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Summary

Small number of flint artefacts + iron ore fragments collected in small area adjacent to s field boundary (simpson).

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: ST20NW/250

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• ARTEFACT SCATTER (Prehistoric - 698000 BC to 42 AD (Between))

Full description

Simpson, Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV18634.

Small number of flint artefacts + iron ore fragments collected in small area adjacent to a field boundary (simpson).

Foster, K. + Skinner, R., 01/2016, A30 to A303 Honiton to Devonshire Inn Improvement Scheme, Honiton, Devon (Report - Assessment). SDV359378.

Desk based assessment undertaken along a corridor associated with the A30/A303 between Honiton and Devonshire Inn. This study is intended to inform the development of options for improvements to the A30/A303 between Honiton and Devonshire Inn.

The Palaeolithic period (c. 970,000 – 10,000 BC) involved successive migrations into Britain by small populations of highly mobile hunter-gatherers. Such migrations occurred during warmer inter-glacial periods that resulted in much of the country being covered by ice. Such groups left very little archaeological remains and sites were usually subject to considerable disturbance by subsequent environmental change. The south-west of England’s most important Palaeolithic deposits occur in caves of which none are known from the Blackdown Hills region. Open-landscape data on the Palaeolithic is most often derived from the study of artefacts found within river terrace deposits laid down during periods in which hominids were present in Britain. There is a bias in the data towards areas with suitable deposits and with a history of research and collection (Hosfield et al, in Webster (Eds.) 2008). Gravel river terraces of the River Otter, (located to the south of the Blackdown Hills, outside of the Site) were studied as a part of the Palaeolithic Rivers of South-West Britain Project (Hosfield et al, 2007). This recorded Lower and Middle Palaeolithic artefacts suggesting a hominid presence in the river valley during these periods. No Palaeolithic artefacts are known from the Site however due to the presence of artefacts further downstream the alluvial gravels in the valley bottom are considered to have a small degree of potential for such artefacts to be recovered in this area.

As in the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic populations were mobile hunter gatherers and settlement sites were ephemeral, often leaving very little trace in the archaeological record. Typical remains might include flint scatters and evidence for hearths. Such sites however are rare as they are vulnerable to destruction by subsequent environmental change. On occasion Mesolithic sites have been found beneath later Neolithic monuments suggesting a long history of activity in specific locations. There is evidence for a surprisingly high degree of Mesolithic activity across the Blackdown Hills (Brown et al, 2014, 2). Within the Site two collections of undated prehistoric worked flint and chert are recorded both of which occur on the plateau at the north-eastern end of the Site respectively). Worked chert was also recorded within a test pit at Stopgate. It is possible that these finds are of a Mesolithic date and if so they suggest a background presence within the Site during this period. None of the collections are of such a quantity to suggest a prominent seasonal settlement site and they probably represent the remains left by periodic hunter-gatherers passing through the area. It is likely that the Site, like much of the Blackdown Hills region was frequented by Mesolithic peoples and finds of lithic material are considered possible across the whole Site area.

Following the Roman invasion of 43AD, aside from military sites and centrally planned civitas capitals little changed, with settlement patterns continuing from the preceding Iron Age. Later in the 3rd and 4th centuries more Romanised forms of settlement would emerge with estates centred on villas and roadside settlements on newly built Roman roads (Holbrook et al, in Webster (Eds.) 2008). In the Devon area the regional administrative and commercial centre was at Isca Dumnoniorum, modern Exeter.

With the introduction of Roman technology the natural resources of Britain were increasingly exploited. There is evidence that the Blackdown Hills rapidly emerged as an important location for iron production with extensive iron working in the 1st and 2nd centuries possibly serving the needs of the occupying military at Exeter (Griffith & Weddell, 1996). Romano-British iron working sites have been excavated across the region with an important example located at Sweetlands Farm near Upottery approximately 1.3 km to the north-west. Higher Northcote and a site at Stopgate have indicators of smelting in the area in addition to the fragments located close to a field boundary near Devonshire Inn Farm.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV6910 - Desk Based Assessment, A30/A303 Honiton to Devonshire Inn Improvement Scheme, Honiton, Devon (Ref: 111160.01)

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