Frances Large

A high-resolution record of mire development and climatic change spanning the Late-glacial–Holocene boundary at Church Moss, Davenham (Cheshire, England)

Excavations of deposits filling a closed basin within glacial drift at Church Moss, Davenham, near Northwich (Cheshire, England) revealed a sequence of Late-glacial and Early Holocene sediments. Analyses of pollen and plant and invertebrate macrofossils were undertaken, together with loss-on-ignition analyses and a programme of AMS radiocarbon dating, to provide a record of changing biostratigraphy and climatic and ecological regimes. The infilling of features identified as frost-cracks in the till flooring the basin gave remains that reflected conditions of extreme cold towards the end of the Devensian. The pollen record from a 3.5 m sequence of peat towards the deepest part of the basin, supported by radiocarbon dates, shows that organic deposition was initiated during the Late-glacial Interstadial and continued into the early part of the Holocene. There was some evidence for a cool episode during the interstadial, with amelioration prior to the rapid onset of the tundra conditions of the Loch Lomond Stadial. Following the stadial, amelioration was rapid. There was evidence from both central and marginal sequences for a mosaic of fen dominated by sedges and often also mosses, with short-lived small pools through much of the succession. Change to terrestrial conditions proceeded intermittently, probably as a result of subsidence caused by solution of underlying salt-bearing strata

Cottam: An Anglian and Anglo-Scandinavian settlement on the Yorkshire Wolds

SUMMARYThe presence of Anglian and Anglo-Scandinavian settlements at Cottam, East Yorkshire, was first indicated in 1987 by numerous finds of copper alloy coins, dress pins and strap ends by metal detector users. This report presents the results of fieldwork carried out on behalf of the Department of Archaeology, University of York, between 1993–95, including fieldwalking, geophysical survey, and excavation. This revealed an enclosure of the eighth to ninth centuries, containing traces of a small number of post-built halls. In the late ninth century this settlement was abandoned. A new enclosed settlement was laid out nearby, which was occupied briefly in the early tenth century. It is argued that the Anglian settlement may have been part of a royal multiple estate but that, as a result of estate reorganization after the Scandinavian setdement, it developed into an independent manor. Cottam is the first so-called ‘productive’ site in the environs of York to be the subject of archaeological investigations....

Excavations on the Site of the Roman Signal Station At Carr Naze, Filey, 1993–94

Excavations in 1993 and 1994 on Carr Naze, Filey, occasioned by the threat of coastal erosion, revealed remains of the late Roman signal station previously examined in 1857 and 1923. Details of the plan and structures were recorded. Occupation deposits in the courtyard produced a number of stratified coins and other artefacts. Study of the animal bone assemblage has suggested systematic provisioning of the site from a regional base. In the post-Roman period, a massive and hitherto unrecorded earthwork was erected to the east of the signal station.