The Malvern Hills An Ancient Landscape

by Bowden, Mark

• ISBN13: 9781873592823
• ISBN10: 1873592825
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-04-30
• Publisher: Historic England in association with Liverpool University Press

Summary

The Malvern Hills, a dramatic ridge of ancient volcanic rocks along the western edge of the Severn valley, are known archaeologically almost exclusively for two large and prominent Iron Age hillforts--British Camp and Midsummer Hill--that crown the ridge. Forming a sociopolitical boundary from at least the Bronze Age, they were also a ritual landscape throughout prehistory and into the medieval period, especially for the importance of numerous springs of pure water. In 1999 the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (now part of English Heritage), with a number of partners, embarked on an investigation of the hillforts and other well-known sites, and an exploration of the Hills more widely, as a landscape of special archaeological interest. The project involved documentary research, aerial survey and fieldwork and the most significant results are presented here. Although not especially rich in the types of monuments that have traditionally drawn archaeologists, by considering the landscape as a whole it is possible to draw inferences about the way the Hills were viewed and used by dwellers in the surrounding country. These will inform management and conservation initiatives on and around the Hills, as well as future research programmes.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations	vi
Acknowledgements	vii
Summary	viii
Resume	viii
Zusammenfassung	ix
Introduction	1	(10)
The Hills	1	(7)
Previous archaeological research and the current project	8	(3)
Prehistoric and Roman periods	11	(20)
Early prehistory (to 4000 BC)	11	(1)
The Neolithic and Bronze Age (4000--700) BC	11	(7)
The Iron Age (700 BC--AD 43)	18	(10)
The Roman period (AD 43--400)	28	(3)
Medieval and later periods	31	(21)
Early medieval (c 400--1086)	31	(2)
The high medieval period (1086--1539)	33	(14)
Post-medieval and later (1540--present)	47	(5)
Overview	52	(6)
Appendix 1: Gazetteer of prehistoric, Roman and medieval sites	58	(4)
Appendix 2: The RCHME/EH Project	62	(3)
References	65	(3)
Index	68