Archaeology in the Severn Estuary 12

A substantial part of the churchyard wall of St. Thomas the Apostle, Redwick, is capped by triangular coping blocks of cast slag, a byproduct of the 18th to mid-I 9th century coppersmelting industry located in south-west Britain The slags are silica-rich (unreacted flux), glassy to partly crystalline (Jayalite), and contain spheroidal inclusions (prills) of copper-ironsulphur compounds related to the smelting process (chiefly ?chalcocite, Cu2S). A petrographic, mineralogical and chemical comparison of the blocks with slag blocks and waste slag from three other sites (two archaeological) in the Severn Estuary Levels suggests that this widely used, artificial building material is likely to prove very variable in character. More work is needed before it can be said whether the variability is indicative of provenance, technical advances in the industry, or the production of blocks at more than one stage in the elaborate copper-smelting process. The blocks, a high-mass but low-value product, appear to be have been traded chiefly by water.

This report describes the results of the postexcavation programme undertaken following fieldwork on two sewers constructed on theWentlooge Level between Cardiff and Newport, South Wales. Three palaeo-surfaces, typically represented by gleyed clays and peats, were identified; two proved to be of Bronze Age date and a third (which was undated) was of more recent age. Palaeoenvironmental analysis of these deposits, and extrapolation from surfaces discovered elsewhere in the Severn Levels, provides the basis for a broad reconstruction of contemporary coastal and near-shore environments. Associated with one Bronze Age palaeosol was a small encampment, comprising a scatter of burnt stone, charcoal, pottery and animal bone.

Excavation of three rectangular buildings of middle Bronze Age date at Redwick is outlined. Each of the buildings had been subject to significant erosion, especially Building 1, floor levels did not survive but the plans of Buildings 2 and 4 were better preserved. The buildings are on slightly raised areas of peat and are partly encircled by slight depressions in which occupation levels were preserved. The floors of the depressions are covered with many bovid and some ovi-caprid footprint-tracks. Human footprint-tracks also occur. The distribution of artifacts and that of footprint-tracks contributes to an understanding of the layout ( eg entrance positions) and possible function of the buildings, some parts of which are thought to have housed animals. Building 2, perhaps Building 4, but not Building 1 produced evidence of human domestic activity but of very small-scale and probably short duration.

Initially seabanks were constructed probably with a wealth creation ideal in mind. Constructing sea banks facilites the transformation of the natural marsh to a landscape that has a higher economic value. This original intention for seabanks is often forgotten and this note highlights the implications of erecting the banks and of the response to geological factors that forces their change as engineered structures, changing from an offensive to a defensive capability.

This note is a relection of the dynamic processes that have happened both within the severn estuary and within the SELRC, it gives details of the three field meetings that were held by the SELRC, the current excavations, details about the AGM, and a description of the content in this volume