Research Items

Abstract

Prehistoric Lincolnshire The first section of a survey of present knowledge of the prehistoric archaeology of Lincolnshire by Mr. C. W. Phillips is published in the Archaeological Journal, 90. The county falls into well-defined geographical divisions, of which the most important are the marked oolite ridge called Lincoln Edge and the Wolds. There are two areas of low country, one, to south and east on the shores of the Wash, continuing round both sides of the Wolds, and the other, the Isle of Axholme, on the west side of the outfall of the Trent into the Humber. Although the geology of the lower grounds is not very conducive to prehistoric occupation, one of the surprises of the county archaeology is the relatively considerable occupation of low-lying lands at several periods. There is little evidence of occupation of the county area in lower and upper palaeolithic times. In the microlithic period two areas of exposure of sand show evidence of occupation, Risby Warren being regarded as the type-site of Great Britain for this period. In the neolithic period the discovery of nine, or possibly ten, long barrows on the Wolds has been one of the recent archaeological surprises. The builders were Windmill Hill folk. Other neolithic objects, except finds in the neighbourhood of Grantham and at Risby Warren, belong to the Wolds. The distribution of Early Bronze Age objects is such as might be expected when intruders from the North Sea were making their way into the county by the Humber and the Wash. The distribution of beakers and daggers is entirely riverine, and there is evidence of only one landing on the coast. The destruction of round barrows owing to agriculture has been great. The majority stand on high ground away from the settlements. In the Middle and Late Bronze Ages the distribution of the population did not differ materially from that of the early period of metal, being confined mainly to the valleys. In the middle period the whole of Lincoln Edge from one end of the county to the other was occupied. A novel feature was the beginning of the concentration around Brigg, where a great dugout boat was found in 1886. Among gold objects found in the county two are important: a gold armlet, now lost, and a tore with Y-shaped section from the Isle of Axholme.