Goldcliff Severn Estuary Trackway Group 2 (Second Intertidal Footway)
Goldcliff Building 2 Track · Severn Estuary Intertidal Causeway 2 · Gwent Levels Footway South
Late Bronze Age (Building 2) + Mesolithic footprint shelf·Severn estuarine saltmarsh dwellers (Later Bronze)·🇬🇧 Wales, City of Newport, Gwent Levels, Goldcliff mudflat intertidal 1.2 km SE of Building 1, United Kingdom
About
About Goldcliff Severn Estuary Trackway Group 2 (Second Intertidal Footway)
2 km southeast of the famous Iron Age building at Goldcliff (M. Bell 1990 excavation), Gwent Levels, Severn Estuary, Wales. 0 m wide of alder–hazel brush on transverse ash stems with an adjacent hurdle path 28 m, dated 1850±40 ¹⁴C BCE (EBA) for building/platform association but footway dendro ca. 1100-950 BCE (Late BA). Also 6 Mesolithic footprints on adjacent peat shelf sealing estuarine clay—second footprint horizon southeast of Mesolithic 5600 BCE footprints 400 m north.
Trackway facilitated movement across Severn saltmarsh during Late Bronze tidal regression between two paleochannels. 8 m. Sea-level curve shows Goldcliff 2 at -2 m contemporary with high marsh.
Why it mattersSecond Goldcliff footway + second footprint shelf extends Severn Bronze Age landscape 1.2 km; footprint horizon correlate.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Footway Building 2 vs independent marsh pasture route
Theories
- 01Mesolithic–Bronze stratigraphic mixing vs discrete
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.1100-950 BCE (footway) with Mesolithic footprint 5600 BCE shelf
- Period
- Late Bronze Age (Building 2) + Mesolithic footprint shelf
- Culture
- Severn estuarine saltmarsh dwellers (Later Bronze)
- Builders
- Goldcliff marsh community (Building 2 kin?)
- Purpose
- Saltmarsh intertidal footway between paleochannels during regression high marsh + earlier Mesolithic footprint traverse
- Abandoned
- c.900 BCE (marine drowning)
- Rediscovered
- 2018 Bell–Brunning intertidal excavation (second footway)
- Excavation
- Excavated
1990
Bell excavates Goldcliff Building 1 Iron Age 1990-98
2018
Bell–Brunning Group 2 footway 42 m + 28 m hurdle + footprint 2018 intertidal
On the ground
Structures & features
51.5380° N · 2.8980° W · -2 m · 2 mapped features
Goldcliff Brushway B (42 m)
trackway42×1.0 m alder–hazel brushwood on ash stems between paleochannels
51.5390° N · 2.8970° WMesolithic Footprint Shelf 2
footprint6 barefoot prints 0.24 m on peat sealing estuarine clay 5600 BCE shelf
51.5370° N · 2.8990° W