Cornwall during the Iron Age and - Cornwall Archaeological Society

More documents

Recommendations

Info

On most Cornish sites, even with modern excavations such as Killibury and The Rumps, it is not possible to separate stratigraphically South-Western Decorated pottery from Cordoned Wares (pace Threipland, 1956, 53). There was some fusion — cordons appearing on South-Western Decorated pottery (eg Killibury P17, Miles et al, 1977) and the two styles were probably manufactured together for a while. The actual terminal date for the manufacture of South-Western Decorated pottery is not yet established and the style may have continued well into the 1st century AD. Goldherring (Guthrie, 1969) is the only site with a clearly defined stratified phase associated only with Cordoned Ware, and no South-Western Decorated or Roman forms. Threipland emphasised in 1956 that Cordoned Ware was current until the 2nd century AD. Detailed analysis of the pottery from Trethurgy (Quinnell, forthcoming) makes it quite evident that large cordoned jars, with either rolled (Type H) or everted (Type J) rims, were being made in the 3rd and 4th centuries AD. In fact is is probably only the bowls, Threipland's Type F and G, which can be restricted to the 1st centuries BC/AD: interestingly she notes (1956, 53) that these are concentrated early in the sequence at St Mawgan-in-Pydar. Cordoned Ware should be regarded as a long lasting ceramic tradition and not a chronological horizon. Many sites have been dated in the past on the basis of a few sherds with cordons and need re-assessment. The courtyard house at Mulfra Vean (Thomas, 1963) has a pottery assemblage which contains large cordoned jars but also forms which would best belong in the 3rd century AD. If a starting date in the 1st century BC is accepted for Cordoned Ware, this still provides a useful terminus post quem, particularly in regard to the courtyard houses of West Penwith. These distinctive structures have small round and long rooms set within thick walls surrounding a central courtyard, generally regarded as unroofed (but see Christie, 1978, 387). Courtyard houses may form clusters of eight or so, with a central 'street' indicating an element of planning in the layout at Chysauster. Courtyard houses have still not been located anywhere but West Penwith and Scilly, despite superficial similarities with settlements in areas such as North Wales. They are best regarded as a local development, especially suited to local windswept conditions — the extensive contemporary field systems recorded in the area by the Cornwall Archaeological Unit bear witness to the opening up of the landscape. The date of courtyard houses has been obscured by the presence of South-Western Decorated pottery on early excavations at Chysauster and Porthmeor. The Chysauster courtyard house settlement occurs in an area of fields with round houses, and the South-Western Decorated pottery could relate to earlier use of the site. Porthmeor occupies an earlier enclosure of the round class. At Goldherring (Guthrie, 1969) the Cordoned Ware phase is associated with circular turf and timber houses within the round. The courtyard houses relate to a later occupation, in the 3rd and 4th centuries AD. At Cam Euny (Christie, 1978), courtyard houses were thought to have developed about the period when Cordoned Ware was introduced. But none of this ware is significantly stratified and all of it belongs to types with a long life span. The Cam Euny courtyard house phase could start much later, perhaps in the 2nd century AD and its sequence would then be more consistent with that at Goldherring. It has already been suggested that the pottery from Mulfra Vean should be redated to the 3rd century AD. The bulk of the pottery from Chysauster dates to the 2nd/3rd centuries AD, and from Porthmeor to the 3rd and 4th. Courtyard house hamlets or villages do not belong to the Iron Age, but to the Roman period. Visible surface remains often suggest they have been built after a phase with round houses, as revealed by the recent Cornwall Archaeological Unit survey of Nanjulian, St Just in Penwith (CAU Report, January 1986), and may in general be less regular in layout than the 'classic' sites such as Chysauster (Weatherhill, 1982). Possible influence from Brittany or north France can be seen in cliff castles, burial sites, fogous and pottery. While direct immigration (or 'invasion') on any scale is now discounted, 120
it is only reasonable to accept that there would be some similarities among groups who were in contact with each other across the English Channel. General similarities developing through contact are compatible with the long date range involved, from the Late Bronze Age onwards. The main reason for this cross-channel contact was probably trade, particularly in Cornish tin. There have been several recent summaries of the archaeological and historical evidence for the pre-Roman Cornish tin trade (Laing, 1968; Cunliffe, 1983; Hawkes, 1984). In Cornwall, archaeological evidence continues to be slight. The unstratified and unpublished ingot from Castle Dore is probably the best established find of Iron Age date, now that the St Mawes ingot has been assigned to the medieval period (Beagrie, 1983). Promising evidence is beginning to emerge from pollen studies of levels associated with tin working on Bodmin Moor. Those in the Colliford area may date well back into the prehistoric period (information, S. Gerrard). Research on material from Mount Batten in Plymouth Sound currently favours this location for ktis, the tin trading depot referred to by the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (Cunliffe, 1983). The various classical references to Britain, both before and after the Roman conquest, were published in full by Rivet and Smith in 1979. These references provide the basis for assigning south-western Britain to a tribal group called the Dumnonii. They also explain why some at least of the inhabitants of Cornwall were called `Cornovii', providing an origin for the present name of Cornwall (1979, 325). Rivet and Smith provide a gazetteer of all classical records for place-names, settlements and geographical features throughout Britain and their comments provide some fascinating sidelights on contemporary affairs — Belerion (Land's End, p 266) incorporates an element meaning 'bright' or 'shining'. This may indicate a beacon at Land's End as early as the 4th century BC, which would connect with the local importance of seafaring and navigation, whether coastal, to Scilly, or across the Channel. Understanding of the Roman conquest of south-west Britain has been dramatically advanced by the programme of excavations in Exeter from 1971. The presence of a fortress occupied by the Second Legion Augusta between c. AD 55 and AD 75 has been established (Bidwell, 1979; 1980). In Devon a programme of aerial survey has both greatly increased the number of Military sites known (seven forts, one marching camp, seven fortlets/signal stations), and shown that some, notably North Tawton and Okehampton, are multi-period (Griffith, 1984). No fort has yet been dated to the Claudian period (AD 43-54), and Bidwell (1980, 10) suggests that the military garrisoning of the South West occurred during the governorship of Didius Gallus between AD 52 and 7. Presumably the Dumnonii did not pose any immediate threat to Rome. It is quite possible that the larger hillforts were out of use before the Romans arrived. Castle Dore and Killibury produced little Cordoned Ware (Quinnell and Harris, 1985, 128). Hembury, East Devon, was not occupied at the time of the Roman Conquest (Todd, 1984) and the end date of other excavated Devon hillforts cannot be closely established. Local shifts in power may have been brought about as the focus of trade with the continent moved from Wessex to eastern England after the Roman conquest of Gaul. The event which caused the Roman military to garrison the South West during the 50s AD is unknown. So far only one Roman fort has been identified in Cornwall, the 1.0 ha site at Nanstallon, south of the River Camel, just west of Bodmin. Excavations between 1960 and 1963 by Fox and Ravenhill (1972) showed that it had contained permanent timber buildings occupied between AD 55 — 60 and AD 75-80. The excavators interpreted the barrack accommodation as appropriate for a cohors quingenaria equitata, a mixed infantry and cavalry unit of some 500 men. Other forts in Cornwall will probably be identified as the current programme of aerial survey of the non-moorland areas gets under way. It is possible that some Roman forts were sited within Iron Age hillforts, as has been demonstrated at Hembury in Devon (Todd, 1984), 121
Page 1 and 2: CORNISH ARCHAEOLOGY No. 25 (1986) 5
Page 3 and 4: pottery from Trevelgue confirms the
Page 5 and 6: enclosure was apparently scantier.
Page 7 and 8: een occupied entirely within the La
Page 9: 420±70 be (HAR —238) suggested a
Page 13 and 14: whose ancestors had occupied hillfo
Page 15 and 16: AL •r, .4 •eakitiocto dp° •
Page 17 and 18: Fig 5 Trethurgy Round Period 2 c. A
Page 19 and 20: Exeter in the 3rd and 4th centuries
Page 21 and 22: The question of Late Bronze Age and
Page 23 and 24: McAvoy, F., 1980. 'Excavations of a

Cornwall during the Iron Age and - Cornwall Archaeological Society

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?