The Bedd Branwen Period is the name given by
Colin Burgess to a division of the early
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
in
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales
* The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...
covering the period between 1650 BC and 1400 BC. It follows his
Overton Period and is superseded by his
Knighton Heath Period.
It covers the period after the end of the
Beaker tradition and the early
Wessex culture, and was a time when
cremation
Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a corpse through Combustion, burning.
Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India, Nepal, and ...
became an almost universal burial rite in Britain. Earlier
round barrow
A round barrow is a type of tumulus and is one of the most common types of archaeological monuments. Although concentrated in Europe, they are found in many parts of the world, probably because of their simple construction and universal purpose. ...
s were re-used for
cremation cemeteries although new barrows were also still being built.
The pottery of the
Deverel-Rimbury culture appears alongside the earlier collared urns in the archaeological record during this period and metalworking developed through the
Arreton Down and
Acton Park industries.
In his 1986 article Burgess acknowledged that the Bedd Branwen site was wrongly dated. Most of the burials actually date from a new period, the
Fargo Phase c. 1800 - 1600 bc, (which used to be incorporated in the
Overton Period). Burgess renamed the Bedd Branwen period the
Aldbourne-Edmondsham phase.
Bibliography
* Burgess, C., 1980. ''The Age of Stonehenge''. London, Dent & Sons
* Burgess, C., 1986. 'Urnes of no Small Variety': Collared Urns Reviewed ''Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society'' 52, 339-351
Periods of the British Bronze Age
{{UK-archaeology-stub