Eckweek, Peasedown, St John, Somerset : survey and excavations at a shrunken medieval hamlet 1988-1990

"This volume presents the results of archaeological survey and excavation at Eckweek, Somerset, which yielded one of the most important medieval rural settlement sequences yet excavated from south-west England. At the centre of the narrative is a succession of well-preserved buildings spanning the late 10th to the 14th centuries A.D. forming the nucleus of a Domesday manor and its Late Saxon precursor. Detailed analysis of the structural sequence offers a new regional perspective on pre-Conquest earthfast timber architecture and its subsequent (12th-century) replacement by masonry traditions. Culminating in a richly preserved 14th-century farmhouse, including a very complete assemblage of structural and domestic objects, the structural archaeology provides an unusually refined picture of the internal organisation of later medieval domestic space within a rural farming setting. Detailed analytical attention is given to the abundant artefactual and environmental datasets recovered from the excavations (including prolific assemblages of medieval pottery and palaeonvironmental data) with a nuanced appraisal of their interpretative implications. Anyone with an interest in the dynamics and regional complexity of medieval rural communities will find this a stimulating and enlightening read."-- Provided by publisher Cover 1 Title Page 2 Copyright Page 3 Table of Contents 4 List of Figures 5 Acknowledgements 10 Summaries (English/French/German/Spanish) 11 Abbreviations 13 Chapter 1: Introduction 14 1.1: Background to the project 14 1.2: Geology, topography and land use 18 Chapter 2: Documentary and Archaeological Background 22 2.1: Documentary, archaeological and landscape evidence (by Dr Nick Corcos, 2013) 22 2.2: The placename Eckweek (by Dr Michael Costen) 41 2.3: Eckweek in Domesday Book (by Dr Frank Thorn) 42 Chapter 3: Surveys 57 3.1: Preliminary surveys 57 3.2: Geophysical survey (by Andrew Payne of Historic England, 1989, updated 2015) 58 Chapter 4: Excavations 64 4.1: Excavation areas and methodologies 64 4.2: Summary of structural phasing 65 4.3: The excavated evidence 66 4.4: Watching brief 122 Chapter 5: Artefacts and Environmental Evidence 126 5.1: Prehistoric ceramics – pottery, briquetage and a bronze-working crucible (by Dr Elaine Morris, 1992, updated 2015) 126 5.2: Romano-British pottery (by Dr Jane Timby, 2015) 131 5.3: The late Saxon, Saxo-Norman, medieval and post-medieval pottery (by Andrew Young and Alexander Kidd, 1990–1991, updated 2015) 132 5.3.1 The petrology of medieval pottery (by D F Williams PhD FSA – Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton, 1991) 132 5.4: Coins (by Sarah Newns, 2015) 178 5.5: Iron and lead objects (by Ann Thompson, 1991) 180 5.6: Copper alloy objects (by Sarah Newns, 2015) 195 5.7: Flint (by Vince Russett, 1991) 203 5.8: Worked stone objects (by Alexander Kidd and Andrew Young, 1991) 209 5.8.1 The petrology of medieval whetstones of sandstone from Eckweek (by Professor Gilbert Kelling – Department of Geology, University of Keele, 1991) 221 5.9: Clay tobacco pipe (by Sarah Newns, 2014) 221 5.10: The composition of a group of later medieval copper alloy ‘ingots’ and other objects (by Nigel Blades, 1991) 223 5.11: Worked bone objects (by Sarah Newns, 2015) 225 5.12: The jet bead SF627 (by Sarah Newns, 2015) 227 5.13: Faunal remains (by Dr Simon Davis, 1992, updated 2015) 227 5.14: Charred plant remains (by Wendy Carruthers, 1995, updated 2015) 235 5.15: Molluscs (by Dr Matthew Law, 2014) 246 Chapter 6: Independent Dating 250 6.1: Radiocarbon dating (Queens University Belfast, 1991, reviewed and updated by Dr Peter Marshall, 2015) 250 6.2: Comment on the 1991 radiocarbon dates (by Andrew Young, 1991, revised 2015) 251 Chapter 7: Reconstructing Late Saxon and Medieval Eckweek (2015) 252 7.1: The medieval buildings and structures 252 7.2: Artefacts: the character and distribution of Late Saxon and medieval finds 268 7.3: Artefactual evidence for settlement development – continuity and change 291 7.4: Artefacts and ecofacts – general conclusions 297 7.5: The agricultural and domestic economy 298 Chapter 8: Synthesis 302 8.1: Prehistoric activity 302 8.2: Late Saxon and medieval settlement 303 Bibliography 313 Index 322