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Monumentality - (continued from previous page)
The landscape just north of the confluence of the rivers Trent, Tame and Mease contains a wealth of archaeological remains which can only be identified through remote sensing, as shown by the cropmarks and the geophysics. We know that this part of the Trent was already a focus for earlier prehistoric ceremonial activity through the dispersed causewayed enclosures. By the later neolithic, and the construction of cursus monuments, the area remained important, but activity was still dispersed along the rivers rather than concentrated in a single area.
| Inside 'Woodhenge'. |
Pitlines visible as soil marks in
Google Earth. |
Inside the Sunburst. |
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Then this all changed. A small section of the landscape was chosen for intensive activity, perhaps due to the proximity to the confluence and the linkages between lowlands and the higher areas. One of the cursus monuments had already been sited here. Now 12 radiating pit alignments were constructed to form the Sunburst Monument. Soon after, this was remodelled as a hengiform earthwork, only to be remade again, at around 2500BC, into a segmented enclosure. At the same time, a second monument was constructed just 150m away: similar in plan to the Sunburst Monument, it was dense with upright oak posts. Perhaps the hengiform monuments within the floodplain to the east at Fatholme and Borough Holme were also built at this time.
Five centuries later, the site was revisited for the burial of an individual with grave goods that included lithics and Beaker pottery which may have been imported from Scotland. It is uncertain what happened in the intervening period. The oak posts would have rotted, and the earthworks would have reduced, as there was no evidence for maintenance. However, the features must have remained significant for this continued use. At this time construction of barrows, many on the hills directly overlooking the complex, indicates its continued importance.
But for how long was the site significant to local populations? The positioning of the pit alignments to the north and south appears in plan to respect the ceremonial complex, providing both symmetry and perhaps a sacred space between the floodplain and the hills to the west. However, looking at dated pit alignments elsewhere, we would normally assume these were less ancient. The Catholme alignments also appear to reflect a much wider pattern of land division which extends these later prehistoric activities along the rivers Trent and Tame. It is possible that at least parts of the monuments remained visible and perhaps sacred until the later bronze age or iron age, up to 800BC or beyond; but it is also possible that these pits formalise an earlier boundary which is not otherwise visible to us now.
The complex at Catholme is reminiscent of clusters of monuments elsewhere across Britain and northwest Europe. The longevity of the cultural use of the landscape reflects broader themes of monumental archaeology. The sites mirror trends of monumentalisation apparent in numerous parts of the country though expressed in very different ways. The radiating pit arrangement of the Sunburst Monument is unique. As is the case with similar complexes, Catholme is less well known because the monuments are no longer visible on the ground. Furthermore, they lie within a landscape which has inexorably changed in recent years through agriculture and quarrying. However, it is perhaps gratifying that, just down the road from Catholme, the site for the National Memorial Arboretum retains themes of monumentality within the area.
Methodologically, the use of multiple lines of investigation paid dividends at Catholme. Surprisingly, the results from the modelling of the GPR data provided more than just a context to the excavations. The additional details such as the central ring of pits at the Sunburst Monument may alter how we excavate such sites in the future. For large scale quarry sites, perhaps the best approach for "strip and record" mapping is through threedimensional geophysics. Finally, the Where Rivers Meet project has demonstrated the benefits of interdisciplinary landscape archaeology and the need for large and diverse teams. For the Catholme ceremonial complex, this was achieved through the collaboration of staff from the University of Birmingham's Visual and Spatial Technology Centre, Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Birmingham Archaeology and the Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity, with continued support from English Heritage.
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