The Fenland Project

Abstract

The archaeological survey of the Fenlands around the Wash in eastern England was completed in 1989. This note summarizes the results in terms of knowledge and conservation needs that emerged from the subsequent Fenland Evaluation Project.

Holocene drainage systems of the English Fenland: roddons and their environmental significance

“…The palaeo-surface, on which the Holocene deposits rest, is uneven and areas of higher altitude formed "islands" such as Ely, March and Thorney. These "islands" are in effect inliers of older strata surrounded by Holocene deposits, and are overlain by Pleistocene gravels and till (Hall, 1996).…”

Wearing environment and making islands: Britain's Bronze Age inland north sea

“…The Block Fen terrace, lying north of the Great Ouse's palaeochannel between the Isle of Ely and Chatteris, provides the most obvious example (Figures 1 & 6), with Neolithic and Early Bronze Age occupation (and barrows) along its edges (Hall 1992: 84–93), and lying between 1 and 2m above sea level, a Middle Bronze Age field system extends across its c . 14km 2 (Hunn & Palmer 1993).…”

European Regional Studies: A Coming of Age?

“…For example, Venclová (1994Venclová ( , 1995Neustupný and Venclová, 2000) has used intensive regional survey in Bohemia to identify and study Iron Age settlement versus industrial sites, and Field (1997) has investigated English Neolithic flint mining sites and their relationship to the typically ephemeral Neolithic settlement sites. Other archaeologists have investigated the relationship between artifact distribution and the boundaries of various landscape types, identifying differences in the settlement and use of woodlands (e.g., Evans et al [1999] who describe Early Neolithic settlement in "thrown" tree trunks, and Moore [1997] who discusses the relationship between settlement and the use of forest burning techniques to clear land for farming and pasture), fens and wetlands (e.g., Evans and Knight, 2000;Hall, 1992;Long et al, 2002;Peterson and Smith, 1995), rivers and floodplains (e.g., Gillings 1995Gillings , 1996Gillings , 1997Kadrow et al, 1992;Madry and Crumley, 1990;, deserts (e.g., Castro et al, 1998;Castro et al, 2000), sea coasts (e.g., Blanton, 2000), and islands (e.g., Broodbank, 2000;Cherry et al, 1991;Gaffney and Stančič, 1991) in different times and places. Sacred landscapes also have been addressed in this manner, as the locations of settlement and ritual sites are compared (e.g., de Polignac, 1995; various articles in Alcock and Osborne, 1994), sometimes using viewshed analysis in GIS (e.g., Wheatley, 1996;various papers in Lock and Stančič, 1995).…”