pre-Roman wasteland?? *cough*
Methinks the Romans put a small camp at Greensforge and trembled at the Noddy Holderness of the surrounding tribes, they got up right-smart and left!
"Lack of survival might explain the blankness of some areas. Acidic soils could have destroyed any bone; and prehistoric tribes in the region made little use of ceramics. Yet the landscape may have been avoided over long periods because of the poverty of its soil. 'Some areas probably are genuinely empty,' Mr Booth said.
Among the sites excavated near Wall were a large, 2nd century timber aisled building, probably a barn; and evidence of what may be a villa estate including a possible domestic shrine - where finds include a ceramic lamp, the handle of a bronze vessel and the feet of a Gaulish 'Venus figurine'. A small Roman cemetery produced evidence of molten glass and unburnt ceramic, suggesting two phases of a cremation rite in which unguent bottles were thrown onto the burning pyre, while food in pots was placed later into the grave.
Near Sutton Coldfield, the base of a large oak post was found, buried pointing towards the centre of a possible Bronze Age barrow. Could it be a totem pole - or some other structure of symbolic importance? Unfortunately it is still undated. 'The nightmare is it turns out to be a 19th century gatepost,' Mr Booth said."
http://www.britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba65/news.shtml
Am still looking for further evidence of the 'bolt stone' which was allegedly in situ Nr Six Ashes, Staffs, if anyone has any clues??
