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Wearing environment and making islands: Britain's Bronze Age inland north sea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 October 2015

Christopher Evans
Christopher Evans*
Affiliation:
Cambridge Archaeological Unit, Division of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3DZ, UK (Email: cje30@cam.ac.uk)
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Abstract

Dramatic environmental changes have had an enormous impact on human populations in the past, sometimes expressed through objects that might easily be overlooked. The later prehistory marine inundations within the fenland of East Anglia—and the eventual creation of its islanded marsh-landscape—demanded a social response open to investigation. Did they alter the ways that communities expressed their identity? Did larger communities develop to exploit the new economic potential of things such as salt? Behind these major shifts, smaller signifiers such as shell necklaces may offer clues about use of resources and the identity of those who lived through these changes.

Keywords

East Angliathe FensBronze Ageseashellspersonal ornamentationfield systemsislandsenvironmental changeSeahenge
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 89 , Issue 347 , October 2015 , pp. 1110 - 1124
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2015 

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