Archaeology and Environment of the Etton Landscape by Charles French and Francis Pryor
East Anglian Archaeology 109, FenlandArchaeological Trust 2005. 205 pages, 29 plates, 80 Figures, 9 appendices, 66 tables. ISBN 0 9520616 2 7 (£22)
I always feel an air of expectancy when another book or paper comes out on the
archaeology of the fenland by Charly French and / or Francis Pryor. This is
especially the case for me with this volume having heard Francis and Charly
describe their discoveries during lectures in the late 1980’s. Building on over
30 years of work in the area they have an unparalleled understanding of the
Fenland landscape. This volume reports on the Etton Landscape project which,
between 1983 and 1990, examined the river systems, floodplain and lower terrace
gravels between Maxey, Northborough and Etton. While most attention has been
focussed on the excavation of the Etton causewayed enclosure (Pryor 1998) this
project served to examine the wider landscape around it - the Etton environs.
The book follows the same formula as others from the Fenland Archaeological
Trust and is in the attractive new look of the East Anglian Archaeology
volumes. Chapter 1 provides the project history and environmental background to
the area including contributions from Mark Macklin, David Passmore and Rob
Scaife. Chapter 2 looks at excavations at ten Etton landscape sites followed by
reports on the artefacts and environmental evidence. Chapter 3 examines the
evidence from fieldwork in advance of the construction of the A15 Bypass half a
km to the east of Etton causewayed enclosure, again with sections on the
artefacts and environmental evidence. Chapters 2 and 3 also include
contributions from Charlotte Ainsley, Adrian Challands, Jane Downes, Chris
Gaffney, Kasia Gdaniec, Bob Middleton, Stuart Needham, Sandra Nye, Carol
Osborne, Mark Robinson and Gillian Wallace. These are followed by the
Discussion and Conclusion in Chapter 4 and eight appendices.
The Etton Landscape consists of relict river systems, floodplain and the
lowermost parts of the Welland First terrace gravels. The archaeology, in
common with other Fenland areas, includes very important data with, in
particular, the survival of buried soils beneath alluvium. While structural
occupation is elusive, although midden deposits are present, the variety of
small henges and ring ditches provide significant sites in the environs around
the causewayed enclosure. All the sites straddled the period of later use of
the causewayed enclosure at the end of the third and beginning of the second
millennium BC. The authors identify a mosaic of ‘old’ and ‘new’ environments
from old woodland to pasture and small zones of scrubby fen-like carr. The
middle of the second millennium BC saw the addition of field systems laid out
at right angles to the stream systems before the landscape gradually opens up
in the first millennium BC.
As usual the results are very well presented and the information is very well
integrated and illustrated. What is particularly impressive about this report,
as one expects with these two authors, is the integration of the geomorphology
and archaeology. Often reports relegate the geomorphology to an appendix with
the archaeology somewhat divorced from its context – the impression I often get
is the tail (the archaeology) wagging the dog (the geomorphological landscape).
In this volume the interelationship of the two is always apparent and the
dynamics of how the landscape was exploited and changed over time is clearly
interpreted. While I am often in favour of synthetic reports, in this case,
with a wide range of specialist contributions which all contribute to the
holistic story, it is good to see that the detailed specialists reports are all
included in printed format.
So once again many congratulations to Francis and Charly in adding yet another
high quality publication to the great number they have produced for this
fascinating area of prehistoric Britain. My only slight criticism is that it is
a shame we had to wait so long between the end of the fieldwork and the
publication seeing the light of day. Having said that I’m looking forward to
the next one.
Patrick Clay
University of Leicester Archaeological Services
Reference
Pryor, F.M.M., 1998 Etton: Excavations of a Neolithic causewayed enclosure near
Maxey, Cambridgeshire. London: English Heritage
Review Submitted: January 2006
The views expressed in
this review are not necessarily those of the Society or the Reviews
Editor.
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