Fairfield Park, Stotfold, Bedfordshire : Later Prehistoric Settlement in the Eastern Chilterns

by Webley, Leo; Timby, Jane; Wilson, Martin

• ISBN13: 9780953153138
• ISBN10: 0953153134
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-01-30
• Publisher: David Brown Book Co

Summary

The excavations at Fairfield Park revealed a later Bronze Age hilltop enclosure and an extensive early Iron Age settlement. As one of the first large-scale excavations of an early Iron Age settlement in eastern England, the site makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the later prehistory of the region. In particular, the evidence sheds much light on issues of the organisation of settlement space and practices of ritual deposition. The settlement dates to around the 5th-4th centuries BC, and incorporated enclosures, roundhouses and numerous storage pits. The large artefact assemblages included high status metalwork, pottery with unique forms of decoration, and a set of 49 bone weaving tools from a single pit. Human remains and animal burials had been placed in several other pits. Good environmental evidence was also obtained.

Table of Contents

List of Figures
List of Plates
List of Tables
Introduction	p. 1
Site location and geology	p. 1
Archaeological and historical background	p. 1
Evaluation fieldwork	p. 1
Excavation methodology	p. 4
The Archaeological Sequence	p. 13
Introduction	p. 13
Early prehistoric activity	p. 13
Phase 1: late Bronze Age	p. 13
Phase 2: early Iron Age	p. 16
Phase 3: middle Iron Age	p. 52
Phase 4: Romano-British period	p. 53
Phase 5: medieval period?	p. 56
Phase 6: medieval/post-medieval period	p. 56
Radiocarbon dating	p. 56
Material Culture	p. 61
Flint	p. 61
Pottery	p. 64
Fired clay	p. 79
Worked bone	p. 81
Worked stone	p. 86
Jet	p. 92
Metalwork	p. 94
Slag	p. 96
Osteological Evidence
Human bone	p. 97
Animal bone	p. 102
Environmental Evidence
Charred plant remains	p. 117
Charcoal	p. 128
Pollen	p. 130
Land snails	p. 133
Chemistry and magnetic susceptibility of soils and sediments	p. 133
Discussion	p. 137
The sequence of occupation at Fairfield Park	p. 137
Late Bronze Age enclosure and burial	p. 137
Iron Age settlement	p. 139
Bibliography	p. 153
Phosphate and Magnetic Susceptibility Analysis	p. 161
Index	p. 169
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