Current Archaeol 6

Considers whether the present distribution of grouped axes could be due to local use of glacial erratics for axe-making. The 1928 map of Lake District erratics shows poor correlation with the map of Group VI (Langdale) axes, and the relative frequency map of Group I (Cornish) axes is explained (pace Briggs who sees it as a reflection of naturally recycled Triassic material) as bulk trade from a southwestern source.

Renewed excavations 84 years after those of Pitt Rivers revealed that he had worked by sequential stripping of parallel trenches and had missed seeing postholes, pits and worked flints. Excavation on an untouched part of the site produced much occupation evidence: postholes of a circular structure, pits and other features set on platforms dug into the slope. Plans for future research are outlined.

In major discoveries made in 1977 a stretch of ?Roman city wall standing up to parapet height was located by stripping plaster off a church wall; the remains of two Roman soldiers were found huddled in a pit with their swords; and a hitherto unrecognized fragment of an apse of Lanfranc's cathedral (1070s) was found.

Recent work has provided some support for Gillam's thesis that the Antonine Wall was orginally constructed much like Hadrian's Wall, with widely spaced forts interspersed with smaller structures. At Seabegs Wood a fortlet contemporary with the curtain wall was found, and at Croy Hill, just west of the main fort, another fortlet has been demonstrated. The intention of this Wall, as with Hadrian's, may have been to romanize the tribes to the south.

Brief summary of an international conference held in Leicester in April 1978 with speakers from Denmark, Netherlands, Flanders, France and SE Ireland as well as England. The seignorial origin of moats is now well accepted, though moats also became a status symbol for lower ranks of society.

Describes a number of short discrete lengths of multiple ditches recorded from the air over a wide area of the Midlands between Humber and Northampton. Nearly all are cropmark sites but two stretches have upstanding earthworks. Trial excavations showed three infilled ditches with two medial banks. The suggestion is that they form a system of prehistoric tribal boundaries.

[HU 257516]. Over 100 Neo-BA houses are now thought to exist on Shetland; excavations on a site with three or four houses are briefly reported. Each house is set in its own stone-walled field, and carbonized barley and stone ard-shares etc attest cereal growing. The pollen diagram suggests a lengthy occupation, as do the field systems and clearance heaps, and initial clearance was as early as 3000 bc. There is excellent potential in Shetland for understanding the relationship between man and environment.

Excavation of a medieval graveyard produced 300 graves in five different types: (1) simple, shallow depressions; (2) 'pillow' graves with stones under skull; (3) crushed stone and mortar lining to grave; (4) 'full cist' ie walls of stones and mortar round body; (5) charcoal burial (one only). Types 3 and 4 are unique, the others fairly rare.

Intensive work along the waterfront in advance of large scale redevelopment allows the presentation of an outline history of this important economic area, which echoes London's own development. From 1st century AD the course of the Thames was being modified and contained by massive timber revetments the contemporary warehouses have not yet been found. The defensive wall was added in 4th century; and at New Fresh Wharf the Roman quay decayed and was partly dismantled in Saxon times. The Billingsgate area should provide more information on the Saxon port. From 12th to 16th century land was reclaimed piecemeal from the Thames, private enterprise contrasting with the Roman civic planning; but zoning of trade goods is evident and prosperity caused 14th and 15th century expansion eastwards. A final 19th century boom has been followed by 20th century closures, decay and demolitions. See also 79/6482.

Excavations in the 1960s and 1970s in this key area of medieval Dublin ceased through lack of funds, and attempts to restrain the Corporation, by legal means, from redeveloping the site have failed. The whole affair has pointed up the lack of a plan for urban archaeology in the Republic, a situation which the Irish Association of Professional Archaeologists is trying to remedy. Wood Quay is not just a matter of some Viking buildings and finds; it has already caused a complete reassessment of the Viking (and Norman) contribution to Ireland's urban life and historical development. Many illustrations of structures and finds from Viking Dublin may be found in Viking settlement to medieval Dublin, Curriculum Development Unit, Dublin, O'Brien Educational, 1978, price £4.50.

Between Sherwood Forest and Doncaster lie the remains of a very extensive field system planned on a large scale in 'brickwork' patterns. On the hard rocks are many isolated enclosures and some more complex sites. In the Yorkshire Dales many shadow sites have been recorded where remains are upstanding (and may need protection from the fate which met the Wessex field systems). Much more study and evaluation of this new material is needed before any excavation effort is put into answering the innumerable questions raised.

Half a dozen Bronze Age specialists contribute short articles on recent findings, with linking editorial text. John Barrett defines a 'post Deverel-Rimbury tradition' in pottery of 11th to 9th centuries BC, and notes an increased concern with decoration from 8th to 5th centuries; as a result much traditional 'Early Iron Age' settlement is seen to begin earlier and last longer than once thought. In Andrew Fleming's Dartmoor Reaves project, excavations on Holne Moor have revealed a very substantial stone house preceded by a smaller timber one and followed by a very small stone ?herdsman's hut. The presumed 'henge' at Thwing, described by Terry Manby, proved on excavation to be of Later BA date and more like a hillfort in function, with box rampart, outer and inner ditch with opposed entrances, and massive central building. Two sites in Cranborne Chase - South Lodge Camp and Down Farm - are under exploration by John Barrett, Richard Bradley and Martin Green to throw much new light on Deverel-Rimbury settlement. At Billingborough Peter Chowne has excavated a four-phase site, starting with a 12th century bc enclosure and ending in later 1st millennium BC with a field system replacing the earlier enclosures. Several other authors make short statements on specific details, and the editorial matter includes plans of the Black Patch settlement.

Two years of work by the Carlisle Archaeological Unit have revealed late Flavian/Trajanic timber buildings (strip houses or shops) and a post-Roman hall on the Blackfriars Street site, where later the Dominicans built their church and had their graveyard (nearly 200 skeletons). In The Lanes substantial Roman timber buildings and poor medieval cottages have come to light, and in Annetwell Street a pre-Hadrianic fort gate was examined. See also 80/68l7.

Evidence from excavations and documents was directed towards understanding the housing of ordinary townsfolk in Norwich in 16th and 17th centuries. In addition architectural reconstructions have been essayed towards understanding the social organization of the occupants. Sites on Alms Lane/St George's Street and on Oak Street indicate a tendency to subdivision to cope with increasing population. However inserted upper floors are only rarely detectable archaeologically.

A recent plea for random sampling of sites should not be taken to apply to animal bones, whose study needs the excavation and preservation of very large samples.

Draws attention to the damage, often catastrophic, which has occurred to numerous mosaics since their first discovery. An international association has been formed to help with conservation problems.