Bronze Age Barrows: Factors Influencing Their Survival and Destruction

This paper analyses the influences on the survival of Bronze Age round barrows in two regions of southern Britain, the Upper Thames Valley and the Stonehenge Environs. It is clear that persistent arable farming in the medieval period had a highly destructive effect on these burial mounds. This can be seen despite later agricultural activity. Other factors such as the type of barrows can also be important factors in the survival and destruction of these burial mounds. Nevertheless, when analysing the distribution of these Bronze Age monuments, later historic land use must be considered as well as the contemporary prehistoric landscape.     

Late Saxon Textiles from the City of London

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS in the City of London have produced an important collection of late 9th- to early 12th-century textiles manufactured from wool, goat hair, silk and flax. The production processes associated with the different types of cloth are here described, together with details of weaving techniques and dyeing practices. Changes in the types of cloth used in the nth century are related to the introduction of new technology and the decline in use of the warp-weighted loom. Evidence is examined for the local manufacture of cloth and for the import of foreign silks. Lastly, attention is drawn to the similarity of the London textiles to those found in other regions of northern Europe.