Sark: A Sacred Island?: Volume 1: Fieldwork and excavations 2004-2017 (Oxford University School of Archaeology Monographs)

Sark came briefly to prominence in 1719 when the Sark hoard was found – a pot containing Gaulish coins and embossed silver plaques. It was brought to England and disappeared. The Archaeological Survey of Sark began in 2004 with a view to studying the island in the context of Atlantic maritime networks to explore the themes of remoteness and connectivity. Fieldwork organized through the School of Archaeology, University of Oxford has been carried out annually and continues. A complete gazetteer of nearly 100 sites has been compiled together with a full listing of all the artifacts recovered. Notable are the large number of Neolithic stone axes, many made from the local dolerite, and the widespread use of local serpentine to make amulets.

Sark: A Sacred Island contains full reports on eight archaeological excavations including details of an early Neolithic settlement, a middle Neolithic ritual site, a Beaker cist burial, a Mid–Late Bronze Age settlement, a Gallo-Roman ritual site (from which the Sark hoard came) and an early Medieval farm. Results of surveys of a Dark Age monastery and 16th century French fortifications are also given.

Table of Contents

List of Figures
List of Tables

Part 1 Sark through time
1.1 Introduction
1.2 The Island
1.3 The Island Story in Outline
1.4 The Discovery of the Island’s Archaeological Heritage
1.5 The Archaeology of Sark: the Sites
1.6 The Archaeology of Sark: Material Culture
1.7 Sark in the Wider World: Remoteness and Connectivity

Part 2 The Excavations
2.1 Tanquerel Field (Site GS22): 2005–8 and 2011–14
2.2 Gaudinerie Field (Site GS21): 2009–11
2.3 The Seigneurie (Site GS67): 2013–16
2.4 Little Sark Standing Stone (Site LS3): 2015–17
2.5 The Mill Mound (Site GS2.3): 2015
2.6 Clos de La Tour (Site GS27): 2015
2.7 Eperquerie Quarry (Site GS11.1): 2007
2.8 The Plaisance (Site GS63): 2016

Part 3 Supporting Data
3.1 Gazetteer of Sites and Finds by Barry Cunliffe and Andrew Prevel
3.2 Geophysical Surveys: 2005 and 2009 by Andy Payne
3.3 Radiocarbon Dates by Mike Dee
3.4 Petrographical Sampling of Artefacts and in situ Rocks from Sark by R.A. Ixer
3.5 Analysis of an Early Bronze Age axe from Little Sark by Peter Bray and Brian Gilmour
3.6 Chemical analysis of Late Bronze Age Metalwork from Tanquerel Field by Peter Northover
3.7 The Discovery of the Sark Hoard by Richard Axton

Bibliography

Part 4 Online data
prepared by Wendy Morrison

Barry Cunliffe was Professor of European Archaeology at the University of Oxford from 1972 to 2007. He has worked on many of the iconic British excavations including Fishbourne Roman Palace, Danebury Hillfort and Hengistbury Head. He is an authority on the Iron Age and the Celts, and the author of many scholarly and popular publications including The Oxford Illustrated History of Prehistoric Europe, Britain Begins, and The Celts, A Very Short Introduction.

Emma Durham is Research Assistant to Prof. Mike Fulford at Reading University. She has worked in commercial archaeology and as research assistant to Prof. Barry Cunliffe at Oxford University with whom she worked on field projects in Hampshire, France, and Spain.