the present both written and physical evidence and research potential increase. The most extensive discussion is of the period from 1450 to 1685, for it is here that substantial archaeological evidence appears to exist for the battles themselves. |
