The South East Cheviots Project:A Descriptive Account of the Prehistoric Landscape
Author(s): T Pearson, Peter Topping
This paper is a descriptive account of the results of the South East Cheviots Project (SECP) undertaken by the former Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (now part of English Heritage) during the 1980s. This account is designed to complement a more analytical overview published in the Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, Volume 74 (Topping 2008). Trevor Pearson initiated and developed the GIS analysis of the project data. For the purposes of the SECP, an area of 66 square kilometres was recorded in great detail, ranging from the Breamish Valley in the N, to Alnham in the S, and from Brandon in the E to Schill Moor in the W. A holistic survey strategy recorded with metrical accuracy all forms of cultivation remains, field systems and settlements of all periods (only the prehistoric evidence will be fully reported in this report). This landscape approach enhanced our understanding of settlement histories and fluctuations in colonisation in these remarkably well-preserved uplands. Recent excavations undertaken by the Northumberland Archaeological Group and Durham University, under the auspices of the Northumberland National Park Authority (NNPA), have helped to clarify and contextualise some of the issues and chronological stages in the development of the historic environment of these historic landscapes.
- Report Number:
- 83/2008
- Series:
- Research Department Reports
- Pages:
- 80
- Keywords:
- Field System Analytical Landscape Survey
