WHY WESSEX? THE AVON ROUTE AND RIVER TRANSPORT IN LATER BRITISH PREHISTORY

Summary. Starting from some speculations on Celtic hydronymy, this article investigates the importance of rivers as arteries of movement and traffic in prehistoric times — by contrast with the popular mis‐impression of routes along ‘ridgeways'. It suggests that an axis from the central South Coast to the Severn estuary was important in giving access to western Britain by avoiding the difficult sea passage around Land's End. This, together with its cross‐Channel access to the Continent via Normandy, explains the potential importance of Wessex. It is thus comparable in its position to the lower Thames valley, with which it tended to alternate as a focus of economic and cultural development until the greater capacity of the Thames gateway gave the latter river a decisive advantage.