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Archaeology in the Severn Estuary 17
Title
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Title:
Archaeology in the Severn Estuary 17
Series
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Series:
Archaeology in the Severn Estuary
Volume
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Volume:
17
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Journal
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Publisher:
Severn Estuary Levels Research Committee (SELRC)
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Year of Publication:
2006
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Source:
ADS Archive (ADS Archive)
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Created Date:
09 Oct 2017
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Vol 17 2006 Cover
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Vol 17 2006 Title Pages
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Vol 17 2006 Table of Contents
A Wooden Fishtrap in the Severn Estuary at Northwick Oaze, South Gloucestershire
John R L Allen
Simon K Haslett
This paper presents the results of pollen, charcoal, macrobotanical and sedimentological analysis at the intertidal site of Hills Flats, south Gloucestershire. Here a sequence of interbedded peats and estuarine silts of mid-Holocene date are exposed along a c. 1.5 km stretch of the intertidal zone, from the surface of which a small collection of unstratified lithics of Neolithic and early Bronze Age date have previously been reported. Analysis suggests an environment of saltmarsh, punctuated by periods of peat formation characterised by reedswamp, fringed by carrwoodland, with Quercus-Ulmus-Tilia-Corylus woodland on the adjacent dry ground. Significant quantities of charcoal were recorded from the base of the upper peat, representing probable anthropogenic burning of reedswamp and sedgefen of late Mesolithic and early Neolithic date. The archaeological and palaeoenvironmental evidence may indicate a special activity site, peripheral to, and perhaps associated with evidence for extensive settlement activity recorded from the intertidal zone 3 km to the south at Oldbury Flats. The results of analysis from Hills Flats are set within the context of previous palaeoenvironmental and archaeological work on the Oldbury Levels, suggesting sustained occupation and exploitation of the intertidal marshes during prehistory.
Archaeology in the Severn Estuary 2006
Richard A Brunning
this note details a change in the board and an update to research that is ongoing in the estuary.
Jon Brett 1996-2007
Vol 17 2006 Jon Brett
Environment and Human Activity on the Oldbury Levels, c. 5000-1000BC, Recent Work at Hills Flat, Souther Gloucestershire
Alex Douglas Brown
This paper presents the results of pollen, charcoal, macrobotanical and sedimentological analysis at the intertidal site of Hills Flats, south Gloucestershire. Here a sequence of interbedded peats and estuarine silts of mid-Holocene date are exposed along a c. 1.5 km stretch of the intertidal zone, from the surface of which a small collection of unstratified lithics of Neolithic and early Bronze Age date have previously been reported. Analysis suggests an environment of saltmarsh, punctuated by periods of peat formation characterised by reedswamp, fringed by carrwoodland, with Quercus-Ulmus-Tilia-Corylus woodland on the adjacent dry ground. Significant quantities of charcoal were recorded from the base of the upper peat, representing probable anthropogenic burning of reedswamp and sedgefen of late Mesolithic and early Neolithic date. The archaeological and palaeoenvironmental evidence may indicate a special activity site, peripheral to, and perhaps associated with evidence for extensive settlement activity recorded from the intertidal zone 3 km to the south at Oldbury Flats. The results of analysis from Hills Flats are set within the context of previous palaeoenvironmental and archaeological work on the Oldbury Levels, suggesting sustained occupation and exploitation of the intertidal marshes during prehistory.
Neolithic Structure and Aurochs Bones at Walpole Landfill Site, Somerset, Archaeological Works in 2005-6 Interim results from Cells B, C, and D
C Hollinrake
Nancy Hollinrake
An archaeological watching brief undertaken during waste cell excavations within a thick sequence of Holocene estuarine clays, has recorded several early-Neolithic accumulations of wood, including the remains of structural trackways and lines of vertical stakes, both within and crossing palaeochannels. Dispersed bones from an aurochs were also found scattered along one of the channels. Radiocarbon dates from structures recorded in 2005 and from aurochsbone provide calibrated dates between c. 4000 BC and 3000 BC. Lias bedrock, the lower, western slopes of a large, buried island or outcrop of the formation, was recorded along the east side of the excavation area in 2005, and a number of bog oak fragments were recorded in that area. In 2006, a trial, exploratory excavation was undertaken at the western end of the swface of the buried Lias island. A drainage or boundary ditch was recorded. Finds from within and below a buriedsoil layer that lies above the natural Lias clay and stone forming the island or outcrop, and that is sealed, in turn, below the overlying, alluvial clays that accumulated from the later-Roman period onwards, included prehistoric flint flakes, animal bone fragments and occasional pottery sherds ranging in date from the late Bronze Age through to the Roman period. Small palaeochannels were recorded cutting through the buried soil and the surface geology and were also recorded within the overlying, post-Roman, alluvial clay
Surfeit of Lampreys
Rick Turner
This paper looks at the truth behind the phrase a 'surfeit of lampreys' by examining the accounts of King Henry I's death. The Severn Estuary was famous for its seasonal migration and catches of the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus), and documentary records suggest that it was the most prized of fish in the Middle Ages. Early cookery books are full of recipes, but it is literary references which suggest the lamprey was considered as an aphrodisiac and that the accusations about Henry I's death may have had an allegorical meaning.
The Holocene Alluvial Deposits of the Oldbury Levels
D R Jordan
The alluvium of the Oldbury Levels resembles similar Holocene alluvial sequences in adjacent areas. It consists of a sequence of alternating silty clay and organic deposits which represent deposition from estuarine waters and under periods of terrestrial peat growth during phases of marine regression against a background of gradually rising sea levels. Pollen evidence appears to reflect gradual change in the flora associated with changing tidal regimes, broader environmental change and the encroachment of human landuse which gradually diminished the forest cover. Foraminifera and very limited plant macroscopic remains supply evidence which support the conclusions drawn from the sedimentary evidence. Buried Roman archaeological sites, lying close to the dry-land margin, occur within estuarine alluvium which appears to have continued to be deposited, at least occasionally, while the sites were occupied. This suggests that the sites were sometimes flooded, and increasingly so towards the end of the occupation, perhaps indicating seasonal use of the floodplain edge. Darker bands of dispersed organic matter, known as stasis horizons, are considered to be depositional strata, and not in situ accumulations of A-horizon organic soil material. While some form surfaces from which cracks extend downwards, implying that they formed during periods of persistent drying, there is little associated mixing or other evidence for soil formation. Thus they probably represent only short periods of relative stasis within periods dominated by continuing alluvial silt deposition under tidal conditions.
Wessex Water Oldbury-on Severn to Aust Discharge Pipeline, South Gloucestershire, Archaeological Surveys and Excavations 2003-4
Andrew Young
Archaeological and geoarchaeological fieldwork including surveys, evaluations and excavations were undertaken during 2003 and 2004 in advance of and during the construction of a new discharge pipeline constructed by Wessex Water Services Limited between Oldbury on Severn and Aust Cliff, South Gloucestershire. Documentary and archaeological evidence for this part of the mid-Severn Estuary Levels shows that the area was widely drained, cultivated and organized into a system of open fields by the middle ages whilst archaeological evidence from nearby Oldbury Flats and Oldbury Pill confirms significant human activity in the Oldbury Levels during the prehistoric and Romano-British periods, the latter reflecting a large dispersed and embanked rural Roman settlement site. Set against this background, the pipeline project provided a large linear transect and sample across the southern part of the Oldbury Levels, south of Oldbury Pill, an area where little detailed research had been undertaken previously.
Publications List
Vol 17 2006 Publications List