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The earliest on-shore evidence for the provision of ballast for ships that sailed along the south coast and across the Channel has been identified at Hengistbury Head in Dorset, the Iron Age emporium where trade flourished in the 1st century BC.
A number of `quarry hollows' and `scoops' were discovered on the north shore of the defended promontory during excavations in the early 1980s, and were assumed to have been dug to obtain gravel for hardcore. New research, however, suggests the gravel was intended for ballast, especially for flat-bottomed trading vessels, which may have off-loaded heavy cargoes at Hengistbury Head and needed extra weighting for the onward voyage.
Writing in the latest Oxford Journal of Archaeology, John Taylor of the Ashmolean Library in Oxford points out that the highsided, flat-bottomed boats known to have been used in the area during the period would have been particularly unstable, and liable to capsize, if they sailed light. Quantities of wine amphorae from the Continent, and metal ores from Devon and Cornwall found at Hengistbury suggest that heavy cargoes were unloaded there; while evidence for large numbers of cattle, together with signs of butchery and leather-dressing, suggest that return cargoes may frequently have consisted largely of dry animal hides - a much lighter load requiring additional ballast. The 1st century BC/AD historian Strabo includes hides in his list of British exports, which, according to Caesar, were used to make sails for Venetic ships, among other things.
Ballast in antiquity was typically stone, sand, or gravel - gravel being most easily handled and moved about the ship, according to Mr Taylor. At Portus, Rome's harbour, epigraphic evidence points to a guild of ballast handlers, the corpus saburrariorum. The Latin for a ballast handler, saburrarius, derives from saburra, `gravel'. At Hengistbury, the hollows and scoops were found close to the old shore-line, where the flat-bottomed boats were no doubt beached or berthed to facilitate unloading and reloading. `Thus we can envisage the Celtic equivalent of the saburrarii, working along the north shoreline of the promontory, shovelling gravel . . . directly on board, ' Mr Taylor writes.
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The last hoard of gold and silver coins from Wales to be declared Treasure Trove under the old common law - now superseded by the Treasure Act - appears to have been buried at the time of a local Civil War uprising, perhaps to keep it out of the hands of marauding soldiers.
The traditional idea that coin and other precious-metal hoards were typically buried for safekeeping in times of danger is largely out of fashion nowadays - particularly for prehistoric hoards - but the explanation seems entirely plausible for this example.
The 500 gold and silver coins, and a gold ring, were found buried in the grounds of Tregwynt, a country house near Fishguard, two years ago. They were acquired by the National Museum of Wales earlier this year as Treasure Trove, after applications for ownership of the hoard from descendants of the 17th century owners of Tregwynt - from as far afield as Texas and New Zealand - were declared unsuccessful.
The coins range in date from the reigns of Henry VIII to Charles I, and include a number of Civil War `emergency coinages' minted for the king while on campaign, out of melted-down plate. The latest coin dates from 1647- 49. According to Edward Besly, Numismatist at the Museum, the hoard is most likely to have been buried in 1648, the year of a royalist uprising in Pembrokeshire - one of a number of uprisings known as the `Second Civil War'.
The Governor of Pembroke Castle, John Poyer, who had served Parliament loyally throughout the First Civil War, rebelled when told he was to be replaced. The brief uprising, however, was put down at St Fagans near Cardiff. Cromwell chased the rebels back to Pembrokeshire and laid siege to Pembroke Castle. It is unknown whether the Tregwynt family, known as Harrie or Harries, were sympathetic or opposed to the uprising. In either case it appears to have seemed sensible to bury the loot.
Interestingly, for years there has been a local legend of buried treasure at Tregwynt, but it was associated with the Napoleonic invasion of South Wales in 1797, known as the Fishguard Landing. According to the legend, a ball was taking place at Tregwynt when news of the landing arrived. The guests scattered in confusion, but not before burying their valuables in the garden.
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The story of the erosion of local government archaeology continues (see BA, March, February), following the decision by Leicestershire County Council to withhold archaeological advice from district planning authorities in Leicestershire - unless they pay for it.
Some planning authorities have refused to do so, promising the end of archaeological involvement in development control across large tracts of the county. Other authorities are in the process of negotiating separate arrangements with the county council, which are at present unclear.
The breakdown of current arrangements in Leicestershire has been made possible by confusion in the law. Planning authorities are required by Government guidance (PPG16) to take account of the archaeological consequences of development proposals. Typically, district planners receive archaeological advice free of charge from county councils, which employ planning control archaeologists and maintain the county Sites and Monuments Record. However, county councils are not required by law to offer this service.
Leicestershire - short of funds, like most counties - has decided it needs to recoup £40,000 this year (1998/99) from district councils in order to continue to maintain the service (as well as to offer advice on ecology and geology).
Three of the county's seven planning authorities - Harborough, North- West Leicestershire, and Oadby and Wigston - have refused to pay for any advice. Remains will certainly continue to be found in these areas. Last month in Oadby and Wigston, a Saxon burial was discovered during house-building at the site of a known Saxon cemetery; while NorthWest Leicestershire contains, among other sites, the Bronze Age site at Lockington where two gold bracelets and a dagger were discovered in 1994.
The four remaining planning authorities have expressed willingness to come to some arrangement with the county, although it is expected that archaeological advice will be sought at a much lower level than before. Archaeology is safe in the unitary authority of Rutland, which will continue to buy services from the county council as before, and in the city of Leicester, which employs its own planning control archaeologist.
English Heritage has offered to grant aid two archaeological posts in the county council, at a tapering level over three years, if the county agrees to continue to offer its archaeological services for free. The county has refused the offer.
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Three of England's major heritage organisations last month promised to press the Government for legislative time to give Sites and Monuments Records full statutory status. English Heritage, the English Royal Commission (RCHME), and the Association of Local Government Archaeological Officers announced that only statutory status would ensure the continued survival of SMRs at a time of severe financial pressures in local government (see above).
The three bodies also announced their intention to co-operate more closely to support SMRs and make heritage information more widely available, proposing a vision of a Lottery-assisted, widely-accessible computer network linking SMRs and providing information for the general public.
A giant freeze-drying unit was installed last month at the York Archaeological Wood Centre, part of the York Archaeological Trust. Freeze-drying is a safe way to remove water from fragile organic materials without shrinkage and cellular disruption. The first remains to use the new equipment will be two boats, Roman and medieval, from the Severn Levels.
The medieval `Magor Pill' boat is the subject of a monograph, recently published by the CBA, which charts the recovery of the boat and discusses medieval coastal trade in the area.
Long-awaited improvements to the Stonehenge landscape moved a step closer last month, with the proposal by Culture Secretary Chris Smith of a site for a new visitor centre which was welcomed by Government departments, local authorities and many interested bodies. The site lies on the A344, at Fargo North. The A344 would be closed between the new centre and its junction with the A303.
The proposal would remove some of the most offensive features of the current landscape - the A344 as it passes within yards of the stones, the current visitor centre, carpark and subway. The new centre would be invisible from the stones. Some conservationists may object, however, to the idea of a new building on green fields in a World Heritage Site. The proposal also hinges on the future of the trunk A303, on which the Government's verdict is expected later this year.
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