| Viewing swaag.org website implies consent to set cookies on your computer. Full details | Swaledale and
Arkengarthdale Archaeology Group Registered Charitable Incorporated Organisation Number 1155775 |
SWAAG Honorary President:
Tim Laurie F,S,A, |
| SWAAG News Archive | |
| News Archive | |
| Stones, standards, and standing men | |
| Perry Gardner, a SWAAG member, shared some of his PhD research at December’s meeting on Zoom. Recently he has been examining old maps to identify boundaries and boundary markers in Swaledale and Teesdale. The dales are rugged upland areas which have similar climate, geomorphology, hydrology, and ecology. Since prehistoric times their land systems might therefore be expected to be associated with similar patterns of habitation, resource exploitation, and communication. Perry plotted the locations of curracks, earth mounds, and tumuli separately from those of piles of stone, standards, and standing men and related both to the river systems. This revealed that land demarcation was more extensive and comprehensive in upper Swaledale and ran over longer distances than in central Teesdale. Dating these boundaries is difficult but those in Swaledale may date back to the Early Bronze Age, whilst those in Teesdale are probably much later. Perry explained that ‘Tuath’ was the communally agreed management of land which preceded enforced enclosure and fencing. This may have persisted longer in Teesdale, only being fully replaced after the Norman Conquest, the imposition of the Honour of Richmond and later the legal creation of ‘Westmorland’ in the 13th century. J. H. |
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| News Record: 178 Updated: 25-01-2024 14:24:58 | |