FENLAND MANAGEMENT PROJECT REPORT 1 LITTLE DUKE FARM, DEEPING ST. NICHOLAS, LINCS: PLANT MACROFOSSILS AND MOLLUSCS FROM A BRONZE AGE BARROW AND PRE-BARROW CONTEXTS.
Author(s): P Murphy
Although the ditch of the secondary mound had included wet organic deposits, recent de-watering had degraded and destroyed most plant macrofossils and insects. From charred plant remains and molluscs, the following sequence is suggested. 1. Deposition of diffuse scatter of charred cereals, weed seeds, nutshells, fruitstones and vegetative plant material during pre-monument settlement activity. ?Late Neolithic. 2. Clearance of secondary woodland before main activity. Late Neo/EBA? 3. Some incorporation of domestic (?) refuse material into barrow mounds. Shallow impersistent freshwater prone to desiccation in ditch of secondary mound, grassland in vicinity. BA. 4. Charred plant remains and partly burnt molluscs from BA cremations indicate proximity of Arrhenatheretum grassland, trampled ground and disturbed soil. Charcoals of Alnus, Fraxinus and Rhamnus catharticus indicate fuel collection in calcareous fen woods. Three oysters had been placed in a cist cremation and a shell of Littorina littoralis came from the ditch of the secondary mound.
- Report Number:
- 32/1993
- Series:
- AML Reports (New Series)
- Pages:
- 16
- Keywords:
- Animal Remains Environmental Studies Mollusca Plant Remains
