| Abstract: |
Following an introduction to the area's geology and topography, the pre-Iron Age environment and finds are discussed. A palaeoecological study produced little evidence of human activity prior to the Middle Iron Age settlement, situated on the floodplain of the river Windrush. Excavation of this double ditched enclosure and paddock was combined with detailed environmental investigations, showing the site was in use for 50--100 years in the period c 380--110 bc. Interesting structural detail was preserved in the round-houses and occupation spreads, and the houses, four-post structures and other features are described. Finds include `Iron Age pottery', discussed by Duncan Wilson (70--5), copper alloy and iron objects (with `Metalworking' by Chris Salter (77)), clay objects and fired clay (with `Briquetage' identified by Elaine Morris (77)), worked bone, and a `Glass bead' by Julian Henderson (78). Use of stone, quern distribution, and structural timber are covered. The chronological development of the site is outlined and scientific evidence reveals the environment of the site during the Iron Age and after its abandonment. Martin Jones with Mark Robinson (120--3) discuss `The carbonised plant remains' and Bob Wilson provides `Reports on the bone and oyster shell' (123). Some emphasis on horses was evident from examinations of the animal bone, butchery and husbandry, with radiocarbon dates and phosphate analysis noted. Three fragments of human bone were recovered. Concluding discussions set this low status site with its mainly pastoral economy within the densely settled, agricultural landscape of the Iron Age. The one or two occupying households practised small-scale metalworking, pottery and processing of animal products and would have had trade and perhaps obligation links with other settlements. Cereals, for example, were consumed but not produced at the site. Abandonment of the enclosure may have been partly due to a rise in the water table. A large `Technical Appendix' (159--249) covers plants and invertebrates, with a `Report on pollen analysis of sample G' by Judy Turner (164), `Report on pollen analysis of sample 712/4' by James Grieg (164) and `Carbonised plant remains' by Martin Jones (164--5). `Bone and shell evidence' is covered by Bob Wilson with Don Bramwell (168) including `Bird bones and the significance of sieving' by Don Bramwell & Bob Wilson (172). Julian Henderson then presents the `Chemical analysis of the glass bead from Mingies Ditch' (191). The rest of the appendix comprises `Figures T1--T16' (192--204) and `Tables T1--T56' (205--249). |
