Archaeology in the Severn Estuary 22

The Severn Estuary Levels share with conventional dryland archaeological sites such site-formation processes as the anaerobic preservation of organic materials in pits, wells, ponds and moats. Unique to the Levels, however, but to be expected in other tidal wetland areas, are a range of natural physical formation processes, some leading to the concealment and preservation of activity/occupation sites and others to the exposure and destruction of sites, and the modification of the assemblages of cultural debris they contain. These processes are sea-level change, sedimentation, wave-action, the wandering of estuarine channels and banks, channel meandering, and salt-marsh autocyclicity. Human interventions from Roman times onwards also contribute to site formation through the embanking and drainage of salt marshes. These interventions transformed the extensive Severn Estuary Levels from wetlands suitable only for seasonal activities to areas that could be farmed and settled, but at the increasing cost of drainage and sea defence demanded by sea-level rise.

Discovery of a stone feature on the Huntspill River at Bleak Bridge prompted investigation by geophysical survey and small scale excavation. The results suggested that the edge of a small settlement of later 3rd to 4th century AD date was present. The limited bone and palaeoenvironmental evidence suggests that it was positioned in a reclaimed landscape in which mixed arable and pastoral farming was being carried out. The timing and character of the occupation accords well with other evidence along the Severn Estuary.

A summary of the fishing structures recorded by the Severn Estuary Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey (RCZAS) was published in the previous volume of this journal (Chadwick and Catchpole 2011). This follow-on paper presents the results of a second round of radiocarbon dating of timber samples from Gloucestershire and Somerset fisheries and includes a discussion of the evidence for wood use recorded during the entire RCZAS project. It concludes with suggestions for future research arising from the project.

Analysis of the extant archaeological and historic wreck record, as well as c 480 km2 of marine and terrestrial survey data (aerial photographs, lidar, swath bathymetry and side scan sonar), has allowed a re-appraisal of both the record and the implications of our understanding of the maritime history of the Inner Bristol Channel region. A total of 111 recorded wreck sites (97 shipwrecks and 14 recorded aircraft losses) were investigated and compared with the recently acquired datasets collected as part of the Hinkley Point C environmental assessment. Of these 111, 75% were covered by the new data but only six wreck sites were clearly identified. This clearly shows the vagaries of wreck searches as a result of a combination of the quality of the oral histories recorded in the archive data (particularly in relation to positional information); the actual process of wrecking and associated salvage; and the capacity for post-depositional burial or erosion. Despite this low identification count, a review of the extant record still provides invaluable information on the maritime history of the area, in particular the potential dominance of local trade associated with the Welsh coalfields (trade in both commodities and infrastructure materials) from the 19th Century all the way through to the middle of the 20th Century.

Notes to Contributors

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