Prehistoric Britain/Chapter 9

by Robert Munro

 

CHAPTER IX

INHABITED SITES AND PROTECTIVE WORKS

Man is no exception to the law of the organic world which forces all animals to instinctively protect themselves from their natural enemies. We have already seen that during the Palæolithic period caves and rock-shelters were resorted to as, perhaps, the best and readiest means of securing personal protection, not only from enemies but from the exigencies of a variable climate. When, however, caves and rock-shelters were no longer sufficient to accommodate the increasing families of these nomadic people, the surplus population would have to migrate to localities which might not possess these natural means of shelter. In these circumstances, necessity would compel them to seek or invent some other means of security, the particular form of which would largely depend on the physical conditions of the environment. If stones were abundant they might be used to construct primitive huts, but if these materials failed, their next resource would probably be to dig a circular trench in the earth and to cover it with a timber roof and thatch. If, however, the locality was swampy, or liable to be flooded, it cannot be said that their ingenuity would be greatly overtaxed if they invented the plan of laying cross-beams over a series of supporting piles, so as to raise the floor of the hut above the damp soil. Or, finally, they might construct a chamber entirely underground in imitation of the natural caves. All these methods were adopted by the Prehistoric people of Britain.

In glancing over the inhabited sites of the Neolithic and subsequent people, we find that natural caves were still resorted to, not only as hiding-places in times of danger, but occasionally as places of usual abode. However, from the earliest times men were in the habit of constructing various kinds of artificial huts, which they often fortified by enclosures of stone, earth or wood. There may be no chronological sequence in the construction and selection of these different kinds of abode, although caves were probably the only places of security of the earlier races of mankind. But caves have been more or less inhabited in all successive ages, concurrently with other kinds of artificial habitations, as we have noted in the case of Kent's Cavern, which afforded shelter to both Palæolithic and Neolithic races up to post-Roman times.

Caves.—Besides the caves of South Britain, already described as the haunts of Palæolithic man, we may mention the Victoria Cave near Settle, Kirkhead Cave on the north shore of Morecambe Bay, Poole's Cave near Buxton, Thor's Cave in Staffordshire, and the Borness Cave in Kirkcudbrightshire, as examples of caves which, after careful exploration, have yielded abundant evidence of having been inhabited as late as Romano-British times.

In the cave of Heathery Burn, near Durham, there was found a remarkable hoard of objects of the Bronze Age, together with two human skeletons, charcoal, and other evidence of human occupancy. Among this varied assortment of relics were a singular socketed knife, socketed celts (and a mould for the same), spear-heads, armlets, pins, a razor, and one of those large riveted caldrons of the Hallstatt type—all of bronze. In addition to the above there were many other relics, proving that the hoard belonged to the latest phase of the Bronze Age.

Beehive Huts.—The beehive hut consists of a circular or oval building of dry stones, so constructed that each layer of stones overlaps the one beneath it, till the opening of the apex becomes so small as to be closed by one stone. Such buildings, when constructed in the open, are on architectural principles necessarily limited in their dimensions, being only a few feet in diameter; but when surrounded by an accumulation of stones or earth they are capable of attaining a considerable size, as may be seen in the tombs of Mycenæ, Orchomenos and other sites in Greece. Among these Grecian structures that known as the "Treasury of Atreus" measures 48 feet in ground diameter and 48 feet in height.

The invention of the beehive principle dates to the Neolithic period, but, on the introduction of Christianity into Britain, this type of building was found to be so well adapted to the simple wants of the early Christians that it was utilized as a monastic cell. The most perfect example of the primitive Christian Cashel now to be seen is on Skellig Michel, on the south-west coast of Ireland, which contains a church, oratory and several beehive houses—the latter being still entire. On Eilean-na-Naoimh (Island of the Saints), on the west coast of Argyllshire, may also be seen two ruined beehive cells associated with the ruins of a small church. The beehive principle is frequently met with in the roofing of underground dwellings and chambered cairns.

Underground Dwellings.—As places of refuge and habitation underground chambers have been used both in Great Britain and Ireland. In Scotland they are known as "Eirde Houses" or "Weems," in Cornwall as "Fogous," and in Ireland as "Souterrains."

In Scotland such dwellings had a wide distribution, attaining their greatest development in the district between the river Tay and the Moray Firth—a district generally recognized as the original home of the Picts; and hence these underground dwellings are sometimes called Picts' Houses. They are generally met with as isolated dwellings concealed below the surface, but sometimes they occur in groups, as on the moor of Kildrummy, in Aberdeenshire, where nearly fifty were found extending over an area of less than a couple of square miles. They are long, low, narrow galleries, always more or less curved, and gradually expanding, both laterally and vertically, till, towards the inner extremity, they may measure as much as 10 or 12 feet in width, and 6 or 7 in height. They are most frequently built of undressed dry stones, with convergent walls bearing heavy lintels; but occasionally the walls are made with flags set on end. The narrow entrance, probably concealed by a stone door, sloped down to the floor level of the chamber, but before reaching the latter there was occasionally a second door, often placed at the point where the direction changed. Sometimes a passage branched off from one side of the gallery and led to another chamber, usually of a circular or oval shape. These chambers were frequently roofed in a dome fashion, on the beehive principle, much in the same manner as those of the chambered cairns. Though all built on a uniform plan they are found to vary greatly in dimensions, that at Tealing, Forfarshire, measuring 80 feet in length, 5 feet 8 inches in height, 2 feet 6 inches in width at entrance, and 8 feet 6 inches next the inner end; while the corresponding measurements of one at Kinnord are only 21, 11/2, 3 and 21/2 feet.

It is the general opinion of archæologists that these subterranean chambers were always associated with surface habitations, whose structural materials, being made of timbers, have disappeared through natural decay and changes due to the cultivation of the land. Striking evidence of such an association was observed in 1859, at Cairn Conan, near Arbroath. Here, an underground structure presented the peculiarity of having, in addition to the usual long curved gallery, a circular beehive chamber attached to it by a low passage, and to which there was also a second entrance. About six or seven paces north of the underground gallery a circular space, twenty feet in diameter, and rudely paved with flagstones, was detected a few inches beneath the surface soil. This, upon examination, was recognized as the site of a habitation, of which, however, nothing then remained except the floor, and a few relics which its occupants had left behind them. These relics are important in showing that the structures belonged to post-Roman times, for there seems to be no doubt that both the surface and underground remains were part of the same homestead. Among them were the upper stones of a quern mill, two whorls of lead, a portion of a bronze ring, some rudely hollowed stones, and fragments of iron cutting implements. Those from the underground chambers comprised fragments of various kinds of pottery, some wheel-made, a bronze needle, part of a quern, horses' teeth, calcined bones, and a large spiral bracelet of the snake-like pattern—all of which point to Romano-British times.

Outside the British Isles the underground dwellings seem to be unknown, although the statement of Tacitus suggests the prevalence of such hiding-places among the Germans. In discussing the manners and customs of this people he writes as follows (Chap. XVI): "They also dig subterranean caves, and cover them over with a great quantity of dung. These they use as winter retreats and graneries, for they preserve a moderate temperature; and upon an invasion when the open country is plundered, these recesses remain unvioiated, either because the enemy is ignorant of them, or because he will not trouble himself with the search."

Hut-circles.—The habitations known as hut-circles are found in numberless localities throughout Britain, especially on upland moors that have been little disturbed by cultivation. They are generally associated with other prehistoric monuments, such as cairns, cromlechs, beehive houses, menhirs, souterrains, etc. I cannot think of a better way of conveying to readers a general idea of these promiscuous remains than to give a brief account of one or two localities, where they are still to be seen. During a stay of a few days at Penzance the present writer was able to visit the principal antiquities of West Cornwall, the result of which may be thus summarized.

Starting from Penzance and following the Morvah road, we first come to the "Lanyon Cromlech," a free-standing dolmen with a cover-stone 17 feet long by nearly 9 feet broad, and resting on three pillar-stones, 5 feet in height. But this is not its original height, as the cover-stone fell some years ago, and when it was being raised the supports had to be reduced. Before this event it is said that a man on horseback could ride under the capstone. Half a mile beyond the so-called Cromlech we come on two famous monuments, viz. Mên-an-Tol (holed stone) and Mên Scryfa (inscribed stone). Turning to the left we come to Chûn, where there is a group of interesting antiquities, including a hill castle or fort, a dolmen and an ancient British village.

Chûn Castle is of an oval shape, 180 feet long by 170 feet broad, and consists of two concentric ditches alternating with dry-stone walls. The inner wall is 20 feet thick, and, before it was plundered of its stones more than a century ago, it is said to have been at least 10 feet high. The dolmen, which has its stones covered with a thick coating of lichens, stands in solitary grandeur about 250 yards to the west of the castle. It consists of a large capstone supported on four pillar-stones enclosing a chamber 7 feet in height. It was formerly covered by a tumulus of earth and stones and surrounded by a circle of standing stones.

A quarter of a mile to the east of the ruined castle is the site of the ancient British village of Bosullo, which appears to have been connected with the former by a paved way.

About a mile to the south there are the ruins of another hut-village situated on the slope of a hill at Bodinar, in which, "within the memory of man," there were beehive huts to be seen, but they are all now in ruins. However, I had the satisfaction of seeing one of the Cornwall beehive huts at Bosporthennis, now the only remaining specimen of a large British settlement, once situated on the side of Carn Galva. The beehive house consists of two chambers, one circular and the other rectangular. The former is 13 feet in diameter, and has no less than three small doors. The roof has unfortunately collapsed, but enough of the wall remains to show the converging system on which the dome was constructed. The latter is connected with the former by a low square door, and measures 9 feet long by 4 feet broad; but it is regarded as a later appendage to the beehive chamber.

The ancient British village of Chysauster, situated in the vicinity of the hill-fortress of Castle-an-dinas, has been partly cleared out, and in the course of these operations evidence of tin-smelting and fragments of Romano-British pottery were discovered.

Another interesting excursion towards Land's End allows the pedestrian to visit the celebrated Logan Rock, some menhirs and castles, and three or four stone circles, including Boscawen-ûn. But without dwelling on these ancient remains, we must pass on to notice the characteristics of the subterranean dwellings in this neighbourhood. A good specimen of them is the "Fogou" at Boleit, on the lower Buryan road, near the ruins of the ancient Manor-house of Trewoof. It consists of a subterranean gallery, 40 feet long, from which another chamber, at present about 13 feet long, branches off, but whose full dimensions have not been ascertained. The convergent walls are of unhewn stones and covered with large granite slabs.

Another and still more interesting specimen is at Chapel Euny, parish of Sancreed, about 41/2 miles from Penzance. Its main features consist of a gallery 60 feet long, 6 feet wide and from 6 to 7 feet high. At one end it gives access to the surface by a small trapdoor closed by a stone, with holes in the side, apparently for barring it, and at the other there is a low passage, 10 feet long, which leads to a beehive chamber, 16 feet in diameter. The floors of the gallery and chamber were paved with flagstones and provided with drains beneath the pavement. During the excavation of these underground structures evidence of tin-smelting, and various relics were found, among the latter being whetstones, hammer-stones, fragments of different kinds of pottery, an iron spear-head, a "pot-hook," and a piece of red Samian ware. On the surface in the close vicinity of these chambers there are the remains of a British hut-village—thus showing, like other examples in this district as well as elsewhere, that there was a relationship between the surface and underground dwellings.

The Cornish and Irish souterrains do not manifest so strongly the single, and sometimes double, curvatures which are so characteristic characteristic of those within the Scottish area. But in all other respects they are so similar that their development can hardly be accounted for, except on the supposition of their having a common origin. These trivial differences may be explained by the Roman occupation, the effect of which was to isolate the people of outlying districts, who for a long time retained old British customs, after they were discontinued in the central areas of Britain, in consequence of Roman civilization.

The Hill-fort of Carn Brê, a conspicuous landmark to the east of Chûn Castle and rising to the height of 740 feet, is crowned by a fort strongly protected by inner and outer walls of dry stone. The greatest length of the defensible area is 540 yards and its width is nearly 300 yards. Some years ago extensive excavations were made within this enclosure, mainly with the view of determining the nature of some dozen hut-circles to be seen among some large boulders which lay partly sunk in the ground. But instead of a few nearly a hundred were exposed and examined. The dwellings were rudely circular, generally from 20 to 22 feet in diameter, and their foundations were laid with granite stones. The following is a summary of the objects found in the course of the explorations:

Flint implements and weapons—scrapers, knives, spear-heads and arrow-points. Cores, flakes and chips in great profusion. Upper portion of a quern, pebbles for pounding or bruising and a small muller. Spindle-whorls of stone and pottery. One perfect stone celt and a number of broken ones. A perforated disc of slate, 4 inches in diameter. Fragments of pottery both hand and wheel made. A bronze ring. A silver denarius of Vespasian.

Previous records of objects from Carn Brê include bronze celts, and gold coins of British kings contemporary with the early Roman emperors.

A few days at Chagford would enable a keen antiquary to visit most of the Dartmoor antiquities—avenues, menhirs, cromlechs, dolmens, and especially a few groups of hut-circles. Of the circles of standing stones, that at Scorhill is the best on Dartmoor. Its twenty-four stones still in situ, and eight prone, form a circle 90 feet in diameter. It is the northerly termination of a series of prehistoric monuments extending to the Fernworthy circle, some two miles distant. With regard to the hut-circles and dolmens, till a few years ago little could be said of them, as of the former only broken-down rings of stones arranged in groups here and there were to be seen; and as for the latter they were rifled long ago. The Dartmoor Exploration Committee have, however, within recent years done a considerable amount of spade-work, and from their published reports we gather a few definite facts about these primitive habitations and their constructors.

Grimspound, one of the most perfect settlements on Dartmoor, lies in a semicircular depression in the form of an oval enclosure (154 by 121 yards), and surrounded by a double stone wall which, even in its present ruined condition, rises three or four feet above the surface. Inside this enclosure are the remains of twenty-four hut-circles, two of which are thus described (as seen after excavation) by Mr. Robert Burnard. One of them "is nearly 11 feet in diameter, with a doorway 2 feet 9 inches wide, protected by a low curved wall which was probably roofed. Entering the hut, there is on the right-hand side a raised dais or platform, standing eight inches above the floor of hard trodden-in subsoil. This is supposed to have formed a couch, and with rushes and heather made a comfortable prehistoric bed. Opposite the door is the hearth, and near it a cooking-hole lined with stones set on edge. Almost in the centre of the hut is a small flat stone, which may have served as an anvil for cracking bones, etc., on; or it may have been a footstone for a post supporting the roof. Much wood charcoal was found in this dwelling, together with fragments of flint. No pottery was observed. The other hut—not quite ten feet in diameter—had its floor paved and contained a small cooking-hole and much charcoal. A broken flint knife, much used,was found near the fireplace."

Of the débris of such dwellings scattered over the more elevated plateaus and valleys of Britain there is no end. They are generally in groups associated with cairns, cists, stone circles, standing stones and frequently protected by enclosures. Near the Loch of Kinnord, in Aberdeenshire, may be seen the ruins of the so-called Pictish town of Davan, which, from the extensive area covered by foundations of all sorts of buildings, must have been a strongly fortified centre of a large and busy population.

The Welsh antiquaries have recently explored the Fortress City of Treceiri, in Carnarvonshire, perhaps the finest of the kind in Britain. The space enclosed is an irregular oval—the walls following the contour of the hill-top—and measures 330 by 125 yards. On being excavated this area was found to be covered with the foundations of primitive dwellings—circular, oval and square—on the sites of which were found fireplaces, raised seats, flint implements, pottery and other evidences of human habitation.

The great prehistoric town of Worlebury, in Somersetshire, was situated on a protruding plateau, with steep sides and a flat top of considerable extent, overlooking the present fashionable town of Weston-super-Mare. Across the neck of this plateau there runs a massive dry-stone rampart 35 feet thick, the raison d'être of which was not understood till excavations revealed the existence of numerous cylindrical pits containing grain—no doubt storing-places in connection with the perishable huts.

Another inhabited site, showing defensive arrangements somewhat similar to Worlebury, is that on St. David's Head, Pembrokeshire, which has been recently subjected to some spade exploration. It had been long known that the extreme end of this headland was strongly fortified by a dry-stone rampart which cut it off from the mainland, and that within the area thus protected were the remains of hut-circles; but as to their age, or who were their constructors, no one seemed to have the remotest idea. The result of the excavations was to show that they belonged to the early Iron Age. The objects discovered on their sites consist of hammer-stones of beach pebbles, flint flakes, scrapers and cores, sharpening stones, spindle-whorls, perforated discs of slate, part of a jet armlet, fragments of rude pottery, variously coloured beads, and a few articles of non, but no Roman relics.

Few indications of ancient inhabited sites have been hitherto recorded in low-lying districts where cultivation has been practised from time immemorial. Two reasons may be assigned for the apparent absence of hut-dwellings in such localities. In the first place they were constructed, not of stones, but of timbers and clay wattling over depressions more or less deeply excavated in the soil; and in the second place the structural materials quickly decayed, the pits became filled up with silted material, and subsequent cultivation obliterated nearly all traces of their former existence. Stone implements were frequently gathered in localized spots on ploughed fields, suggesting the sites of some kind of dwellings, but little information can be got from such surface finds.

Mr. George Clinch, who has excavated many prehistoric pit-dwellings of this type on Hayes Common, West Wickham and other localities, within an area of some four miles near the boundary between Kent and Surrey, has put on record the result of his experience, as regards their structure and classification. He divides them into three types, viz.:

1. Large circular pits from 3 to 10 metres in diameter and from 15 to 90 centimetres deep, and surrounded by a well-defined mound. These pits showed no evidence of fire.

2. Large circular pits, similar in every way to those of the first type, but with a low conical mound in the centre, supposed to be for a central pillar to support a roof.

3. Small circular pits, 35 centimetres deep, containing reddened pebbles, charred wood, and other marks of fire—supposed to be for cooking purposes.

Only stone implements were found in the course of his operations, as all articles made of bone, horn, wood and other organic tissues had completely decayed. The flints consisted of flakes, scrapers, arrow-heads, drills, saws, chips, cores, etc. Of other kinds of stone were hammers, celts and grain crushers. On this evidence Mr. Clinch assigns these hut-circles to the Neolithic Age.

Deneholes.—The much-discussed Deneholes of Kent and Essex are still surrounded by a halo of mystery, owing to the number of theories advanced by different writers to explain their object and uses, the most plausible of which is that they are simply the pits from which chalk had been extracted for industrial purposes. Deneholes are usually met with on the higher ground of the lower reaches of the Thames, the best-known localities being the Hangman's Wood, Abbey Wood, Gravesend, etc. In fact. North Kent and South Essex appear to be studded with them. A Denehole consists of a round shaft, three feet in diameter, sunk through ordinary soil and gravel till the chalk is reached, often at a depth of some sixty feet. The shaft then widens out, like the shoulder of a bottle, and forms a circular chamber, from which galleries branch out in different directions. No relics indicative of human habitation have hitherto been found in any of the Deneholes, although a considerable number have been more or less explored.

Camps and Forts.—Every country in Europe possesses remains of the refuges and strongholds of its early inhabitants. The selection of the site and the kind of works constructed varied according to the nature of the ground and the materials readily procurable in the vicinity. The hill-forts of Scotland were usually constructed of either stones or earth, seldom a mixture of both being used—a fact strikingly illustrated by the two Caterthun Forts, in Forfarshire. One, the White Fort, is entirely built of stones, though strengthened by surrounding entrenchments; while the other, the Brown Caterthun, is mainly composed of earthwork. And yet they occupy rival summits, facing each other across a deep valley less than half-a-mile wide. In Wales and Scotland stone forts predominate, but in England earthworks are the prevailing defensive works, among which are very large specimens, such as Maumbury Rings (Dorchester), which measures 345 by 330 feet, and Cissbury Camp, on the Downs of West Sussex, which covers not less than 60 acres. One of the best known of these ancient strongholds is the British Camp on the Herefordshire Beacon near Malvern, which takes the form of an irregular oval 1100 yards in length. It contains a citadel entrenched within an array of amazing ramparts, ditches and fortified entrances.

The chronological range of these camps and forts extends from the Neolithic period down to post-Roman and even Norman times; but after the lapse of a few centuries they have all fallen into the category of the unknown, and it is only spade-work that can now reveal their true history. No one has done more to clear up this point than the late General Pitt-Rivers by his excavations on Cranbourne Chase. This indefatigable explorer has shown that the Bronze Age camps were approximately rectangular—a feature which was formerly supposed to be peculiar to Roman camps. The relics collected in the stratified silt, which had, in the course of time, partially filled the surrounding ditches, furnished valuable data for establishing a chronological sequence in the occupancy of the camps. In this way he was able to classify and differentiate them according as they belonged to the Stone, Bronze, Late Celtic, Roman or post-Roman Ages.

The variety of forts known as "Vitrified Forts" has gathered around it an extraordinary amount of literature, chiefly of a controversial character. The real problem at issue is to account for the vitrifaction which to a greater or less extent is, or rather was, to be seen on the surrounding walls of some fifty stone-built forts scattered throughout the northern and south-western districts of Scotland, covering a broad band stretching from the shores of the Moray Firth to the counties of Argyll and Wigtown. I have satisfied myself, from a practical examination of the more important examples in Scotland, that the vitrifaction was effected by the external application of fire after the wall had been constructed, and that the sole object was to consolidate a wall which was composed of small stones such as could be gathered around the site. At the vitrified fort of Carradale, in Cantyre, may be seen an uninterrupted portion of wall, upwards of 100 feet in length, which is absolutely consolidated for three, four and five feet from the top. In one or two places, where previous visitors had picked a hole right through the wall, it was clearly seen that the vitrifaction was less in the lower and central parts and disappeared altogether at the base, which consisted mostly of water-worn stones.

Outside the Scottish area the distribution of vitrified forts is somewhat remarkable. Four are stated, on the authority of Dr. Petrie, to be in Co. Londonderry and one in Co. Cavan, Ireland. They are, however, to be found in Brittany and Normandy, Saxony, Bohemia, Silesia, Thuringian Forest and the Rhine district.

Lake Dwellings.—The security afforded by natural islands probably first suggested the idea of constructing artificial abodes in lakes and marshes. But whatever were the precise circumstances of their origin, it is certain that lacustrine dwellings continued for many centuries to be the favourite system of protection adopted by the early races of Europe, wherever the requisite hydrographical conditions were to be found. The plan of construction was to plant a series of upright piles in a selected portion of the shallow margin of a lake, over the tops of which cross timbers were laid so as to form a platform capable of supporting huts, and sufficiently raised above the level of the lake to be beyond the reach of the waves. A gangway connected the village with the shore. During the Stone and Bronze Ages hundreds of such villages studded the bays of nearly all the lakes of Central Europe north and south of the Alps. But, strangely enough, all these came to a sudden end in proto-historic times.

Within the British Isles they had a different system of constructing lake-dwellings. Instead of using piles to support the hut-bearing platform, they constructed an artificial island of wood, stones, rushes, earth, etc., which formed the foundation of a large wooden house. It is of importance to note that these lacustrine structures, called crannogs in Scotland and Ireland, were of a later date than those of Europe, as scarcely any of the former date back to the Bronze Age. They belong to Romano-British and early mediæval times, and hence they are frequently referred to in historical documents. In Scotland and Ireland crannogs were very abundant, their number amounting to over 100 in the former, and to twice that number in the latter country. Only a few have been recorded in Britain south of the Scottish border, but on the other hand, the discovery of the lake-villages of Glastonbury and Meare in Somersetshire makes up for their scarcity, as they yielded archæological remains of the greatest importance to British history.

The chronological range of the occupation of the former was confined to the century and a half which preceded the Roman occupation, and its relics are thus the purest exposition of Late Celtic civilization hitherto found in Britain. The village was constructed on peaty ground within a marsh in the form of a gigantic crannog, with foundations and platforms of wood, stones, brushwood, etc., and fortified with wooden palisading. The site of this unique British village occupied a triangular space, measuring between three and four acres, and contained some 90 circular huts, each containing a prepared hearth of stones and clay. The investigation of the village extended over a period of some twenty years, and the results are recorded in the magnificent monograph, in two quarto volumes, just published under the editorship of Messrs. Bulleid and St. George Gray.

The Meare village which is now being investigated appears, from the character of the relics and structure of the huts, to belong to the same chronological horizon as that of Glastonbury.