Archaeology in Northumberland

logy – 1990-2015
Lanton Iron Age cist and burial.
Photo ARS.
Age periods were found at Blagdon
Park and Shotton. Here, long lines
of pits snaked their way across the
landscape demonstrating a regular
system of land division, perhaps
demarcating resources such as
pasture and woodland and access
to the river Blyth for particular
communities or settlements.
One of the greatest gaps in our
knowledge of Iron Age people is
where and how they dealt with
their dead. Excavations at Lanton
Quarry revealed the first formal
Iron Age burial from the county,
where remains of an elderly woman
were found in a stone cist set
within a pit.
The natural resources of the
coast were an important part of
prehistoric life. Excavations on the
cliff tops at Needles Eye, Berwick,
in advance of an extension
to the North Road Industrial
Estate, found a substantial Iron
Age camp. It may have been
used only seasonally or annually,
because although there was no
evidence of settlement here the
pottery assemblage does suggest
some habitation. The camp
site continued in use into the
first century AD although the
ditches of the enclosure had
been abandoned by then. In the
abandoned ditches of the camp
a substantial and important
assemblage of Iron Age ceramics
was found, including briquetage
(associated with salt production
and trade). The finds include one
of the largest assemblages of Iron
Age pottery recovered from a
site in Northumberland and the
largest assemblage of briquetage
then discovered in Britain and the
only evidence for prehistoric salt
processing north of the Fens.
Roman
The advent of Roman Britain
followed the invasion of the south
coast of England in AD43. In the
early AD70s, the Roman governor
of Britain took over the whole of
the North of England and by AD81
Agricola had advanced the Roman
front line into Scotland. Gravel
extraction at Wooperton Quarry by
RMC Aggregates (Northern) gave
the opportunity for archaeologists
to investigate the Devil’s Causeway
Roman road which travels
through the county from north
of Corbridge towards Berwick.
Unexpectedly, as well as sections
of the road, excavations revealed
pit alignments, rectilinear ditches/
gullies, pits and postholes together
with Roman pottery which seem
likely to represent the first recorded
Roman military site north of Low
Learchild fort.
Well-preserved Roman roads have
also been uncovered elsewhere in
the county. In excavations at Riding
Mill for Meadowcroft Estates,
Dere Street was found to be in
a far better state of preservation
than had been anticipated. At
Walwick Hall, excavations on
behalf of Mr G Wylie revealed the
remains of the Military Way lying
slightly north of the projected line
on Ordnance Survey maps and
comprising smooth but irregularshaped
and sized stone slabs, blocks
and cobbles. Its appearance was
considerably different to that of the
same road seen further east on the
western fringes of Newcastle upon
Tyne.
New and innovative techniques
were used by the Ministry of
Defence to investigate Hadrian’s
Wall near Albemarle Barracks.
Remains of the Wall lie beneath
the B6318 through much of the
county so when the barracks
became a driver-training facility for
heavy lorries and tracked vehicles
research was commissioned
to see what impact this might
have on the buried remains.
Using a combination of desk top
assessment, trial trenching, an
engineering test called Falling
Weight Deflectometer and
vibration testing, the results were
reassuring that modern military use
of the old Military Road was not
damaging Hadrian’s Wall.
Work to replace a water main
near Throckley uncovered new
information about some cunning
defences along Hadrian’s Wall. A
series pits found between the Wall
and its north ditch are evidence of
entanglements designed to impede
and hold-up attackers and similar
Archaeology in Northumberland 7