Although David McOmish hails from Glasgow, he has a deep love for the chalk landscapes of the south of England, from Wiltshire to West Sussex. He started by showing us the pot-belly hill of Gobekli Tepe, from 9,500 BC. These circular temple monuments, with their 4 metre high, ‘T’ shaped limestone structures, have no apparent predecessors. They were made by hunter gatherers, before the invention of pottery. Yet these ‘T’ shaped stones have beautiful relief carvings on them, of vultures, bulls, foxes and cranes. The vulture link maybe to do with ‘sky’ burials and excarnation, although some have suggested there may be an astronomical link. These are not hunting scenes, although many bones of gazelle, boar, sheep and red deer have been found. This does not show a steady evolution, as they seem to have appeared out of nowhere. It is an example of ‘punctuated equilibria’ of prehistoric progress.
Archaeology is about the communication of ideas. It’s thought that Causewayed Enclosures and Long Barrows started in Kent and rippled outwards. The Orcadian monumental architecture near the Ring of Brodgar shows this invasion of ideas, known to have come from the Belgium area, where the rare Orkney vole comes from. The idea that ancient people built tombs and mounds in bursts of activity and not in a steady continuity was echoed on other sites such as Blick Mead near Stonehenge or on the South Downs at Black Patch.
So where do Bronze Age Beakers come from? DNA analysis across Europe indicates that the Beaker ‘package’ came over here from Holland and Rhineland area. But David McOmish has looked at the Early Egyptian material in the British Museum and thinks Bell Beakers are evident there and may have origins in Sudan in 3,200 BC.
The famous Amesbury Archer’s burial was surrounded by five Beakers, flint arrowheads, daggers and tools, but also copper knives and a cushion stone for metal working. DNA tests shows us that he came from a metal working area in the Alps, as did the young (25 yrs old) Boscombe Bowman. DNA testing tells us that the latter was related to the Amesbury Archer. The Bowman had visited the Alps, perhaps to see his family. Isotope analysis of skulls from the Amesbury area reveal that these people had visited Wales and the Lake District, where knowledge of mining and metalworking skills would be very useful.
Dave Field has investigated Bronze Age barrows, in their many forms, dating from around 1800BC. The South Downs barrows can be seen in clusters, on high points, often close to watersheds, or lower down, close to spring lines or to springs. On Petersfield Common at the head of the river Rother, water bubbles up in a variety of forms. It appears it was important for BA barrows to be near water.
Around 1600BC, a Bronze Age landscape of field systems emerges and LiDAR has transformed our understanding of these systems. In Denmark and NW Europe, radiocarbon dating shows that the field systems appear at the same time as Linear Ditches. This is the first time the landscape is marked and divided up. Maybe a special ritual accompanied the formation of field systems. This might explain one curious fact about them. Many of these systems are orientated to the Solstices – NW to SE or NE to SW. They cut across landscapes totally ignoring the topology of hills and vales. This act of creating Field systems is defining the land for the first time and was possibly done according to their belief systems linked to the sun – the giver of life. But as we see throughout prehistory, many field systems are abandoned and then reused, with pulses of these activities up to 750BC.
Midden or rubbish sites also appear in this period from 1600 – 800BC. The East Chisenbury midden sits on top of the meeting point of 6 Linear Ditches. It covers 3 hectares and is 3 metres deep. There is evidence of special pottery and exotic goods, and many sheep, cow and pig bones, also human bone. This shows that much feasting went on and a hierarchy was emerging. Similar evidence was found at Woolstonbury, Highdown and Mucking.
The workshop audience were asked which journals they read. Everyone saw ‘Current Archaeology’ and a few read British Archaeology. Few belonged to the Prehistoric Society or saw PPS – much to David McOmish’s chagrin, nor did they have access to the Antiquaries Journal, although Esme Evans noted that you can read this in the SAS library at the Barbican in Lewes.
Altogether David McOmish gave us a fascinating overview of the Bronze Age and we went away with a few questions and much food for thought.
Sue Brown
Archaeology is about the communication of ideas. It’s thought that Causewayed Enclosures and Long Barrows started in Kent and rippled outwards. The Orcadian monumental architecture near the Ring of Brodgar shows this invasion of ideas, known to have come from the Belgium area, where the rare Orkney vole comes from. The idea that ancient people built tombs and mounds in bursts of activity and not in a steady continuity was echoed on other sites such as Blick Mead near Stonehenge or on the South Downs at Black Patch.
So where do Bronze Age Beakers come from? DNA analysis across Europe indicates that the Beaker ‘package’ came over here from Holland and Rhineland area. But David McOmish has looked at the Early Egyptian material in the British Museum and thinks Bell Beakers are evident there and may have origins in Sudan in 3,200 BC.
The famous Amesbury Archer’s burial was surrounded by five Beakers, flint arrowheads, daggers and tools, but also copper knives and a cushion stone for metal working. DNA tests shows us that he came from a metal working area in the Alps, as did the young (25 yrs old) Boscombe Bowman. DNA testing tells us that the latter was related to the Amesbury Archer. The Bowman had visited the Alps, perhaps to see his family. Isotope analysis of skulls from the Amesbury area reveal that these people had visited Wales and the Lake District, where knowledge of mining and metalworking skills would be very useful.
Dave Field has investigated Bronze Age barrows, in their many forms, dating from around 1800BC. The South Downs barrows can be seen in clusters, on high points, often close to watersheds, or lower down, close to spring lines or to springs. On Petersfield Common at the head of the river Rother, water bubbles up in a variety of forms. It appears it was important for BA barrows to be near water.
Around 1600BC, a Bronze Age landscape of field systems emerges and LiDAR has transformed our understanding of these systems. In Denmark and NW Europe, radiocarbon dating shows that the field systems appear at the same time as Linear Ditches. This is the first time the landscape is marked and divided up. Maybe a special ritual accompanied the formation of field systems. This might explain one curious fact about them. Many of these systems are orientated to the Solstices – NW to SE or NE to SW. They cut across landscapes totally ignoring the topology of hills and vales. This act of creating Field systems is defining the land for the first time and was possibly done according to their belief systems linked to the sun – the giver of life. But as we see throughout prehistory, many field systems are abandoned and then reused, with pulses of these activities up to 750BC.
Midden or rubbish sites also appear in this period from 1600 – 800BC. The East Chisenbury midden sits on top of the meeting point of 6 Linear Ditches. It covers 3 hectares and is 3 metres deep. There is evidence of special pottery and exotic goods, and many sheep, cow and pig bones, also human bone. This shows that much feasting went on and a hierarchy was emerging. Similar evidence was found at Woolstonbury, Highdown and Mucking.
The workshop audience were asked which journals they read. Everyone saw ‘Current Archaeology’ and a few read British Archaeology. Few belonged to the Prehistoric Society or saw PPS – much to David McOmish’s chagrin, nor did they have access to the Antiquaries Journal, although Esme Evans noted that you can read this in the SAS library at the Barbican in Lewes.
Altogether David McOmish gave us a fascinating overview of the Bronze Age and we went away with a few questions and much food for thought.
Sue Brown