User:Generalissima/Charterhouse Warren
Charterhouse Warren, also known as Charterhouse Warren Farm Swallet or CWFS,[a] is a cave and Neolithic archaeological site located near the hamlet of Charterhouse, Somerset, England. One of the many caves of the Mendip Hills
Site
[edit]Charterhouse Warren is a cave in the Mendip Hills of Somerset, England. It is situated in a dry valley feeding into Velvet Bottom near the hamlet of Charterhouse. The main shaft of the cave is around 20 metres deep, formed by a natural fault in the Carboniferous limestone.[1][2]
Human remains
[edit]Human remains from the site range from the 3rd millennium BCE to the 1st century CE, including various individuals from the Late Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Roman period.[3]
Artifacts
[edit]Five long rounded slate lithics dubbed "sponge finger stones" were recovered from the site in the early excavations. These ranged from 72 mm (2.8 in) to 116 mm (4.6 in) in length. One example was rounded on one end and flat on the other, closely resembling a similar to a lithic recovered from a barrow at Overton Hill in Wiltshire.[4][5]
Excavations
[edit]Before excavations, the presence of the cave was obscured, marked by a small rocky depression in the surrounding fields, roughly saucer-shaped. Near its base was a lone hawthorn tree and a floor of foul-smelling detritus. The depression was known to take in water during floods, such as the major regional flood in 1968; this suggested the presence of an unseen underground cave system. A group of cavers began digging at the site in April 1972, clearing away a build-up of detritus and the remains of several sheep carcasses. Striking a layer of boulders along the main rift, a trial shaft was dug, which revealed a small open cavity branching off to the side. Investigations found livestock remains in this passage, as well as bones from dogs and red deer.[1][6][7]
Initially thought to be limited to modern bones, excavations of the cave were interrupted by the discovery of human remains; after documentation, these were identified as the remains of a Romano-British man around 30 years of age from the first century CE. The time period was indicated by the presence of Roman hobnails in the remnants of the man's footwear and a nearby sherd of Samian ware. Over the following months, many more human remains from the Roman period and the earlier Iron Age were discovered as the infill was removed.[6][7]
Notes
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^ a b c Schulting et al. 2024, p. 2.
- ^ Levitan et al. 1988, p. 172.
- ^ Levitan et al. 1988, pp. 200, 209.
- ^ Aston 1977, p. 109.
- ^ Levitan et al. 1988, pp. 205–208.
- ^ a b Levitan et al. 1988, pp. 174–176.
- ^ a b Everton 1974, pp. 61–62.
Bibliography
[edit]- Aston, M., ed. (1977). "Somerset Archaeology 1976" (PDF). Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society (121): 107–128.
- Burleigh, Richard; Clutton-Brock, Juliet (1977). "A Radiocarbon Date for Bos primigenius from Charterhouse Warren Farm, Mendip" (PDF). Proceedings of the University of Bristol Spelæological Society. 14 (3): 255–257.
- Everton, R. F. (1974). "The Bones from the Charterhouse Warren Farm Cave Dig" (PDF). Journal of the Wessex Cave Club. 13 (153): 61–65.
- Everton, A.; Everton, R. (1975). "A Bos primigenius from Charterhouse Warren Farm, Blagdon, Mendip: Comment on the Radiocarbon Date and Archaeology" (PDF). Proceedings of the University of Bristol Spelæological Society. 14 (3): 259–260.
- Levitan, B. M.; Audsley, A.; Hawkes, C. J.; Moody, A.; Moody, P.; Smart, P. L.; Thomas, J. S. (1988). "Charterouse Warren Farm Swallet, Mendip, Somerset: Exploration, Geomorphology, Taphonomy and Archaeology" (PDF). Proceedings of the University of Bristol Spelæological Society. 18 (2): 171–239.
- Levitan, B. M.; Smart, P. L. (1989). "Charterhouse Warren Farm Swallet, Mendip, Somerset: Radiocarbon Dating Evidence" (PDF). Proceedings of the University of Bristol Spelæological Society. 18 (3): 390–394.
- Stanton, W. I. (1989). "Beaker Age Deposits on Mendip at Charterhouse Warren Farm Swallet and Bos Swallet" (PDF). Proceedings of the University of Bristol Spelæological Society. 18 (3): 395–399.
- Lewis, Jodie (2000). "Upwards at 45 Degrees: The Use of Vertical Caves during the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age on Mendip, Somerset". CAPRA: Cave Archaeology and Palaeontology Research Archive (2).
- Lewis, Jodie (2005). Monuments, Ritual and Regionality: The Neolithic of Northern Somerset. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports. doi:10.30861/9781841718804. ISBN 9781841718804.
- Schulting, Rick J.; Fernández-Crespo, Teresa; Ordoño, Javier; et al. (2024). "The Darker Angels of Our Nature: A Butchered Early Bronze Age Human Bone Assemblage from Charterhouse Warren, Somerset, UK". Antiquity.
- Swali, Pooja; et al. (2023). "Yersinia pestis Genomes Reveal Plague in Britain 4000 Years Ago". Nature Communications. 14 (2930). doi:10.1038/s41467-023-38393-w.