Kirknewton And Westnewton : Romano-British Period And After (AD 70 - 500)

Towards the end of the first millennium BC, pollen evidence suggests that all remaining upland forest had been cleared, and small-enclosed settlements or “homesteads” were established in increasing numbers on slopes and high moorland. Some of these new settlements seem to have been established within the ramparts of earlier hillforts, or overlying the defences, which in some cases were seen to have been abandoned for some time (Welfare 2002, 75).

There are, unfortunately, very few well-dated first millennium BC settlement sites, and it is often not possible to determine without excavation whether an individual settlement belongs to the Bronze Age, Iron Age, or Roman period. It some cases, such as at Hetha Burn Head in the College valley, settlements seem to have continued in use throughout all of these periods.

Scooped settlements, such as Mid Hill East Village and those recorded on the eastern slopes of West Hill, are very common in this region and are usually considered to be Romano-British in date. Their distinctive appearance is the result of digging out or “scooping” house platforms and stockyards directly into the hill slopes. It is possible that they may have originated in the late Pre-Roman iron age, and are likely to have been in use for a considerable period.

This part of Northumberland lay beyond the Roman frontier for much of the period of occupation, and the influence of Roman culture is likely to have been slight and very indirect (Higham 1986, 224-6). Small enclosed homesteads such as these are likely to have continued to be used for several centuries, and were perhaps only eventually abandoned in favour of lower-lying hamlets and villages, many of which are in existence today, in the early medieval period, following a political takeover by new warrior elites originally deriving from Northern Europe and Scandinavia.