Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-sh8wx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-16T22:40:55.581Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Is There Anybody Out There? A Reconsideration of the Environmental Evidence from the Breiddin Hillfort, Powys, Wales

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 April 2011

Paul C Buckland ,
Mike Parker Pearson ,
Andy Wigley  and
Maureen A Girling
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Researchers have often assumed that the Iron Age hillforts of the Welsh borders were densely occupied centres of population. One of these is the Breiddin, occupied in the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age, which was excavated in 1969–76. At its centre was a natural water reservoir, Buckbean Pond, which provided a radiocarbon dated sequence of deposition contemporary with the later prehistoric occupation of the hillfort. The beetle assemblage from these deposits was never properly studied or published due to Maureen Girling's death and, as a result, its implications for understanding the human impact on the pond's immediate environment were not fully appreciated. Despite the remains of four-post structures close to the pond and of roundhouses and associated deposits in the vicinity, both flora and insect faunas indicate a quiet natural pond with little disturbance other than casual grazing by animals. This ‘evidence of absence’ does not square with the archaeological evidence which is here interpreted as deriving from human activity which was neither permanent nor intensive.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Antiquaries Journal , Volume 81 , September 2001 , pp. 51 - 76
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 2001

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alcock, L 1965. ‘Hillforts in Wales and the Marches’, Antiquity, 39, 184–95CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ashbee, P 1989. ‘Archaeological conclusions’, in Wilsford Shaft: Excavations 1960–62 (Ashbee, P, M, Bell and E, Proudfoot), 133–8, LondonGoogle Scholar
Ashworth, A C 1972. ‘A Late-glacial insect fauna from Red Moss, Lancashire, England’, Entomological Scandinavia, 3, 211–24CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bell, M 1989. ‘Environmental conclusions’, in Wilsford Shaft: Excavations 1960–62 (Ashbee, P, M, Bell and E, Proudfoot), 128–33, LondonGoogle Scholar
Bishop, W W and Coope, G R 1977. ‘Stratigraphical and faunal evidence for Lateglacial and Early Flandrian environments in south-west Scotland’, in Studies in the Scottish Lateglacial Environment (eds Gray, J M and Lowe, J J), 61–88, OxfordCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradley, R 1978. The Prehistoric Settlement of Britain, LondonGoogle Scholar
Britnell, W 1989. ‘The Collfryn hillslope enclosure, Llansatnffraid, Deuddwr, Powys: excavations 1980–1982’, Proc Prehist Soc, 55, 89–133CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Britnell, W J 1991. ‘Buckbean Pond: the excavations’, in Musson, 83–94Google Scholar
Buckland, P C 1981. ‘Insect remains from beneath the Brigg ‘Raft’, in The Brigg ‘Raft’ and her Prehistoric Environment (ed McGrail, S), 155–75, Brit Archaeol Rep, 89, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Buckland, P C 1990. ‘Granaries, stores and insects. The archaeology of insect synanthropy’, in La préparation alimentaire des céréales (eds Fournier, D and F, Sigaut), 69–81, Rapports présentés à la Table ronde, Ravello au Centre Universitaire pour les Biens culturels, avril 1988, PACT, Rixensart, BelgiumGoogle Scholar
Buckland, P C and Wagner, P 2001. ‘Is there an insect signal for the Little Ice Age?’, Climatic Change, 48, 137–49CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carr, G and Knüsel, C 1997. ‘The ritual framework of excarnation by exposure as the mortuary practice of the early and middle Iron Ages of central southern Britain’, in Reconstructing Iron Age Societies: New Approaches to the British Iron Age (eds Gwilt, A and C, Haselgrove), 167–73, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Carver, M O H 1991. ‘A strategy for lowland Shropshire’, Trans Shropshire Archaeol Hist Soc, 67, 1–8Google Scholar
Collis, J R 1981. ‘A theoretical study of hillforts’, in Hill-fort Studies. Essays for A. H. A. Hogg (ed Guilbert, G), 66–77, LeicesterGoogle Scholar
Coope, G R 1998. ‘Insects’, in Late Quaternary Environmental Change in North-West Europe: Excavations at Holywell Coombe, South-East England (eds Preece, R C and Bridgeland, D R), 213–33, LondonGoogle Scholar
de Moulins, D 1990. ‘Environmental analysis’, in The Archaeology of Roman London, 1. The Upper Walbrook in the Roman Period (Mahony, C and de Moulins, D), 85–152, Counc Brit Archaeol Res Rep, 69, LondonGoogle Scholar
Ellis, P 1993. Beeston Castle, Cheshire: Excavations by Lawrence Keen and Peter Hough, 1968–85, LondonGoogle Scholar
Gardner, W and Savory, H N 1964. Dinorben, a Hillfort Occupied in Iron Age and Roman Times, CardiffGoogle Scholar
Gent, H 1983. ‘Centralized storage in later prehistoric Britain’, Proc Prehist Soc, 49, 243–67CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Girling, M A 1979. ‘The fossil insect assemblages from the Meare Lake Village’, Somerset Levels Pap, 5, 25–32Google Scholar
Girling, M A 1984. ‘Investigations of a second insect assemblage from the Sweet Track’, Somerset Levels Pap, 10, 79–91Google Scholar
Girling, M A 1991. ‘Fossil insect faunas from Buckbean Pond, Breiddin hillfort’, in Musson, fiche, 2, 153–69Google Scholar
Guest, J 1996. ‘Hydrochara caraboides (Linnaeus) (Hydrophilidae) in Cheshire’, The Coleopterist, 5, 19Google Scholar
Guilbert, G 1975a. ‘Moel y Gaer 1973: an area excavation of the defences’, Antiquity, 49, 109–17CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guilbert, G 1975b. ‘Planned hillfort interiors’, Proc Prehist Soc, 41, 203–41CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guilbert, G 1976. ‘Moel y Gaer (Rhosemor) 1972–1973: an area excavation in the interior’, in Hillforts: Later Prehistoric Earthworks in Britain and Ireland (ed Harding, D W), 303–17, LondonGoogle Scholar
Guilbert, G 1979. ‘Dinorben 1977–8’, Current Archaeol, 65, 182–8Google Scholar
Guilbert, G 1980. ‘Dinorben C14 dates’, Current Archaeol, 70, 336–8Google Scholar
Guilbert, G 1981. ‘Hill-fort functions and populations: a sceptical viewpoint’, in Hill-fort Studies. Essays for A. H. A. Hogg (ed Guilbert, G), 104–21, LeicesterGoogle Scholar
Gwilt, A 1997. ‘Popular practices from material culture: a case study of the Iron Age settlement at Wakerley’, in Reconstructing Iron Age Societies: New Approaches to the British Iron Age (eds Gwilt, A and Haselgrove, C), 153–66, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Hall, A R and Kenward, H K 1990. Environmental Evidence from the Colonia, Archaeology of York, 14/6, YorkGoogle Scholar
Hill, J D 1995. ‘How should we understand Iron Age societies and hillforts? A contextual study from southern England’, in Different Iron Ages: Studies on the Iron Age in Temperate Europe (eds Hill, J D and Cumberpatch, C G), Brit Archaeol Rep Int Ser, S602, 45–66, OxfordCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hillman, G C 1991. ‘Charred Iron Age crop remains from the Breiddin hillfort’, in Musson, 232–6, fiche chap 13.6Google Scholar
Hunter, F A, Tulloch, J B M and Lambourne, M G 1973. ‘Insects and mites of Makings in the East Midlands of England’, J Stored Products Research, 9, 119–41CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kenward, H K and Allison, E 1994a. ‘Rural origins of the urban insect fauna’, in Urban-Rural Connexions: Perspectives from Environmental Archaeology (eds Hall, A R and Kenward, H K), 55–78, Oxbow Monogr, 47, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Kenward, H K and Allison, E 1994b. ‘A preliminary view of insect assemblages from the early Christian rath site at Deer Park Farms, Northern Ireland’, in Environment and Economy in Anglo-Saxon England (ed Rackham, D J), 89–107, Counc Brit Archaeol Res Rep, 89, LondonGoogle Scholar
Kenyon, K M 1942. ‘Excavations on the Wrekin, Shropshire, 1939’, Archaeol J, 99, 99–109CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kenyon, K M 1954. ‘Excavations at Sutton Walls, Herefordshire, 1948–1951’, Archaeol J, 110, 1–87CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koch, K 1989 Die Käfer Mitteleuropas, Ökologie, II, KrefeldGoogle Scholar
Lucht, W H 1987. Die Käfer Mitteleuropas, Katalog, KrefeldGoogle Scholar
Musson, C R with Britnell, W T and Smith, A G 1991. The Breiddin Hillfort. A Later Prehistoric Settlement in the Welsh Marches, Counc Brit Archaeol Res Rep, 76, LondonGoogle Scholar
Musson, C R, Smith, A G and Girling, M A 1977. ‘Environmental evidence from the Breiddin hillfort’, Antiquity, 51, 147–51Google Scholar
O'Neil, B H St J 1934. ‘Excavations at Titterstone Clee Hill Camp, Shropshire, 1932’, Antiq J, 14, 13–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Neil, B H St J 1937. ‘Excavations at Breiddin Hill Camp, Montgomeryshire, 1933–35’, Archaeol Cambriensis, 92, 86–128Google Scholar
O'Neil, B H St J 1942. ‘Excavations at Ffridd Faldwyn Camp, Montgomeryshire, 1937–39’, Archaeol Cambriensis, 97, 1–57Google Scholar
Osborne, P J 1974. ‘An insect assemblage of Early Flandrian Age from Lea Marston, Warwickshire and its bearing on the contemporary climate and ecology’, Quaternary Res, 4, 471–86CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Osborne, P J 1981. ‘The insect fauna’, in Midsummer Hill, an Iron Age Hillfort on the Malverns (Stanford, S C), 156–7, HerefordGoogle Scholar
Osborne, P J 1989. ‘Insects’, in Wilsford Shaft. Excavations 1960–62 (Ashbee, P, Bell, M and Proudfoot, E), 96–9, fiche C1–7, LondonGoogle Scholar
Peacock, E R 1993. Adults and Larvae of Hide, Larder and Carpet Beetles and their Relatives (Coleoptera: Dermestidae) and of Derodontid Beetles (Coleoptera: Derodontidae), Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects, Royal Entomological Soc London, 5,3, LondonGoogle Scholar
Robinson, M A 1979. ‘The biological evidence’, in Iron Age and Roman Riverside Settlements at Farmoor, Oxfordshire (Lambrick, G and Robinson, M A), 77–133, Counc Brit Archaeol Res Rep, 32, LondonGoogle Scholar
Robinson, M A 1991. ‘The Neolithic and Late Bronze Age insect assemblages’, in Excavation and Salvage at Runnymede Bridge, 1978: the Late Bronze Age Waterfront Site (Needham, S), 277–325, LondonGoogle Scholar
Robinson, M 1993. ‘The scientific evidence’, in The Prehistoric Landscape and Iron Age Enclosed Settlement at Mingies Ditch, Hardwich-with-Yelford, Oxon (eds Allen, T G and Robinson, M A), Oxford Archaeol Unit, Thames Valley Landscapes. The Windrush Valley, 2, 101–41, Counc Brit Archaeol Res Rep, LondonGoogle Scholar
Roper, T 1996. ‘Fossil insect evidence for the development of raised mire at Thome Moors, near Doncaster’, Biodiversity Conservation, 5, 503–21CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Savory, H N 1971. Excavations at Dinorben, 1965–9, CardiffGoogle Scholar
Smith, A G, with Girling, M A, Green, C A, Hillman, G C and Limbrey, S 1991. ‘Buckbean pond: environmental studies’, in The Breiddin Hillfort: a Later Prehistoric Settlement in the Welsh Marches (C Musson), 95–112, Counc Brit Archaeol Res Rep, 76, LondonGoogle Scholar
Stanford, S C 1971a. ‘Credenhill Camp, Herefordshire; an Iron Age hillfort capital’, Archaeol J, 127, 82–129CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stanford, S C 1971b. ‘Invention, adaption and imposition – the evidence of the hillforts’, in The Iron Age and its Hillforts (Jesson, M and D, Hill), 41–52, SouthamptonGoogle Scholar
Stanford, S C 1972a. ‘Welsh Border hillforts’, in The Iron Age in the Irish Sea Province (ed Thomas, C), 25–36, Counc Brit Archaeol Res Rep, 9, LondonGoogle Scholar
Stanford, S C 1972b. ‘The function and population of hill-forts in the central Marches’, in Prehistoric Man in Wales and the West (eds Lynch, F and Burgess, C), 307–19, BathGoogle Scholar
Stanford, S C 1974. Croft Ambrey, HerefordGoogle Scholar
Stanford, S C 1981. Midsummer Hill, an Iron Age Hillfort in the Malverns, HerefordGoogle Scholar
Stanford, S C 1984. ‘The Wrekin hillfort excavations 1973’, Archaeol J, 141, 61–90CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stanford, S C 1995. ‘A Cornovian farm and Saxon cemetery at Bromfield, Shropshire’, Trans Shropshire Archaeol Hist Soc, 70, 95–141Google Scholar
Varley, W J 1948. ‘The hill-forts of the Welsh Marches’, Archaeol J, 105, 41–68CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wagner, P E 1997. ‘Human impact or cooling climate? The ‘Little Ice Age’ and the beetle fauna of the British Isles’, in Studies in Quaternary Entomology – An Inordinate Fondness for Insects. Quaternary Proceedings (eds Ashworth, A C, Buckland, P C and Sadler, J P), 5, 269–76Google Scholar
Whimster, R. 1989. The Emerging Past, LondonGoogle Scholar
White, R 1999. The Marches Hillfort Survey, vol. http://www.bufau.bham.ac.uk/newsite/projects/ burywalls/marchesprojects.htm. Birmingham Univ Fid Archaeol Unit, BirminghamGoogle Scholar