Watts, M. A. and Scaife, R. G. (2008). The Archaeology and Palaeoenvironment of Baltmoor Wall, Somerset Levels, The Lower Tone Flood Defence Scheme. Archaeology in the Severn Estuary 19. Vol 19.
Title The title of the publication or report |
The Archaeology and Palaeoenvironment of Baltmoor Wall, Somerset Levels, The Lower Tone Flood Defence Scheme | ||
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Issue The name of the volume or issue |
Archaeology in the Severn Estuary 19 | ||
Series The series the publication or report is included in |
Archaeology in the Severn Estuary | ||
Volume Volume number and part |
19 | ||
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Licence Type ADS, CC-BY 4.0 or CC-BY 4.0 NC. |
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Publication Type The type of publication - report, monograph, journal article or chapter from a book |
Journal | ||
Abstract The abstract describing the content of the publication or report |
Observations and palaeoenvironmental samples were taken during engineering works to Baltmoor Wall, a medieval flood defence embankment between East Lyng and Athelney Hill, Somerset. Pottery recovered from beneath Baltmoor Wall indicates construction of the embankment in the 14th or 15th century, agreeing with the historical evidence. Evidence for an early medieval bank and ditch was also recorded, the earliest known excavated features from Athelney Hill. A number of samples taken through the Holocene sequence of alluvial silts and peat were assessed for their palaeoenvironmental potential with regard to their pollen, diatom, foraminifera and plant macrofossil content. All of these profiles were dated to either the 2nd millennium BC (Bronze Age), or 1st millennium AD (Roman to medieval), and two profiles, one from each of these periods, were selected for detailed analysis. The results show that, throughout the Bronze Age, the surrounding environment was dominated locally by woodland, with oak, hazel, lime and ash. The depositional environment changed from a grass/sedge fen in the earlymiddle Bronze Age to a wetland carr woodland, regressing to a grass-sedge fen in later Bronze Age, possibly due to widespread positive eustatic changes. Retrieved late Bronze Age timbers may have come from a trackway, perhaps constructed in response to the increasing local wetness. The presence of cereal pollen indicates a general background of arable agriculture throughout the sequence, but probably not in the immediate vicinityA similar depositional sequence was apparent from the 1st millennium AD, with a grass/sedge fen of the early Roman period giving way to a drier swamp and ultimately alder carr environment, but which in the 11th to 12th century also regressed back to a wetter floodplain, possibly with episodes of marine incursion. Water management by the monks of Athelney Abbey from the 12th century onwards probably contributed. The local environment was dominated by herbs and grasses with few trees and shrubs. Pollen evidence again indicates a general background of arable agriculture and some evidence for increasing pasture. Thick deposits of colluvium recorded over the early medieval bank and ditch appear to provide firm evidence for soil erosion on Athelney Hill, probably due to arable farming following the founding of the abbey in the late 9th century AD. | ||
Year of Publication The year the book, article or report was published |
2008 | ||
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Created Date The date the record of the pubication was first entered |
09 Oct 2017 |