Warwickshire Museum Field Archaeology Projects Group |
Ling Hall Quarry, Church Lawford 1989-2007
Excavation of a prehistoric and Romano-British landscape |
An on-going programme of archaeological observation and excavation directed by Stuart Palmer is being undertaken in advance of gravel extraction at Ling Hall Quarry, Church Lawford near Rugby on behalf of Ennstone Johnstone Ltd.
The site, a former WWII airfield, lies in the centre of the Dunsmore gravel plateau, bounded to the north by the valley of the River Avon and to the south by the valley of the River Leam. The plateau is significant for the survival of an extensive later prehistoric landscape known from cropmarks recorded during aerial survey. The quarry site was evaluated by trial trenching in 1989 and since 1991 the Field Archaeology Projects Group have monitored the removal of topsoil in advance of quarrying and excavated the features exposed. |
Ling Hall Quarry, Area AB, external drainage gully of a Late Bronze Age round-house
|
Ling Hall Quarry showing the surrounding cropmarks and the main areas excavated.
|
Early prehistoric activity
The earliest evidence of human activity found so far within the quarry site is a late Neolithic pit that produced a distinctive type of pottery known as Grooved Ware dating between 2800 and 2000 BC. Other earlier prehistoric evidence is restricted to a single sherd of Early Bronze Age pottery (c 2000-1500 BC) and a few worked flint flakes. These finds suggest at least a low level of occupation of the area, perhaps by semi-nomadic herders between 3000 and 1000 BC.
|
Late Bronze Age settlement
In 2004 a small group of at least three Late Bronze Age (c 1000–600 BC) round-houses was found in Area AB. These are the earliest buildings on Dunsmore and are likely to have been built by a growing population that cleared the remaining post-glacial forest in order to provide pasture for livestock. The buildings were represented by a narrow C-shaped gullies that defined the footprint of the houses and kept their interiors dry. The absence of interior postholes for load-bearing timber posts suggests that the houses were constructed with turf walls. This technique appears to have been widespread throughout the region until the Romano-British period. Turf would have been stripped from the surrounding area and pinned together with stakes to form a sturdy wall, thick enough to support the heavy weight of the roof.
Contemporary activity in the area includes a few isolated pits into which pottery fragments were deposited and some burial features that include a cremation placed in a pottery urn and two mini-ring-ditches that had once encircled small mounds. No bodies survived under the mounds, but elsewhere these features have been shown to represent an unusual form of funerary monument at the very end of the period in which barrows were constructed. |
Area V, Late Bronze Age/early Iron Age mini-ring-ditch. |
Post and pit alignments
The quarry site is remarkable for an unusual complex of post alignments. Four such alignments have now been found, including one with a double row of posts forming an arc (Areas C & D), a single row (Area O), a curving row mirrored by later boundaries (Area Y), and, in 2005, a double row aligned with a ditched trackway (Area AC). Radiocarbon dates obtained from charcoal in the base of the Area O alignment indicate destruction by fire at around 500 BC. The post alignments may have been constructed following the clearance of the forest and they probably represent boundaries, although the excavated examples all seem to stop in otherwise empty spaces. It is possible that their function was more symbolic than practical, although the latest examples found in Area AC and the associated trackway may lead to or from an open area in the centre of the quarry site. Preliminary study of the trackway ditches suggests that animal dung built up in the ditches that may therefore have been used as cattle droves. |
Area D, Intersection of double posthole alignment and pit alignment.
|
Area AC, posthole alignments and trackway ditches.
|
Area AC, plan. |
A second type of boundary formed by alignments of closely spaced pits has also been found more extensively across the quarry site. Although these were initially thought to post-date the posthole alignments, it now appears that some at least may have pre-dated them. In 2005 excavations in Area AC revealed that this extraordinary complex of linear boundary features was in fact constructed sequentially: two alignments clearly abut and are therefore later than a main north-east to south-west alignment (see plan above).
The boundaries define a system of land-units or estates that were laid out over the centre of the Dunsmore plateau and eventually these estates were sub-divided by further pit alignments. Seven of the pit alignments have so far been sampled, and two different types have been recognised. An early form comprises large deep pits that are rectangular in shape, whilst later alignments contain much smaller, circular pits. Some of these boundaries can be seen to extend for several kilometres across the plateau. |
Area AC, major pit alignment abutted by double alignment. |
Middle-late Iron Age settlements
Settlements developed alongside some of these boundaries during the latter part of the Middle Iron Age (400-100 BC). In some cases these settlements were later enclosed within ditched compounds, presumably with banks and hedges that have left no trace. Invariably the compounds were constructed along the earlier pit alignments, respecting the older boundaries. Some of these were small settlement compounds whilst others appear to have been used as stock pens. An example excavated in Area F contained a round-house and several banana-shaped gullies, which suggest that it was built alongside and over other earlier structures. |
Area F, middle Iron Age round-house under excavation.
|
| In 2004 a Late Iron Age settlement complex was examined in Area AB. At least nine buildings were excavated on the south side of the pit alignment boundary; four of these were located inside two ditched enclosures constructed along the pit alignment. A further two buildings were attached to rectangular compounds that were also aligned over the earlier pit alignment and were clustered together with a further two buildings. A similar compound overlaid a building within the south-western enclosure and another cut the pit alignment to the north-east of the group. |
Area AB, round-house during excavation. |
Ling Hall Quarry 2004, Area AB pit alignment and mid-late Iron Age settlement.
|
All of the buildings opened to the east, perhaps towards the rising sun. The absence of structural postholes once again lends credence to suggestion of a local mass-wall tradition in the construction of round-houses. Drinking water was acquired from a pit within the alignment that had been specially deepened.
Area AB also revealed the first clear evidence for pre-Roman fields in Warwickshire. Linear gullies extended southward from either end of the two enclosures, which although truncated at their southern ends, seem likely to represent boundaries to a field some 95m wide.
A large assemblage of pottery was recovered during the excavation of this area. It was predominantly coarseware in the form of globular and ovoid shaped jars with simple everted rims. Decoration was rare but when present was mostly short linear scoring on the outer surface. The only other finds were a few quernstone fragments and flint flakes. Of the latter, some may have been used as cutting and scraping tools, whilst others seem to have been left by much earlier visitors to the area.
The soils on Dunsmore are slightly acid and therefore unsuitable for the preservation of organic materials, such as bone, leather, wood and other plant-based materials, unless it is preserved in waterlogged conditions or partially burnt. Examination of environmental samples taken from areas of burning and rubbish disposal indicate that the soil was nutrient poor and probably unsuitable for the cultivation of cereals. In fact the evidence suggests that once the forest cover had been removed a heathland habitat formed and the inhabitants used gorse and bracken as fuel for cooking etc. The low quantities of charcoal found across the site probably indicate that wood was in short supply and this may be one explanation for the unusual building technique predominant in the area. The excavated evidence therefore, suggests that the inhabitants were pastoralists engaged in the production of meat and wool rather than agriculturalists with fields of corn. |
Area AB, round-house within a ditched enclosure. |
The estate to the north of Area AB was subdivided during the Late Iron Age (around 100 BC) by an alignment of smaller pits that was constructed between the earlier, larger pit alignment boundaries. In 2001, a complex of enclosures was excavated as Area Z (see plan below). Some of these ditched enclosures defined areas of domestic activity indicated by the successive rebuilding of round-houses, whilst others may have been used to protect cattle and sheep overnight. To the east of the settlement a square enclosure was dug around one of the earlier mini-ring-ditches perhaps as a sacred or special enclosure used for ceremonial activities associated with death. During this period it is thought that the dead were laid out above ground for the bodies to be de-fleshed naturally. A large building immediately to the north of the square enclosure may have been associated with such a ceremony. |
Area Z, building complex during excavation. |
Area Z, late Iron Age Settlement.
|
All the buildings and enclosures associated with this settlement opened to the east, and, whilst most houses were built with turf walls, others had post-in-trench walls. Water for drinking and cooking was drawn from a well that was dug through the gravel to penetrate the water-table on the south side of the complex. However, the settlement was drained via a deep sump cut through the base of the deepest enclosure ditch that allowed surface and waste-water to drain into the water table. Presumably the sand and gravel between the well and the sump acted as a filter that removed impurities before it reached the well.
Finds from the sites investigated so far mostly consist of local coarseware pottery and quernstone fragments, the latter indicating that cereals were eaten on site even if they were not grown. This suggests that grain was either traded for surplus meat and wool, or that the settlement was used by a community with access to higher quality farmland elsewhere. The absence of fine pottery, metalwork, jewellery and other higher status material suggests that the occupants were materially quite poor, but this need not imply that they were struggling to subsist. |
Area Z under excavation. |
Romano-British and later activity
Some of the land units defined by the pit alignments remained in use into the Romano-British period when the boundaries were re-dug as continuous ditches. These would probably have had hedges grown alongside them. The tradition of constructing settlements along the boundaries also continued, one example being investigated in Area Q. Here a square enclosure was gradually expanded in regular sized blocks out from the boundary. Occupation debris was encountered in one corner of the enclosure, although the buildings probably lay outside the area to be quarried and could not be examined. Again no animal bone was recovered but charred plant remains found in some of the features show that the occupants were probably growing barley, a crop capable of flourishing in acidic soils. Pottery from the area indicates low-status occupation from the 1st to the late 2nd/early 3rd century AD. An unusual find from this site was a fragment of woollen girdle, preserved by mineralisation.
|
Area U, early/mid-Romano-British structure.
|
Some more extensive Romano-British field systems defined by gullies were examined in Areas T and W although the settlements that they were associated with probably lie outside the current quarry limits. In Area U an unusual figure-of-eight feature of 1st-2nd century AD date has been interpreted as a local shrine.
The area was abandoned in the 3rd century AD, probably as a result of a reduction in soil fertility. The site remained part of Dunsmore Heath throughout the medieval period thereby escaping medieval ploughing which often severely damages earlier archaeological sites. It was not again colonised until the post-medieval period when the land was improved by drainage schemes and liming to neutralise the acidity of the soil. However, it is interesting to note that the boundaries of the medieval townships that were established on the margins of the Heath, all centre on a point at the south end of the present quarry site in a similar way to the Iron Age boundaries. This suggests that the prehistoric land-units formed the basis of the medieval parishes and in fact one current parish boundary is partly aligned with one of the major pit alignments.
Conclusion
To date, the work in the quarry site has significantly improved our knowledge of later prehistoric settlement in the region and is providing an excellent case study of evolving landscape utilisation. The total strip and record methodology employed has revealed some unique features, not least amongst which are the possible Iron Age and Romano-British burial and ceremonial features that were unknown as cropmarks and would not have been encountered by an excavation strategy based solely on aerial photographic evidence. Of the four settlement sites examined, only Area Z was identified in cropmark form and this was only photographed subsequent to the evaluation in 1989. The excavations have also revealed important elements of the landscape layout: although some parts of the pit alignment complex were known prior to the fieldwork commencing, the crucial central point from which they can now be seen to radiate was not.
It is hoped that the Museum will be observing topsoil stripping and excavating the exposed deposits over the remaining quarry area in the near future. A full report on the work will then be produced for publication. An interim report covering the work undertaken between 1989 and 1999 was produced in 2002:
Palmer, S C, 2002 Ling Hall Quarry, Church Lawford, Warwickshire, Archaeological Excavations 1989-1999, Warwickshire Museum Report 0210.
|
Field Archaeology Projects Group, Warwickshire Museum Field Services
The Butts, Warwick, CV34 4SS Tel: 01926 412280/412278 Fax: 01926 412974
E-mail: fieldarchaeology@warwickshire.gov.uk |