Archaeology in Northumberland

nt-led archaeology 1990-2015
Iron Age settlement
excavations at Blagdon
(Delhi).
Photo TWM Archaeology
post-built structure found at
Lanton Quarry in excavations for
Tarmac Northern may be evidence
of a small hut similar to that
recorded in research excavations
on the coast at Howick.
The transition from the huntergatherer
to farming way of life took
place slowly from around 4000 BC.
Evidence of this more settled way
of life has been revealed in sand
and gravel quarries in the Milfield
Basin in north Northumberland
where archaeologists have been
working with Tarmac Northern
since 2005 at two quarries (Cheviot
and Lanton). A unique sequence
of buildings was found at Cheviot
Quarry where two early Neolithic
round houses and three later
Neolithic long houses together
with hearths, pits and other
structures and a great quantity of
pottery, stone tools and objects may
represent the earliest small farming
settlement in Northumberland.
What is more remarkable is the
quantity and nature of pottery
from the site, including 15 sherds
of Neolithic and Early Bronze Age
beakers from non-grave contexts,
including All Over Corded Ware.
Before these excavations there
had been little information about
the character of early Neolithic
pottery in the county. Further
probable Neolithic buildings
with associated hearths, pits and
postholes containing Neolithic
pottery were revealed at Lanton
Quarry. At Milfield village the
remains of a short-lived Neolithic-
Early Bronze Age dwelling was
found that was in use at the
same time as nearby henges and
is the first evidence in this area
for where the henge builders
lived. One of the best caches
of Neolithic flint blades in the
county was discovered prior to
gravel extraction at Akeld Steads
by Tarmac. Away from the Milfield
Basin, archaeologists working on
Holy Island for Nichol, Armstrong
& Lowe uncovered a possible
Neolithic pit and postholes
arrangement which is the earliest
known structure on the island.
The transition to the Bronze Age
occurred around 2500 BC and
pollen analysis shows woods were
disappearing and grassland and
moorland was on the increase as
farming developed and spread.
The sand and gravel workings at
Lanton and Cheviot Quarries have
revealed evidence of Bronze Age
settlement and at Cheviot Quarry
archaeologists also found evidence of
massive enclosures, small horseshoeshaped
enclosures and pits, all close
to the ritual monuments of the
Milfield Basin.
Iron began to replace bronze in tool
making around 1000 BC although
it did not become common until
around 500 BC. The Bronze Age
way of life is thought to have
continued relatively unchanged
into the Iron Age – farming cattle
and sheep, raising crops and using
the natural resources of the coast.
However, settlements began to
change from being open groups of
hut circles to ones surrounded by
banks, ditches or wooden palisades.
Archaeology in Northumberland 5