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![]() ![]() The preservation of animal bone was very good, due to the calcareous shell sand, and the fish bones recovered suggest that the inhabitants exploited the marine resources as well as farming the land and keeping animals. The middens have revealed detailed faunal evidence of changes in diet over time, changes which are also reflected in the extensive ceramic assemblage. The sunken-featured rectangular house, with its revetted clay-bonded stone walls and a central hearth dating to the 10-11th century, is the first of its kind to be encountered in Cornwall. What was once a long-lived rural settlement and early Christian community transformed into an important Royal Hundredral manor site. The evaluation uncovered evidence for middens, working-surfaces and a sub-rectangular sunken-featured building, and revealed unique evidence of daily life during this period and of how the settlement changed over time. The early medieval settlement in the sand dunes has now been firmly dated to the 8th to 12th centuries. The accumulation of material within the interior of the bank suggests it was continuously occupied, and that the inhabitants had contacts beyond Cornwall, with the discovery of an Iron Age Kimmeridge shale bracelet fragment and a sherd of Roman Oxfordshire colour-coated ware. This was buried beneath an Iron Age rampart defining a defended enclosed space that was in use until the post-Roman period when it appears to have been destroyed by fire. The investigation of the Scheduled promontory fort revealed a complex stratigraphical sequence: a Middle Bronze Age cist burial unique in Cornwall overlain by Late Bronze Age midden, indicating the presence of a previously unknown settlement. Six Trenches were opened across the coastal strip: five within a known early-medieval settlement, and one across the ramparts of a suspected promontory fort. This is a rapidly-eroding section of coastline, and the results of the evaluation have not only answered the many questions raised over the past century, but also recorded a visibly receding archaeological resource. ![]() The multi-period site at Gunwalloe, located on the western coast of the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall, has been a locus firstly for burial and later for settlement for over 3000 years. This work formed part of the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) -funded ‘Unlocking Our Coastal Heritage’ project concerning archaeological sites threated by coastal erosion along the south-west coast path. This work was undertaken by Dr Imogen Wood, on behalf of the National Trust, and in collaboration with local and regional archaeological groups, members of the local community and The University of Exeter, which has successfully brought people together achieving a high level of public engagement. Summary This report presents the results of a desk-based assessment, geophysical survey and archaeological evaluation carried out adjacent to Winnianton Farm and Gunwalloe Church, Gunwalloe Parish, Cornwall. ![]()
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