Pilling, Bond's Farm Excavaion, 1979

by B. J. N. Edwards

Rescue excavation at Bond's Farm, Pilling, was carried out from 4 to 22 September 1979, with financial assistance from the Department of the Environment and Lancashire County Council.

The background to the excavation has been detailed in interim reports on previous work, but may here be stated briefly. The site, at SD 418469, is one of a number in the vicinity where features have been noticed by the farmer of the land, Mr. J. E. Higginson. In this particular case he had noticed a scatter of stones on the peat surface of the field in an area where all stones are alien. These were drawn to the attention of the writer in the autumn of 1977, and field-walking showed that the stones were accompanied by fragments of prehistoric pottery, flints, which included a number of scrapers, and lumps of clay. It was decided to try to discover the underlying source of this surface scatter, and at Easter, 1978, a trial excavation was carried out by members of the Pilling Historical Society under the writer's direction.

This excavation showed that the reasons for the appearance of the material on the surface was that the peat had now become so shallow, as a result of cutting, drainage and shrinkage, that the plough was biting into the underlying layers. The natural material below the peat is here a yellowish- grey clay, and when revealed, this showed clear evidence of human occupation. Unfortunately the occupation layer itself was mostly ploughed away except in one small area where its base still remained in situ. Otherwise the clay surface as cleared was an artificial one, since a mixed layer of and clay, produced by subsoil ploughing, had to be sliced off it. However, the clay did show over a peat hundred stake holes in an area of 48 m2 and among those were about a dozen post holes. Various interpretations of these post holes could be suggested, and the discovery of more to elucidate this problem was one of the aims of the 1979 excavation.

The finds made in 1978 were all formally unstratified in the sense that none could be associated with any of the structural remains, but there seems no reason to doubt that they form a homogeneous group. They included pottery (113 sherds) and flint (60 pieces). Both of these were, of course, predictable in that representatives of both classes of material had been found in field-walking. Unexpected was the finding of a fragment of an amber bead with complex perforations for which a parallel was adduced from the middle Rhineland. A small piece of worked bone was also found, but this was preserved only by reason of its having been burnt. Unburnt bone survives very poorly on the site. The 1978 excavation revealed no reason for the presence of the stones which had first drawn attention to the site, though it was suggested that it had some connection with pottery making, since the filler of many of the pot sherds seemed to be similar to some of the stone found.

With this information, an approach was made to the Department of the Environment, who readily agreed that the plough damage constituted a threat justifying rescue excavation. Lancashire County Council agreed, through the Lancashire Record Office, to supplement resources available.

The aims of the 1979 excavation were threefold: firstly, to recover more structural information (post holes and, possibly, undisturbed occupation levels) to permit the assessment of tentative ideas proposed in 1978; secondly, to recover more cultural material to add to what was already known; and, thirdly, to examine one area where it was known that the clay surface dipped, and undisturbed peat lay between clay and topsoil. Here it was known that some organic material was preserved. This last was of particular importance in terms of dating, since the only estimate of this so far ("Early Bronze Age") was based solely on the general appearance of some rather undiagnostic flintwork and the amber bead and its apparent associations. The pottery, though not conflicting with this, was of little use for dating in the absence of close (in the geographical sense) parallels.

In the event a further 125 m2 of the site were examined, all to the south of the 1978 excavation, the results partly satisfying the aims, though inevitably not completely so.
Clearance of the clay revealed a general scatter of stake-holes as in 1978 but no further post holes were found at all. However it was clear that the concentration of finds lay towards the eastern end of the site where a hollow in the surface of the clay was filled with occupation material containing much charcoal, flint and pottery. This was a gently-rounded hollow whose precise edge was extremely difficult to define, but although its filling was occupation material in the sense that it contained the debris of human activity, it seems unlikely that it represents a floor or the interior of a building. Adjacent to it was a much more jagged and irregular hollow in the clay which was interpreted at the time of excavation as being the result of animal activity. Reflection suggests, however, that both areas may well be the result of some kind of outdoor "industrial" activity. This suggestion is to some extent reinforced by the presence of large numbers of stake-holes and the fact that the flint implements are almost entirely scrapers of one sort or another, suggesting use for a particular activity rather than for the multifarious tasks of domestic life.

Investigation of the area to the south where the clay surface was known to dip revealed that this dip was caused by the presence of one of the numerous stream-courses which can be seen in the vicinity on aerial photographs. It was, in fact, possible to trace the course of the stream on the surface of the ground by the growth of rank grass. Driven into the clay at the bottom of the stream, and sealed by the subsequent deposition of peat, were two wooden posts. They were some 10-12 cm in diameter and had been sharpened with a tool which produced concave facets. One of these posts has been reserved for conservation, while the other, somewhat less well preserved as an artefact, has been submitted for radiocarbon dating.

The finds from 1979's excavation include pottery and flint in quantity as before (see Table) but also two unexpected items-another fragment of amber bead, again with complex perforation, and a barbed-and-tanged arrowhead.

Pottery

On the whole this was similar to that found in 1978, but there are several points worthy of note. First, the 1978 pottery is still under conservation and no very serious attempt has been made to sort it by fabric. However, it was quite clear that there were considerable variations in fabric, particularly in the size and quantity of filler used. Whether these variations are significant or random cannot yet be said. Decoration on pottery found in 1978 is entirely linear. By contrast, all but one sherd of decorated pottery found in 1979 had small depressions made by a blunt-ended tool. It is possible to distinguish the ware on which this decoration occurs from the remainder of the pottery and to isolate undecorated fragments in the same ware. This particular type of pottery would, therefore, seem to be significant. In one case the depressions were accompanied by thumb-and-forefinger nipping, the impression of the fingernail being quite clear. The depressions were added after this process since one of them occurred in the mark made by the potter's thumb.

The single sherd which bears linear decoration differs from those of 1978 in that its incised lines are much sharper and more clearly defined, and they also intersect one another in such a manner as to suggest a collared urn sherd.

It should be noted (see Table) that we now have over 450 sizeable sherds including 87 rim-sherds. Even when the smallest scraps are included rim sherds account for over 13 per cent numerically.

Flint

Three hundred and forty-five pieces of flint (including a few of chert) have now been recovered, and it is interesting, though possibly no more than coincidental, that the percentage of implements among the sizeable pieces of flint is very similar (19 per cent plus) to that of rim sherds among the sizeable pieces of pottery. Almost all the implements are scrapers and almost all of small size, so that in many cases it seems likely that they were hafted in multiples as is suggested for microliths. The source of flint used was thought in 1978 to have been coastal, with one complete beach pebble being found. 1979 produced no evidence to conflict with this, though nine pieces of chert were found as against a single piece in 1978. One crude flint scraper was found in the peat between soil and clay in this part of the site.

None of the above remarks refers to the season's most surprising find-a very elegant and well-made barbed-and-tanged arrowhead. This was discovered point-downwards in the surface of the plough-scraped clay below the peat. There is, of course, no proof at all that it is associated with any of the other finds, structural or otherwise, from the site, but it does tend to support a suggestion of Early Bronze Age dating.

A number of very small flint chips highly polished by the action of wind-blown sand were also found. It is possible that these derive from grit provided for poultry kept in the vicinity at one time.

Other finds

Under this head are included the following: an amber bead fragment; burnt clay fragments; and items of stone. The amber bead fragment was, of course, not as unexpected as that found in 1978, but was nonetheless something of a surprise. It is somewhat smaller than that first found and carries parts of two perforations. These, however, do not run at right angles to one another, so that, even if the reconstruction of the 1978 bead is accurate, that for 1979 must be different.

The burnt clay fragments, which were found both in 1978 and 1979, are assumed to have come from some sort of structure, but even if this assumption is correct, there is no means of knowing whether this was a building proper, or some other structure as, for example, a kiln.

Stone items found include those which first drew attention to the site, and of which a much larger sample has been retained than in 1978. Many of these stones are of volcanic origin and have been assumed to be derived from glacial erratics. However, although they are not yet fully studied, it is clear that there are included one or two pieces which match visually the material used for the manufacture of Neolithic "Langdale" axe-blades. Whether this is significant or not will be decided by a study of the actual fragments.

One other stone item worthy of comment is a tiny (1 cm) fragment of a hexagonal crystal of quartz. It may derive simply from a volcanic rock with large crystals, or, of course, it may be unrelated to the archaeological finds.

The sides of the 6 metre wide section of the stream bed exposed produced a stone some 20x10x10 cm with scars on both surfaces suggesting that it had been utilised either as some form of hammer or alternatively, as an anvil. No evidence was recovered to suggest why this had occurred, but that area did yield many flakes of bark a few centimetres in length which may provide some clue as to what was going on on the site.

One final point which may be worth making is that there was no evidence bearing any resemblance to that from classic sites on the eastern side of the country to suggest that salt manufacture was the raison d'être of the settlement. The point is made because it seems one obvious candidate to explain the observed phenomena, and it is not, of course, yet ruled out.
In conclusion, it is a pleasure to record thanks to the farmer, Mr. J. E. Higginson, and to some 15 volunteers, some of whom travelled considerable distances or made complex arrangements in order to take part. Mr. R. C. Turner's work as site supervisor and in surveying and planning also deserves thanks. It is also worth recording that one of the great advantages of financial support for the excavation was the ability to hire a large mobile office which obviated the long trek to the only building in the vicinity-the barn used as a headquarters in 1978.

The loan of equipment by the Divisional Surveyor, Bamber Bridge Depot, of Lancashire County Surveyor's Department is also acknowledged.

Table of Pottery and Flint Finds from the Bond's Farm Excavation