On the Banks of the Humber: Archaeological and Palaeoenvironmental Investigations at Goxhill, North Lincolnshire, and Paull, East Yorkshire, 2016-2020

Archaeological and palaeoenvironmental investigations by Oxford Archaeology reveal the evolving prehistoric coastal landscapes and settlement history of the Humber Estuary. Combining geoarchaeology and excavation, this volume explores Mesolithic to medieval activity at Goxhill, North Lincolnshire and Paull, East Yorkshire.

The replacement of the Number 9 Feeder Gas Transmission Pipeline has provided an important opportunity to investigate early landscapes and settlement either side of the Humber Estuary. A combination of techniques has been employed over an eight-year period by Oxford Archaeology in order to explore the geoarchaeology and archaeology within two landscape areas, at Paull, East Yorkshire, and Goxhill, North Lincolnshire.

Geoarchaeological investigations at both Paull and Goxhill included borehole coring, lithological, pollen, and diatom analyses, deposit modelling, and radiocarbon dating, the results of which provide details of the evolving early prehistoric coastal landscape that was present in the Mesolithic and earlier Neolithic periods. All of the archaeological remains investigated by the project were confined to Goxhill, and evaluation trenching, open-area excavation, and archaeological monitoring, together with detailed post-excavation analysis, have greatly enhanced understanding of prehistoric and historic settlement in this area. Within this landscape, limited evidence for Bronze Age and post-medieval activity was recovered, with the vast majority of the excavated remains dating to the Iron Age, Roman, and medieval periods, relating to progressive phases of open and enclosed settlement.

This synthetic volume arises from a multi-disciplinary approach to geoarchaeology and archaeology, with an emphasis on interpreting the evidence in terms of landscape development. It includes the work of a range authors drawn from Oxford Archaeology and several external specialists.

1 INTRODUCTION

The Pipeline and its Estuarine Landscapes

Archaeological and Palaeoenvironmental Investigations

Structure of the Volume

Archive

2 EARLY LANDSCAPES AND CHANGING SEA LEVELS

Background

Early Landscapes at Paull and Goxhill

3 PREHISTORIC ACTIVITY AND IRON AGE SETTLEMENT

The Prehistoric Creek and Changing Sea Levels

Late Neolithic/ Bronze Age Activity at the Foreshore

Dividing the Earlier Iron Age Landscape

Later Iron Age Settlement

4 ROMANO-BRITISH SETTLEMENT

Roman Conquest and the Character of Romano-British Settlement

Evolving Romano-British Settlement at Goxhill

5 MEDIEVAL AND POST-MEDIEVAL LANDSCAPES

The Medieval Landscape at Goxhill

The Post-Medieval Landscape at Goxhill

6 CHANGING LANDSCAPES AND SETTLEMENT ON THE BANKS OF THE HUMBER

Early Estuarine Landscapes

Iron Age and Romano-British Settlement at Goxhill

The Medieval and Later Landscape at Goxhill

Conclusion

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

ONLINE

APPENDIX 1: PREHISTORIC AND ROMAN POTTERY

APPENDIX 2: ORGANIC RESIDUE ANALYSIS

APPENDIX 3: INSECTS AND OTHER INVERTEBRATES

• By (author) Richard Gregory
• By (author) Stephen Rowland
• By (author) Mairead Rutherford
• By (author) John Zant