A variety of techniques have been developed to provide scientific chronologies of archaeological sites and material culture. These chronologies underpin the narratives that are generated for prehistoric and other periods. The application of Bayesian statistical analysis to scientific chronologies has been hailed as ‘a revolution in understanding’, and has brought renewed emphasis onto how we generate scientific chronological data, how these data are applied into wider narratives, and the epistemological importance of these data. This volume will provide a timely review of the methods, applications and challenges of applying different scientific dating techniques to archaeological sites and material culture. It will then provide an introduction to Bayesian modelling, and highlight a series of considerations in the application of scientific dating techniques.

The construction of a natural gas pipeline across southern Wales and into Herefordshire and Gloucestershire between 2005 and 2007 resulted in numerous archaeological discoveries, including sites of national significance. The project not only produced a wealth of new archaeological sites, it also generated important radiocarbon and environmental datasets for the region. The earliest activity is indicated by worked flint of Mesolithic (or earlier) date, with the earliest Neolithic communities represented by pits, evidence for occasional timber houses, and the discovery of a previously unknown henge. Beaker and Bronze Age settlement and burial remains were found too, including a rare copper halberd. The excavations also produced evidence for Early Bronze Age houses and numerous examples of burnt mounds. Other discoveries comprised much new evidence for Iron Age settlement (including some in areas of upland), Roman roads, crop-processing ovens, and ironworking. Rare evidence for the early medieval period was also found, along with the remains of later farmsteads and field systems. Moves towards industrialisation were reflected in the discovery of a brick kiln and charcoal-burning platforms.

Excavation in advance of engineering works along the M1 from Junctions 6a to 10 (between Hemel Hempstead and Luton) revealed significant archaeological remains of wide-ranging date. Important evidence for late Mesolithic and early Neolithic activity, including pits, was found at Junction 9, while later prehistoric features were more widely distributed but less concentrated. Late Iron Age and Roman features were most common, with significant rural settlements at Junctions 8 and 9, and further evidence for trackways and enclosures elsewhere. These sites were of fairly low status and concerned with mixed agriculture, though incidental activities included manufacture of puddingstone querns. Occupation was most intensive in the 1st-2nd centuries AD and on a reduced scale in the late Roman period. At Junction 8, however, an east-west trackway apparently survived as a landscape feature and in the 12th and 13th centuries was adjoined by a ditched enclosure containing structures belonging to a substantial farmstead.