The Archaeology of Britain: An introduction from ... - waughfamily.ca

Landscape and townscape from AD 1500
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surveys still sometimes limit the study of the post medieval period, assuming that this can be
studied from documentary sources. More recently, however, it has been appreciated that historical
documents are silent on many aspects of society and economy after AD 1500. For instance,
many industrial processes and the sites associated with them are not described in contemporary
records and are only recoverable by means of field survey and excavation. Even as late as the
eighteenth century, the volume and quality of surviving documentation diminishes as one moves
from southern England northwards and becomes even more sparse for Scotland and Wales.
Nevertheless, the late sixteenth century sees the period of detailed cartographic sources begin.
Large-scale surveys become increasingly common, although full map coverage of the landscape
was not achieved until the Ordnance Survey’s 6-inch maps in the nineteenth century. In Scotland,
however, estate plans are not common until the later eighteenth century.
Post medieval archaeology has tended to emphasize field survey and the examination of
surviving structures rather than excavation. Partly this reflects lack of resources, but it also
emphasizes the fact that landscape remains from this period are often abundant and readily
identifiable. However, a post medieval dimension has been recognized in urban archaeology only
relatively recently (Robertson 1990). Post medieval layers have often suffered considerable damage
from nineteenth-century cellars and more recent construction. The preponderance of rescue
excavations on urban sites with limited time and resources as well as deep stratigraphy has often
led to the use of the JCB rather than the trowel as a means of removing inconvenient post
medieval strata in order to reach medieval and Roman layers more quickly.
Until recently, the archaeology of the Industrial Revolution focused primarily on technology.
Since the 1980s, there has been increasing interest on the broader social, economic and landscape
effects of industrialization, such as the archaeology of navvy settlements associated with major
construction projects (Morris 1994). Since the term ‘industrial archaeology’ was first coined in
1955, the subject has remained largely a part-time amateur interest, away from mainstream archaeology
(Palmer 1990). Definitions of the chronological scope of archaeology often stop short at the start
of the era of industrialization, and it has been argued that industrial archaeology will be assured of
a significant role if, instead of being seen as a thematic topic, it is considered as a period discipline
involving the archaeology of the industrial era and not just of industrial monuments.
RURAL SETTLEMENT
Approaches to the study of post medieval settlement include the investigation of specific sites,
the study of settlement landscapes and the analysis of broader aspects of settlement patterns.
Settlement plans are sometimes treated as if they had evolved with only limited changes from
their original form. The excavation of the deserted village at West Whelpington in Northumberland
has demonstrated the change that could occur in settlement morphology (Evans and Jarrett
1987; 1988). Replanned from its original layout in the later fourteenth or early fifteenth century
after destruction by the Scots, the village was subject to another reorganization with a reduced
number of holdings c.1675 before being abandoned in the 1720s. Change rather than stability
may indeed be a characteristic feature of settlement layouts.
Settlement desertion has a range of underlying causes. Deserted villages have been recorded
in every century from the twelfth to the twentieth. Cowlam is only one of a number of deserted
settlements in the Yorkshire Wolds that was abandoned c.1680 due to the amalgamation of its
holdings (Brewster 1988). In Northumberland, the peak of desertions fell in the century between
1660 and 1760, as older gentry families were bought out by wealthy merchants and lawyers keen
to make a profit on their investment. The eighteenth century saw the addition of industrial