It was in this period that the landscape became comparatively treeless and open as people utilised the landscape, for grazing, arable and ritualistic purposes.
| It is thought that as the first metal began to replace stone as the material of choice for tools and other artifacts, we encounter the first beginnings of a class system in Europe. As Bronze required more effort than stone to turn it into something useful it became the material of prestige. It was usually only owned by the more powerful individuals who received preferential treatment in life and death. | |
The first use of metal was as pure copper. It was then realised that adding tin to (making bronze) improved the quality of the metal (by making it less brittle and easier to work) and bronze became the favoured metal.
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Religion appears to have been an important factor in many of the Bronze Age sites in Herefordshire, which include possible henges at Clifford, Whitney-on-Wye (smr 1014), Madley (SMR 396) and Adforton, usually only denoted by cropmarks today. There is also a stone circle at Longtown, which most probably had ritualistic and religious functions for the community around it. |
In the Olchon Valley 2 burials have been unearthed, one of which was a cist made of large slabs of local red sandstone. Inside was the skeleton of a man aged between 25-30. He had been buried in a crouching position with his head facing north, at his feet was a barbed and tanged arrowhead. Also buried in the tomb was a clay beaker, which denoted that this was the burial of a noble man.
A beaker burial has also been discovered at Aymestrey (SMR 7060), where a cist was discovered containing the body of a young child. A reconstruction of the beaker burial complete with the original skeleton and beaker pot can be seen in Leominster Folk Museum on Etnam Street, (This museum is also well worth a visit for its post-medieval artefacts).
During the Bronze Age there appears to have been a change from single burials in chambered tombs to cremation and burial in level ground. Herefordshire contains two bronze Age cemeteries– one at Southend Farm, mathon and one at Pontshill, southeast of Ross.
In the cemetery at Southend Farm, Mathon has been found the only urn burial in the county. In 1907 the Reverend Blake visited the site and discovered fragments of 2 urns, which when reconstructed were found to be bucket shaped. The burial also contained bronze lance heads and a bronze shield boss, this shows that although the style of burial had changed the importance placed on grave goods had not.
At Pontshill a finger-decorated urn has been found not far below the surface resting on a layer of charcoal which suggests that this was a cremation burial.
Many of the Bronze Age barrows in existence in Herefordshire occur near to rivers. It may be that the Bronze Age people placed special religious importance on rivers and streams or that they lived and worked the lighter soil found beside rivers and chose to bury their dead close to their settlements.
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By the start of the Bronze Age the climate was relatively warm and dry and would have probably been warmer than today’s climate. This warm weather caused an increase in the area covered by oak and alder woodland. During the middle of the Bronze Age the climate began to become increasingly cool and wet, this would have meant that there was often insufficient sun to ripen many of the crops and the excessive moisture would have caused many to rot. The pollen diagrams (SMR 5522, 32802, 32803) show the 'lime decline' of about 3,500 years ago, which was attributed both to increased farming and a coller climate. It is thought that small leaved lime has not spread naturally since this time (though it is occasionally planted). |
As the population was constantly rising this would have put a great strain on resources and more forest would have been cleared to meet the demand. Agricultural activity was intensified and a greater range of more sophisticated tools began to be developed.
The rich agricultural potential of the Herefordshire basin was not fully recognised in the Bronze Age with the majority of settlements and barrows occurring on the outskirts, though our distribution maps may not reflect the true situation, farming will have destroyed many sites.
As more and more tools were needed for everyday purposes bronze soon became devalued and so it was no longer just for items of prestige.
MG