Shedding New Light on Early Medieval Settlement in the Yorkshire Dales
Dr David S Johnson, Ingleborough Archaeology Group

• Tuesday 17 June 2014, 6.00PM to 7.00pm
• Free admission
  Booking required
• Barley Hall, Coffee Yard (Off Stonegate) (map)

Event details

The chronology of early medieval settlement in the western Yorkshire Dales has been debated for decades, and no indisputable evidence has hitherto been available. The well-known site at Ribblehead has long been assumed to be of Viking age, and many place-names have either Norse or Anglo-Saxon origins, but no sites have been dated using modern methods. Current archaeological work around Ingleborough is shedding new light on this with the discovery of a series of isolated sites with firm early medieval radiocarbon dating evidence from a suite of dates at each site. So far, a probable shieling hut and five farmstead complexes have been investigated in detail. The talk will set this new evidence in the context of earlier work done by Arthur Raistrick, and of individual find spots around the western Dales.

Speaker biography

David Johnson was initially trained as a geographer (with a special interest in historical geography) and historian, but has always been passionate about archaeology. His doctorate involved a mix of historical geography, agricultural history and landscape archaeology. He is Chairman of the Ingleborough Archaeology Group, a trustee/director of the Yorkshire Dales Landscape Research Trust, and an independent researcher. He has published widely in book form and in peer-reviewed journals.   

Accessibility

Barley Hall is a reconstructed medieval townhouse and has some restrictions for those visitors with mobility and access difficulties. Although there is access to the ground floor, the Great Hall features a raised threshold at the doorway. Please call the venue on 01904 615 505 for further information.

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