MEM25562 - Neolithic and Bronze Age woodland remains at Alderman's Barrow Allotment (Monument)

Buried Neolithic and Bronze Age woodland remains were recorded during archaeological monitoring of peatland restoration work by the South West Peatland Partnership between November 2022 and March 2023. An exposed section of peat was sampled by Wessex Archaeology in February 2023. The remains include the trunks and branches of prehistoric willow and alder trees, together with other plant and insect remains associated with a wet woodland environment that formed in the valley mire from at least the Late Neolithic. Wood charcoal fragments recovered from the peat are associated with burning and may indicate human activity in the surrounding landscape.

The South West Peatland Partnership (SWPP) undertook archaeological monitoring of peatland restoration works at Alderman’s Barrow Allotment between November 2022 and March 2023. The work confirmed that peat within the site contains well preserved palaeoenvironmental remains, including the remnants of buried prehistoric woodland. Part of the trunk of a willow tree was found near the centre of the site, which has been dated to the early Neolithic (3940-3650 Cal BC). Several further fragments of trunks and larger branches of willow and alder trees were recovered from the base of the valley, which were dated to between the early and middle Bronze Age (2580-2350 Cal BC to 1500-1410 Cal BC). The remains found in the base of the valley are associated with a dense prehistoric wood layer, up to 0.5m thick, that resembles a ‘forest floor’ in places. The woodland seems to have disappeared by the late Bronze Age and has been preserved under up to 1.5m of peat with no clearly visible wood remains.[1] The SWPP comissioned Wessex Archaeology to undertake further sampling of the remains in February 2023. A section of the peat was sampled using monolith tins and a vertical column sample was taken to recover plant macroremains, notably wood, and an insect fauna. In addition, wood remains recovered by the SWPP during monitoring works were submitted for species identification. A wood peat was recorded at the base of the section sampled, and this formed in the Late Neolithic (c. 2800–2500 cal. BC). The results of the palaeoenvironmental assessment indicate that a wet woodland environment composed of alder was established in the valley mire. There is slight evidence for birch, although this species was perhaps growing on the higher and slightly drier ground, and there is no evidence that dry woodland was growing locally. The insect fauna recovered contains species associated with aquatic conditions and a damp/wet waterside environment; some of these are characteristic of wet woodland environments. This woodland bordered a slow-moving stream in the base of the valley, although areas of still or stagnant water were probably also present. Wood charcoal fragments in the peat are associated with burning events, and the large-size of some of these fragments indicates locally occurring fire(s), and these are possibly associated with human activity. Between the Late Neolithic to the Middle Bronze Age (c. 1500 BC), the local environment appears to have gradually become more open in character. The wood remains recovered during monitoring works at the site by the SWPP have been identified as alder and willow.[2]