The Selhurst Park project : Middle Barn, Selhurstpark Farm, Eartham, West Sussex 2005-2008 / George Anelay ; with contributions from Martyn Allen [and 9 others].

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Anelay, George, author.

Contributor:

Allen, Martyn, contributor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Excavations (Archaeology)--England--Selhurst Park Farm Site.

Excavations (Archaeology).

Eartham (England)--Antiquities, Roman.

Eartham (England).

Selhurst Park Farm Site (England).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (viii, 139 pages) : illustrations (black and white)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; Philadelphia : Oxbow Books, 2019.

Summary:

Excavations at Middle Barn, Selhurst Park, Eartham uncovered a Middle Iron Age to early Roman farmstead, sitting upon the southern slopes of the South Downs in West Sussex, and overlooking the Sussex coastal plain. Few such excavations have been undertaken on the Downs in recent decades and even less on such a large-scale. 0While the structural remains were unremarkable for a site of this type, consisting of the probable remains of three roundhouses, surrounded by a network of ditched enclosures, the recovered artefact assemblages were substantial and important. Of particular note were three large pits, cut into the chalk, and backfilled with structured deposits of pottery, animal bone, grain and fired clay. Not only do these bear testimony to notable Iron Age feasting events, but their assemblages fill significant gaps in our understanding of regional pottery traditions and agricultural practices from the Middle to the Late Iron Age. These results can now be compared with those coming from the surge in developer-funded excavations on the coastal plain below. 0The resulting wealth of new evidence relating to Iron Age and Roman occupation there provides a whole new backdrop for the understanding of what was happening on the Downs to the north. It is hoped that the publication of the results from these excavations will contribute to the debate over how these two topographies interrelated, particularly in the context of expanding cross-channel trade during the later Iron Age. The excavation project at Middle Barn was carried out in 2005-2008 by volunteers under the direction of Chichester District Council's Heritage Outreach Officer.

Contents:

Cover

Book Title

Copyright

Contents

List of figures

List of tables

Acknowledgements

1. Introduction

The site

Historic maps

Aerial photographs

The excavations

Metal-detecting

Geophysical surveys

2. The geophysical surveys, by Neville Haskins and Andrew Payne

The 2006 survey

The 2010 survey

3. The structural sequence

The northern enclosure

The southern enclosure

The field system ditches

The sequence of development

The radiocarbon dates

4. Material culture

Pottery, by Jane Timby

Appendix: description of fabrics and associated forms

Fired clay, by Cynthia Poole

Metalwork, by George Anelay, Mike Bishop and James Kenny

Worked stone, by George Anelay and David Bone

Flints, by James Kenny

Tile, by George Anelay

5. The environment and the agrarian economy

Animal bones, by Martyn Allen

Marine molluscs, by George Anelay

Plant remains, by Mariangela Vitolo

6. Behaviour and beliefs

Special deposits in pits

Human burials, by Martyn Allen, George Anelay and Mary Lewis

7. Overview

The Middle Iron Age settlement

The Late Iron Age settlement

The Roman settlement

Abandonment and agricultural re-use

Middle Barn and its wider environs

Bibliography.

Notes:

OCLC-licensed vendor bibliographic record.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9781789251197

1789251192

9781789251173

1789251176

OCLC:

1091583314