Talk:Hound Tor
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Village[edit]
is it worth splitting this off into its own article? Totnesmartin (talk) 13:58, 17 November 2007 (UTC)
Village not pre-medieval[edit]
I've removed this para from the article:
The village seems to have been founded about 100 BCE, placing it alongside the building of other works on the moor such as Grimspound. It was then abandoned around 500 BCE for a thousand years as the climate worsened. Eventually improving conditions led to a Saxon community occupying the site, taking advantage of its position, sheltered from the prevailing winds by the tor. The Saxon houses were built of wood and turf, and with a wattle and daub interior. The roof structure is not known, but may have been turf or thatch. Evidence from post-holes indicates that the wooden structures were rebuilt around every 30 years, until they were ultimately replaced by stone buildings.
This is based on Mrs E. M. Minter's interpretation of her 1960's excavation of the site, as published by Beresford in 1979. Her theory was later discounted, based on excavations at a similar site, and as far as I am aware it is still out of favour. The main source for the re-interpretation is Newman, P., Probert, S. & Riley, H. (1995) Houndtor Down - a Survey by the RCHME, RCHME, Exeter. I haven't seen this, but I'm basing my decision to remove the paragraph on the commentary at Houndtor Settlement on the "Legendary Dartmoor" website, which cites that document; and a confirmatory discussion in an article by Henrietta Quinnell in the Devon Archaeological Society Proceedings for 1991.
I think there's doubt about the provenance of the coin and the pottery too (see the "Legendary Dartmoor" page again), but I'll leave those details in for now. —SMALLJIM 21:47, 1 April 2008 (UTC)