Settlements on Hill-tops: Seven Prehistoric Sites in Suffolk

Description

With contributions by Christopher Balkwill, Bernard Denston, Joan Flemming, Peter Murphy, Judith Plouviez and Patricia Stevens. Illustrations by Rebecca Archer, Linden Elmhirst, Edward Martin and Donna Sullivan. This volume contains excavation reports for seven sites that all share the characteristic of a hill-top location. Although the hill-tops never exceed 50m OD in height and on average are only 30–40m higher than the adjoining valley bottoms, their elevated position was clearly a significant factor in the siting of these prehistoric settlements. The sites include a double-ditched Iron Age enclosure at Barnham that is possibly religious in function, analogous to the viereckschanzen of the Continent; first millennium BC open settlements at Barham and Framlingham; and multi-period (Neolithic to Iron Age) occupation at Martlesham and Great and Little Bealings. The dating and typology of first millennium BC pottery in East Anglia is also discussed in the light of the material from these sites. List of Contents v List of Plates vi List of Figures vi List of Tables vi Contributors vii General notes vii Chapter 1. The Iron Age Enclosure at Barnham 1 Chapter 2. Two first millennium B.C. settlement sites at Barnham 23 Chapter 3. Three prehistoric hill-top settlements in south-east Suffolk 41 Chapter 4. An Early Iron Age hill-top site at Framlingham 59 Bibliography 63 Index 65