Bronze Age Settlement on the East Moors of the Peak District of Derbyshire and South Yorkshire

Abstract

The Bronze Age remains on the East Moors of the Peak District are amongst the most extensive in the country. This paper discusses their interpretation and examines the pattern of man's exploitation of the region at this period. The distribution of the remains is far from random and concentrates on areas which are the most suitable for agriculture. Prolonged mixed farming in the most favourable areas is argued for. Similar topographic characteristics throughout the area enable estimates to be made of the original levels of exploitation in the region as a whole and the degree to which field evidence has been destroyed. The pattern of settlement suggests the Bronze Age farmers lived in small groups, each exploiting its own relatively self-contained area of upland and each having a handful of ceremonial monuments. There is no evidence for a complex social hierarchy reflected by monuments or settlement patterns. Comparisons are made between the East Moor sites and those in other regions. These suggest varying levels of social organization and types of exploitation in the Bronze Age and illustrate the value of regional studies to highlight the diversity of Bronze Age lifestyle throughout Britain.

The Palaeoenvironment and the Vegetation History of a Later Prehistoric Field System at Stoke Flat on the Gritstone Uplands of the Peak District

“…Barnatt, 1987), it is likely that the evidence of local arable and pastoral activity recorded at these levels in the clay below the peat deposit identifies the use of the field systems at this site. In zone STF3, the pollen spectra were still dominated by arboreal pollen types, although arboreal species richness declined through the zone.…”

“…However, in many cases only survey has been conducted and estimates of the age and function of sites are 505 0305-4403/98/060505+15 $25.00/0therefore based on morphological similarity to excavated examples. Similar discrete field systems occur throughout the eastern gritstone moors of the Peak District and they appear to represent small contemporaneous communities in ''self-contained'' farming units of long duration (Barnatt, 1987(Barnatt, , 1994. One of these areas is Stoke Flat, the subject of this paper.…”

“…An initial extensive survey has been undertaken across the region's eastern gritstone moors as a whole, to obtain an overall picture of prehistoric monuments and field systems (Beswick & Merrills, 1983;Barnatt, 1986Barnatt, , 1987Barnatt, , 1990Barnatt, , 1996. Particular areas, for example, Big Moor, Gardom's Edge, Gibbet Moor and Stanton Moor, are being surveyed in greater detail by the Keele office of the Royal Commission for Historic Monuments of England and by John Barnatt for the Peak National Park Authority.…”

Spatial Analysis of Visible Areas from the Bronze Age Cairns of Mull

“…Other barrows in the same region had less prominent river valley views, and a relationship between barrow size and visible area is suggested. Barnatt (1987) suggested intervisibility as an important factor in the siting of hillforts in the Derbyshire Peak District. Visibility does not always have to be maximized.…”

Radiocarbon Dates From the Oxford Ams System: Archaeometry Datelist 12

“…directed by J. Barnatt in 1983, at a junction of two earthen field boundary banks. This trench is sited at NGR SK 27287551. at the heart of the Big Moor field-system o n the gritstone upland (Barnatt 1986(Barnatt . 1987 (Barnatt 1986(Barnatt , 1987) that the field system slowl!…”