| Summary : Site excavated by ME Cunninton between 1911 and 1922, producing a considerable quantity of artefacts. The site gave its name to the characteristic pottery of the Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age in southern Britain (roughly the 8th-7th centuries BC), although for a while the assemblage was regarded as wholly Iron Age. The full range of artefacts also suggests that activity continued well into the Iron Age. The site, which covered an area of circa 4 hectares, comprised a large quantity of artefactual material, including pottery, various bone tools and bronze items, animal and human remains, iron slag,crucible fragments, spindle whorls, loomweights and other items. Some 75 pits were also excavated. The site was generally regarded as a large open settlement of late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age origin, but re-assessment, including rexcavation of part of the site in 2003-4, led to the interpretation of the site as a midden comparable to those at Potterne and East Chisenbury. The investigations in 2004 identified another midden to the east at Stanton St Bernard (NMR Monument 1545428). |
More information : (SU 08006347) Iron Age Settlement (NR) (site of). (1,2)
An Iron Age settlement on All Cannings Cross Farm (see plan).
Excavated 1911-22 by B H and M E Cunnington. The area had been under the plough for many years and no surface indications remain to mark the site which probably covered an area of about four acres, but the limits were not precisely ascertained.
The chief interest of the site lies in the pottery represented by nearly 1000 pots, the style for which All Cannings has become the type-site. As a whole it seems to belong to the Hallstatt period, not mixed with any other type, and was practically all hand made. The haematite-coated bowls (see photo) with the omphaloid base may be regarded as the most characteristic and distinctive type on the site.
During the excavation 75 pits were opened, some were corn-drying ovens, and some contained pieces of wattle-and - daub. The site yielded two La Tene bonze brooches, bone implements such as pins, needles, combs, scoops, etc, spindle-whorls, loom-weights, bronze and iron slag, fragments of crucibles, hammerstones, and a large number of animal bones that had been used for food.
The main collection of material from the site is now in Devizes Museum. (3-5)
SU 08006347. There are now no extant remains of this settlement. The site lies in arable ground but no finds were made during field investigation.
OS 1:2500 siting acceptable from Cunnington's plan. (6)
Re-assessment and regional grouping of pottery from All Canning's Cross is discussed by Cunliffe. (7)
Further references. (8-12)
The site was thought to be a large open settlement of late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age origin, but re-evaluation of the site, including re-excavation of part of the site in 2003-4, led to interpretation of the site as a midden comparable to those at Potterne and East Chisenbury. The investigations in 2004 identified another midden to the east at Stanton St Bernard (NMR Monument 1545428).(13-14) |