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- Convenors:
-
Lee Broderick
(Bournemouth University)
Matt Law (Cardiff University)
Danielle de Carle (University of Sheffield)
Clare Randall (Bournemouth University)
- Location:
- Wills 3.31
- Start time:
- 18 December, 2010 at
Time zone: Europe/London
- Session slots:
- 1
Short Abstract:
This session provides an opportunity for an overview of recent research in environmental archaeology carried out in south west Britain, as well as indicating the major changes in method and theory that have occurred in the area since the last such meeting and discussing future directions.
Long Abstract:
Several advances in methodology and techniques have occurred within the science-based archaeological sub-disciplines often collectively referred to as environmental archaeology, in the UK, since the Palaeoeconomy and Environment in South West England Symposium, held at the University of Bristol in 1985. The south west's rich archaeological heritage and surprisingly varied environments provide exciting opportunities for these new and improved approaches to understanding our past, just as they did 25 years ago.
Understanding the theory behind the application of science-based methodologies in archaeology is critical to their effective use in the wider discipline - knowing their limits as well as their potential. Often such limits can be overcome by combining several different datasets and methodologies from across the environmental sub-disciplines, highlighting the theoretical virtues of interdisciplinarity within the sciences.
The human species has an unequalled ability for local and regional environmental adaptation and past conditions continue to shape present and future reworkings, thus environmental archaeology is central to the current climate change debate. Limits of adaptation by people and the environment in the past may highlight future restrictions. Parts of the south west have reached and breached such limits in the past as sea-level change and upland deterioration.
Papers are encouraged from researchers currently engaged in environmental archaeological research in south west Britain, particularly from interdisciplinary projects and those that have an overt aim to place scientific methodologies and datasets within a theoretical structure.
Accepted papers:
Session 1Vanessa Straker (English Heritage)
Paper short abstract:
Resources, techniques & methodology have changed greatly in the last 25 years. Archaeological science in Cornwall (bio and geoarchaeology, biomolecules & scientific dating) is reviewed in this context. Cornish results are viewed from the perspective of SW England and future priorities suggested.
Paper long abstract:
This paper will summarise the results of a review of archaeological science in Cornwall over the last 25 years or so. It will present a personal view of what we have learnt and comment on changes in approach. Topics will include bio and geoarchaeology, biomolecules and scientific dating as used to address research themes. Concluding comments will broaden the scope by briefly viewing the Cornish results in the context of south west England and suggesting some future priorities.
Lee Broderick (Bournemouth University)
Paper short abstract:
It has been 35 years since Exeter was thrust into the limelight as a case-study for the developing field of urban zooarchaeology. Since that time synthesised works have slowly appeared for a very few other cities, in Britain and elsewhere in Europe, whilst work in Exeter would appear to have languished. This paper presents an update on a new phase in the development of the urban zooarchaeology of Exeter.
Paper long abstract:
The potential for zooarchaeology to elucidate a variety of questions in historical archaeology and biogeography through material recovered from urban deposits was first demonstrated in Exeter. Since that time, around 35 years ago, Maltby's Exeter synthesis continues to be a defining text for the sub-discipline and its themes have been developed elsewhere, most notably in York and in Vác (Hungary), and most recently in Winchester. Excavations have continued in Exeter since the publication of that volume, resulting in a large animal bone assemblage which is now being analysed in order to further nuance our understanding of the field.
Exeter is ideally suited for this kind of study, since it not only has a large faunal assemblage to draw upon, but also has a well-researched economic history and was, for a long time, one of the largest cities in England. The assemblage is also of significance to the wider region, which suffers from a dearth of archaeological faunal remains, due to the widespread occurrence of acid soils.
This presentation aims to bring new work on the zooarchaeology of Exeter, which builds upon the earlier work and compares and contrasts with urban zooarchaeological work elsewhere, to the attention of the archaeological community. Furthermore it highlights Exeter's potential for understanding the economy of a developing city, from the Roman period through to the Early Modern, alongside illuminating our knowledge of the economy and ecology of the South West region.
Jacqueline Mulville (Cardiff University) Dan Charman (University of Exeter) Charles Johns (Cornwall Council) Helen M. Roberts (Aberystwyth University)
Paper short abstract:
The Isles of Scilly have an exceptionally high density of funerary monuments with 83 entrance graves packed into 16km2. The reason for this is unclear, but there is evidence that over time the Isles of Scilly have submerged and this may have affected the density, visibility and type of archaeological monuments. When this submergence occurred and how fast the land became inundated is the subject of the Lyonesse research project, the results of which shed light on the changing nature of the islands and allows us to consider the islanders response to sea level change over time.
Paper long abstract:
The Isles of Scilly are a group of around 200 islands and rocks lying 45km southwest of Lands End, in southwest England. The islands have a rich archaeological heritage but rather little is known of palaeoenvironmental changes associated with changing human settlement. Between the main islands there are large expanses of shallow waters which were submerged as a result of Holocene sea‐level rise and inter‐tidal peats and organic silts outcrop on some of the beaches. Previous work on exposed inter‐tidal sediments suggested there was potential for developing a better understanding of both palaeoenvironmental context of human settlement and rates of past sea‐level rise for the islands.
The English Heritage‐funded Lyonesse Project is aimed at addressing three key issues concerning the islands: 1) The extent of the 4 inter‐tidal and sub‐tidal palaeoenvironmental resource, 2) The nature of vegetation change in relation to human occupation, 3) Rates of past sea‐level change and the changes in palaeogeography of the islands. The question of past sea‐level change is particularly important to resolve because of very rapid rates of sea‐level rise have been suggested with significant implications for the nature of human settlement and activity during both prehistoric and later periods. Initial data on sea‐level constrained by both radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence dates suggests the model of a very rapid rate of sea‐level rise should be discounted.
Matt Law (Cardiff University)
Paper short abstract:
Snails from coastal sites can reveal very detailed pictures of land use, environment and taphonomy, although the discipline is relatively under-developed in these contexts compared to inland sites. This paper presents a review of work in the region, and proposes a research agenda.
Paper long abstract:
The sediments of the north coast of the South West Peninsula, from the wind-blown sands of Cornwall to the intertidal peats and clays of the Severn Estuary, have the potential to contain a wealth of archaeological remains, often associated with well-preserved assemblages of snails and other invertebrates. The palaeoenvironmental potential of snails from blown sand was the subject of an important review paper by Evans in 1979, and were summarised more recently by Davies in 2008, however in general molluscan analysis has flourished more in inland sites than on the coast. This paper presents a summary of published and unpublished work to date, highlighting aspects of taphonomy and site history that may be revealed, and proposes an agenda for future invertebrate zooarchaeology in coastal sites in the South West.
Ralph Fyfe (University of Plymouth) Ben Gearey (University of Birmingham) Dan Charman (University of Exeter)
Paper short abstract:
Our understanding of the development of the southwest uplands has advanced significantly over the last fifteen years. This paper reviews these advances, and considers the role that the palaeoecological record has in augmenting, and in some cases building, the archaeological narratives of the region.
Paper long abstract:
This paper will present a synthesis of palaeoecological (mainly palynological) research that has taken place on the uplands of southwest Britain over the last fifteen years. Successive projects have explored the uplands, from a range of perspectives, and have been able to highlight a range of key advances in the understanding of landscapes both in the region, and beyond. First, we will demonstrate that each upland (Bodmin, Dartmoor and Exmoor) is different: there is no single narrative of upland change for the region. This is exemplified through divergent histories of fire ecology, and the character and tempo of vegetation change driven by human modification. Second, there is considerable spatial diversity in vegetation character in the past within individual uplands. This has resulted in greater awareness of the importance of place within palaeoecology, and demonstrates the power of pollen analysis to develop greater understanding of not only landscape character, but also landscape difference. These findings have considerable significance for deepening our understanding of the character of exploitation of the wider landscape in the past, and provide a more nuanced approach to understanding the ways in which these evocative landscapes developed. We will also consider the contribution of palaeoecological research to the understanding of the archaeological record for the South-West of England, highlighting the synergies that are generated by a critical and synthetic approach to upland landscapes.
Heather Davies (University of Plymouth) Ralph Fyfe (University of Plymouth)
Paper short abstract:
This paper seeks to explore approaches to assigning ‘value’ to the peatland archaeological record within south west Britain, with a particular focus on the uplands.
Paper long abstract:
This paper seeks to explore approaches to assigning 'value' to the peatland archaeological record within south west Britain, with a particular focus on the uplands. Peat can bury artefacts and land surfaces, as well as preserving a variety of organic remains. The accumulating organic nature of the sediment means that these remains can be set in historical and environmental context. There are moves towards developing ecosystem services approaches to peatland management, which is a reflection of the breadth of environmental and social values currently attributed to these environments. For example, peatlands are considered important for carbon and hydrological management, the maintenance of ecological diversity, and for their aesthetic or recreational value. It is essential that appropriate methods for assessing the historic environment values of peatland are developed, so that archaeological resources can be fully integrated into holistic management of the uplands. Within the region, spatially-extensive peatland restoration projects are underway, which makes the need to assess 'value' timely. Although the aims of restoration projects are often in harmony with archaeological interests (rewetting, maintenance of high water tables), they have highlighted a problem that archaeology increasingly faces: to protect archaeological 'assets' we must be able to place 'values' on them. Within this paper we will attempt to address the following questions: What makes a peatlands important to archaeology, and can we assess this without large-scale investigation? How can we communicate this to various stakeholder groups? Would assessing the 'sensitivity' of the resource avoid the loaded nature of attempting to 'value' it?
Hayley McParland
Paper short abstract:
The thorough programme of research carried out in the Somerset Levels region as part of the Somerset Levels project, provides the perfect background to the question: Can phytoliths really add to our understanding, in an area with so much palaeoenvironmental evidence?
Paper long abstract:
The Somerset Levels have been the subject of a thorough programme of research, providing both an archaeological and palaeoenvironmental background to the area. This background forms the basis of a theoretical paper drawing on previous studies, aiming to assess the potential use of phytolith analysis in the region and its contribution to our existing knowledge. The study encompasses not only the wetlands, but also the adjacent 'dry land' of the Mendip Hills, providing comparisons of preservation with the potential contribution of phytolith analysis for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction and environmental archaeology - drawing on small scale studies undertaken to assess phytolith presence and production in both archaeological sediments and non-archaeological reference material.
The background of the environmental analysis takes the form of pollen, macrofossil and entomological data. This is compared with knowledge of phytolith production in order to assess the potential, if any, of using phytolith analysis as both a multi-proxy tool and an individual method in environmental archaeology in the south west. The paper, drawing on environmental data, begins to ask, can phytolith analysis add to our understanding of prehistory in the south west? Or are existing techniques likely to be representative enough of environment and archaeology?
Clare Randall (Bournemouth University)
Paper short abstract:
The remains of domestic animals cannot be considered in isolation from the landscapes in which they were reared. This in turn prompts reconsideration of our approach to understanding later prehistoric bounded landscapes. In understanding the ways in which they were utilised and inhabited, we are better able to approach the drivers behind their creation.
Paper long abstract:
The animal remains from British later prehistory have frequently been treated as economic data alone, occasionally elucidating symbolic behaviour. On the other hand, the use and division of landscape has been largely discussed in terms of social organisation. There has been a failure to appreciate that there is a reflexive relationship between pastoral farming and the utilisation and inhabiting of landscapes. In addition, we have frequently failed to explore the relationships between the various classes of evidence for crop cultivation, broader environmental information and pastoral landscapes in order to obtain a rounded view of the ways in which landscapes were inhabited.
Examination the form of Bronze Age and Iron Age landscape division and organisation in the environs of Cadbury Castle, Somerset, indicates that it was intimately bound up with the practicalities of livestock management. It has shown the benefits of integrating archaeological, faunal and landscape data, together with a strong understanding of the practicalities of animal husbandry. What is also clear however, is that that whilst it may unusual to have a number of classes of data available for one locale, these data are present in abundance across the south west of Britain and beyond. It is also apparent that by seeking to understand how individual bounded landscapes functioned at a given place and time, we are able to better understand the experience of inhabiting a particular place and achieved a more nuanced understanding of what elements of landscapes inform us most clearly about social choice.