Living with the flood : Mesolithic to post-medieval archaeological remains at Mill Lane, Sawston, Cambridgeshire : a wetland/dryland interface

The site at Mill Lane, Sawston, represents millennia of human activity within a dynamic and changing landscape setting. River valleys have been a focus for human activity since the early Holocene and, in addition to providing abundant archaeological evidence for this activity, the proximity to water also highlights the potential for the preservation of both archaeological remains and palaeoenvironmental source material. However, human activity within river valleys also commonly bridges areas of both wetland and dryland; ecological zones which are often approached using quite different archaeological methods and which present considerable differences in levels of archaeological visibility and preservation. The site at Mill Lane offered an uncommon opportunity to explore the interface between these two types of environment.Here we present the results of the study of a wetland/dryland interface on the edge of palaeochannels of the River Cam in Cambridgeshire. Through the integrated archaeological and palaeoenvironmental analysis of a site on the western edge of Sawston, a detailed picture of life on the edge of the floodplain from the late glacial to the post-medieval periods has been developed. At the heart of this is the relationship between people and their changing environment, which reveals a shifting pattern of ritual, occupation and more transitory activity as the riparian landscape in a wooded setting became a wetland within a more openly grazed environment. The presence of potential built structures dating to the early Neolithic, the early Bronze Age and the early Anglo-Saxon periods provides some sense of continuity, although the nature of these structures and the environmental context within which they were constructed was very different. The site at Mill Lane, Sawston, represents millennia of human activity within a dynamic and changing landscape setting. River valleys have been a focus for human activity since the early Holocene and, in addition to providing abundant archaeological evidence for this activity, the proximity to water also highlights the potential for the preservation of both archaeological remains and palaeoenvironmental source material. However, human activity within river valleys also commonly bridges areas of both wetland and dryland; ecological zones which are often approached using quite different archaeological methods and which present considerable differences in levels of archaeological visibility and preservation. The site at Mill Lane offered an uncommon opportunity to explore the interface between these two types of environment.Here we present the results of the study of a wetland/dryland interface on the edge of palaeochannels of the River Cam in Cambridgeshire. Through the integrated archaeological and palaeoenvironmental analysis of a site on the western edge of Sawston, a detailed picture of life on the edge of the floodplain from the late glacial to the post-medieval periods has been developed. At the heart of this is the relationship between people and their changing environment, which reveals a shifting pattern of ritual, occupation and more transitory activity as the riparian landscape in a wooded setting became a wetland within a more openly grazed environment. The presence of potential built structures dating to the early Neolithic, the early Bronze Age and the early Anglo-Saxon periods provides some sense of continuity, although the nature of these structures and the environmental context within which they were constructed was very different. The site at Mill Lane, Sawston, represents millennia of human activity within a dynamic and changing landscape setting. River valleys have been a focus for human activity since the early Holocene and, in addition to providing abundant archaeological evidence for this activity, the proximity to water also highlights the potential for the preservation of both archaeological remains and palaeoenvironmental source material. However, human activity within river valleys also commonly bridges areas of both wetland and dryland; ecological zones which are often approached using quite different archaeological methods and which present considerable differences in levels of archaeological visibility and preservation. The site at Mill Lane offered an uncommon opportunity to explore the interface between these two types of environment.Here we present the results of the study of a wetland/dryland interface on the edge of palaeochannels of the River Cam in Cambridgeshire. Through the integrated archaeological and palaeoenvironmental analysis of a site on the western edge of Sawston, a detailed picture of life on the edge of the floodplain from the late glacial to the post-medieval periods has been developed. At the heart of this is the relationship between people and their changing environment, which reveals a shifting pattern of ritual, occupation and more transitory activity as the riparian landscape in a wooded setting became a wetland within a more openly grazed environment. The presence of potential built structures dating to the early Neolithic, the early Bronze Age and the early Anglo-Saxon periods provides some sense of continuity, although the nature of these structures and the environmental context within which they were constructed was very different. The site at Mill Lane, Sawston, represents millennia of human activity within a dynamic and changing landscape setting. River valleys have been a focus for human activity since the early Holocene and, in addition to providing abundant archaeological evidence for this activity, the proximity to water also highlights the potential for the preservation of both archaeological remains and palaeoenvironmental source material. However, human activity within river valleys also commonly bridges areas of both wetland and dryland; ecological zones which are often approached using quite different archaeological methods and which present considerable differences in levels of archaeological visibility and preservation. The site at Mill Lane offered an uncommon opportunity to explore the interface between these two types of environment. Here we present the results of the study of a wetland/dryland interface on the edge of palaeochannels of the River Cam in Cambridgeshire. Through the integrated archaeological and palaeoenvironmental analysis of a site on the western edge of Sawston, a detailed picture of life on the edge of the floodplain from the late glacial to the post-medieval periods has been developed. At the heart of this is the relationship between people and their changing environment, which reveals a shifting pattern of ritual, occupation and more transitory activity as the riparian landscape in a wooded setting became a wetland within a more openly grazed environment. The presence of potential built structures dating to the early Neolithic, the early Bronze Age and the early Anglo-Saxon periods provides some sense of continuity, although the nature of these structures and the environmental context within which they were constructed was very different. The site at Mill Lane, Sawston, represents millennia of human activity within a dynamic and changing landscape setting. River valleys have been a focus for human activity since the early Holocene and, in addition to providing abundant archaeological evidence for this activity, the proximity to water also highlights the potential for the preservation of both archaeological remains and palaeoenvironmental source material. However, human activity within river valleys also commonly bridges areas of both wetland and dryland; ecological zones which are often approached using quite different archaeological methods and which present considerable differences in levels of archaeological visibility and preservation. The site at Mill Lane offered an uncommon opportunity to explore the interface between these two types of environment. Here we present the results of the study of a wetland/dryland interface on the edge of palaeochannels of the River Cam in Cambridgeshire. Through the integrated archaeological and palaeoenvironmental analysis of a site on the western edge of Sawston, a detailed picture of life on the edge of the floodplain from the late glacial to the post-medieval periods has been developed. At the heart of this is the relationship between people and their changing environment, which reveals a shifting pattern of ritual, occupation and more transitory activity as the riparian landscape in a wooded setting became a wetland within a more openly grazed environment. The presence of potential built structures dating to the early Neolithic, the early Bronze Age and the early Anglo-Saxon periods provides some sense of continuity, although the nature of these structures and the environmental context within which they were constructed was very different. The site at Mill Lane, Sawston, represents millennia of human activity within a dynamic and changing landscape setting. River valleys have been a focus for human activity since... CONTENTS 6 List of figures and tables 9 List of contributors 10 Acknowledgements 11 Summary 12 Chapter 1: Introduction 14 1.1 Background to the project 14 1.2 Location, geology and preservation potential 14 1.3 Archaeological and historical background 16 1.4 Research context and aims 19 1.5 Structure of this book 21 Chapter 2: Methodologies 22 2.1 Introduction 22 2.2 Mapping aims onto methods 22 2.3 Methods 23 Chapter 3: The excavations 28 3.1 Introduction: phasing and chronology 28 3.2 Survival and preservation 28 3.3 Site narrative 28 3.4 Summary 41 Chapter 4: Prehistoric lithics 42 4.1 Introduction 42 4.2 Late glacial flintworking 43 4.3 Mesolithic and early Neolithic flintworking 43 4.4 Late Neolithic and early Bronze Age flintworking 48 4.5 Discussion 48 Chapter 5: Prehistoric pottery 52 5.1 Introduction 52 5.2 Ceramic traditions – typologies, succession and contextualisation 52 5.3 Discussion 55 Chapter 6: Roman period finds 58 6.1 Introduction 58 6.2 Roman ceramic building material 58 6.3 The Roman coin 59 6.4 The Roman pottery 60 Chapter 7: Early Anglo-Saxon finds 62 7.1 Introduction 62 7.2 Early Saxon pottery 62 7.3 Ceramic building material 67 7.4 Bone and antler artefacts 67 7.5 The Anglo-Saxon animal bone 68 7.6 The glass beads 69 7.7 The buckle loop 70 Chapter 8: Late Anglo-Saxon, medieval and post-medieval finds 72 8.1 Introduction 72 8.2 Late Anglo-Saxon and medieval pottery 72 8.3 Medieval ceramic building material 77 8.4 Animal burials 78 Chapter 9: Palaeoenvironmental analyses 80 9.1 Introduction 80 9.2 Results 80 9.3 Discussion 87 9.4 Conclusions 89 9.5 Charred plant remains and molluscs 90 Chapter 10: Prehistoric and Roman activity 92 10.1 Introduction 92 10.2 The first settlers: a sedentary population or seasonal use of a preferred place? Mesolithic to Bronze Age activity 92 10.3 Abandonment? Iron Age and Roman evidence 95 10.4 Conclusions 96 Chapter 11: Anglo-Saxon, medieval and post-medieval activity 98 11.1 Introduction 98 11.2 The Roman/Anglo-Saxon transition 98 11.3 Reclaiming the floodplain – an Anglo-Saxon settlement 98 11.4 Medieval and post-medieval ditch systems 100 11.5 Conclusions 101 Chapter 12: Conclusions: life on the wetland edge 102 12.1 Introduction 102 12.2 Narrative 102 12.3 Reconsidering the aims of the project, and recommendations for future research 104 12.4 Final remarks 107 Appendix 1: Catalogue of the struck lithic material detailed by individual context 108 Appendix 2: Palaeoenvironmental and radiocarbon tables 112 Appendix 3: Animal bone tables 126 Appendix 4: Roman pottery tables 128 Appendix 5: Radiocarbon dating and analysis from the Anglo-Saxon sunken-featured buildings 130 References 132 Introduction Methodologies The excavations Prehistoric lithics / by Barry John Bishop Prehistoric pottery / by Anne Woodward Roman period finds Early Anglo-Saxon finds Late Saxon, Medieval and post-Medieval finds Palaeoenvironmental analyses.