WESSEX TO AD 1000 by Barry Cunliffe. Longman: London and New York,
1993. xvii + 388 pgs., 33 plates, 102+ figures.
Reviewed by Mark E. Hall, Archaeological Research Facility,
Kroeber Hall, University of California, Berkeley.
This book is one of the latest volumes in the Longman
Regional History of England series. The series has a simple
goal--to provide a two volume review of the archaeology, landscape,
and social history of each geographical region in
England. The first volume for each set covers from the Palaeolithic
to AD 1000; while the second covers from AD 1000 to the 1980s. Each
volume has a separate author.
It needs to be noted that Wessex is defined as consisting
of the present day counties of Avon, Berkshire, Dorset, Hampshire,
Somerset and Wiltshire. As noted by the author, Wessex has no set
geologic or cultural boundaries, and its boundaries vary between
individuals. This is important to remember since archaeological
phenomena do not always follow modern day boundaries. This area
shows a prodigeous uniformity during the Neolithic and Early Bronze
Age, but in the Iron Age this region was split between the
three distinct tribes known as the Atrebates, Dobunni and Durotriges.
A book covering the above mentioned topics for prehistoric
and early historic Wessex is long overdue. The archaeology
of Stonehenge and the Neolithic Early Bronze Age of Wessex has
been extensively treated by others (Burgess 1980; Castledon 1987;
Richards 1990), the only recent books to look at the whole of Wessex
over several thousands of years are Crittal's (1973) Victoria County
History volume on Wiltshire and J. F. S. Stone's (1958) WESSEX.
Suffice to say, since these two books appeared there have been
extensive excavations throughout Wessex and new interpretations
of the archaeological record.
This book does provide a start in filling the gap. Cunliffe
provides a well-written, organized review of the archaeology and
early history of Wessex. A nice balance is struck in
describing such well known sites as Bath, Silchester or Stonehenge, and
incorporating the data from smaller sites such as Chalton and
Winterbourne Stokes. Examination of the bibliography shows that
site reports written up through 1991 were
incorporated into this review. Exceedingly useful is an appendix
listing the radiocarbon dates for sites in Wessex, in both
calibrated and uncalibrated form.
Each chapter is laid out in similiar fashion. There
is an introductory section, a section explaining social and
political developments, a description of the economy, material
culture and settlement patterns. Interpretations of all this data
occurs primarily at the end of each section and chapter. For the most
part, Cunliffe's interpretations and approach to the archaeological
record are rooted in the "New Archaeology" of the late 1960's and
not tinged by the jargon-laden post-processualists.
Longman should be applauded for including the numerous
maps, drawings and black and white photographs. The profuse
aerial photographs give a sense of scale to the Neolithic monuments
and the Iron Age hillforts; the rest of the
illustrations provide an opportunity for the reader to see
what is being described and discussed. Even the most bored student
should find something to pique their interest.
One diservice Longman does do is by having only one
author for this book. I do not mean this as an attack against
Professor Barry Cunliffe. Professor Cunliffe is Professor of
European Archaeology at Oxford University and is a very accomplished
excavator of such sites as Bath and Danebury. His strength is with
the Iron Age and Roman periods in Britain though. Wessex is
an area with an extremely rich archaeological record, and in the
hands of another writer, say Richard Bradley or Julian Richards,
there would be more interpretation and synthesis and less dry
description. One would hope that future volumes would utilize
two or three authors to provide balance and depth.
There are some frustrating and troublesome points
to the text of this book. First, the reader neeeds to realize
that Cunliffe's interpretations are just that--they are not facts and they
are not the only view on the subject. One example of this is
his insistence that Mesolithic flints near early Neolithic sites
are evidence of the Neolithic farmers taking over the territory
of the Mesolithic peoples (p. 39). Alternative interpretations can
be that this evidence can represent peaceful contact between
the two groups, or the gradual adoption of agriculture by
Mesolithic peoples (Dennell 1985:169-189). Another example is
with hoards dating to the Bronze Age. Cunliffe (p. 163)
sees the hoards as being "propitiatory offerings to
the dieties of earth and water." While this interpretation has
been offered before by other scholars, Cunliffe ignores recent
research which views hoards in terms of competitive chiefdoms
and in relation to the burial evidence.
This book is sorely lacking in uniform balance for the
later time periods. Only a third of the book deals with Roman
and Anglo-Saxon Wessex. The archaeology of Bath, Winchester,
and Silchester, all major sites in these two time periods,
is dealt with in the most cursory fashion. In these final chapters less
emphasis is put on archaeology and more on the historical record.
Historians may enjoy this, but the Early Medieval period is one which
has a limited database and can benefit from utilizing archaeology.
In conclusion, this book does provide a useful _introduction_
to the _prehistoric archaeology_ of Wessex. The monuments and sites are
well illustrated and accurately described. The radiocarbon tables
in the back of the book are extremely useful. Anyone reading this book
needs to realize though that Cunliffe's interpretations of the
archaeological data are quite limited and there are several other
authors that they should also be reading.
For the Early Medieval and Roman periods this book fails
miserably. It lacks direction in whether it is an archaeological
description or a historical description of Wessex.
REFERENCES:
Burgess, Colin. THE AGE OF STONEHENGE. London: Dent, 1980.
Castledon, Rodney. THE STONEHENGE PEOPLE. New York: Routledge
and Kegan Paul, 1987.
Crittall, E. A HISTORY OF WILTSHIRE, VOL. 1, PART 2. Oxford:
Oxford University Press for Institute of Historical
Research, 1973.
Dennell, Robin. EUROPEAN ECONOMIC PREHISTORY: A NEW APPROACH.
London: Academic Press, 1985.
Richards, Julian. THE STONEHENGE ENVIRONS PROJECT.
London: English Heritage, 1990.
Stone, J. F. S. WESSEX. London: Thames and Hudson, 1958.