Cornwall during the Iron Age and - Cornwall Archaeological Society

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a combination of all these resources contributed to the position of hillfort-building chiefs. Material wealth, represented by archaeological finds, still seems to have been less than that evidenced elsewhere in Southern England, but perhaps has been underestimated. No new pieces of decorated metalwork have been found since 1958 although a study of the Trenoweth collar (Megaw, 1967) relocates its findspot to St Stephen-in-Brannel. The univallate hillslope fort of St Mawgan-in-Pydar (c. 1.2 ha) near Newquay (Threipland 1956) hints at a different kind of social unit to those represented by rounds or multiple enclosure hillforts. Despite its small size, its entrance had an elaborate unturn, a feature lacking in rounds, and it produced a rich array of finds, including a decorated shield mounting. The date of occupation may have been from c. 100 BC to AD 100. Thus, unlike the multiple-enclosure hillforts, it continued after the Roman occupation. The dead of Iron Age Cornwall are less well represented than the living, yet compared to most of Britain the evidence is good. Cornwall is one of the few areas to have produced cemeteries. Those at Harlyn Bay and at nearby Trevone (Dudley, 1965) have long been known, as have the smaller sites at Trelan Bahow in the Lizard, Stamford Hill outside Plymouth and related sites in the Isles of Scilly. These sites are all dateable as graves have produced decorated metal artefacts, especially brooches and mirrors, ranging in date from the 3rd century BC to the 1st century AD. Other cemeteries such as Crantock without dateable artefacts may also be of Iron Age date (Whimster, 1977, 81). Whimster's excavation at Harlyn Bay in 1975 showed that there may have been a circular stone temple in the vicinity of the cemetery (1977, 69). Whimster's work at Harlyn Bay formed part of a major study of burial practices in Iron Age Britain (1977a, 181). He was able to demonstrate the regular pratice of crouched inhumation with head to the north in Cornwall, as in scattered burials across Wessex, and in the Yorkshire cemeteries which include 'chariot' burials. Until Whimster's study, the south-western cemeteries had been linked to those in Brittany because of the presence of long stone cists in both areas. But in Brittany the burial rite was extended inhumation. The Cornish cemeteries seem to be showing us a British funerary tradition made archaeologically visible by the use of long stone cists. Whether the stone cists, using local slate, reflect Breton influence, is an unanswerable question at present. It must be doubtful whether there was any Breton influence on the religious practices of Iron Age Cornwall. The Breton evidence, conveniently summarized in Giot (1960), emphasises the importance of carved stone pillars (lec'hs). None have ever been noted in Cornwall, despite the present author's hopeful examination of standing stones over the past fifteen years. Both religious practices and Breton connections enter consideration of the souterrains or logous' of West Cornwall. A useful factual summary was published by Clark in 1961. Cornish souterrains differ from their Breton counterparts in their method of construction. They are constructed of stone in open trenches, whereas Breton soutterains are entirely tunnelled out; in this respect Cornish examples are similar to those in Scotland and in Ireland. It is becoming increasingly aparent that souterrains in all these areas are closely linked to settlements and are not isolated monuments. Thomas (1972) argued that souterrains were used for storage, drawing on the similarities with the medieval and later West Cornish 'hulls', a point also brought out in a comprehensive survey of hulls by Tangye (1973). A throughdraught may have been provided by small gaps in the end opposite the entrance, or in the side passage. A detailed examination of the Cam Euny fogou and associated 'round chamber' was carried out by Christie (1978) during the 1964-72 excavation programme. The 'round chamber' with a short entrance passage proved to be the earliest feature of the complex; it was thought either to have had a timber roof or to have remained open. A stamped-decorated sherd similar to those found in a feature elsewhere on the site with a radiocarbon date of 118
420±70 be (HAR —238) suggested a possible 5th century BC date. The nature of any associated settlement at this early date was unclear. The 'long passage' with a probable entrance through the side was added later; a radiocarbon date of 130±80 be (HAR —334) from its floor was associated with a local variant of South-Western Decorated pottery. A settlement of round turf and timber houses then clustered around the fogou, its starting date depending on that assigned to the associated South-Western Decorated pottery. Elsdon (1978, 404) suggested the 3rd or 2nd centuries BC, but an origin in the 4th century BC would be possible if the back-dating of this pottery type suggested above is allowed. Finally, at Camn Euny an 'east entrance' was added to the 'long passage' when the first courtyard houses were built on the site, in the 1st century BC according to Elsdon (1975, 404) but more probably later (see below). The settlement and fogou continued in use until the 4th century AD. More recently Startin (1982) re-excavated Halligye fogou on the Lizard and also found evidence for multi-phase construction associated with a round, and a date range from the Later Iron Age until a blocking in the Roman period. The dating evidence from Cam Euny and Halligye is consistent with that from earlier investigations in other fogous. It is not possible to show that any fogou was constructed before the Later Iron Age. The end date for fogou construction is difficult; use of some like that at Porthmeor continued into the 4th century AD. The only cases in which a construction date within the Roman period is probable are those, as at Bossullow Trehyllys, where the fogou appears as an integral part of a courtyard house. Christie (1978, 332; 1979) reconsidered the purpose of Cornish souterrains, and favoured a religious function because of their impracticality of access, the narrow side passages or 'creeps' and the tantalizing implications of possible fragments of cremated human bone associated with the construction of the Cam Euny 'round chamber'. The modern mind tends to divide activities into modern categories. Is it not possible that storage of special commodities, food reserves (which would need to be immune from damp!), could have been linked to religious practices? The amount of Breton influence is difficult to assess, beyond the broader similarities. The Irish souterrains seem mainly to date to the Early Christian period, which weakens the argument for a general spread of the practice of souterrain construction from a single Breton source. During the 1st century BC a new form of pottery, 'Cordoned Ware', appears in Cornwall (sometimes referred to by various Iron Age C labels). The fullest published range of Cordoned Ware is still that from St Mawgan-in-Pydar (Threipland, 1956), though its study can be supplemented by the material from Carvossa, Probus excavated 1968 —70 (Douch and Beard, 1970). Cordoned Ware has features which are also found in the pottery of northern France during the century preceding the Roman conquest of Gaul. A direct Breton origin was invoked by Thomas (1966, 79) but similarities are general rather than close and no imported Breton material has been found in Cornwall. Imported north French wares have been found in Dorset (principally at Hengistbury Head) and in Devon at Mount Batten (Cunliffe, 1983, 125) and date to the years immediately preceding Caesar's conquest of Gaul (Cunliffe, 1982, 50). Cordoned Ware may have originated as copies of this north French imported pottery, knowledge of which spread westwards with coastal trade, and if so may have started either before Caesar's campaigns, or a little after while the imported forms were still current. Cornish Cordoned Ware is invariably of gabbroic fabric, suggesting that the new forms were adopted by the potting communities of the Lizard. The ware tends to be thinner and better made than South-Western Decorated pottery, improvements which have been attributed to the introduction of the potter's wheel. The present author is not convinced that any of this ware, or of the subsequent gabbroic forms of the Roman period, was wheelmade, and, until microscopic studies of particle alignment are available, suggests that 'wheel made' should be read as 'well made' for Cornish pottery. 119
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: een occupied entirely within the La
Page 11 and 12: it is only reasonable to accept tha
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

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