West Midlands Regional Research Framework for Archaeology, Seminar 2: Palmer
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An Archaeological Resource Assessment for the Middle Bronze Age to
Iron Age in Warwickshire and Solihull
Stuart C Palmer
Warwickshire Museum Field Services, Warwickshire County Council, The Butts, Warwick, CV34 4SS
stuartpalmer@warwickshire.gov.uk
Introduction
The following account attempts in summary to assess the resource for the Middle Bronze Age
to Iron Age (MBA - IA) in the county of Warwickshire and the metropolitan borough of
Solihull. Data has been amassed from all the sites within the study area which have been
subject to sufficiently detailed survey, the minimum standards being fieldwalking, trial
trenching or excavation.
A vast amount of data pertinent to the period is represented by cropmarks on the SMR and as
these have generally been uncritically recorded as ‘later prehistoric or Romano-British’, they
have not been included in this assessment. This obvious limitation may well skew the dataset,
but some of the sites that have been included illustrate how cropmark morphology is not
necessarily a reliable indicator of site type or even chronology, although this may be refined
after a more detailed study.
Although the rate of later prehistoric fieldwork has increased in the survey area since Richard
Hingley’s review (1996), much of it still awaits full publication. A substantial part of this
assessment has by necessity been gleaned from the ‘grey literature’ and much from
conversations with or details supplied by others.
Chronological issues
To even begin to understand the archaeological remains and therefore the archaeological
potential of the survey area, it is imperative that we have in place a chronological framework
by which we can organise the available data. This seemingly obvious requisite actually
presents a fundamental difficulty because of the inconsistency of recording both in print and
on the SMR. This problem does not just relate to the older records and publications, as the
vagaries and confusion are evident even in relatively recent reports and summaries, albeit
with some notable exceptions.
To structure this assessment, the data has been divided into five periods that broadly reflect
the chronologies referred to in the available records. They are relative to the traditional three
phase Bronze and Iron Ages. We begin with the Middle Bronze Age and follow with the Late
Bronze Age. Thirdly we have the Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age transition and the Early
Iron Age, grouped here because of the difficulties in distinguishing the ceramics of the LBA
and EIA on some sites and also because it was a system successfully utilised in the
neighbouring East Midlands region (Willis nd), to which much of the Warwickshire evidence
can be related. We then continue with the Middle Iron Age, a general coverall that forms a
significant part of the record. Lastly the Late Iron Age, which on some sites is not necessarily
pre-Roman and has generally been distinguished by the occurrence of wheel made and grog
tempered ceramics on sites that might not otherwise be distinct from the MIA.
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The key site within the study area from which a chronology for much of the region may yet be
extrapolated is Wasperton in the Avon Valley. The importance of the ceramic assemblage
from this site cannot be underestimated and its publication has been long awaited, not least
because it should provide a well dated (both by C14 and thermoluminesence) ceramic
sequence to which other sites could be related. Provisional information from this site has
kindly been supplied by Ann Woodward.
The Archaeological Landscape
The Middle Bronze Age
Evidence for MBA settlement in Warwickshire and Solihull is scant. Traces of three possible
round-houses excavated adjacent to the Neolithic complex at Barford have been posited as
BA constructions, based on a few pieces of flint (Hingley 1996 12), but this site still awaits
proper analysis. Pottery and a small copper alloy knife were found in a pit group at Coton
Park, Rugby (Northants Archaeology 1998) and a second pit group associated with a
significant assemblage of Deverel-Rimbury pottery was found more recently on an adjacent
site (Maull 2001). In addition a scatter of possible MBA pottery was found amongst later
material fieldwalked at Whitchurch (Hingley 1988).
The thin scatter of MBA metalwork across the study area defies analysis but the small group
of burnt mounds in the northwest of the study area, adds some flesh to an otherwise
indifferent dataset. Identification of these sites is a corollary of the intensive and systematic
work undertaken by Barfield and Hodder (1989) and Hodder (1992) and more recently work
on the Birmingham Northern Relief Road (M6 Toll). Two outliers in Leamington at Sharmer
Farm (Barfield & Hodder 1989) were chance encounters, the more significant as they were
found near a relic stream in the course of drainage work thereby proving the potential of
investigating such features which must surely be widespread in the landscape.
The Late Bronze Age
Settlement evidence
The identification of sites of the LBA amongst cropmark palimpsests is near impossible
despite erroneous claims by some (MPP listing) that clothes line enclosures, which are very
common in Warwickshire, date from this period. Excavated settlement sites are rare, the bulk
of the evidence currently deriving from beneath occupation sites of later dates such as Park
Farm, Barford (Cracknell & Hingley 1994) and Ling Hall Quarry, Church Lawford (Palmer in
prep c). LBA pits have however been recorded at Wasperton and Salford Priors (Palmer
2000a, 36-43) but we are far from sure how well such features reflect the settlement record.
The earliest known evidence for land boundaries in the study area comes from Wasperton
where a major ‘territorial’ boundary ditch dated between 1300 – 850 BC effectively sealed off
a land unit in a bow of the river. The remains of a contemporary field system are posited
outside this land unit, which if substantiated, would certainly represent our earliest evidence
of fields. A linear boundary ditch of this date with an associated palisade was suggested at
Park Farm, although a later date is also feasible.
The Late Bronze Age to Iron Age Transition and the Early Iron Age
Settlement evidence
Settlement evidence for the LBA-IA transition and the EIA is more prevalent. At Wasperton,
four small, house size enclosures constructed either side of the existing ‘territorial’ boundary
have been dated 850 – 650 BC. Contemporary features include two large linear pit groups.
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At Coton Park, several arcs of shallow gullies have been suggested as evidence for a
transitory episode of settlement (Northants Archaeology 1998) and a few features of this date
were evaluated at Polesworth (Palmer 1992). Trial trenching at Wolston identified several
areas of activity over a 140 hectare site. One such area included a large bell-shaped, claycapped pit, providing a tantalising glimpse of the possibility of grain storage and production
during the period (Palmer 1990a). Trial trenching at Charlecote also produced pottery
attributable to this period (Hughes & Jones 1996, 79).
The earliest known enclosed settlement within the study area was recorded at Wasperton,
where three large rectilinear enclosures are dated 650 – 550 BC. One enclosure is associated
with two ditched trackways or drove roads, which by implication suggests fields of crops and
areas of pasture. EIA activity is conspicuously absent on many other excavated sites although
unenclosed pit groups are recorded at Burton Dassett (Booth 1989), High Cross (Palmer in
prep a), and beneath the ramparts of Nadbury hillfort (McArthur 1990). Further evidence that
local hillfort sites were utilised at this time was recovered during fieldwalking at Foxhill,
Alderminster (Hingley 1987c).
The large LBA/EIA pottery scatter fieldwalked at Whitchurch, which included animal bone
and quern fragments may be indicative of a midden site, activity here evidently continuing
well into the Iron Age. Other fieldwalked assemblages likely to represent sites of this date
and later are known from Ettington (Hingley 1987d), Idlicote (Hingley 1987e) and Halford
(Hingley 1987g), all in the Feldon area.
Land boundaries
There is an increase in the evidence for boundary construction in this period with the
‘territorial’ boundary at Wasperton being re-enforced by a pit alignment dated 850 – 650 BC
and also possibly a trackway at Rollright (Lambrick 1988, 80-1).
It is in the EIA that we see the first evidence of landscape division at Ling Hall as evinced by
two unusual posthole alignments with radiocarbon determinations in the middle of the first
millennium BC. A third as yet undated alignment and other partial alignments await full
excavation (Palmer 2002).
The Middle Iron Age
Settlement evidence
The ubiquitous rectangular ditched enclosure cropmarks of Warwickshire have generally been
thought to be MIA in date (Hingley 1996, 16), although recent work at Marsh Farm suggests
that they were still being constructed in the LIA (Palmer 2000d; in prep b). Other discrete
enclosures such as that at Long Itchington (Palmer 1999a; 2000b) must also be considered as
LIA. At Wasperton the EIA enclosure was abandoned between 500 – 250 BC and a
replacement constructed to the south. Further enclosure modifications are made on the east of
the boundary and open settlement occurred to the north. Other excavated settlement
enclosures include Park Farm and Rollright, whilst the Fulbrook enclosure was apparently
empty when evaluated (Palmer 1996; Palmer forthcoming a). An unusual polygonal
enclosure settlement with double opposed entrances recently excavated at Meriden is thought
likely to have origins in this period (Northants Archaeology 2001), although the little pottery
recovered from the excavation was largely LIA.
Few of the 17 or so hillforts in the region have been examined in much detail and only the
defences of Nadbury can be reliably dated at 400 - 600BC. Pottery likely to be of a similar
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date has been recovered from a so-called pit dwelling at Meon Hill (Hodges 1906; Price &
Watson 1982), yet there is no record of its considerable defences having been examined.
On Dunsmore the washing line enclosures are MIA, examples at Ling Hall (Palmer 2002) and
Bourton Heath (Hodgson 1991) proving so, although it is uncertain if all of them were actual
settlements. A major complex of inter-linked enclosures has recently been excavated at Ling
Hall, revealing several buildings. Preliminary analysis suggests that only one building existed
within each enclosure at a time, with two examples of buildings being replaced (Palmer in
prep c). A single example of a ‘banjo’ enclosure is known at Heathcote, and when evaluated
produced a few sherds of probable MIA pottery (Coutts & Jones 1998).
Unenclosed settlement of this period is not demonstrable in cropmark form but two major
sites recently examined were discovered as a result of geophysical survey. An extensive
settlement with at least 25 buildings at Coton Park, appears at this early stage to be all the
more important as it is the first in the study area to be found on Boulder Clay (Northants
Archaeology 1998). The implications of this are potentially far reaching, as it appears that the
site was far more sophisticated in terms of material culture than any of the sites so far
excavated on gravel. Quite why this settlement produced substantial material evidence whilst
the enclosures beneath the DMV to the north did not (Maull 2001), is yet to be explained.
A further extensive site at Walton, though only partially excavated, was apparently occupied
through to the LIA (Palmer 2000c; in prep d). Two areas of MIA activity known from
Tiddington are thought to represent closely spaced settlements (N Palmer pers. comm.),
although it is not known if either were enclosed and a discrete possible round-house described
by a curvilinear ditch at Wishaw also yielded pottery of this date (P Booth pers. comm.).
Land boundaries
Linear boundaries form a significant part of the database for the period and their significance
ought not to be overlooked. On Dunsmore especially, they seem to represent a major phase of
land division and allotment and they are also widely represented as cropmarks in the Avon
Valley.
At Ling Hall a major ‘territorial’ pit alignment divides a landscape of discrete rectilinear
enclosures to the southwest from an organised network of estates or land units defined by pit
alignments that emanate from a single nodal point to the northeast. The alignments are used
as a spine for a number of settlement and other enclosures. A further pit alignment of this
date has recently been excavated at Wishaw (P Booth pers. comm.).
Linear boundaries also form integral parts of the settlements at Coton Park and Park Farm,
although they seem to have become redundant at Wasperton, as none are attributable to this
phase. At Walton a linear boundary ditch divided the area of settlement features and appears
to have acted as a focus for activity and also provide the axis for the settlement features. It
seems likely that this boundary represented the divide between two distinct land-units.
Other linear boundaries of suspected later prehistoric date are known throughout the study
area yet apart from those previously mentioned only the major earthwork of Hobditch,
Lapworth, has been examined in detail and this was suggested as Middle or Late Iron Age
(Cracknell & Hingley 1995; Hingley 1996, 12).
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The Late Iron Age
Settlement evidence
LIA settlement is marginally less well represented in the record than the MIA although this
cannot be taken as a true reflection of period demographics. At Wasperton the main
enclosure was enlarged and open settlement is associated with a large pit group in the
northernmost part of the excavated area during the period 250 BC – 0. The main settlement
enclosure was enlarged again during the conquest period but there was a focal shift to the
south in the early Roman period.
Open and enclosed settlement has also been excavated side by side at Marsh Farm Quarry,
Salford Priors (Palmer 2000d; in prep b) and a further enclosed settlement was examined at
Brandon Grounds (Bateman 1978a). The fragmentary enclosures excavated beneath the
Coton DMV were apparently occupied throughout this phase with a suggestion of continuity
into the Roman period.
Further nucleated settlement is known from beneath the Romano-British village at Tiddington
and also beneath the Roman temple at Coleshill (Magilton forthcoming). LIA pits were
examined in an enclosure at King’s Newnham (Palmer 1990b; Palmer forthcoming b) and
further limited evidence for activity was examined at Wixford (Palmer 2000a). A disparate
group of features of LIA/early Romano-British date have been recorded under difficult
salvage conditions at Stretton-on-Fosse (Gardner et al 1982) but it remains unclear as to their
function and significance. LIA settlement features were also recorded at Napton with some
evidence that occupation continued into the Romano-British period (Dalton & Booth 1997).
A similar date range is suspected of the settlement evaluated west of Alcester (Jones &
Palmer 1995; Warwickshire Museum 2000).
It is interesting to note that whereas unenclosed LIA settlement sites continue into the Roman
period, only at Coton Park has Roman settlement evidence been recovered from an enclosed
IA settlement site.
Land boundaries
No certain examples of boundary features of this period are known, although on two sites they
have been extrapolated when found in association with MIA pit alignments. At Ling Hall
many of the pit alignments were cut by shallow ditches which have been suggested as redefining the earlier land units or estates, and a MIA pit alignment at Wishaw was followed by
a segmented ditch of probable LIA date.
A series of fragmentary enclosures and possible field systems excavated beneath the DMV at
Coton Park are suggested as being of this date, although distinguishing IA from Roman
systems has evidently proven difficult (Maull 2001). Otherwise there has been no firm
evidence for field systems of this date on any of the excavated settlement sites. However, a
variety of linear features that have produced pottery ascribed to the MIA or LIA in evaluation
reports have been described as field boundaries in the absence of evidence for anything else.
Material culture
The material culture of the Middle and Late BA is by and large represented by metalwork
recovered mostly by accident or more recently by metal detectorists. Only two stratified
pieces are known, a chisel from Barford and a knife from Coton Park. The disparate list on
the SMR includes 11 palstaves, 8 axes, 4 spearheads, 3 dirks, 1 gouge, 1 adze and 2 examples
of gold ring-money. Many of these pieces have been poorly recorded, are unprovenanced or
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long-lost, making it impossible to interpret their distribution, but none are known to have
derived from riverine or watery places.
The only identifiable EIA metalwork recorded in the survey area is a cast, beaded torc,
recently excavated from a Romano-British pit at Wishaw. An iron spearhead was recovered
from a MIA pit at Ling Hall and an undated bronze head and an undated torc are also known
from the wider region. There are two examples of LIA horse harness fittings, a hinged fitting
(Wise 1997) and a harness mount (Bolton 1998), and there is also a single LIA terret ring. A
total of only 39 coins are recorded on the SMR; although their recording is inconsistent they
are predominantly Dobunnic although a few Corieltauvi occur, including a hoard of ten from
the north of Warwickshire. Many appear to have been deposited in Romano-British contexts
but their distribution may still relate to pre-Roman tribal territories (Booth 1996). Given the
small number of other metalwork finds recovered from the study area it is perhaps a surprise
that a significant quantity of currency bars have been recorded (Hingley 1996, 20; 1991).
Their occurence in, or close by, boundary features at Nadbury, Park Farm Barford and Meon
Hill strongly suggests structuration in their deposition.
Buildings and structures
Until recently very few prehistoric buildings had been examined in the survey area (cf
Hingley 1996) but the work at Coton Park and Ling Hall has increased the number
considerably. No convincing rectangular buildings are known, all the structures being
circular or sub-circular. The possible BA structures at Barford were relatively small, post
built constructions with evidence for porches on the SE side and internal hearths. None of the
remaining excavated buildings with the possible exception of one at Tiddington and another
at Wasperton revealed convincing patterns of posthole placements. Portal posts are suggested
at the MIA sites of Coton Park and Park Farm and perhaps one example at the Mid to late IA
Meriden site.
The majority of excavated structures are defined by regular or irregular penannular gullies
that suggest either mass wall or ground beam construction and porches are noticeable by their
rarity. Two buildings at Ling Hall provisionally identified as having wall slots and elongated
porches may thus be exceptional, although a wall slot is also postulated for one building at
Coton Park.
Banana shaped gullies resembling the terminal ends of eaves drip gullies have been found at
Coton Park, High Cross, Marsh Farm, Meriden, Wishaw and Ling Hall, spanning the LBA to
the LIA. However, it is uncertain if they actually indicate the positions of buildings for like
the majority of those defined by penannular gullies, on none of these sites have floor surfaces
or hearths been identified. With the exception of a single example from Wasperton that faced
southwest and two buildings at Meriden that seem to have faced west or south, buildings in
the region all faced either northeast, east or southeast.
Agriculture/economy
The economy of the excavated settlements has in most cases been difficult to assess mainly as
the survival of organic material on many of the sites has been poor, largely a result of acid
rich soils. Coton Park appears to be an exception having produced a reasonable assemblage
of animal bones from the usual domestic species as well as some from wild deer. A
preponderance of sheep remains at the admittedly small scale Rollright excavation was taken
as evidence that the upland location was used for grazing with pottery in the surrounding
ploughsoil indicative of manuring and ergo agriculture (Lambrick 1988, 84). Ling Hall,
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Marsh Farm, High Cross, Meriden and Walton (which has produced animal bone), have all
produced a few quern stones but no significant grain deposits despite extensive sampling. No
querns were found at Park Farm but again the absence of a faunal assemblage must render the
idea of a pastoral economy as speculative.
Industry
Evidence for industry and manufacture within the region is almost non-existent, a recent
significant exception being the MIA Coton Park site. Here there appears to have been
distinctive areas where industrial or craft activities took place. One group of structures was
associated with bone and copper working - bronze working crucibles and fired clay moulds
for horse harness fittings have been identified. Iron smelting slag was recovered from another
building and a separate building was associated with fired clay loom-weights. Limited
evidence for iron smithing has however been recorded at Nadbury hillfort.
Death and burial
Warwickshire is comparatively lush with features associated with death and burial. A small
Deverel-Rimbury associated cremation cemetery has recently been excavated beneath the
Coton Park DMV adjacent to the MBA pit group. The late Deverel-Rimbury cemetery at
Ryton-on-Dunsmore (Bateman 1978b) seems to have provided a focus for later activity, the
absence of distinct settlement evidence can perhaps be taken to indicate that the overlying
enclosure complex was used for ritual and ceremony. The mini-ring-ditch in the centre of one
enclosure has recently been compared to another at Salford Priors that was the site of a
cremation pyre radiocarbon dated to the EIA and associated with two bronze cauldrons
(Palmer 2000a).
Two further mini-ring-ditches have since been examined at Ling Hall. One example
associated with a single LBA body sherd stood alone inside an IA estate or land unit, whilst
the other was enclosed within a rectilinear ditched enclosure set apart from and facing away
from the main settlement site. This mini-ring-ditch was positioned in the south end of the
enclosure leaving a wide open space to the north presumably for mortuary and ceremonial
use. It is worth noting the similarity of this layout to temples and shrines of the Roman period
with their enclosed precincts. A group of three small rectangular enclosures set close by the
Neolithic monuments at Barford (Oswald 1969), may now be considered as a possible
ceremonial site, as can a small enclosure examined at Frankton (Palmer 1999b; 2000b).
A large circular building constructed immediately north of the enclosure at Ling Hall
conspicuously apart from the settlement complex was defined by a penannular gully with an
unusually wide east facing entrance. This building conceivably had an alternative function
perhaps related to the ritual enacted within the enclosure, perhaps for the use of a participant
or functionary, or it could have been a liminal place where bodies resided prior to disposal.
Nearby a group of three and four-post structures of MIA date set in an otherwise vacant land
unit immediately opposite another settlement enclosure, could represent excarnation
platforms, perhaps placed to underpin land tenure in full and plain sight of the opposing
settlement (Palmer 2002).
Four EIA pits with inhumations have been excavated at Wasperton and a group of three
M/LIA pits aligned on the edge of the main boundary at Walton also contained inhumations.
Two of these had a horse tooth positioned in or adjacent to an eye socket. A low stone
platform, or reduced cairn, located within a penannular gully adjacent to the burials, produced
a quantity of fuel ash slag that conceivably emanated from a pyre beneath the stone platform.
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Further afield, the skeleton of an infant was recovered from an Iron Age pit at Rollright and
the crouched inhumation of a child, albeit undated, was recorded below the Roman levels at
Chesterton Camp (Taylor 1967, 18-19). A possible burial of Iron Age date from Stretton-onFosse was accompanied by two bracelets (Thomas 1974, 40), and further possible
inhumations of the first millennium BC have been postulated at Bidford-on-Avon and
Hartshill.
Ritual
Evidence for the continued deposition of significant and special deposits in this period has
been found at a number of excavated sites. A pit with structured deposits was in the LBA
positioned on an alignment of Neolithic monuments at Wasperton and a similar ‘set’ of pots
was placed in a pit adjacent to the pyre site at Salford Priors. At Barford a bronze chisel was
deposited in a pit within the Neolithic so-called henge.
Other special deposits are known from IA contexts generally in pits or threshold features. A
human skull was placed in the bottom of a pit in an alignment at Wishaw and at Walton
several pits contained articulated animal bones including the pits that contained inhumations,
and a further example contained a large portion of an articulated animal carcass. Other
special pits are known from Nadbury, Ling Hall, High Cross, Meon Hill, Park Farm and
Charlecote Road, Wellesbourne (Jones & Palmer 1998; Palmer & Jones forthcoming).
Threshold locations such as the terminal ends of penannular gullies and enclosure terminals
which have yielded concentrations of pottery and quern fragments are known at Ling Hall,
Marsh Farm and Wishaw, but they are almost certainly more widespread, just not recorded as
significant.
Environment
Few of the sites so far analysed have produced evidence for their respective local
environments. The oft-quoted supposition by Professor Shotton (1978, 28-9) that the
sedimentation at Pilgrim lock near Bidford-on-Avon resulted from large scale ploughing and
soil erosion in the LBA has yet to be substantiated. At Salford Priors there was evidence for
the exploitation of woodland, such as coppicing in the LBA and also evidence for the
cultivation of spelt wheat (Palmer 2000a). At Ling Hall extensive sampling for charred plant
remains has recovered evidence that suggests that woodland clearance precipitated the
development of heathland on the acid rich soils and the shortage of timber probably resulted
in the burning of gorse and heather as fuel throughout the occupation of the area.
Waterlogged deposits from a single well of probable MIA date have yet to be analysed
(Palmer 2002).
Implications for research
It is clear from the available evidence that few trends can yet be identified within the survey
area. The sharp increase in the number of excavations carried out over the last few years has
actually served to increase the diversity of the settlement and landscape record of the later
prehistoric period.
The MBA lacks definitive settlement evidence and contemporary landscape utilisation is
perhaps more akin to the equally evasive earlier prehistoric period. Distinguishing flint
scatters of this date may be the only way of establishing the location of occupation sites, but
there is as yet no obvious way of achieving even this.
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There is a perceptible increase in activity during the LBA with the first clear evidence of
activity and boundary construction on a limited number of sites in the Avon valley, although
actual settlement locations are not proven. The possible midden site at Whitchurch in the
Feldon of south Warwickshire could provide a crucial context for ceramic and other material
class studies. Its location on clay subsoil clearly illustrates that such areas were not avoided
by early farmers because of the tough intractable soils and that settlement sites can be
expected off the gravel terraces.
Evidence for the period of transition into the IA is more widespread across the survey area,
although still not at all well understood. Traces of buildings occur near Rugby, both on clay
and gravel sites. The first enclosed settlements occur in the Avon valley in the EIA and at
least one hillfort site may have been utilised at this time. Post-built linear boundaries were
constructed on Dunsmore in an area with no evidence for earlier prehistoric activity and miniring-ditches are used in some funerary practices as they are in the Arrow and Avon valleys,
where the earliest pit inhumations also occur. Extensive areas of settlement are indicated by
pottery scatters in the Feldon region, whereas no sites across the remainder of the study area
have produced surface scatters.
By the MIA a complex of land-units or estates had been imposed on Dunsmore, and
settlement enclosures use the boundaries as their spine. There appears to be a distinction
between this organised landscape and the discrete settlements known nearby. Extensive open
and enclosed settlements are now known on the Boulder clay slopes between the Avon and
the Swift rivers near Rugby, the material assemblages from one site representing a rich vein
of cultural data so far absent on the gravel sites. Open and enclosed occupation continues in
the Avon valley, the subtle shifts in settlement foci perhaps indicative of localised soil
denudation, or perhaps even deeper, more esoteric cultural requirements.
The construction of boundaries seems to have been an important aspect of LBA – MIA
settlement patterns and in every recorded case the boundaries predate the known settlements
to which they are later related. Whereas this may reflect our inability to recognise early
settlement features, it could imply that boundaries were constructed before settlements were
sufficiently static to leave a recognisable signature. We should therefore consider the
possibility that boundaries were constructed in locations of periodic settlement, such as areas
where communities or family groups settled only seasonally but were obliged to ‘own’ to
defend valuable resources in the way that monumental architecture was used in the earlier
prehistoric.
LIA settlement predominantly found in the major river valleys, was both open and enclosed,
and often witness to a change in settlement foci in the period leading to the conquest. At
present, the supposed intensification of settlement through to the LIA does not witness the
same preoccupation with boundary features, although larger landscape boundaries on the
territorial level are suspected in the later period. How far this reflects a more sophisticated set
of social relations is far from clear.
Large projects such as the quarry sites of Wasperton, Marsh Farm, Ling Hall, Meriden and
High Cross, and the large scale housing developments at Coton Park have shown the benefits
of excavating on a landscape scale. From all of these sites important deposits that were not
suggested by cropmarks have provided invaluable physical and contextual data. Too few
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other settlement sites have been excavated on a wide enough scale to attempt meaningful
intra-site analysis or to determine landscape use and environmental setting.
Environmental indicators, evidence for agriculture, and evidence for craft and industry are
almost non-existent in all periods, as is evidence for material culture aside from ceramics.
Future directions

A major obstacle in our understanding of the period is the lack of a reliable chronological
framework. The remedy begins with an insistence at the curatorial level that radiocarbon
dating becomes routine and that appropriate dating strategies are specified on all later
prehistoric sites. It should be possible to acquire a suite of AMS dates from all such
future sites and where possible they should be accompanied with programmes of TL and
OSL dating (cf Haselgrove et al 2001).

Given that the majority of settlement sites in the study are likely to be heavily ploughed
out, emphasis should be placed on the location of finds groups within settlement areas in
order to pursue questions of spatial analysis, activity areas and structured deposition.

The best preserved settlement and occupation sites are likely to be those covered by
alluvial or colluvial deposits. Topographical survey should be undertaken to formulate
predictive models for the locations of such sites, which then could be incorporated into
development control procedures.

The paucity of later prehistoric ceramics even on some occupation sites in some areas
serves to highlight the importance of any such finds, especially in evaluation trenches.
Their presence needs to be read as an indicator of deposits of significance, rather than as
one of only limited interest. The presence of ceramics of this date will almost certainly
indicate the presence of an occupation site.

The gravel terraces on which the majority of sites have been identified have largely
proven poor in archaeobotanical and environmental remains. It is therefore crucial that
when sites are identified on other geologies or are waterlogged that a full and extensive
range of environmental and artefactual sampling is undertaken. The potential for off-site
sampling should be explored wherever possible.

To understand the vagaries and complexities of structured deposition we need to
undertake three-dimensional recording of all finds groups and to programme sampling
strategies at consistent levels.

We know next to nothing about the hillforts of Warwickshire and Solihull, a deficit in
understanding that is unlikely to be remedied in the development control process, as
nearly all are prominently positioned in the ‘green belt’. This is a serious deficit that must
be addressed if we are to move forward our understanding of their potentially pivotal
relationship to the wider region. Exploration of these sites, located as they are between
the hillfort dominated landscapes of the south and west and the ‘open country’ of the
north and east, could make a suitable project for academic research.

Settlement sites, both open and enclosed, clearly did not sit in isolation, they were a small
part of a complex landscape. We need to examine the environs of those settlements that
West Midlands Regional Research Framework for Archaeology, Seminar 2: Palmer
11
we can identify in order to understand their settings. Future work could usefully focus on
the environs of those cropmark sites that have already been subject to some survey and
excavation.
West Midlands Regional Research Framework for Archaeology, Seminar 2: Palmer
12
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West Midlands Regional Research Framework for Archaeology, Seminar 2: Palmer
16
Appendix: List of sites in text
Alcester, Cold Comfort Lane
Alderminster, Foxhill
Alveston, Stratford-upon-Avon
Barford
Barford, Park Farm
Bidford-on-Avon
Bourton and Draycote, Broomhill Farm
Brandon and Bretford, Brandon Grounds
Burton Dassett, Church Hill
Cawston
Charlecote, Middle Hunscote Farm
Chesterton-on-Fosse
Church Lawford, Ling Hall
Coleshill
Copston Magna, High Cross
Ettington, Rattleborough Plantation
Frankton
Fulbrook, Sherbourne Hill
Halford
Hartshill
Heathcote, Home Farm
Idlicote
King’s Newnham
Lapworth, Hobditch
Leamington, Sharmer Farm
Longbridge, Longbridge Manor
Long Itchington
Meriden
Middleton
Napton, Windmill Business Park
Polesworth, Kisses’ Barn Farm
Quinton, Meon Hill
Ratley and Upton, Nadbury
Rollright
Rugby, Coton Park
Rugby, Coton Park 2
Ryton-on-Dunsmore
Salford Priors
Salford Priors, Broom
Salford Priors, Marsh Farm
Stretton-on-Fosse
Tiddington
Walton
Wasperton
Wellesborne, Charlecote Road
Whitchurch, Birchfurlong Cottages
Whitchurch, Crimscote Down
Wishaw, Wishaw Hall Farm
Jones & Palmer 1995; Wark Mus 2000
Hingley 1987
Thomas 1974
Oswald 1969
Cracknell & Hingley 1994
Thomas 1974
Hodgson 1991
Bateman 1978
Booth 1989
Geophysical Survey Bradford 1997
Hughes & Jones 1996
Taylor 1967
Palmer 2002; Palmer in prep c
Magilton forthcoming
Palmer in prep a
Hingley 1987
Palmer 1999b; 2000b
Palmer 1996; Palmer forthcoming
Hingley 1987
Thomas 1974
Coutts & Jones 1998
Hingley 1987
Palmer 1990; Palmer forthcoming
Cracknell & Hingley 1995
Barfield & Hodder 1989
Jones 1997
Palmer 1999a; 2000b
Northants Archaeology 2001
Hodder 1992
Dalton & Booth1997
Palmer 1992
Hodges 1906; Price & Watson 1982
McArthur 1990
Lambrick 1988
Northants Archaeology 1998
Maull 2001
Bateman 1978
Palmer 2000a
Palmer 2000a
Palmer 2000d; in prep b
Gardner et al 1982
Palmer N pers comm
Palmer 2000c; in prep d
BUFAU forthcoming
Palmer forthcoming
Hingley1988
Hingley 1987
Booth pers comm
West Midlands Regional Research Framework for Archaeology, Seminar 2: Palmer
Wixford
Wolston, Wolston Fields
Palmer 2000a
Palmer 1990a
17