Late prehistoric enclosed settlement in Wykeham Forest, 630m south east of Mount Misery

Reasons for Designation

The North York Moors is an area which has an abundance of prehistoric remains particularly within moorland landscapes where they have not been disturbed by more recent agricultural activity. These are evidence for the widespread exploitation of these uplands throughout prehistory. Many remains date from the Bronze Age (c. 2000-700 BC) and relate to diverse activities, funerary and ritual practice as well as agriculture and settlement. For the end of the first millennium BC the range of evidence is more restricted. Settlement at this time was concentrated in the lowland areas surrounding the moors, although some settlement was located on the periphery and in the valleys. These late prehistoric settlement sites on the higher ground are of two types: those consisting of a small number of unenclosed hut circles and those found within small square or sub-rectangular enclosures. Some examples of the former are thought to date from the Bronze Age, but excavation of others and of a few of the enclosed settlements suggests that they were occupied during the Iron Age to the Romano-British period (c.700 BC-AD 400). A number of late prehistoric enclosed settlements on the North York Moors survive as upstanding monuments and these are between 0.1 and 0.5ha in area. The enclosing earthworks are usually slight and consist of a ditch with an internal bank, but examples are known with an internal and external bank and with an internal ditch or no ditch at all. They are square or sub-rectangular in shape and often have at least two rounded corners, giving a characteristic `D'-shape. Few of these enclosed settlements have been subject to systematic excavation but examples which have been excavated have presented evidence of settlement, including the presence of buildings. Some of the enclosures may also have had a function as stock enclosures. Enclosed settlements are a distinctive feature of the late prehistory of the North York Moors and are important in illustrating the variety of enclosed settlement types which developed in many areas of Britain at this time. Examples where a substantial proportion of the enclosed settlement survives are considered to be nationally important. The Tabular Hills in the Wykeham Forest area contain a dense concentration of prehistoric monuments, dating from the Neolithic to the Iron Age, which includes field systems, enclosures and land boundaries as well as both round and square barrows. The spatial and chronological relationships between the round and square barrows in this area, and between both types of barrow and other prehistoric monuments, are of considerable importance for understanding the development of later prehistoric society in eastern Yorkshire. Despite disturbance, significant information will be preserved about the date and form of construction of the enclosed settlement in Wykeham Forest, 630m south east of Mount Misery. Important evidence for the nature and duration of the occupation will survive within the enclosed area. Evidence for earlier land use, the contemporary environment and economy will also survive beneath the banks and within the lower ditch fills. The settlement is situated close to a number of square barrows and this type of association provides important scope for understanding the different social and ritual uses of the landscape in the late prehistoric period.

Details

The monument includes an enclosed settlement situated on level ground towards the northern scarp edge of the Tabular Hills. The settlement is visible as a ditch in an elongated `C'-shape which is up to 1.5m wide and 0.3m deep. Alongside the ditch there is an outer bank which is up to 2m wide and 0.5m high. Originally the ditch and bank would have formed the west side of a sub-rectangular enclosure, orientated approximately north to south, which measured internally 28m. However, over the years the eastern part of the enclosure ditch and bank have become filled in and eroded, and subsequently obscured as a result of forestry ploughing. Within the enclosure there was an internal bank up to 1.5m wide and 0.3m high, but this has also become levelled over the years and is now only visible as fragmentary traces at the north west and south west corners of the enclosure. The settlement lies within a dense concentration of prehistoric burial monuments, in an area which also includes the remains of other prehistoric settlements.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

33497

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Lee, G E, Wykeham Archaeological Survey, (1991)

Other
Pacitto, A L, AM107, (1982)

End of official list entry

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