The Bronze Age

Two thumbnail scrapers, both made from flint, dating to the Beaker Period

The Bronze Age and Beaker Period activity has long been known on Fin Cop, from the time of the antiquarian investigations of Rooke in the late 18th century through to the excavation of a cairn on the shoulder of the hill by Major Harris in the early 1920’s.

Burial of the Dead
Along the western edge of the escarpment, on top of which the hillfort is located, there is current evidence of at least five cairns/barrows, with a possible sixth. These are denuded stone mounds, of which the largest is approximately 12m across and currently stands to a height of 0.8m. This mound has been extensively robbed and has a distinct break through the eastern side. It is almost certain that this largest barrow is the one excavated by Hayman Rooke in 1795. These cairns, which command spectacular views over the landscape and would likely have been visible from afar, illustrate the Bronze Age use of the hilltop as a sacred place for the dead. The excavation undertaken by Rooke revealed two cist (stone-lined grave) burials, one of which was capped with Ashford marble (a local stone), three cremation burials in pots dated to the Bronze Age, and an assemblage of flint tools. The investigation of one of the cairns by Major Harris in the 1920’s found a similar cist burial, along with the remains of another 30 individuals. Two substantial pots, dated to the Bronze Age, have been identified as a Collared Urn and a Food Vessel.

A collection of chert scrapers

Living on the Hill Top?
Evidence that Bronze Age/Beaker activity was perhaps not just confined to the funerary activities at the crest of the hill was demonstrated by the discovery of several classic Beaker-period thumbnail scrapers, which appeared as residual material in the Iron Age deposits of the outer ditch. Samples taken from the base of the ditch in Trench 1 also produced two Beaker-period dates. Although it is likely that these dates are residual, or intrusive into later layers, there are many examples found throughout the country where hillforts incorporate earlier bank and ditch structures into their construction, though there is currently no direct evidence for this at Fin Cop.