Between Peak and Plain: Excavations on a Multiperiod Site at Mellor, Stockport, 1998-2009
Edited by Peter Arrowsmith
Paperback (Published)
(March 2025)
ISBN: 9781803279398
8.07 x 11.42 inches
Price: $68.00
In stock
This book details 12 seasons of excavations at Mellor, Stockport, revealing a multiperiod site from the Mesolithic to post-medieval periods. Key finds include Iron Age enclosures, medieval hall remains, Mesolithic lithics, and Romano-British artefacts, all contextualized within the wider region.
Between Peak and Plain, produced on behalf of the Mellor Archaeological Trust, presents the results of 12 seasons of community-based excavations carried out with the support of the former University of Manchester Archaeological Unit. Mellor is part of the metropolitan borough of Stockport in north-west England and lies in the foothills of the Peak District and southern Pennines. The excavations were centred on the Old Vicarage on a hilltop spur commanding extensive views westward over the Cheshire Plain. The investigations revealed a multiperiod site with evidence of activity from the Mesolithic to the post-medieval period. The principal remains were of the Iron Age and the medieval period. The Iron Age evidence included rock-cut ditches defining an inner enclosure and an extensive outer enclosure, ring-gullies, and linear gullies, with elements of material culture which included a regionally significant assemblage of pottery. The main medieval remains were the post pits of an aisled hall, which from historical evidence probably belonged to a forester of the royal hunting preserve of Peak Forest. The site also produced lithics of the Earlier and Later Mesolithic, a smaller Late Neolithic-Early Bronze Age group which included a flint dagger and polished flint chisel, and an assemblage of pottery and other artefacts demonstrating Romano-British occupation. Radiocarbon dating points to activity in the early medieval period. From the post-medieval period the site produced an important assemblage of clay tobacco pipes. Findings from the excavations are considered in this volume within their wider regional context.
Chapter 1: Introduction - Peter Arrowsmith Chapter 2: Methodology - Peter Arrowsmith and John Roberts Chapter 3: The excavation - Peter Arrowsmith, Graham Eyre-Morgan, Stuart Holden, Peter Noble and John Roberts Chapter 4: Lithic assemblage - A.M. Myers Chapter 5: Prehistoric pottery - Christopher Cumberpatch with a contribution by Robert A. Ixer Chapter 6: Romano-British coarse pottery - R.S. Leary
Chapter 7: Samian ware - Margaret Ward Chapter 8: Medieval pottery - Christopher Cumberpatch with a contribution by Jane Young Chapter 9: Cheshire briquetage - Elaine L. Morris
Chapter 10: Fired clay material - Elaine L. Morris
Chapter 11: Roman coins - David Shotter
Chapter 12: Metalwork - Christine Howard-Davis with contributions by Nick Herepath
Chapter 13: Medieval arrowheads - Geoff Gaunt and Sonia O'Connor
Chapter 14: Stone objects - John Cruse, Graham Eyre-Morgan and Peter Noble Chapter 15: Oil shale and related material - Fraser Hunter Chapter 16: Glass objects - Christine Howard-Davis with a contribution by Harriet Foster Chapter 17: Metallurgical analysis - Roger C.P. Doonan and Heather Greybull with a contribution by David Dungworth Chapter 18: Palaeoenvironmental material - Charlotte O'Brien, Tim Mighall, Helen Ranner and Lorne Elliott Chapter 19: Conclusion: the site in context - Peter Arrowsmith, A.M. Myers and Peter Noble Appendix 1: Medieval Mellor and Peak Forest - Peter Arrowsmith Appendix 2: The later history of the site - John W.S. Hearle Appendix 3: Clay tobacco pipes - David A. Higgins Bibliography,
Chapter 1: Introduction – Peter Arrowsmith
Chapter 2: Methodology – Peter Arrowsmith and John Roberts
Chapter 3: The excavation – Peter Arrowsmith, Graham Eyre-Morgan, Stuart Holden, Peter Noble and John Roberts
Chapter 4: Lithic assemblage – A.M. Myers
Chapter 5: Prehistoric pottery – Christopher Cumberpatch with a contribution by Robert A. Ixer
Chapter 6: Romano-British coarse pottery – R.S. Leary
Chapter 7: Samian ware – Margaret Ward
Chapter 8: Medieval pottery – Christopher Cumberpatch with a contribution by Jane Young
Chapter 9: Cheshire briquetage – Elaine L. Morris
Chapter 10: Fired clay material – Elaine L. Morris
Chapter 11: Roman coins – David Shotter
Chapter 12: Metalwork – Christine Howard-Davis with contributions by Nick Herepath
Chapter 13: Medieval arrowheads – Geoff Gaunt and Sonia O’Connor
Chapter 14: Stone objects – John Cruse, Graham Eyre-Morgan and Peter Noble
Chapter 15: Oil shale and related material – Fraser Hunter
Chapter 16: Glass objects – Christine Howard-Davis with a contribution by Harriet Foster
Chapter 17: Metallurgical analysis – Roger C.P. Doonan and Heather Greybull with a contribution by David Dungworth
Chapter 18: Palaeoenvironmental material – Charlotte O’Brien, Tim Mighall, Helen Ranner and Lorne Elliott
Chapter 19: Conclusion: the site in context – Peter Arrowsmith, A.M. Myers and Peter Noble
Appendix 1: Medieval Mellor and Peak Forest – Peter Arrowsmith
Appendix 2: The later history of the site – John W.S. Hearle
Appendix 3: Clay tobacco pipes – David A. Higgins
Bibliography
- Edited by Peter Arrowsmith
Similar Books
A Late Antique Harrowing of Hell and Its Medieval Reception
Eusebius of Alexandria's Sermons 15 and 17 (CPG 5524; 5526) and their Latin Rewritings
Volume 99
Innovation and Medieval Communities
The Circulation of Ideas and Practices in and out of the Town (1200-1500)
Volume 63
Medieval Debates on Foreknowledge: Future Contingents, Prophecy, and Divination
Acts of the XXVII Annual Colloquium of the SIEPM, Trento 12-15 September 2023
Volume 31
Medieval Yeghegis, Armenia
History, Archaeology, Society. Local Multiplicities and Global Connections of a Rural Centre on the Silk Road(s)
Power and Women in Southeast and Central Europe in Late Medieval and Early Modern Period (1300-1600)
Volume 10
Tradition, Interpretation, and Change
Developments in the Liturgy of Medieval and Early Modern Ashkenaz
Women in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages
Studies from Western Europe and North Africa
Volume 44
Networking through Biography
Constructing Intellectual Junctions in Antiquity, the Renaissance and the Arabo-Islamic World
Volume 19
Ambiguum 10 of Maximus the Confessor in Modern Study
Papers collected on the Occasion of the Budapest Colloquium on Saint Maximus, 3-4 February 2021
Volume 97