Wiltshire Archaeol Natur Hist Mag 98

Description of a chalk quarry in Porton village which is rich in prehistoric flint flakes; also of the nature of the earthworks there, and discussion of the probable sequence of activities.

A gazetteer of material illustrating religious beliefs and customs in Wiltshire during the Reformation found in wills proved in the local church courts between 1519 and 1590. It was compiled during work on the Wiltshire Wills Project, an initiative to improve access to and preservation of this collection. References to dedications of churches different to those found today have also been noted. Following an introduction, the gazetteer is presented in three sections -- bequests to churches and funeral customs; burials in churches and churchyards (specified places); and church dedications.

Article concerning a folly erected on top of Tower Hill, Newton Toney, in the early-eighteenth century, which fell down or was demolished by 1839. Some of the component materials were used in building Newton Toney church, the remainder being converted into a mound, on top of which was sited an early Ordnance Survey triangulation point. The appearance of the folly is deduced from some of the masonry blocks remaining at the site, and from a small but assumed representative symbol on an early map. The origin of the fabric of the folly is discussed, particularly in relation to small buildings demolished at Amesbury Abbey. A topographical survey of the hill suggests an encircling bank and ditch. An excavation, aimed at determining the nature and date of this feature, uncovered a flint working industry mainly of the Early Bronze Age.

The paper attempts to show that the move from Old Sarum to the current site of Salisbury should be seen as a symbolic endeavour as well as a pragmatic reality. The study concentrates on two contemporary accounts which describe the intention to move, and the desire to complete the translation, to the new site. The two writers borrow heavily from the Bible, suggesting that the event was seen as possessing great symbolic significance. Includes

During an excavation on the site of the former Anchor Brewery, five phases of medieval and post-medieval urban development were identified. Initial construction on the Gigant Street frontage is unlikely to pre-date c. 1250, but it is only after a fourteenth-century redevelopment that a row of six two-room, probably single-storey cottages, of timber framed construction, founded on masonry dwarf walls, can be clearly defined. The building plans were remarkably static over time, with only minor internal changes visible in the archaeological record, the most significant of which might relate to the addition of a second storey. Food and other remains from a series of hearths, floors and middens contribute to an understanding of these low status vernacular buildings. Specialist reports include

Excavation along the line of a Wessex Water pipeline to the north of Old Sarum, Salisbury, revealed features on Neolithic to post-medieval date. Thirteen Middle Neolithic pits, in groups of two or three, were found at two locations, containing structured deposits of Peterborough Ware pottery, flints, animal bone, antler and other materials. Radiocarbon dates from four of the pits were statistically identical, although molluscan evidence indicated considerable variation in the landscape, with elements of woodland, scrub and open downland. There was some evidence for Beaker and Early Bronze Age activity, followed by Middle Bronze Age settlement northwest of Old Sarum, with possibly associated human and cow burials, and a Late Bronze Age settlement to the east. A series of Iron Age features indicating specialised activities was found to the east of the entrance to the Old Sarum hillfort, and there were three Late Iron Age/early Romano-British burials in a ditch south of The Portway, one of the Roman roads that converged at Sorviodunum. To the west, Romano-British features were recorded associated with the settlement at Camp Hill.

The article brings together a list of all the known archaeological excavations that have taken place within the project area of the Extensive Urban Survey, a project aimed at addressing the need for a new assessment of the urban archaeology of Salisbury. The author attempts to reconstruct the development of the medieval city from the results of the investigations combined with existing knowledge, and summarises the significant findings and highlights those areas where there is the potential for further work.

The article calls for a move away from chronological typologies of the Wessex period of the Early Bronze Age, particularly Wessex I and II, and a move towards coeval burial studies of Wessex elites, who, it is argued, performed different roles enjoying similar social status.

Report on the excavation in 2002 of a lynchet previously identified as part of a series of earthwork enclosures and field systems on Overton Down South, Fyfield Down, Avebury, and believed to date originally to the late-second or early-first millennium BC, having been abandoned during the Iron Age and brought back into cultivation in the Romano-British period.

Article discussing whether the artist and poet William Blake was the engraver responsible for the Stonehenge medal, struck in 1796 to commemorate the restoration of the monument.