Francis Pryor - Flag Fen, Peterborough

Published by
Oxbow Books, Oxford, UK

Oxbow Books and the individual authors, 2010

ISBN 978 1 84217 414 2
EPUB ISBN: XXXXXXXXXXXXX

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Excavation and research at Flag Fen, Peterborough, 1995-2007 / Edited by Francis Pryor and Michael Bamforth, with
principal contributions by Michael Bamforth...[et.al.].
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-84217-414-2
1. Flag Fen Site (England) 2. Bronze age--England--Fens, The. 3. Neolithic period--England--Fens, The. 4. Watersaturated
sites--England--Fens, The. 5. Excavations (Archaeology)--England--Fens, The. 6. Fens, The (England)-
Antiquities. I. Pryor, Francis. II. Bamforth, Michael.
GN778.22.G7E97 2010
936.2'651--dc22

2010012743

Printed and bound by
Short Run Press, Exeter

Dedication

For Chris Evans, Mark Knight, Ben Robinson and everyone who takes research of this unique landscape into the future.

List of Figures

Contributors

Michael Bamforth

L P : Archaeology

The Old Truman Brewery

91 Brick Lane

London

E1 6QL

Dot Boughton

Finds Liaison Officer (Lancs./Cumbria)

Museum of Lancashire

Preston

PR1 4YP

David Britchfield

Freelance Archaeologist

54 High Street

Wouldham

Rochester

Kent

ME1 3UT

Marcus Brittain

Cambridge Archaeological Unit

34a Storeys Way

Cambridge

Cambridgeshire

CB3 0DT

David Buckley

69 Vicarage Road

Chelmsford

Essex

CM2 9BT

Lys Drewett

Lavinia Ferrante di Ruffano

Elizabeth Henton

Institute of Archaeology

University College London

3134 Gordon Square

London

WC1H 0PY

Jill Hooper

Freelance Archaeologist

Paul Middleton

The Diocesan Office

The Palace

Peterborough

PE1 1YB

Francis Pryor

Flag Fen Bronze Age Centre

The Droveway

Northey Road

Peterborough

PE6 7QJ

Alison Sheridan

Archaeology Department

National Museums Scotland

Chambers Street

Edinburgh

EH1 1JF

Maisie Taylor

Flag Fen Bronze Age Centre

The Droveway

Northey Road

Peterborough

PE6 7QJ

Illustrations by: Chloe Watson and Maisie Taylor

Figures produced by: Andrew Dufton and Sophia Stouki, L P : Archaeology

Acknowledgements

The following wish to record their individual acknowledgements:

Francis Pryor

I would first like to thank all the contributors who worked so hard for so little financial reward. This was never a wealthy project! I would also like to thank their various employers, who turned many blind eyes to their not-soclandestine labours. Most particularly I wish to thank L P : Archaeology for all the help and support they offered, and my co-editor Michael Bamforth, who managed the final stages of the production process before the manuscript and disks were sent to Oxbow who in turn must also be acknowledged for their help and support. It has not been an easy task to knit together so many disparate projects and I am particularly grateful to my old friend and colleague Dr Charly French, at Cambridge University, who read the final draft of the manuscript and made a large number of detailed comments which have done much to provide academic cohesion. Errors are of course the editors responsibility alone.

Michael Bamforth

I am very grateful to Amy Sutton, who carried out a huge amount of data entry to help bring the wood database up to date; Mark Linane, who volunteered his time to contribute to the GIS model of the site which was designed by Andrew Dufton; and Lisa Grey, who carried out species identification for the 2005 wood assemblage. The staff of Flag Fen have always been extremely supportive and helpful and I would particularly like to thank Richard Gray for his invaluable assistance with the archive material. Thanks are due to all at L P : Archaeology for the time and resources to carry out this project, and particularly to Sophia Stouki for her incredibly hard work. I am also grateful to my fellow authors for their patience with me while ironing out the last drafts of the text. Finally, I would like to thank Maisie Taylor for her constant and unwavering tutelage, without which I would not be writing these words.

Maisie Taylor

Special thanks are due to Richard Darrah for initial help with learning about splitting timber and encouraging us to do it ourselves; he was extraordinarily generous with his time, knowledge and experience. For a full account of splitting a big tree, both radially and tangentially, see Richard Darrah (2006, 11821). Finally, my thanks to Francis Pryor who has had to discuss the subject of monumental timber frequently and at some length.

Marcus Brittain

I would like to convey my appreciation to those who have taken the time to discuss the broader context of Flag Fen and its preservation and potential, and allow access to many a library of unpublished resources. The following deserve particular mention: Michael Bamforth, Steve Boreham, David Britchfield, Christopher Evans, Charly French (who offered invaluable critique of various chapter drafts), David Gibson, Mark Knight, Francis Pryor, Ben Robinson and Maisie Taylor. Toby Foxs support as General Manager during the excavation seasons of 2004 and 2005 is gratefully acknowledged, and the most sincere of thanks must go to all the students and volunteers who lent their time and enthusiasm to those projects. Alice Choyke disclosed various useful sources for European Bronze Age antler cheekpieces, and unpublished photographs and drawings of recent finds were kindly provided by Jonathan Seaman and Carol Allen. Finally, special thanks are reserved for Lavinia Ferrante di Ruffano, not only for her co-direction of excavations in 2004 and 2005, but also for her support and friendship, from which catalysed many of the ideas expressed in ; but of course I willingly bear full responsibility for any final errors or oversights.

Elizabeth Henton

This paper is based on my MSc dissertation and is written with the permission of the Institute of Archaeology, University College London. I would like to thank Dr Louise Martin for her supervision and support, the Flag Fen Project and Peterborough Museum for allowing me to use their archive material, and the Natural History Museum and the Chillingham Wild Cattle Reserve for the modern baseline material.

Jill Hooper

I would like to thank Elizabeth Henton for her help identifing the bone assemblages, the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, for allowing me to use their bone collection for identification, and a special thanks to Lavinia Ferrante di Ruffano for her encouragement and support.

Preface

When I began the Fengate Project back in 1971 I had no idea that I would still be writing about the archaeology of the Peterborough fen margins nearly 40 years later. The original project ended in 1995 and since then the work has been funded almost entirely by Anglian Water. Not only did they provide us with regular annual income to support our research, but they gave us access to their land and other useful facilities. Perhaps most importantly a series of their senior managers and other staff have contributed to the deliberations of the Council of Fenland Archaeological Trust where their knowledge, advice and forethought has proved invaluable. This report is written in gratitude, as a tribute to their quiet and persistent support for so many years.