Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 69

Report of the investigation and excavation of a circle of timber posts within the intertidal zone on the north Norfolk coast. The structure was shown to have been constructed during the spring or early summer of 2049 BC, during the Early Bronze Age. Because of the perceived threat of damage and erosion from the sea a rescue excavation was undertaken. The structure was entirely excavated, involving the removal of the timbers and a programme of stratigraphic recording and environmental analysis. A survey was also undertaken within the environs of the site which has identified further timber structures dating from the Bronze Age. Detailed examination of the timber from the circle has produced a wealth of unexpected information which has added greatly to our understanding of Early Bronze Age woodworking, organisation of labour and the layout and construction of timber ritual monuments. Includes French, German and Spanish summaries. Also includes:

An excavation at Faraday Road, Newbury, encountered an Early Mesolithic layer containing abundant worked flint directly associated with animal bones. The flint assemblage was dominated by obliquely-blunted microlithic forms with a restricted range of other items. The animal bones were dominated by wild pig with evidence of both primary butchery and food waste. Spatial analysis of the bone and flint assemblages indicated discrete activity areas, possibly associated with hearths. Pollen and molluscan data, together with soil micromorphological examination, confirmed an Early Holocene date for the formation of the layer. Radiocarbon dates place the site in the late tenth--early ninth millennium BP. The paper re-examines the nature of known Early Mesolithic activity in this part of the Kennet valley, with reference to the specific environmental conditions that seem to have prevailed. It is concluded that the site represents part of a continuum of Early Mesolithic occupation along the floodplain, each focus of activity witnessing repeated, but intermittent, occupation spanning a period of more than a millennium. Includes French, German and Spanish summaries. Also includes:

The paper presents the results of an investigation from a river valley west of the Somerset Levels. The record is contrasted with the pollen and archaeological record from the south-west uplands and the Somerset Levels. Vegetation change and archaeological evidence are generally consistent, with evidence from the middle valley of Mesolithic vegetation disturbance (with nearby lithics), Neolithic clearance in the lower valley and Neolithic--Bronze Age ceremonial and domestic activity, but in the upper reach the maintenance of wooded valley floor conditions probably with management until historic times. The vegetation history of the valley is found to be significantly different to that of the uplands. The pollen data from the valley suggest the lowland had a rich and mixed ecology providing a wide range of resources and that, despite less visible archaeological remains, human activity is manifest through palynological evidence from the Mesolithic to the Bronze Age. The largest expanse of valley-floor terrace, the Nether Exe Basin, which was at least partially deforested in the Early Neolithic, contains a rich assemblage of Neolithic--Bronze Age ceremonial, funerary and domestic archaeology associated with an early and clear palynological record of woodland clearance, arable and pastoral activity. Includes French, German and Spanish summaries.

Excavation of a site in 2001 within the large-scale prehistoric landscape under investigation at Bestwall Quarry, Wareham. The house was succeeded by the burnt mound which was associated with two large pits. All the structures were associated with a substantial and well-preserved assemblage of Deverel-Rimbury pottery. Most of this pottery, and two copper alloy bracelets, also of Middle Bronze Age date, comprised remarkable closing deposits that marked the abandonment of the structures. Includes French, German and Spanish summaries.

Analysis of 154 complete handaxes from the Palaeolithic site at Cuxton Kent, in order to test the theory of M J White that differences in handaxe shape reflect differences in the raw materials used in their manufacture. The author concludes that, although the Cuxton material appears to contradict the simplified prediction regarding raw material sources, it conforms to the principle that nodule form influenced human technological choices and practices. Includes French, German and Spanish summaries.