The project kicked off with a meeting to introduce the survey methods to the volunteers. We met on-site at Woodlands Park, Northfield, in Birmingham. It might seem a little odd to meet in Birmingham when the project is based in the Wyre Forest. The reason for this, seemingly, unrelated venue was to view an unusual streambank feature that most would not have come across before – a prehistoric burnt mound. These are found scattered all around Birmingham and much of the West Midlands, so we are hoping to find some in the stream banks of the Wyre Forest.
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| Group meeting in Northfield, Birmingham: Courtesy Terry Chandler |
Birmingham City Archaeologist, Mike Hodder, was on hand to talk more about these enigmatic features. They can be visible in stream banks as thick lenses of burnt stone and charcoal. Archaeologists have interpreted these in a number of ways in the past, but the current thinking is that they are likely to be the residues of sweat lodges (a simple version of a sauna or steam room). This is based on experimental work and on parallels seen with native societies, such as North American Indian groups, who were using structures like these until recently (or still are). If you see something like this......
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| Burnt stream deposits: Courtesy Terry Chandler |
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| Burnt mound stream deposits: Courtesy Mike Hodder |
in the banks of a stream you probably wouldn't think anything of it. After all, you can see lenses of cobbles in any stream bank, especially if you are in there wading around in your wellies! What makes them different, if you look closely, is that the stones are all angular, shattered pebbles and usually the soil around them is black with charcoal. It is the dowsing of hot cobbles (burnt on a fire) with water that, we think, creates these residues of heat-shattered stone and charcoal.
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| Heat-cracked stones: Courtesy of Mike Hodder, Birmingham City Archaeologist |
We might have looked an odd group, standing at the stream banks in the park, all peering closely at a fist full of pebbles: but all with a purpose. Being able to recognise these features is important – we don't want to miss them. They have a story to tell that goes beyond showing us evidence of the prehistoric version of the communal baths. The burnt mounds are mostly mid-Bronze Age in date, and they alert us to where these settlements were, but also amongst the pebbles and dirt is also a store of information on the past environment. The charcoal shows us what trees, or wood, was around locally to be burnt. Was that alder, hazel, or oak? Wet peaty material often survives with burnt stone and charcoal, and from this we can analyse pollen and seed remains to reconstruct the surrounding Bronze Age environment. More information on prehistoric burnt mounds in Birmingham can be found here.
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| Burnt mound at Clifton Quarry, Worcestershire |
Nevertheless, stream-walking has proved successful for finding many sites in the Birmingham area, and what you see is the section where the stream has scythed through the mound. We don't know whether we will find any evidence of burnt mounds in the Wyre Forest, but who knows…….
We also went on to talk about other archaeological evidence that might be found in the Dowles, Baveney and Lem Brooks of the Wyre Forest: evidence of mills, kilns, bridges, revetments, fish weirs and old stream channels meandering across the path of the modern stream. Streams have been busy places in the past, often hives of industry on a small scale. To find it, as Mike Hodder says, you have to get in there, look closely, lift up the bankside vegetation…but watch your step.
Liz Pearson
