With contributions by D. Allen, F. W. Anderson, J. Bayley, S. Butcher, D. Charlesworth, B. Dickinson, A. Everton, E. Fowler, M. Gelling, P. Rahtz, D. Haddon-Reece, K. Hartley, M. Henig, R. Jones, R. Reece, J. Richards, A. J. Walker and D. F. Williams.
Rescue excavations at Henley Wood, Yatton, North Somerset, were undertaken during the 1960s in advance of quarrying. The site was a small promontory, overlooking the North Somerset Levels and the Bristol Channel, adjacent to the major hillfort of Cadbury Congresbury; it was in an area with dense settlement from the prehistoric period onwards. The earliest finds were Neolithic flints, although none were associated with features. There may have been Beaker burials on the site, found in earlier explorations.
There were late Iron Age finds – some pottery, at least one brooch, a Dobunnic coin, and probably the remarkable bronze figurine. The presence of the latter may suggest that religious activity began on the site in pre-Roman times. It is possible that a ditch across the eastern part of the promontory dates from this time. It is however more likely that this was the eastern boundary of the precinct of a Roman temple, the temenos ditch, probably with a bank on its inner side.
Within the temenos, a number of superimposed Roman temples were built. Details of the first building arc obscure, but it is interpreted as a shrine, perhaps of the 1st or 2nd century AD. The second was a two-cell structure with an eastern entrance, with a third century floruit. The third was a typical doublesquare Romano-Celtic temple, probably built in the late 3rd or earlier 4th century and remodelled after AD 367–75. A fourth structure, also probably of 4th century date, lay in the northern part of the precinct, and may have been polygonal.
Author(s): Lorna Watts, Peter Leach
Series: Council for British Archaeology. CBA Research Reports, 99
Publisher: Council for British Archaeology
Year: 1996
Language: English
Pages: 1094
City: York
List of figures (pp viii-x)
List of plates (pp xi)
List of tables (pp xii-xiii)
Contents of microfiche (pp xiv-xv)
Summary in English, French and German (pp 1-2)
Preface and acknowledgements (pp 3)
Introduction (pp 4)
Background to the excavations (pp 4)
Previous knowledge and condition of the site (pp 4)
The form of the report (pp 4)
Location of the finds and archive (pp 4)
The site and its settings (pp 5-11)
Location, topography and resources (pp 5)
The hillfort of Cadbury Congresbury and its relationship to Henley Wood (pp 5-9)
The place name by Margaret Gelling (pp 9)
Temples in Somerset and neighbouring areas (pp 9-11)
Late and post-Roman cemeteries in Somerset (pp 11)
The excavations (pp 12-15)
Excavation method (pp 12)
The recording system (pp 13)
Post-excavation procedures (pp 14-15)
Area I (Temples ?1-3) (pp 16-30)
Summary of periodisation and chronology (pp 16)
Introduction (pp 16)
Excavation method (pp 16)
Recording(pp 16)
Post-excavation work (pp 16)
Structural phases (pp 16-27)
Area I, general comments and discussion (pp 27-30)
Area II (pp 31-32)
Introduction (pp MF330)
The evidence form Area II (pp MF331)
Interpretation of Area II (pp MF331)
Finds from Area II (pp MF332)
Area III (temple precinct) (pp 33-34)
Introduction (pp 33)
The evidence from Area III (pp 33)
Finds from Area III (pp 33)
Area III, interpretation and general comments (pp 33-34)
Area IV (pp 35-38)
Introduction (pp 35)
The evidence from Area IV (pp 35)
Finds from Area IV (pp 36-37)
General comments (pp 37)
The dating of Structure 4 (pp 37)
The relationship of Area IV to Area I (pp 37-38)
Area V (the temenos ditch) (pp 39-42)
Introduction (pp 39)
The temenos ditch, V.F30 (pp 39)
Stratification within V.F30 (pp 39)
Features V.382 and V.380 (pp 39)
Finds from Area V (pp 39)
Area V, interpretation and discussion (pp 39-42)
Area VI (pp 43-45)
Area VII (pp 46)
The cemetery (pp 46-75)
Introduction (pp 46)
Comments on the classes of information in MF Table 20, including human bone report by Justine Bayley and orientation by Philip Rahtz (pp 46-64)
Finds in grave fillings (pp 64-66)
The chronology of the cemetery, incorporating comments by Julian Richards, David Haddon-Reece, David Jordan and Jill Walker (pp 66-69)
Spatial organisation of the cemetery (pp 69-74)
General comments on and discussion of the cemetery (pp 74-75)
The finds (pp 76-137)
Introduction (pp 76)
Thematic classification (pp 76)
Thematic category groups (pp 76-77)
Prehistoric, including a contribution on the flints by the Late Anne Everton and Iron Age pottery (pp 77-79)
Personal, including contributions by Sarnia Butcher, Elizabeth Fowler, Martin Henig, the late Dorothy Charlesworth and Justine Bayley (pp 79-87)
Tools and implements, including contributions by the late Derek Allen, the late F. W. Anderson, Richard Reece and Lorna Watts (pp 87-95)
Fittings and furnishings (pp 95-96)
Utensils/household,including contributions by Brenda Dickinson, Kay Hartley and David Williams (pp 96-126)
Buildings/services (pp 127-130)
Religious/votive, including contributions by Martin Henig and Justine Bayley (pp 130-133)
Industrial, including a contribution by Justine Bayley (pp 133)
Environmental, inluding a contribution by Roger Jones (pp 134-137)
Miscellaneous (pp 137)
Medieval and post-medieval (pp 137)
Synthesis and discussion (pp 138-148)
Introduction (pp 138)
Location and resources (pp 138)
The prehistoric-protohistoric evidence (pp 138-142)
The 1st-3rd centuries (pp 142-143)
The 3rd-4th/5th centuries AD (pp 143-144)
Religious activity at Henley Wood (pp 144-145)
Temple precinct and cemetery (pp 145-146)
The cemetery (pp 146-148)
Conclusion (pp 148)
Bibliography (pp 149-153)
Plates (pp 154-161)
Microfiche (914 pp.)
