Sussex Archaeological Collections 137

The Caburn dominates the lower Ouse valley in East Sussex. Its use and significance have waxed and waned but its unique dome shape against the skyline must have helped define peoples' sense of place throughout time. This article, based on the first three field seasons of the Society's project, examines the surfaces of the hill, the use of space on the hill and through time. In prehistory the Caburn may have been a special place, perhaps a sacred hill, while in post-Roman times its strategic location was utilized in times of threat.

A watching brief and subsequent excavation revealed a number of Romano-British features. Evidence of Mesolithic and Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age activity was established through the surface collection of a small assemblage of worked flint. A single blade/burin of Upper Palaeolithic date was also located. Romano-British features, which were predominately of late-fourth century date included a ditch with a large pottery assemblage and a probable corn drying oven. Includes separately authored reports on:

A simple method is described for measuring the depth of the sciatic notch in fetal ilia. Morphological and molecular analyses were undertaken separately to determine the sexes of seven Romano-British infant burials from the Roman villas at Beddingham, East Sussex and Bignor, West Sussex. Geometric analysis of the sciatic notch indicate that three of the infants from Beddingham were female, while three were male. Using the same criteria the Bignor baby was determined as female. Amelogenin polymerase chain reaction confirmed the sexing of four of the infants from Beddingham (three male, one female), but could not sex the other remains due to poor DNA preservation. If the burials at Beddingham were the result of infanticide, its victims were not exclusively female.

Some residual Romano-British material was found, however the onset of habitation on the site appears to have been during the twelfth-century AD. The badly damaged remains of a possible building dating from this period were identified. It appears to have gone out of use by the end of the thirteenth-century. Numerous features, predominantly pits, dating from the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries were also located, although no definite structural remains could be associated with them. Evidence for activity dating from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries was limited. Includes a separately authored report on:

Employs architectural and archaeological evidence from Sussex to assess the extent to which the parochial system was changing in the eleventh century AD. Includes:

Mostly historical. Includes discussion on the proposed design and eventual construction of Oldlands Hall, Buxted, East Sussex.