Crossing Crawford's conceptual divide: monumental linear earthworks in later prehistoric and early medieval Britain

Abstract

In its early decades, Antiquity regularly featured the subject of linear earthworks that criss-cross the British landscape. Subsequently, however, discussion has been largely relegated to period-specific and local journals. As a result, interpretations of these imposing but often poorly dated earthworks have been drawn in the contrasting research traditions of later prehistory and the early medieval period. Here, the authors propose a comparative dialogue as a means for reinterpreting these landscape features, and as a lens through which to explore social complexity. Combined with advances in archaeometrical dating, this new approach promises to reinvigorate the study of some of Britain's largest archaeological monuments.