Unlocking the Past: Archaeology from Aggregates in Worcestershire
Worcestershire Historic Environment and Archaeology Service, 2009. https://doi.org/10.5284/1000167. How to cite using this DOI
Data copyright © Worcestershire Historic Environment and Archaeology Service unless otherwise stated
This work is licensed under the ADS Terms of Use and Access.
Primary contact
Derek
Hurst
Post-excavation Manager
Worcestershire Historic Environment and Archaeology Service
Woodbury
Worcester University
Henwick Grove, Worcester
WR2 6AJ
England
Tel: 01905 765908
Resource identifiers
- ADS Collection: 924
- ALSF Project Number: 4776
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1000167
- How to cite using this DOI
Overview
This project was undertaken by Worcestershire Historic Environment and Archaeology Service (WHEAS) and funded by English Heritage through the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund programme. Local group and museum collections from aggregate production areas of south Worcestershire were assessed as part of a project designed to 'unlock' their potential. Many of these had never been studied previously, while others warranted re-consideration in the light of limitations of previous analysis and/or advances in archaeological knowledge and techniques of analysis.
Stage 2 2006-2007
Stage 2 Assessment of the collections identified several regionally important assemblages and numerous lesser assemblages along with one nationally significant archive collection, that from Cruso Hencken's excavations at Bredon Hill 1935-7. Due to the importance of the latter collection, the project output has been divided into two separate assessment reports each accompanied by an updated project design for a subsequent stage of analysis and dissemination.
Bredon Hill
The hillfort on Bredon Hill is a major Iron Age monument in south Worcestershire. It overlooks part of the Severn valley, including the contemporary lowland settlement at Beckford, where large-scale excavation was undertaken in the 1960s-70s (for which a final programme of analysis and publication is now in progress; PNUM 3346).
Assessment of the 1935-7 hillfort excavation archive shows that it represents a significant research collection. Notably it includes the human bone and associated finds from the so-called 'massacre layer' inside the main gateway, where in situ human remains of Iron Age date (minimum of 16 individuals) had been deposited in most unusual circumstances. The site also produced an assemblage of artefacts, significant both in range and quantity, and this part of the archive is in a very good state. Sadly no excavation records, besides some photographs, have come to light.
Assessment suggests that the archive provides the potential to date the final, possibly dramatic, end of site occupation and, therefore, provides a rare terminus ante quem for the finds. The quantity and quality of the finds, also suggests that with some limited re-appraisal and some specific detailed recording, this would be an even more important group for characterising the later prehistoric archaeology of the region. By improving the usefulness and effectiveness of the Bredon Hill collection for comparative studies, there would be a contribution to current research, including the forthcoming Beckford publication, and to future research generally, including where sites are discovered during aggregates extraction throughout this part of the Severn and Avon valley.
Other collections
The other collections consist of a series of excavation, fieldwalking and localised surface find spot assemblages and limited associated paper archives from a total of 58 sites investigated between 1911 and 2005. These derive from areas of the county affected by aggregate extraction and include previously unstudied collections as well as those warranting further study or re-evaluation. Some of the collections assessed derived from cropmark sites which were affected by aggregate extraction prior to the implementation of current planning legislation and which have received little or no previous consideration. Elements of the collections determined to lie beyond the scope of the project are excluded from proposals for further work.
A total of 47,863 artefacts weighing 466,810kg form the basis of the assessment. The majority have been washed, marked and packaged to modern standards for the first time. Most of the processing and sorting required has been undertaken by a group of volunteers including students from the local Blind College and a group of adults with learning difficulties. Taken together, volunteers have contributed in excess of 200 person days to the project to date. For many, this has represented their first experience of working with archaeological material, while for others it has provided an opportunity to extend their knowledge and skills base.
The collections as a group and in some instances in their own right have been demonstrated to have a high potential for analysis and dissemination. Due to the paucity of paper archives, the principal value of the majority of the assemblages lies in limited analysis to support site dating, characterisation and distribution across aggregate production areas rather than in detailed analysis of individual sites. However, six assemblages from Birmingham Museum have considerable potential in their own right and are identified for more detailed analysis to develop a clearer understanding of Roman period ceramics in use on rural sites in south Worcestershire. Such analysis would considerably support future characterisation and dating of this type of site, which is probably the most commonly encountered during evaluation and mitigation work on aggregate extraction sites.
Stage 3 2007-2008
Stage 3 undertook further analysis on a selection of these assemblages in order to:
- date and characterise settlement patterns of the Roman period and economic activity across one of the main aggregate extraction areas of the county;
- define variations in settlement patterns and economic activity across these areas;
- understand the relationship of surface assemblages to cropmark sites and where possible to date and characterise the cropmark enclosures, thereby providing a model for the characterisation and dating of cropmark sites which could be tested at some future point;
- improve understanding and awareness of the potential of lithic scatters in the county;
- enhance the HER through addition of information on dating and character on sites that merit further recording;
- contribute to Unlocking the Past: Outreach (Worcestershire) making the results of archaeological work undertaken in aggregate production areas of Worcestershire available to community groups, educational organisations, private researchers and other interested parties.
The digital archive
The digital archive currently consists of the following reports produced over the course of the ALSF grant:
- Hurst,D. and Jackson, R. 2007: Unlocking the past: Collections and HER Enhancement (Stage 3b). Assessment and Updated Project Design for the Bredon hillfort (Worcestershire) archive - 1935-7 excavations by Thalassa Cruso Hencken, Worcestershire County Historic Environment and Archaeology Service (circulation copy with UPD omitted).
- Jacobs, A, and Jackson, R, 2007: Unlocking the past: collections and HER enhancement: assessment and updated project design, Worcestershire County Historic Environment and Archaeology Service.
- C Jane Evans, Jane Timby, Dennis Williams, Robin Jackson, and Derek Hurst, 2008: Unlocking the Past (South Worcestershire Collections). Stage 3 Report and HER enhancement, Worcestershire County Historic Environment and Archaeology Service. Report 1591
