Medieval Archaeology 49

Excavations at Llandough have revealed a large early medieval cemetery in close proximity to the site of a Roman villa and early medieval monastery. The paper examines the evidence for the re-use of villa sites for burial in the post-Roman period. The documentary evidence for the monastery at Llandough is also presented, and the site discussed within the context of the early medieval political geography of South Wales.

The problem addressed in this paper is the proposition that `classic' medieval open-field systems were laid out, parish by parish, by individual communities, each working independently of its neighbours, between about AD 850 and 1150. There is physical and documentary evidence that a large, cohesive field-layout extended across four contiguous parishes on the northern side of the Bourn Brook, West Cambridgeshire, until Parliamentary enclosure. It appears to be a proto-open-field system, probably intensively cultivated, and apparently created in the eighth or ninth centuries AD by a centralised authority, perhaps as part of an `extensive' estate. Includes

A survey of archaeological ceramic thin sections held by institutions and individuals in the United Kingdom was undertaken in the early 1990s by the City of Lincoln Archaeology Unit and funded by English Heritage. Over 6,000 thin sections of Anglo-Saxon or medieval date (or reports on their analysis) were located. For the Middle to Late Anglo-Saxon and the post-Conquest periods, these studies have confirmed that pottery production was carried out in a limited number of centres and that most pottery, including handmade coarsewares, was therefore produced for trade. The distances over which pottery was carried vary from period to period but were actually as high or higher in the Middle to Late Anglo-Saxon period as in the thirteenth to fourteenth centuries. However, for the Early Anglo-Saxon period (and the Middle Anglo-Saxon period outside of eastern England) the evidence of ceramic petrology is equivocal and requires more study. These 6,000--odd thin sections represent a resource which could be used for various future studies, some of which are discussed here, and as an aid to their further use a database containing information on the sampled ceramics, their location and publications of their analyses will be published online through Internet Archaeology.

An excavation was undertaken during 1993--4 on a site at Low Fisher Gate, Doncaster. Urban archaeological deposits of eleventh- to eighteenth-century date, together with evidence of an earlier course of the River Cheswold (the southern arm of the River Don), were uncovered. The excavations were among the largest ever to take place within Doncaster. Among the most significant finds was a riverside revetment, made from re-used portions of two medieval clinker-built boats. These have characteristics not recorded elsewhere which may represent features of a now lost, South Yorkshire boatbuilding tradition. This type of find is still rather rare and the Doncaster timbers add to knowledge of the variety of local vessels and construction features present in the medieval period. The rolls of fibrous material used to waterproof the vessels were also of interest for comparison with similar finds from England and Norway. The boat timbers have been fully conserved and are now on display in Doncaster Museum. Separately authored reports include

Recent archaeological excavations along the east and south sides of the Great Tower at Carrickfergus Castle have revealed evidence which has shed light on the decision to build the castle on a rocky promontory, and on the early stages of construction.

Numerous short, numbered, separately authored summaries of fieldwork and projects carried out and finds reported relating to early medieval and medieval archaeology during 2004. Fieldwork entries are organised alphabetically in sections by country, then in sub-sections by unitary authority, and finally by town or parish. Grid references are given in most cases, and a subject index is provided. There are separate sections on

significant finds of medieval and early medieval artefacts from England and Wales are reported, with an introduction. Entries are listed alphabetically by unitary authority