Iron Age Settlement at Blackstone, Worcestershire: Excavations 1972, 1973, and 1977

• Main Authors: Derek Hurst, Alan Hunt, Peter Davenport
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of York 2010-07-01
• Series: Internet Archaeology
• Subjects: archaeology; Worcestershire; Iron Age; enclosure; pottery; environmental evidence; Worcestershire; Iron Age; enclosure; pottery; environment; environmental evidence
• Online Access: http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue28/hurst_index.html

Aerial photography in 1957 resulted in the discovery of a rectangular double-ditched enclosure overlooking the Severn floodplain near Bewdley, Worcestershire (UK). Excavation in the 1970s, in advance of gravel extraction, provided limited evidence of Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age activity prior to occupation in the later Iron Age, when the enclosure was established. This comprised a ditch and bank, and later a palisade and ditch, with single and double portal gateways respectively, and with buildings internally. Pottery and briquetage indicate trading links with the wider region, respectively with west and north Worcestershire, and with Droitwich. The main Iron Age occupation is dated from the 2nd century into the 1st century BC. By the 3rd-4th centuries AD the site was apparently cultivated, as small quantities of Romano-British pottery were scattered across it, probably as a result of manuring arable fields associated with a nearby, but as yet unlocated, settlement. Similarly, in the medieval and post-medieval periods a thin scatter of finds in the overlying soils indicated further agricultural activity. Unusually, the 1979 Iron Age site structural analysis has been largely retained in the current report without full revision but accompanied by a separate modern commentary, allied with the updated finds and environmental reporting, and overall discussion.