Volume 3: Neolithic and Bronze Age Settlement and Landscape: Summary

The Neolithic and Bronze Age landscape that has been revealed on the floodplain is rich and diverse. The archaeological remains primarily date from the early Neolithic through to the end of the Bronze Age and represent both domestic and funerary/ceremonial aspects of life in early prehistory. Some evidence of later activity is also visible on the floodplain in the form of Iron Age causeways across palaeochannels and Roman boundary ditches.

The intensive investigation of a large area has provided an insight into activities often missed from smaller excavations. The alluvium covering the floodplain has also led to the preservation of ephemeral features. The settlement areas, comprising small circular buildings, a large Neolithic long house, and numerous pits, and fenclines, were found to be part of a much wider landscape represented by occupation layers, areas of burnt mound activity, waterholes, and structures within palaeochannels. The funerary and ceremonial aspects of life were also represented at Yarnton in the form of monuments such as a long enclosure, ring ditches, a U-shaped enclosure, as well as Beaker burials and cremation deposits.

The repeated and persistent use of the area for occupation, and the completeness of the archaeological record, has provided a more rounded picture of Neolithic and Bronze Age society than is normally visible. This allows us a rare opportunity to interpret the changing character of settlement and land use and investigate changing social and economic practices over three millennia.