Papers by Brendan O'Connor
Scottish Archaeological Journal, 2001
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Antiquity, Apr 24, 2023
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The Antiquaries Journal, 1979
These are the first two volumes, promptly and commendably published, of reports on an extensive s... more These are the first two volumes, promptly and commendably published, of reports on an extensive series of excavations in advance of Peterborough New Town expansion. The Royal Ontario Museum is to be congratulated on a degree of financial support which enabled new standards to be set in rescue archaeology, and on its choice of a director whose vision has thereby given a new shape to much of our insular prehistory. The publication scheme has changed between vol. 1 and 2, from an interim report on results to date to specific treatment of sub-sites within the landscape whole. Volume 1 considers an isolated house-site of third-millennium date and components of two important Early Iron Age rural settlements with significant ceramic assemblages. Our Fellow Dr. Isobel Smith provides typically thorough and stimulating notes on the Neolithic plain wares and a rare collared jet bead. Volume 2 deals extensively with a remarkable Grooved Ware settlement featuring a domestic ring-ditch (later remodelled as a burial-site for Collared Urn users) with associated ditched fields and compounds. Readers should note that extra information on the Earlier Neolithic finds is provided in this volume, and attention should also be drawn to Richard Bradley's perceptive reconsideration of the enigmatic Playden site, here included as Appendix 10. The results so far published, with most important Bronze Age field systems and Iron Age settlement to follow, are a full vindication of the major task of vast area clearance. The second volume in particular is a fine demonstration of the possibilities for the construction of a valid prehistory by a true interdisciplinary approach. Solid documentation of a kind acceptable to the most conservative of scholars is here extended to a level of functional analysis drawing on the best qualities of the 'New Archaeology'. As a result the Fengate landscape can now be viewed over 3,000 year as a microcosm of the English whole from Neolithic croft to the complex Bronze Age land-holdings and the prosperous and populous villages of the Iron Age. All concerned with this venture are to be heartily congratulated. IAN KINNES
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Cambridge University Press eBooks, Feb 22, 1991
Introduction The rather traditional division drawn here between the Late Neolithic and Early Bron... more Introduction The rather traditional division drawn here between the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age is simply one of convenience. It allows us to focus upon the development of round barrows, the construction of which show an essential continuity with developments during the previous period. However, henge monuments are no longer constructed in our area, and the barrows evidence a monumentality with an almost exclusive emphasis upon the dead. It is the changing emphasis in the practices associated with monumentality which is the issue here, rather than a simple technological division in the artefact sequence (Fig. 4.1). Burgess has suggested a series of period divisions for the second millennium be (Table 4.1) in which his Mount Pleasant Period ( c . 2150–1700 be) sees the introduction of copper, and then the full adoption of bronze metallurgy (metal Stages I-IV), along with most of the ‘steps’ of Beaker development (n.d. [1980]; 1980, 71; 1986). Although there remain considerable doubts about the detail of the Beaker chronology in Britain (see Longworth in Wainwright 1979b, 90), it seems most likely that the main currency of this material pre-dates 1700 be. The Beaker and early metal finds from the region are discussed below and, although sparsely represented, they are likely to have been contemporary with the final history of the Wyke Down henge. It is also probable that they fall within the period of use of the Knowlton henges.
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Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
Between 1980 and 1984 a number of finds of EBA metalwork were recovered via metal-detecting from ... more Between 1980 and 1984 a number of finds of EBA metalwork were recovered via metal-detecting from an area of rough ground at the head of a small disused quarry. This report considers the character of the metalwork and the context in which that material was deposited. It concludes that the entire assemblage could have resulted from more than one period of votive deposition, and that these activities focused upon a prominent, but natural, long mound and occurred in an area which may have been demarcated by other natural points of reference.
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Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
Activity within caves provides an important element of the later prehistoric and historic settlem... more Activity within caves provides an important element of the later prehistoric and historic settlement pattern of western Scotland. This contribution reports on a small-scale excavation within Croig Cave, on the coast of north-west Mull, that exposed a 1.95 m sequence of midden deposits and cave floors that date between c 1700 BC and AD 1400. Midden analysis indicated the processing of a diverse range of small fish and the collection of shellfish throughout this period, showing a high degree of continuity involving low-risk inshore fishing. At c 950 BC, a penannular copper bracelet and an amber bead were deposited within a small, shallow pit within the cave floor, suggestive of a discrete ritual episode within the cycle of otherwise potentially mundane activities. Lead isotope analysis indicated an Irish origin for the copper ore. A piece of iron slag within later midden deposits, dated to c 400 BC, along with high frequencies of wood charcoal, suggest that smithing or smelting may ha...
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Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
In February 2000, ploughing disturbed the capstone of a cist, located on the side of a prominent ... more In February 2000, ploughing disturbed the capstone of a cist, located on the side of a prominent knowe at Rameldry Farm, near Kingskettle in central Fife. Excavation by Headland Archaeology Ltd on behalf of Historic Scotland revealed a short cist which contained the crouched inhumation of a man aged 40–50, who had suffered from arthritis, some tooth loss and possibly Paget’s Disease. He had been buried wearing a garment adorned with six V-perforated buttons. Five of these are of Whitby jet (including one with unique decoration including inlaid tin); the sixth is of the mineral lizardite, and has an enigmatic coating, possibly a glaze. Behind his shoulder was a dagger, of ‘Milston type (East Kennet variant)’; it had had a fancy horn hilt and a scabbard lined with animal skin. The scabbard yielded two AMS radiocarbon dates, with a mean value of 2280–1970 cal BC at 2s.
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The Prehistory of Cranborne Chase, 1991
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The late Iron Age earthwork complex at Stanwick, North Yorkshire, enclosing 270ha of farmland in ... more The late Iron Age earthwork complex at Stanwick, North Yorkshire, enclosing 270ha of farmland in the Tees valley west of Darlington, is among the largest prehistoric fortifications in Europe. It lies 6km from Scotch Corner, the meeting place of long-established routes east-west over the Pennines and north-south through the lowlands of north-east England. Nearby is Scots Dike, a late prehistoric linear earthwork, which probably also functioned as an element of the Stanwick complex. Stanwick was first explored in 1951-52 by R E M Wheeler, who sectioned the earthworks in several places and excavated a small are within the internal enclosure known as the Tofts. This monograph presents the results of a research project carried out over 30 years at and around Stanwick. The core of the volume is an account of the stratified remains excavated in the 1980s in the Tofts, and the associated studies, including a programme of radiocarbon dating and Bayesian modelling to provide an independent ch...
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1.1 On Friday 9th September 2016 a small hoard of copper alloy objects within a well defined pit ... more 1.1 On Friday 9th September 2016 a small hoard of copper alloy objects within a well defined pit was uncovered by a team of GUARD Archaeology Ltd archaeologists during topsoil stripping as part of the wider programme of strip, map and record works being undertaken at David Moyes Road, Carnoustie on behalf of Angus Council to satisfy archaeology conditions attached to the Planning Application 15/00117/FULM for two new football pitches. The initial stripping partially revealed the blades of a bronze sword and spearhead, the proximal end of the spearhead having a shaft decorated with gold detailing. The objects were lifted as an 80 Kg block and transported to Guard Archaeology Ltd facilities in Glasgow. The site was secured initially through 24hr guard over the weekend of 10th and 11th September, and was subsequently secured more permanently using 6 ft high heras fencing forming a perimeter around the entire development area. The vicinity of the hoard, and the entire investigation area...
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Landscape, Monuments and Society, 1991
Introduction It is now more than twenty years since the origin of the British Iron Age was debate... more Introduction It is now more than twenty years since the origin of the British Iron Age was debated in terms of either invasion or indigenous development. Hawkes (1959) established a subtle temporal and spatial classification of the British material, which mapped its suggested continental origins and indigenous development. However, the general application of the ‘Invasion Hypothesis’ was soon challenged (Clark 1966), and the specific treatment of the British Iron Age in these terms was criticised in detail by Hodson (1960 and 1964). Both Hodson and Hawkes accepted the basic premise, that analysis depended upon matching cultural traits over time and space. By this means Hodson established the claim that the British Iron Age contained a core of cultural traits (the ‘Woodbury Culture’), whose origins lay within the indigenous Bronze Age. Not only did both writers accept that a ‘cultural’ analysis was the valid framework within which to work; they also operated within the terms of national archaeologies. It is from this perspective that movement of peoples between (say) Wessex and East Anglia may be presented as an ‘indigenous’ process, whilst movement between the Pays de Calais and Kent was an ‘invasion’. Neither set of assumptions stands particularly close scrutiny today. Our study of Cranborne Chase has been regionally based. This has not assumed that the region defines the spatial extent of some closed social system. Our treatment of the region has been to take it as a relatively arbitrary area of topography, within which certain social practices were executed, and through which we may examine the history of those practices. Such practices contributed towards local systems of social reproduction.
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Jean-Marc Doyen (ed) De L’escaut au nil. Bric-à-brac en hommage à Eugène Warmenbol à l’occasion de son 65e anniversaire, pp 321-6., 2022
Selective survey suggests that intentional fragmentation was sometimes part of deliberate deposit... more Selective survey suggests that intentional fragmentation was sometimes part of deliberate deposition of Bronze Age metalwork in
Scotland but overall fragmentation was rare and objects were usually deposited complete.
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The purpose of this paper is to describe and illustrate, for the first time, the Early Bronze Age... more The purpose of this paper is to describe and illustrate, for the first time, the Early Bronze Age axe from Inchtuthil and to comment on the local and regional significance of its deposition.
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Presents drawings of two lost socketed axes of Sompting type from Tillicoultry and notes three ot... more Presents drawings of two lost socketed axes of Sompting type from Tillicoultry and notes three other axes known from old drawings.
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The halberd formerly attributed to either Dunadd or the Poltalloch Estates was in fact found on t... more The halberd formerly attributed to either Dunadd or the Poltalloch Estates was in fact found on the Channel Island of Alderney as part of a hoard.
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This paper presents details of a number of previously unpublished or relatively inaccessibly publ... more This paper presents details of a number of previously unpublished or relatively inaccessibly published Early Bronze Age stone moulds from Scotland. Viewed in the wider context of Early Bronze Age metalworking in Britain, they are important additions to the inventory of finds, for as well as augmenting the concentration of discoveries long known from northeast Scotland, they expand the distribution southwards into eastern and central Scotland and into the Scottish Borders and therefore go some way to filling the gap that previously existed between Aberdeenshire and Northumberland.
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The writers describe the circumstances of discovery and acquisition and local significance of a f... more The writers describe the circumstances of discovery and acquisition and local significance of a fine Middle Bronze age dirk found in the River Tay near Perth. Attention is also drawn to a very similar weapon from Pitchaithly, Dunbarney, originally reported in the 19th century, and consideration is given to the possible location of that discovery. Analysis suggests that both dirks are of Irish metal or Irish in origin.
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Papers by Brendan O'Connor
Scotland but overall fragmentation was rare and objects were usually deposited complete.
Scotland but overall fragmentation was rare and objects were usually deposited complete.
Ces questionnements seront déclinés en plusieurs sessions thématiques couvrant l’ensemble des domaines de recherches emblématiques de la période. Les communications de synthèse s’attachant à dresser un bilan des évolutions perçues ces vingt dernières années seront privilégiées (20 minutes de présentation). Des contributions plus spécifiques (par exemple sur un site de référence ou une thématique précise) sont également attendues sous la forme de posters qui feront l’objet de courtes présentations orales (5 diapositives en 5 minutes).
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You’re not 20 every day! Since its creation in 1999, the Association for the Promotion of Research on the Bronze Age (APRAB) has worked to co-ordinate activity and to bring together researchers working on this period in France and the rest of western Europe. An anniversary conference to be held from 19 to 22 June 2019 will provide an opportunity to return to Bayeux, where APRAB was founded, and to review the activities of the Association, but also to take a look at the evolution of the discipline over this time. How have its methods and practices been developed? What perception do we have of the Bronze Age today, and what problems and issues should we foresee tomorrow?
These issues will be addressed in several thematic sessions covering aspects of research relevant to the period. Preference will be given to synthetic presentations that take stock of developments over the past twenty years (20 minutes per presentation). More specific contributions (for example, on an important site or a particular theme) are also invited in the form of posters, which will be the subject of short oral presentations (5 slides in 5 minutes).