Preserved in the Peat by Andy M Jones
Excavation of a Scheduled burial mound on Whitehorse Hill, Dartmoor revealed an unexpected, intact burial deposit of Early Bronze Age date associated with an unparalleled range of artefacts. The cremated remains of a young person had been placed within a bearskin pelt and provided with a basketry container, from which a braided band with tin studs had spilled out. Within the container were beads of shale, amber, clay and tin; wo pairs of turned wooden studs and a worked flint flake. A unique item, possibly a sash or band, made from textile and animal skin was found beneath the container. Beneath this, the basal stone of the cist had been covered by a layer of purple moor grass which had been collected in summer. Analysis of environmental material from the site has revealed important insights into the pyre material used to burn the body, as well as providing important information about the environment in which the cist was constructed. The unparalleled assemblage of organic objects has yielded insights into a range of materials which have not survived from the earlier Bronze Age elsewhere in southern Britain.
Dartmoor’s custodians must be congratulated for saving the grave, and everyone involved for this generous report* British Archaeology *
Jones has assembled an impressive group of specialists to deal with the complexities of the cist contents and the wealth of organic and other data… Occasionally there are archaeological finds that leave us in awe and seriously affect our understanding of prehistory – Ötzi the iceman, the salt-preserved artefacts from Hallstatt. The Whitehorse Hill cist is one of those finds. * Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society *
Jones has assembled an impressive group of specialists to deal with the complexities of the cist contents and the wealth of organic and other data… Occasionally there are archaeological finds that leave us in awe and seriously affect our understanding of prehistory – Ötzi the iceman, the salt-preserved artefacts from Hallstatt. The Whitehorse Hill cist is one of those finds. * Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society *
Andy M. Jones is Projects Manager at Cornwall Archaeological Unit. His research interests include the Neolithic and Bronze Age of western Britain. Major publications include: Preserved in the Peat: An Extraordinary Bronze Age Burial on Whitehorse Hill, Dartmoor, and its Wider Context (2016) and Later Prehistoric Settlement in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly: Evidence from Five Excavations (2021).
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781785702600 |
| ISBN 10 | 1785702602 |
| Title | Preserved in the Peat |
| Author | Andy M Jones |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Oxbow Books |
| Year published | 2017-03-17 |
| Number of pages | 328 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |