Overview

Barrows at the Core of Bronze Age Communities argues exactly that. Round barrows do not just represent the death side of Early Bronze Age communities placed in set-a-side ritual landscapes, but were instead central to existence in many ways. This study of the Rother Region, where the Weald meets the Wessex massif, reports the results of the People of the Heath project, 2014–18. It integrates a wealth of data from comprehensive field study of all relevant sites in the region with that from excavations into one of its major cemeteries – Petersfield Heath, Hampshire. Fourteen of 21 surviving barrows were sampled by excavation, one of the fullest records for such a cemetery in modern times. In addition to diverse burial rites, the site yielded a range of ‘other significant deposits’ and totally novel insights into the organic artefact repertoire thanks to mineral replacement. There are substantial repercussions for the conventional classification of barrows and in this region the key difference between mound barrows and enclosure barrows is seen to have a socio-cultural background. This and other differences of approach to the siting and aggregation of barrows contribute to the reconstruction of 16 settled communities across the region. These emerge from a strong Mesolithic to Neolithic presence, the latter documented for the first time, and evidence including solstitial alignments suggests direct continuity to the Middle Bronze Age fieldscapes of the region. This book is supported by a separate volume containing an extensive body of supplementary information and evaluation. Together they contain much new for those researching the period, early burial practices and the prehistoric occupation of the western Weald. They will also galvanise debates about variations in the character of barrowscapes across Britain and the place of the Wessex barrow foci.

Full Product Details

Author:   Stuart Needham ,  George Anelay
Publisher:   Sidestone Press
Imprint:   Sidestone Press
ISBN:  

9789464260434

ISBN 10:   9464260432
Pages:   680
Publication Date:   15 December 2021
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Forword (by Richard Bradley) Acknowledgements List of contributors Abbreviations & archive deposition Image credits Summary of the volume French language summary German language summary   Section 1: The History and Archaeology of Petersfield Heath   Chapter 1: People of the Heath Project Background to the project, objectives and strategy Defining the regional study area Previous archaeological work in the Rother Region Round barrows, the Chalcolithic and the Bronze Age Modern excavations of barrow cemeteries Preliminary research for the excavations Geology and soil profiles of the Heath Structure of the volume   Chapter 2: The Archaeology of Petersfield Heath: the State of Knowledge Cartographic history of Petersfield Heath barrow cemetery Previous investigations and finds Size, distribution and structure of the cemetery   Chapter 3: The Heath in Documented History Early history (by Robert Banbury) Military and recreational use of the Heath (by David Jeffery)   Section 2: Petersfield Heath Excavations   Chapter 4: In Situ Mesolithic Sites Site 1 Site 11 Site 13 Site 18 Site 19 Site 21 Site 23 Site 24 52 Heath Road 78 Heath Road Distribution of Mesolithic flintwork across the Heath   Chapter 5: Early Bronze Age Enclosure Barrows Barrow 4, north-eastern subgroup Barrow 12, north-western subgroup Barrow 14, south-western subgroup Barrow 19, south-western subgroup Barrow 24, north-western subgroup   Chapter 6: Early Bronze Age Mound Barrows Barrow 1, north-eastern subgroup Barrow 2, north-eastern subgroup Barrow 3, north-eastern subgroup Barrow 5, north-eastern subgroup Barrow 6, north-eastern subgroup Barrow 7, north-eastern subgroup Barrow 8, north-eastern subgroup Barrow 9, north-eastern subgroup Barrow 10, north-eastern subgroup Barrow 11, north-western subgroup Barrow 13, south-western subgroup Barrow 15, south-western subgroup Barrow 18, south-western subgroup Barrow 20, south-western subgroup Barrow 22, north-western subgroup Barrow 23, north-western subgroup   Chapter 7: Modern and Natural Sites Site 16 Site 17 Site 21   Section 3: Burials and Other Significant Deposits   Chapter 8: Burials in Graves and Coffins Barrow 11, central burial zone (by Stuart Needham, George Anelay and Gill Campbell) Barrow 13, central burial and associated features (by Stuart Needham and George Anelay) Barrow 19, earlier central burial [405] (by George Anelay and Stuart Needham) Barrow 19, later central burial [406] (by George Anelay, Stuart Needham and Carol Hartzenberg)   Chapter 9: Urn Burials (by Jane King and Stuart Needham) Lifting and preparing the urns for micro-excavation Micro-excavation methodology Urn 1, Barrow 8 Urn 2, Barrow 19 NE quadrant Urn 3, Barrow 19 centre Urn 4, Barrow 14 NW quadrant   Chapter 10: Other Significant Deposits Artefact deposits Ecofact deposits (charcoal and other wood)   Section 4: Excavated Finds, Environmental Evidence and Dating   Chapter 11: Bone Studies Cremated human bone (by Emily Carroll) Burnt animal bone fragments (by Polydora Baker) Strontium isotopes on cremated human remains (by Rick Schulting, John Pouncett and Christophe Snoeck)   Chapter 12: Prehistoric Flintwork and a Review of the Regional Mesolithic Excavated flintwork assemblages from Petersfield Heath (by Anthony Haskins) The Mesolithic of the Rother Region (by Anthony Haskins and Robert Banbury)   Chapter 13: Artefact Studies Flintwork from burials: making arrow and fire (by Clément Nicolas) Worked and unworked stone (by Stuart Needham, with stone identifications by David Bone and a contribution from Peter Leeming) Fossils (by Peter Leeming) Prehistoric pottery and other fired-clay objects (by Ann Woodward, Stuart Needham and Claire Copper) Romano-British to modern pottery (by Duncan H. Brown) Bronze Age metalwork (by Stuart Needham and Sarah Paynter) Bronze Age beads (by Alison Sheridan) Mineral-replaced and stratigraphically implied organics (by Stuart Needham) Worked and unworked wood (by Stuart Needham)   Chapter 14: Environmental Studies Past vegetation cover and human environment of Petersfield Heath (by Michael Simmonds, Nicholas Branch, Deborah Cousins and Kevin Williams) Wood and charcoal remains (by Dana Challinor) Geoarchaeological studies (by Matthew Canti and Stuart Needham)   Chapter 15: Specialist Dating Evidence and Site Phasing (by Stuart Needham, Peter Marshall and George Anelay) Radiocarbon dating and Bayesian modelling of the Early Bronze Age dates Optically stimulated luminescence dating (by Mark Bateman) Site phasing (by Stuart Needham)   Section 5: Barrows in the Rother Region   Chapter 16: The Regional Barrow Survey Methodology Potential confusions: other man-made mounds/enclosures and natural landscape features Classification of barrow morphologies in the Rother Region Aspects of detailed barrow morphology Overall composition of Rother Region barrows Mound dimensions Overview   Chapter 17: Barrows in the Landscape: Density, Topographic Settings, Formations and Alignments (by Stuart Needham and Sabine Stevenson) Regional environment Topographic setting of barrows Barrow-group formations Solstitial alignments Mound-size distributions Overview   Chapter 18: Patterns of Destruction and Survival in the Barrowscape (by Stuart Needham and Sabine Stevenson) Land-use history and barrow survival Zonal analysis Overview   Section 6: Synthesis   Chapter 19: Bronze Age Funerary Deposits and Structures in the Rother Region Chalcolithic and transitional burials from the wider region (c. 2450‑2200/2150 BC) Early burials and grave goods from the Rother Region (c. 2200/2150‑1950 BC) Later burials and grave goods from the Rother Region (c. 1950‑1550 BC) Poorly dated Early Bronze Age burials Middle Bronze Age burials (c. 1600‑1150 BC) Barrow structures Overview   Chapter 20: Neolithic and Bronze Age Occupation of the Rother Region (by Stuart Needham and Sabine Stevenson) Vegetation background Neolithic activity Field systems, house sites and settlements Flintwork assemblages Diagnostic early metal age flintwork Bronze Age metalwork Overview   Chapter 21: Identifying Early Bronze Age Communities Principles of analysis Barrow-based differentiations Communities Ancestral guardianship of the land Overview   Chapter 22: Petersfield Heath, Enclosure Barrows and Cultural Differentiation Early occupants of Petersfield Heath and its environs Enter the barrow builders After the barrows Communities, livelihoods and population The barrow gradient and cultural backgrounds Petersfield Heath: setting, cosmology and position in the regional structure Postscript: Barrow 31   References

Reviews

It is truly a model report and can, without reservation, be described as the most comprehensive on a barrow cemetery to-date. * Current Archaeology *

Author Information

Stuart Needham, formerly curator of the European Bronze Age at The British Museum, is now an independent researcher and Honorary Research Fellow of Amgueddfa Cymru-National Museum Wales. Amongst his recent publications are Encompassing the sea: ‘Maritories’ and Bronze Age maritime interactions (in Bronze Age Connections: Cultural Contact in Prehistoric Europe, Oxbow), Claimed by the Sea: Salcombe, Langdon Bay and other marine finds of the Bronze Age (Council for British Archaeology, Research Report 173), The lost cultures of the halberd-bearers (in Celtic from the West 3, Oxbow). George Anelay has been, since 2001, Director of West Sussex Archaeology Ltd, and was, from 2004 until 2012, also Heritage Outreach Officer for Chichester District Council. In both these roles he has directed a number of large-scale research excavations, including those at Middle Barn (The Selhurst Park Project: Middle Barn, Selhurstpark Farm, Eartham, West Sussex 2005–2008, Oxbow), Liss Roman Villa (2005-7), and Chichester city walls (2009-2010). He is a Member of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists.

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