Forum Yorkshire 2 (The Archaeological Forum Journal)

This paper presents an overview of recent research on the Mesolithic lithic scatters in the Central Pennine area. In particular, it aims to exemplify a new analytical and interpretive approach to these lithic scatters by outlining'”on a broad level'”the new methodology, themes and conceptual links between the artefactual evidence (including the chaine operatoire model) and hunter--gatherer behaviour. The main conclusions are summarised, including a radically new narrative that intimately links prehistoric lithic consumption and tool use with Mesolithic mobility strategies, and settlement patterns in northern England. In doing so, the author hopes to highlight the need for a radically different methodological and paradigmatic approach to the recovery, study and recording of the lithic heritage of the Pennines and beyond.

Renovation works within All Saints Cathedral, Wakefield, required the reduction of the floor level of the nave by up to half a metre. The archaeological remains that were revealed were excavated and recorded by Archaeological Services WYAS and Wessex Archaeology; any exposed human remains that would not be affected by the works were recorded and left in situ. The excavations identified twenty-three articulated skeletons and the disarticulated remains of a minimum of ninety-one individuals. The burials appear to separate into four periods: Anglo-Saxon (late 10th or early 11th century); late Anglo-Saxon to medieval; the 15th to 17th centuries; and from at least 1718--1856. Analysis of the graves and skeletal remains has provided insights into health and burial practices in Wakefield over nine centuries of its history.

This article provides an overview of the various forms of graffiti, historic and modern, encountered during archaeological survey work in Yorkshire by staff of Ed Dennison Archaeological Services. Certain types of graffiti raise complex issues of conservation and protection whilst others have the potential to create an uneasy relationship between those using a historic landscape and those conserving it. This themed summary explores some of these issues, looking in turn at three sub-groups of graffiti: carved, painted/drawn, and built. Examples discussed include 19th century graffiti at Harewood Castle in West Yorkshire; carved initials on a garden boundary wall at Church House, Adlingfleet, near Goole; a collection of graffiti on the lead of the nave roof and south aisle of All Saints Church, Wath upon Dearne; graffiti in the cart-shed at Wharram Percy Farm, Wharram Percy; painted decoration in gun crews' shelters at the Second World War heavy anti-aircraft battery at Stone Creek, Sunk Island, near Hull; and stones arranged to form letters on the summit of Ingleborough, North Yorkshire. LD

The uplands of the South Pennines include heritage assets of international value dating from the Mesolithic through to the present day; mining/extractive and water supply industries in particular had a formative impact on the landscape and played an important role for the surrounding settlements, but knowledge of this rich heritage is largely confined to a specialist audience. The South Pennines Watershed Landscape Project, a three-year programme begun in 2010, has been engaging and directly involving people with the upland environment, aiming to raise awareness within individuals of the fascinating life histories of these locations, promote a sense of place, and foster a desire to protect the wealth of heritage assets for future generations. It also seeks to provide a legacy within the community. This paper reflects on the landscape-scale nature of the project as it nears its conclusion, outlining its multidisciplinary approach to community engagement that led to its being awarded a Laureate in the European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage/Europa Nostra Awards 2013.

This paper explores the archaeological evidence uncovered at Dacre in Nidderdale for an extremely rare single-site multi-phase chronology of historic iron workings that stretches over two millennia from circa 400 BC until the 17th century. Remains included in situ workings dating from the earliest Iron Age technology in the form of several bowl furnaces to a few later furnaces and on to a vast multitude of medieval furnaces with their associated slag refuse, charcoal and water-power features. The paper also considers the success of the Iron Age (Nidderdale) Community Archaeology Project, which was created to investigate and develop a deeper understanding of the development of these historic iron workings.

In this paper the author -- a potter and maker of replica pottery -- gives a potter's perspective on prehistoric pottery making, and attempts both to dispel some of the myths surrounding this ancient technology and to show that there is far more to making a 'simple' pot than is commonly realised. He underlines the importance of archaeologists having a better understanding of the processes that created the artefacts and contextual evidence they uncover; without this knowledge, valuable evidence from excavation can be lost or misinterpreted.

Excavations by the author and members of Teesside Archaeological Society in 2012--13 unearthed part of a Romano-British farmstead at Street House in Yorkshire, comprising the remains of several buildings within an enclosure. The work at this site was part of a broader project to examine a landscape in East Cleveland, assisted by local people, businesses and archaeology students. The excavation findings are outlined briefly in this article. Au/LD

An archaeological investigation was carried out by the Friargate Community Archaeology Project under the guidance of York Archaeological Trust, ahead of the construction of an extension to a Quaker meeting house on Friargate in York, within an Area of Archaeological Importance. This article outlines the background to the site and the results of the work, which included the recording and dismantling of a garden wall and the recovery of human remains that had been reinterred in 1983 following their discovery during building works. The present meeting house is the latest in a series of such buildings that have stood on the site since the mid-17th century. LD

Following a pilot project in South Yorkshire in 2007--09, in 2011 the Workers' Educational Association (WEA) embarked upon 'Digability', an ambitious education project funded by a Heritage Lottery grant. The project aimed to deliver archaeology courses to disadvantaged groups across Yorkshire and the Humber. To date, students have included adults with additional needs as a result of learning disabilities, physical impairments and/or mental health difficulties. This article outlines the premises on which Digability was founded, some of the opportunities and benefits it has been able to provide for the students involved, and the training and development available to volunteers. Digability has measurable benefits not only for the students, but also for the WEA, the volunteers, the care sector and the heritage sector. LD

Presents short summaries of work undertaken recently across Yorkshire by Wessex Archaeology, including: building survey and recording at a former 19th century iron foundry (the Caledonia Works) in Sheffield; excavation of likely Romano-British boundary ditches or stock enclosures along the Finningley and Rossington Regeneration Route Scheme; trial trenching which revealed post-medieval structures around the derelict Poplar Farm farmhouse, Clay Lane, Long Sandall; investigation of a Romano-British enclosure at Rossington Inland Port; Romano-British enclosures and possible structural evidence at Kirton Lane, Stainforth; a former railway embankment and a green lane at North Doncaster Chord, Shaftholme; undated features, a Romano-British enclosure ditch and a possible Iron Age gully at Hampole Wind Farm; woodland survey at Burbage Plantation, Sheffield; a watching brief during groundworks for a cycleway and footpath along the Roman Ridge Roman road (where little of archaeological interest was seen as the works were designed to avoid damage to the surviving monument); excavation of an Anglo-Saxon cemetery within the playing fields of the North Ridge Community School in Adwick-le-Street; surveys at the site of a manorial moat and an elevated platform at Lodge Farm, Scholes; excavation and recording of an 18th century cascade within the Grade I listed parkland south-west of Bramham House, Wetherby, in order to inform its reconstruction; evaluation of the remains of 19th century industrial structures and an area of Romano-British activity within the known area of the vicus of Roman Castleford; assessment and walk-over survey of an area of coal-mining remains at Emley; historic building recording of Red Gables, an early 17th century house at Crigglestone; trial trenches within the graveyard at The Square Chapel, Halifax; identification of Iron Age ditches at Kirkdale Road, Kirkbymoorside; and gradiometer survey at Boroughbridge Road, Knaresborough, where anomalies identified as a ditched field system, a possible enclosure and additional features were recorded. LD