Goldcliff

By Manpreet Kaur Dhadda

Goldcliff is a Mesolithic site in Wales in which lithics and bone were found during an excavation that lasted from 1992-1994. The site is located near Newport, South-East Wales, and was occupied during a time of lower sea level, due to areas around it being a former island (SELRC n.d.). Flint and artefacts were found, indicating activity along with the evidence for human footprints. A total of 61 footprints were recorded in 2001, 35 of which were human, with the rest being those of birds and reindeer in the area at the time. Some of the prints were preserved using block-lifting techniques, and the remains of a forest under the water dated back to 4100 BC after closer inspection of the tree rings.

Due to the existence of fishtraps and flint tools, along with the fact that Goldcliff was occupied at a time of lower sea level, it is appropriate to conclude that the Mesolithic people living there would have easy access to fish and game. The footprints found were of men, women and children, indicating that there was a more permanent living situation and the area was not purely used for fishing and hunting. The sediments around the area revealed that activity at the site was happening between 6000 and 4800 BC (Bell, 2008). Fish and cattle were hunted and cooked with hot stones, but in the 1980s, eight Iron Age buildings were found during an excavation. Here, cattle footprints and stalls were found, indicating the developing skills of farming. Trackways leading from buildings suggest the use of boats for transport and fishing, along with the discovery of worked planks of wood (Bell, 2008).

Referring back to one of the most prominent features of the site, the flint tools, it is clear that long before the time of Roman activity in the area, the people living off the land at Goldcliff were more than just hunters. Along with the tools, bones and fishtraps, hazelnut shells were also found, as well as charcoal remains (University of Reading, 2013). This suggests the use of fire to cook and prepare food: a part of the daily life of the people living at the site. The Goldcliff residents were not just hunters and migrants, but foragers and active parts of their community. At the site was family life, daily routine and various aspects of a community that worked together to live as well as merely survive.

The majority of activity is thought to have taken place in the summer and early autumn, due to close analysis of the area’s geology and the suggestion of the people at the site following ‘the great herds of deer’ like other predators at the time (Monbiot, 2014). Excavation of the site, however, was difficult due to the ever-changing tide only allowing lower levels to be visible for approximately 2 hours at a time (Bell, 2008). The rapidly settled sediment layers above the footprints allowed them to be preserved, showing us where people stood, walked and even played: many of the footprints were of children, indicating family life at the site. Monbiot (2014) observes that whilst some footprints ‘left in loose mud, are big and sloshy’, others are ‘clean and crisp’. Some even explicitly show movement of the feet: ‘in some places the people had slipped and skidded, the tracks show how their heels swung round, their toes splayed to retain their balance’ (Monbiot 2014).

The material found at the site was first discovered due to erosion of the coast at the mouth of Goldcliff Pill. According to the Archaeology Data Service (n.d.), more than 600 flints were found, along with animal bones from red deer, wolf, otter, pig, roe deer, bird and fish. The aim of the excavation started in 1990 was to determine the decision for the future of the site, and so the measurements and vulnerability of the site was analysed. Reed flooring and timber pieces were lifted out from the area of eight rectangular structures at Goldcliff Pill, with five to the east and three to the west (Bell, 2008). The structures date back to the fourth or third century BC, according to Murphy (2009).

A very important Roman feature found at the site is the Goldcliff Stone, accompanied by pottery (Bell and Neumann, 1997) and found in the mud of the River Severn in 1878. The stone is inscribed with ‘the labours of the soldiers of the century of Statorious Maximus of the first cohort of the Second Augustan Legion’ (Monmouthshire Antiquarian Association, 2010). It stands as a marker for the construction of a ditch at the time, and includes the measurement of 33.5 paces. This indicates activity at the site over a long period of time, suggesting a more permanent settlement or active use of the site even through migration and the passing of long periods of time.

Due to the site being situated along the Severn estuary, it is already geographically significant in terms of features and geology. Bell and Neumann (1997) focus on this. They observe that intertidal areas are more difficult to observe as archeologists, due to Ordinance Survey maps not providing an accurate grid of the area. This makes it more challenging to actually map features and finds at the site, and so work is often generalised or taken out over long periods of time as the submerged areas are thoroughly examined. The earliest peat found at the site dates back to 5060 BC, and the earliest rectangular buildings date back to 800 BC. Trackways formed around 550 BC, supposedly after the occupation and settlement of the people at Goldcliff (Bell & Neumann 1997). In 2001, T.G. Driver took an aerial photo of Goldcliff, in which the visible lines along the coast allowed historians to see evidence of a deserted settlement. These were the lines in which the building materials such as reed and timber were found, and so showed the archaeological map for a possible medieval settlement (RCAHMW, 2015).

 

Bibliography

Archaeology Data Service (n.d.) Goldcliff late Mesolithic site, 1202. Available online: http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archsearch/record.jsf?titleId=1983346 [Accessed 9/11/2015]

Bell, M. (2008) The Severn estuary: addressing the ecological footprint. Available online: http://www.archaeologyuk.org/ba/ba101/feat4.shtml [Accessed: 2/11/2015]

Bell, M. & Neumann, H. (1997). ‘Prehistoric Intertidal Archaeology and Environments in the Severn Estuary, Wales’ in World Archaeology, 29(1), 95–113. Abingdon: Taylor & Francis.

Monbiot, G. (2014) Feral. London: Penguin.

Monmouthshire Antiquarian Association (2010) The history of the Monmouthshire Antiquarian Association. Available online: http://www.monmouthshireantiquarianassociation.org/history/ [Accessed 7/11/15].

Murphy, P. (2009) English Coast: A History and a Prospect. London: Continuum.

Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. (2015) Goldcliff Settlement Associated Collection Records: Photo by T.G. Driver, 2001. Available online: http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/402233/collection/GOLDCLIFF+SETTLEMENT/ [Accessed 13/11/2015]

Severn Estuary Levels Research Committee. (n.d.) Goldcliff. Available online: http://www.selrc.org.uk/maplocation.php?location_id=38 [Accessed 1/11/2015]

University of Reading (2013) Stone age hunters used the environment to improve standard of living. Available online: https://www.reading.ac.uk/news-and-events/releases/PR480551.aspx [Accessed 11/11/2015].