Stakes and Snails at Whiteford Burrows

-

Next in my series of 'waste paper bin' project posts is a post from this time last year regarding the discoveries from intertidal peats from Whiteford Burrows, Gower: 

Back in early April I stayed at Port Eynon for a week that coincided with my undergraduate graduation from Swansea University. While I walked much of the end of Gower on the trip, including Port Eynon to Paviland Cave, Worm's Head to Mewslade and Llangennith to Bury Holms, one of the biggest highlights was a visit to Whiteford Burrows. I had never managed to get the the far north west of Gower due my reliance on public transport so I took advantage of the holiday to visit. 

I went in early April to Whiteford Burrows to see some well known intertidal peat deposits that were supposed to be rather expansive. Most intertidal peat deposits I've seen before were small sections in the 10s of metres in size but this deposit was incredibly large, covering the majority of the bay. The stratigraphy of the site was relatively simple with a thick peat deposit with in situ tree stumps and boughs of oak, birch, alder and hazel, sitting on top of a blue-grey colluvium. 

Intertidal peats at Whiteford Sands including in situ stumps (see top-right and bottom left) and lines of Juncus shoots. 

Within the peats there were extensive midden deposits of cockles and mussels. These ranged in size and thickness from 20cm thick deposits to small scatters, a single shell deep. One of my favourites of these was on a peat bedding plane that had a small single shell deep patch of cockle shells and around 2m away another patch but of mussel shells. It may be a bit of a stretch but I'd like to think about a pair of people from pre-history sitting down to do the process their catch from that day and saying "right, you do the mussels and I'll do the cockles". 

Midden deposits- predominantly of Common Cockle (Cerastoderma edule) forming distinct horizons within the peats (top-left, top-right, bottom-left) and small scatters of Common Mussel (Mytilus edulis). 

The stakes: one of the most interesting finds was a circle of small posts/stakes within the peat.

The circle of the stakes. 

A close-up view of some of the stakes.

Two stakes directly within the peat bed (both natural and modified/split types)  

Along the coast at Broughton patches of these submerged forests are described in Gareth T. George's 'The Geology of South Wales, A Field Guide' (2nd Ed.). Within the submerged forest peats a thin clay horizon was observed with evidence of Neolithic occupation. This site, discovered in 2008, contained three sharpened stakes inserted vertically alongside fragments of red deer rib bones featuring cut marks and  tooth, a flint microlith, a large flat stone with charcoal fragments and bivalves. This was interpreted as a temporary camp in a forest clearing. 

Identifying stakes: blue stakes are round in section and 'natural' (i.e. not modified) and red stakes are split (i.e. modified). There appears to be a pattern in how stakes were placed, with a complete ring of unmodified stakes and a secondary partial ring of modified stakes. As can be seen in the original left hand photograph, numerous horizontal sticks can be seen around the stakes, some seemingly partially buried or in situ between the stakes. 

As for interpreting these stakes it is firstly worth mentioning that they may not be contemporary with the peat that they were inserted into and could have been put in at a later date. However, given the similar stakes found in 2008 associated with the Neolithic occupation, it seems probable, but should not be assumed, that this structure dates from the time period. One suggestion made has been a form of fish trap but I have some issues with this, mainly the upright orientation of the stakes and the presence of similar stakes within the 2008 camp site. Any ideas or thoughts would be much appreciated. 

The snails: I was originally interested in the intertidal peats at Whiteford Burrows due to my ongoing project into the palaeoecology of a Romano-British age intertidal peat deposit focused on macrofossil analysis (click here to open a link to the project in a new window). One of the biggest disappointments of this work was the complete absence of any calcareous remains (e.g., gastropod shells, ostracods etc.,), likely due to taphonomic bias as a result of the acid conditions. However, in one of the uppermost peat beds at Whiteford Burrows in amongst the Juncus rhizomes/shoots a distinct horizon of gastropod shells was observed.

I collected any large specimens, as well as bulk samples to collect some of the smaller specimens. The recorded gastropod fauna were: Marsh Whorl Snail (Vertigo antivergo), Short-toothed Herald Snail (Carychium minimum), Smooth Grass Snail/Lovely Vallonia (Vallonia pulchella) and White-lipped Banded Snail (Cepea hortensis). The White-lipped Banded Snail specimens were particularly nice specimens retaining their colour banding allowing for differentiation from the Brown-lipped Banded Snail (C. nemoralis).

Narrow-mouthed Whorl Snail (Vertigo angustior) 

The biggest highlight was the identification of numerous Narrow-mouthed Whorl Snail (Vertigo angustior) specimens. Vertigo angustior is listed under the Annex II of the Habitats and Species Directive (92/43/EEC) and is endangered in Great Britain and considered vulnerable in Europe. As a result, a number of modern sites have been granted SAC status, with habitats listed on Annex 1 of the Habitats and Species Directive. The largest population of this species in Great Britain is found at Whiteford Burrows, part of the Carmarthen Bay Dunes/Twyni Bae Caerfyrddin SAC where it occurs in areas of freshwater seepage at the interface between sand dune and saltmarsh. For more information - click here-.

Interestingly, it is noted that Vertigo angustior "flourished" in post-glacial conditions but contracted its range due to climatic change resulting in forestation reducing their open habitat. This suggests an interesting story at Whiteford Burrows where the species was likely absent at the site during the forested Neolithic but arrived at the site as sea-levels rose and they arrived/returned to the site with the shifting coastline where they survive today. It would be very rather interesting to gain an AMS radiocarbon date for the gastropod rich horizon!