Dating Skipsea Mound, East Yorkshire

In the winter of 2015/16, as part of the Leverhulme Trust funded project ‘Extending Histories: from Medieval Mottes to Prehistoric Round Mounds’, staff from the University of Reading carried out archaeological investigations at Skipsea Castle in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Radiocarbon dates obtained from two soil cores taken through the castle motte indicate that the large earthen mound may have originated in the Middle Iron Age, sometime after 401-233 cal BC (95% confidence), and is therefore possibly 1,500 years older than previously thought. This paper presents the results of that work and includes a short discussion on the implications of the new dating evidence.