Westnewton : Bronze Age (2000 BC – 700 BC)
The Westnewton study area contains only one recorded site of confirmed Bronze Age date, the house platform northwest of Laddies Knowe settlement. However, settlements of this kind are fairly common in the Cheviots throughout the Bronze and Iron Ages, and without excavation, this date cannot be confirmed. Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements were traditionally distinguished on the basis of type, as it was believed that unenclosed hut circles of the Bronze Age were replaced by Iron Age settlements contained within a substantial enclosure.
However, recent studies have shown the picture to be rather more complex than this; the presence or absence of an enclosure may have had little chronological significance (Welfare 2002, 72). As most of the difficulties with these earlier models are attributable to lack of excavated, well-dated examples, the Bronze Age date attributed to this house platform should be treated with caution.
On the hill slopes to the west of Westnewton village are the very extensive and well-preserved remains of field systems, including cultivation terraces, narrow-rigg contour ploughing and cross-contour ridge and furrow cultivation. Although field systems are difficult to date precisely, an idea of their relative chronology can often be arrived at through careful observation. Narrow-rigg ploughing on the eastern slopes of Mid Hill is likely to be pre-medieval in date, as it is sealed by an episode of cross-contour ridge and furrow cultivation (Topping 1983, 25). Four enclosed stone-built settlements of Roman or Iron Age date apparently associated with the narrow-rigg may in fact overlie it, though this cannot be proven without excavation.
The vast tract of narrow-rigg ploughing on the flat plateau between Mid Hill (NT 882296) and the hillfort at Ring Chesters (NT 868289) seems to be the earliest feature in a settled landscape of great chronological depth, comprising unenclosed hut circle settlements, Romano-British 'homesteads', and scooped settlements. That the cultivation remains are overlain by unenclosed hut circles is of particular interest, as some excavated examples have been dated to the Early Bronze Age (e.g. Houseledge, NT 952280), though, as discussed above, dating on the basis of settlement form alone is likely to be unreliable. The unenclosed platforms at NT 873269 may be associated with the narrow-rigg cultivation; if this is the case, then there is a strong possibility that the rigg and furrow may date to the second millennium BC (Bronze Age).
The field systems within the Westnewton study area are some of the best preserved of their kind, and offer great potential to enhance our understanding of the prehistoric settlement of upland landscapes. Features associated with the field systems, such as the enclosed stone built settlements and the unenclosed house platforms are of great importance, since they provide the key to the dating of the whole complex. This could easily be achieved through a small amount of targeted excavation. As so few prehistoric settlements are well dated, such work would have the potential to contribute significantly to our understanding of the prehistory of the region.