A rich prehistoric landscape was unexpectedly revealed on the Thames
floodplain during investigations in advance of gravel extraction in the
parishes of Yarnton and Cassington. This fascinating study examines this
2500-year settlement history and its changing landscape context on the
gravel islands, silted up river channels and adjacent gravel terrace.
The strength of the narrative derives from the longevity of occupation,
but also the ability to combine and compare a suite of evidence related
to house construction, burial practices, pit digging, craft activity,
farming strategies, and interaction and exchange with nearby and distant
communities.
The earliest evidence for more than transient occupation was the
construction of a substantial, rectangular post-built house at the
beginning of the Neolithic (c 3800 cal BC); traces of midden activity,
pit digging and cremation burial were also found, as well as a
small, circular early Neolithic house dated to c 3600 cal BC. The volume
then traces the changing character of settlement through a period of
frequent but short-lived occupation events in the middle and late
Neolithic and the early Bronze Age, a time when ceremonial monuments
were constructed and burials were made, to more permanent settlement in
the early to middle Bronze Age. Later Bronze Age settlement was focused
on small circular and oval houses surrounded by evidence for domestic
activity, perhaps representing single generation households.
