Skipsea

Skipsea in South Yorkshire, in the vicinity of Hull, has a long history of settlement. See https://phys.org/news/2026-01-anglo-saxon-center-unearthed-skipsea.html … Once surrounded by three fresh water lakes that became ponds and then disappeared, it was initially occupied, in the early Holocene, by Mesolithic hunters and gatherers. It remained occupied by humans all the way down to the medieval period. Stone tools and harpoons of the Mesolithic kind were found on what was once the bottom of the lakes – and Neolithic and Bronze Age structures have also been unearthed. On the  shore lines of those lakes. During the Iron Age  a great mound was built, 85m by 13m. This may have a connection with movements of what is now the Humber, as a result of a more wet environment, or a more stormy and threatening location as far as inroads by the sea were concerned. Do they bear any similarities with mounds topped by farms in the Netherlands, also threatened by the vagaries of the sea and the weather. The Normans chose to build a castle on top of the mound, as it provided an ever present view of the activities of the locals. Whilst  earlier excavations concentrated on a full site history going back to the beginning of the Holocene, the current focus is on the Anglo Saxon period. They have  discovered a malthouse [brewing] dating between AD750 and 850. It is not clear if the Vikings drank all the beer and left it in a ruinous state. A jokey bit but AD 850 was a period strongly associated with Viking incursions in Britain and Ireland. Other structures defined include a large timber hall – a prerequisite of pagan warrior society. Anglo Saxon as well as Viking. One figures prominently in early Anglo Saxon literature, Boewulf.