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Archived News ~ Week ending Friday 27th February 2004.
Summary of Prehistoric Pottery from Nosterfield, 1998 - 2003
Nosterfield is one of a growing number of locations in the northern part of the Vale of York where surviving earthwork monuments are now joined by pits and other cut features which have produced assemblages of Neolithic pottery. For the most part this comprises pottery known as Grooved Ware, which dates from the beginning of the third millennium BC and appears to be used for a period of perhaps seven or eight hundred years. This material therefore belongs to the middle Neolithic, although it is found with pottery which is made in a style which harks back to the earlier Neolithic. Neolithic pottery has now been recovered from locations along the River Ure at the southern end of the Vale of Mowbray at Nosterfield (see 1995 - 1996 pottery report) and Marton-le-Moor, and also from the Scorton area in the River Swale valley to the north of Catterick.
The pottery from excavation during the period 1998 to 2003 was recovered from Interventions 1, 2 and 5 and includes Neolithic and Middle Bronze Age pottery; there is a conspicuous absence of Early Bronze Age pottery. The Neolithic pottery was recovered from Interventions 1 and 2 where clusters of pits containing flint, pottery, burnt animal bone and hazelnut shells were encountered. This archaeology reflects that excavated during 1995 to 1996. The Middle Bronze Age pottery belongs to a scattered cremation cemetery encountered in Intervention 5. Four intact cremation urns were excavated from pits (F92, F93, F96 and F106) and a further cremation had small sherds of a vessel included in the fill (F91).
Neolithic pottery
The assemblage is dominated by Grooved Ware which is noted for the extent of its distribution, sporadically the length and breadth of Britain, having been recovered from sites in Wiltshire (Woodhenge), the Orkneys (Skara Brae), and Ireland. It is known by the regularity with which similarly complex decoration occurs on the pottery from these widespread sites. As the name suggests, some decoration is created by incising lines in cordons and filled triangles and lozenges, but a wide range of plastic decoration also includes applied and raised cordons. Several attempts have been made to fit the ranges and variations of decoration into a series but they lack convincing distributions or chronology. It has been suggested that the grooved decoration was inspired by the patterns of basketry, having a wicker-like appearance, but this cannot be proved. The Grooved Ware jars have walls up to 12 mm thick and some may have been up to 400 mm tall, although the excavated assemblage comprises only small broken sherds.
The Nosterfield sherds are particularly fragile because they originally contained calcitic grits which have leached out, leaving a soft and corky fabric. Pottery in the earlier Grimston tradition is also present and is plainer, with thin walls which may only be 5 mm thick. A small amount of later Neolithic pottery in the so-called Peterborough tradition is included and shows decoration using twisted cord, bird bone and finger-nail impressions (see below). Again, attempts have been made to assign the three main types of Peterborough ware, Ebbesfleet, Mortlake and Fengate, into a chronology. Some success was had for assemblages excavated from southern Britain but it later became apparent that local styles existed throughout Britain.
Sherds of prehistoric pottery from Nosterfield
Bronze Age pottery
Although some Early Bronze Age pottery in Beaker style has been found at Nosterfield, the recent excavations have recovered only a small assemblage of pottery. This derives from a number of pits representing a cremation cemetery of Middle Bronze Age date. It comprises fragments of a series of barrel-shaped and open jars, many without diagnostic features. A common characteristic is an association with small quantities of cremated bone, so it may well be possible to confirm the suggested date - mid-second millennium BC - by radiocarbon dating.
The prehistoric pottery at Nosterfield, while often broadly dated, still offers the best dating evidence (notwithstanding scientific dating). Patterns of land use are beginning to emerge and are currently under investigation, and the evidence from Nosterfield offers a rare opportunity to characterise a large tract of prehistoric landscape. Initial mapping shows distinct areas of Neolithic occupation activity, which is largely confined to the eastern part of the watching brief area. The lack of Early Bronze Age pottery from the whole area is notable. The Middle Bronze Age cremation urns are found in the western part of the watching brief area and are clearly from a mortuary context.
Bronze Age urn
While the dates offered by the pottery are thousands of years apart the distribution of Neolithic and Bronze Age activity is nevertheless striking. The focus of the on-going post-excavation programme is currently occupied with the analysis of why particular areas of Nosterfield were favoured at different times.