Archaeology 83 



THE BRONZE AGE 



Although but little is yet known of the economy and dwelling sites of the 

 Bronze Age inhabitants of Cambridgeshire, sufficient stray fmds (mainly 

 metal objects, but also a few pots) have been made to give some idea of 

 the areas setded at this time (see Fig. 18). The densest zone of settlement 

 was the fen margin between Cambridge and Isleham. Fen islands, such as 

 March, Manea, Chatteris, Littleport, Ely, and Stuntney, have also yielded 

 many fmds; so have flat fens like Burnt Fen, Wilburton Fen, Grunty Fen, 

 and the Chatteris-Mepal fens. On the upland, in the south of the County, 

 Bronze Age fmds are more or less hmited to the chalk belt, the neighbour- 

 ing areas of Boulder Clay, Gault, and Kimeridge Clay being virtually empty. 



One explanation for the relative density of setdement in the Fenland 

 during the Bronze Age is to be found in the natural conditions prevailing 

 at this time. It is known, from excavations at Shippea Hill, that during 

 the Early Bronze Age the fen basin was still several feet (at least 15 ft.) 

 higher in relation to the sea than it is to-day. This was a height quite 

 sufficient to affect profoimdly the possibilities for settlement in such a 

 low-lying area by prehistoric man. Conversely, as subsidence set in again, 

 setdement tended more and more to move out of the fen basin. Already 

 by the Late Bronze Age, half the hoards, and more than a third of the 

 loose fmds, come from the higher land in the southern part of the County: 

 and by the Early Iron Age the evacuation was almost complete. The 

 gradualness in the drift of population seems to discount the explanation 

 that it was due to sudden economic change, and, in particular, to the 

 introduction of a more intensive type of agriculture, which in this area can 

 hardly have occurred before the Early Iron Age. 



According to Sir Cyril Fox, the following stages can be recognised in 

 the local Bronze Age : 



Transitional 2000- 1700 B.C. 



Early Bronze Age 1700- 1400 B.C. 



Middle Bronze Age 1400- 1000 B.C. 



Late Bronze Age 1000-5-400 B.C. 



Transitional and Early Bronze Age. The earliest metal forms are rare in 

 Cambridgeshire, comprising only four flat axes without expansion of the 

 cutting-edge, and one round-heeled flat riveted dagger. Objects of the 

 full Early Bronze Age, on the other hand, are plentiful, and include 17 flat 

 axes with expanded cutting-edges, 23 flanged axes, two spearheads of 

 class I, one of class II, and one halberd. In addition, there is the recendy 

 discovered grooved dagger, found with a perforated stone axe-hammer of 



6-2 



