Native Settlements of Northumberland

Abstract

To most archaeologists Northumberland is noted chiefly for its remains of Roman military engineering, but the interest of these and the care with which T they have been studied have diverted attention from the less spectacular relics of the native population. It is seldom realized that the county still contains traces of about 400 of their forts, farms, and villages, together with about 100 destroyed sites the positions of which are known more or less certainly from place-names or other sources. The purpose of this paper is to give some account of these settlements. They are of interest in themselves, but they are also potentially important as comparative material, especially in relation to the archaeology of Ireland, the South of Scotland, and Western England. They are generally in good preservation, and the fairly frequent occurrence of Roman relics provides a better prospect of establishing some sort of chronology than in more remote areas.