Networks across the Border: Investigating prehistoric social and cultural networks through the Tyne-Forth Prehistory Forum

England and Scotland are separated by a political boundary that runs down the middle of the River Tweed from Berwick and then slices the Cheviot Hills in two. It has been there since the 11th century AD. There is no evidence any boundary existed in prehistory, yet archaeologists interested in prehistory have often worked on one side or other of this border. But what if we approached the landscape and the archaeological remains from around the River Tyne to around the River Forth as undivided by the border? Then we could consider the wider patterns made by prehistoric communities in establishing and maintaining their social networks across this landscape. To do this we need to create a new social network, bringing archaeologists and other specialists from England and Scotland together in the Tyne-Forth Prehistory Forum.

We have already explored in two 'trials' that we can bring together these archaeologists, specialists interested in the materials people used, scientists interested in understanding how people once lived and farmed, colleagues who conserve and protect archaeological sites and landscapes, and those vital sparks, the amateur enthusiasts. We know the idea works: we reviewed the state of the existing 'regional research frameworks' at the first Tyne-Forth Prehistory Forum; at the second we began to discuss prehistoric communities living in the upland environments of the Cheviot Hills.

There is great enthusiasm among members of this forum to accelerate this interaction and to investigate together how further research can be conducted to investigate these past communities and their environments. We are applying for financial support for the Tyne-Forth Forum. In particular we are asking to cover the cost of attending our meetings for young researchers struggling on grants, experts retired from work, amateur enthusiasts with no sources of money and archaeological contractors who nowadays find few chances to grapple with research questions. We will prehistoric evidence in the landscape through a field visit and hold meetings in various venues around the region. The programme of meetings we propose will knit the diverse research groups together as a community which can continue collaboration for years to come. We aim to be a forum for debate in which methods of working and terminologies can be compared, where what is special and important about our region can be discussed, and similarities with neighbouring regions can be compared. We intend to create a space where we can discuss gaps in existing knowledge and how we might develop strategies to learn more, where we can bring together the work of many specialists who otherwise seldom meet to discuss these themes and where expertise can be shared and developed. We will do this through five themed conference meetings held at different venues around the region, a field trip to key sites and landscapes, and through e-newsletters, a web-page and magazine pieces. We will advertise our events widely and encourage new members to join the 65 or so already committed. There are many cutting-edge topics to explore, from how people inhabited their changing landscapes, to the social and trade links that supported past communities, to cultural similarities and differences (in, for instance, how they treated their dead), to how these societies were organised and structured. We will encourage new, collaborative research by helping individuals meet to plan and discuss such ventures. Our links and collaborations will be much stronger and more enduring by the time this financial support for our project ceases, and we anticipate that research projects springing from this Forum will lead to further conferences and discussions in the future. We expect this AHRC networking funding will help us establish new, inclusive research communities equal to the challenge of investigating prehistoric social networks across the Border.

The following organisations, already committed to the Forum, will benefit from its continuing development: Archaeological Research Services; Bradford University; Cardiff University; Coquetdale Community Archaeology; DEFRA; Durham County Council; Durham University; East Lothian County Council; Edinburgh City Council; English Heritage; Great North Museum; Glasgow University Archaeological Research Division; Historic Scotland; Leicester University; Liverpool University; National Museums of Scotland; National Trust for Scotland; Newcastle University; North Pennines AOB; Northumberland Archaeology Group; Northumberland National Park; Northumberland County Council; Portable Antiquities Scheme, North-East England; Royal Commission for Ancient and Historic Monuments (Scotland); Scottish Archaeological Research Framework team; Scottish Borders Council; Sheffield University; Society of Antiquaries of Scotland; Stirling University; Tyne and Wear Council; Tyne and Wear Museums; University of Central Lancashire.

Representatives from all the relevant national, local and devolved agencies responsible for policy- and decision-making in cultural heritage are committed to the Forum: indeed, it crosses significant professional and disciplinary borders as well as national ones. The voluntary sector, those myriad small local societies and groups, will gain from knowing that their contribution is securely embedded in an internationally significant research context. Commercial developers concerned with planning work in the region might benefit from an approach to archaeological protection and conservation that was more seamless across the region. We have established important connections with the major museums and heritage bodies in the region, and through these and by the provision of material to other organisations we can increase local and touristic awareness of this well-preserved and beautifully evocative cultural landscape. The newly-opened Great North Museum was pleased to host our second meeting, several prehistorians in the National Museums of Scotland in Edinburgh have attended both meetings, Northumberland National Park and the North Pennines Area of Natural Beauty have representatives in the Forum, and both place great store in cultural heritage in appealing to tourists and raising revenue. Further volunteer groups and smaller museums will be encouraged to belong to the Forum, and in this landscape the potential for heritage trails is great, as at Lordenshaws in the Northumberland National Park and the Maelmin Heritage Trail at Milfield, designed by Clive Waddington of Archaeological Research Services, a Forum member. Indeed, the close link betwen society and environment is a key research topic in the region for all time periods, and as we learn that the natural heritage is really a cultural one, the links with nature and landscape conservation should become more explicit. Work in this area by David Passmore (Newcastle University) was presented at our second meeting. Making and explaining connections between people's social, cultural and economic activities in prehistory and the sometimes extraordinarily dramatic environmental changes they wrought is a highly significant way to explore ideas of fragility and restoration. Such findings, like all the activities and findings of the forum, would be disseminated to the public through our meetings, e-newsletters and website, and magazine publications and press releases concerning the nature of prehistoric communities and their environments across the eastern end of the Anglo-Scottish border.