Information for record number MWA12440:
Possible evidence for large scale ploughing in the Late Bronze Age, Pilgrim's Lock, near Bidford-on-Avon

Summary A geomorphological study of a 5.25m section during the construction of the lock recorded a reddish-buff clay. This was interpreted as potentially representing a change in agricultural practice, such as the advent of ploughing on a large scale.
What Is It?  
Type: Buried Land Surface
Period: Late Bronze Age (1200 BC - 601 BC)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Bidford on Avon
District: Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 12 51
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Level of Protection National - Old SMR PrefRef (Grade: )
Sites & Monuments Record
Description

  
Source Number  

1 A geomorphological study of a 5.25m section during the construction of the lock recorded a reddish-buff clay. This was interpreted as potentially representing a change in agricultural practice, such as the advent of ploughing on a large scale. A number of radiocarbon dates were obtained from organic constituents of associated deposits. This produced a date for the end of silt sedimentation of 2600 yrs BP (in the Late Bronze Age). The author suggests that the onset of alluviation, producing the red clay, happened soon after and was related to widescale changes in agricultural practices at this time. It is acknowledged that this requires further substantiation from other sections. Also contains details of snails present. Radiocarbon dates.
2Quotes
1; 'evidence collected by Shotton may indicate that intensive cultivation at this time resulted in heavy soil erosion causing the build up of sediment in the valleys'.
 
Sources
Source No: 1
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Archaeological inferences from the study of alluvium in the lower Severn-Avon valleys
Author/originator: F W Shotton
Date: 1978
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society: Transactions for 1996 Volume 100 (TBAS vol 100)
Author/originator: D. Hooke (ed.)
Date: 1996
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 100
   
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
source TBAS Transactions of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society is a journal produced by the society annually. It contains articles about archaeological field work that has taken place in Birmingham and Warwickshire in previous years. Copies of the journal are kept by the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record. back
period Bronze Age About 2500 BC to 700 BC

The Bronze Age comes after the Neolithic period and before the Iron Age.

The day to day life of people in the Bronze Age probably changed little from how their ancestors had lived during the Neolithic period. They still lived in farmsteads, growing crops and rearing animals.

During the Bronze Age people discovered how to use bronze, an alloy of tin and copper (hence the name that has given to this era). They used it to make their tools and other objects, although they continued to use flint and a range of organic materials as well. A range of bronze axes, palstaves and spears has been found in Warwickshire.
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monument LOCK * A section of the water channel on a canal or river shut off above and below by lock gates provided with sluices to let the water out and in, and thus raise or lower boats from one level to another. Use more specific type where known. back
monument BURIED LAND SURFACE * A former ground surface buried beneath an earthwork or other sequence of deposits. (includes palaeosoils, turf lines) back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record