This well-illustrated monograph details the results of the Selhurst Park Project (2005–10), undertaken as a research and volunteer project at Middle Barn in Sussex, 8 km north-east of Chichester and 500 m from Roman Stane Street. It investigated features identified as lynchets, field ways, a ‘banjo’ enclosure and several linked sub-rectangular enclosures discovered as crop marks in 1976. The project demonstrated that these features were parts of a middle Iron Age to early Roman farmstead comprising two main enclosures and an associated field system.
An introduction giving the background to the site and excavations is followed by a chapter on the geophysical surveys. Chapter 3 details the excavation results. The ‘banjo’ enclosure cropmark anomaly was completely exposed, demonstrating that it was in fact a ‘D’-shaped ditch with a single entrance, assigned on radiocarbon and pottery dating to the fourth to second century b.c., with a possible later function as a stock enclosure. Despite the discovery of finds of a domestic nature, only two post-holes (suggested to be parts of a roundhouse) were identified within the enclosure.
The southern enclosure complex was sub-rectangular in shape, formed of four linked sub-enclosures (A–D), each defined by drainage ditches. In one corner of Sub-enclosure A was a smaller enclosure (E) defined by two ditches with an entrance way and containing a possible structure. Sub-enclosure A contained more substantial evidence for a dwelling in the form of a semicircular house platform terraced into the chalk and defined by an irregular gully, 9 m in diameter and containing two neonatal burials. Finds indicate an early Roman date. Anelay later notes (p. 131) that this roundhouse, and any other structures at Middle Barn, appear to have been constructed in a way ‘that utilized only the most shallow-buried of posts, since no trace remained of any holes cut into the chalk bedrock’. A similar lack of obvious structural features has been noted at other downland sites (e.g. Bullock Down near Eastbourne) and generally the nature of Romano-British farmstead dwellings on the Sussex Downs remains uncertain and a priority for future research.
Sub-enclosure B contained eight pits of varying dates and sizes. Two adjacent middle Iron Age pits contained structured deposits interpreted as being associated with large-scale feasting, probably on two occasions. The pits both yielded sherds of pots that may have been deliberately broken as a ritual activity. Other finds include the remains of domestic and wild animals, birds, plants and frogs/toads, plus burnt flints, a loomweight and part of a quernstone. The evidence of butchery marks indicates that animal body parts, such as a horned cattle skull with attached neck, could have been displayed at a feast, whilst skinning marks may suggest that skins and pelts were used as gifts or for exchange. A third pit yielded a small assemblage of mainly burnt animal bone and pottery of middle to late Iron Age date. It also had two carefully layered basal fills composed of much burnt grain and wood ash, respectively. Other finds include chalk weights, part of a quernstone and large pieces of fired clay from an oven which may have been used to dry corn. Anelay suggests that the contents of this pit may relate to arable production rather than meat-feasting.
A cluster of five probably Roman pits was also discovered in Sub-enclosure B. One pit yielded various artefacts and ecofacts, including quernstone fragments, and relatively large amounts of burnt chaff from its basal fill (similar to the Iron Age pit noted above), and may also be a special deposit associated with a ‘harvest-orientated event’. Sub-enclosures C and D were only partially excavated, and their functions are uncertain; they were possibly for the management of stock.
The significance of the Middle Barn structured deposits is further discussed in chapter 6, ‘Behaviour and beliefs’, which also considers three human burials: the two neonates in Sub-enclosure A and an inurned adult cremation from the upper fill of a ditch (Sub-enclosure D). The latter possibly dates to after the settlement was abandoned. Nearby, also in a ditch fill, was a ‘placed’ Roman pottery beaker containing a copper-alloy ring.
Chapters 4 and 5 include the specialist finds reports. The pottery assemblage is especially important as it spans a long period of apparent settlement continuity (middle Iron Age to early/mid-second century a.d.) and helps to fill a gap in the local sequence. Other finds include two Iron Age gold coins, part of a horse bridle bit and fragments from a Roman Imperial Gallic-type helmet cheekpiece (early first to early second century a.d.). Deposition of the cheekpiece, recovered from a backfilled ditch of Sub-enclosure A, could post-date abandonment of the site.
The final chapter provides a summary of the archaeology investigated at Middle Barn, placing it in the context of Iron Age and Roman Sussex more generally. Initially habitation may have been in the northern enclosure, whilst feasting activities took place to the south. Later habitation may have moved first to Enclosure E and later to the centre of Sub-enclosure A. It is suggested that the settlement may have been abandoned in the early second century a.d. in order to relocate to a newly built villa site to the south. This publication is an important contribution to the study of both continuity and change during the Iron Age and Roman period on the Sussex Downs and beyond.
