Environ Archaeol 8 (1)

Excavations on the multi-period settlement at Old Scatness, Shetland have uncovered a number of Iron Age structures with compacted, floor-like layers. Thin section analysis was undertaken in order to investigate and compare the characteristics of these layers. The investigation also draws on earlier analyses of the Iron Age agricultural soil around the settlement and the midden deposits that accumulated within the settlement, to create a `joined-up' analysis which considers the way material from the settlement was used and then recycled as fertiliser for the fields. Peat was collected from the nearby uplands and was used for fuel and possibly also for flooring. It is suggested that organic-rich floors from the structures were periodically removed and the material was spread onto the fields as fertilisers. More organic-rich material may have been used selectively for fertiliser, while the less organic peat ash was allowed to accumulate in middens. Several of the structures may have functioned as byres, which suggests a prehistoric plaggen system.

The paper examines the two existing models for identifying arable `producers' and `consumers' using archaeobotanical data from sites in southern England. Both models attribute variation between charred assemblages to the role of sites as primary arable producers or those receiving harvested crops. The testing of the models demonstrated that many charred archaeobotanical samples rather than relating to single specific processing activities can be attributed more generally to the waste generated from the routine processing of crops taken from storage throughout the year. The identifiable processing stages seen from most samples' composition then represent only those stages conducted after storage. Variation between site assemblages can therefore be attributed to different amounts of processing carried out after harvest before crops were put into storage rather than distinguishing between sites that grew crops and those that did not. As harvesting and processing prior to storage are labour demanding, charred assemblages have the potential to reveal differences within the social organisation of past farming communities. Two patterns were distinguished: one where the organisation of agricultural labour appeared to be conducted at a household level, the second where larger scale or communal organisation appeared to be present.

Reviews of: Rippon, S. (ed.) 2001. Estuarine Archaeology, the Severn and Beyond: Annual Report of the Severn Estuary Levels Research Committee (Archaeology in the Severn Estuary 11). Exeter: The Severn Estuary Levels Research Committee. ISSN 1354-7089. 219 pp. £15.50 (paperback) by Chris Caseldine; Greenwood E. F. (ed.) 1999. Ecology and Landscape Development. A History of the Mersey Basin. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. ISBN0-85323-653-4. 256 pp. £19.95(paperback) by Robert van de Noort. SH