Impact of Results
The study of mounds using a taxonomic method that classifies mounds by form and context (or practice) offers a slightly different view of the Wessex Culture than one that classifies mounds purely by form. Such a re-evaluation of the typological method is crucial to avoid perpetuating the concept of culture as unified. As the history of archaeological practice illustrates, without a critical re-evaluation the concept will likely continue to haunt interpretations despite the acknowledgement of its ethical and empirical problems.
Using an adapted typological method to study variation in Early Bronze Age burial practice has revealed a number of interesting points. Firstly it has revealed several distinct ideological differences within the so-called ‘core’ region of Wessex. The consideration of both contextual similarities and differences, using databases that do not predicate the one over the other, indicates that there is more evidence for multiple groups than against. This militates against the direct or indirect supposition (based upon formal similarities) that Wessex, or even larger an area, was homogenous.
Secondly, the illustration from Net Down that anomalous contexts may be the result of interactions between different worldviews may help to explain the general contexts of anomalies in Wiltshire. While these anomalies have been seen as reasons for rejecting the existence of multiple groups since the late 1960s, the exceptional circumstances in which these anomalies exist – in contexts of interaction – is enough of a reason to review this rejection.
Thirdly, rather than presenting a pluralistic view of culture, by tracing the interactions between these groups much can be learnt about the general processes of change in regions. The possibility that interactions between worldviews result in the transformation of representations has huge ramifications for the understanding of cultural change.
Finally, the possibility that the richness of certain Early Bronze Age cemeteries may have resulted from the process of interaction between groups - as they attempted to prove to each other the superiority of their knowledge (Latour 1987:205) – would be an interesting idea to follow up. Although research into the contexts of these anomalies is still in its infancy, continuing research through the Wessex Culture Project at Bournemouth University may reveal further insights into these phenomena.
Excerpt from Martin, A. 2008 ‘The Alien Within: the forgotten subcultures of Early Bronze Age Wessex’ to be published in Jones, A. and G. Kirkham (ed.s) Beyond the Core: reflections on regionality in prehistory, Oxford: Oxbow Books.
