Previously hidden archaeological sites have emerged in fields across Britain after the hot, dry summer exposed new cropmarks, the Historic England agency said on Wednesday. Aerial photographs have exposed patterns which reveal the sites of prehistoric settlements, burial mounds and Iron Age, Bronze Age and Roman farms.
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| Prehistoric ceremonial landscape near Eynsham, Oxfordshire. The cropmarks reveal buried remains of later Prehistoric (circa 4000BC-700BC) funary monuments, together with settlement. This site was known about and is protected as a scheduled monument, but there are features, such as a circle of pits that have not been visible for years [Credit: © Historic England] |
Among the new discoveries are two Neolithic monuments near Milton Keynes in central England. These are rectangular-shaped constructions believed to have been enclosed paths or processional ways, usually dating from between 3,600 and 3,000BC.
One monument was recently mapped, but until this year another one next to it was hidden beneath a bank of earth that is being gradually ploughed away. Several of the finds are in the south-west region of Cornwall, including an Iron Age round — a settlement surrounded by a circular ditch — in St Ives.
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| Two Neolithic cursus monuments near Clifton Reynes, Milton Keynes. They are one of the oldest monument types in the country, usually dating from between 3600 and 3000BC. Until this year, the enclosure on the right has lain hidden beneath a medieval bank known as a headland that is being ploughed away. They are generally thought to be enclosed paths or processional ways, while they may also have served to demarcate or even act as a barrier between different landscape zones [Credit: © Historic England] |
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| Iron Age Round, St Ive, Cornwall. The circular feature visible in the centre of this photograph is probably a Round. Rounds were widespread in Cornwall in the Iron Age [Credit: © Historic England] |
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| Prehistoric Settlement, Lansallos, Cornwall [Credit: © Historic England] |
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| Iron Age square barrows, Pocklington, Yorkshire [Credit: © Historic England] |
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| Prehistoric settlement or cemetery, Stoke by Clare, Suffolk [Credit: © Historic England] |
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| Roman Farm, Bicton, Devon [Credit: © Historic England] |
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| Prehistoric farms, Stogumber, Somerset [Credit: © Historic England] |
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| Prehistoric Enclosure, Churchstanton, Somerset [Credit: © Historic England] |
Crops planted above ancient ditches or other earthworks often flourish because the disturbed ground retains more moisture than undisturbed soil. As a result, in drought conditions, they stay green longer. In contrast, crops planted above the remnants of ancient stone walls grow less well, and after a dry spell are often more bleached in colour.
When viewed from above, both can give a clear outline of what lies beneath. “This spell of very hot weather has provided the perfect conditions for our aerial archaeologists to ’see beneath the soil’ as cropmarks are much better defined,” said Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England.
“The discovery of ancient farms, settlements and Neolithic cursus monuments is exciting. “The exceptional weather has opened up whole areas at once rather than just one or two fields and it has been fascinating to see so many traces of our past graphically revealed.”
Historic England also discovered an Iron Age burial site in Yorkshire, northern England, with cropmarks representing square ditches surrounding a burial mound. Further details have also emerged of existing sites, including lost Elizabethan buildings and gardens associated with Tixall Hall in Staffordshire.
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