Oxbow Spring 2013.pdf - Oxbow Books

A Road Through the Past
Archaeological discoveries on the A2 Pepperhill to Cobham road-scheme in Kent
Alan Hardy (Author); Kelly Powell (Author); Tim Allen (Author); Michael Donnelly (Author)
Excavations along the new road line have revealed nearly 6000 years of human
activity, from a massive marker post erected by early Neolithic farmers at the
head of a dry valley to a bizarre burial of several different animals dating to
the sixteenth century AD. Most exciting were rich cremation burials of the late
Iron Age and early Roman periods, probably successive generations of a local
family, whose rise to prominence coincides with the growth of the cult centre at
Springhead nearby. The metal vessels include types new to Britain, the pottery
stamps suggest the movement of continental potters to Kent, and one grave has
the clearest evidence of furniture yet found from early Roman Britain. Medieval
settlements of the late 11th–14th centuries mirror the renewed importance of
Watling Street after the Norman conquest, and its eventual return to obscurity
due to competition from the ferry from London to Gravesend.
9780904220681, £32.00, Available Now
HB, 620p, 267 illus & 91 plates (mostly colour), OA Monograph Series 16, Oxford Archaeology
British Archaeology – Multi-Period Excavations
10
From Mesolithic to Motorway
The Archaeology of the M1 (Junction 6a–10) Widening Scheme, Hertfordshire
Andrew Simmonds (Editor); Paul Booth (Editor); Dan Stansbie (Editor); Valerie Diez (Editor)
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.
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.
9780904220650, £20.00, January 2013
PB, 230p, 110 illus., Oxford Archaeology Monographs 14, Oxford Archaeology
London Gateway
Iron Age and Roman salt making in the Thames Estuary, Excavation at Stanford
Wharf Nature Reserve, Essex
Edward Biddulph (Editor); Elizabeth Stafford (Editor); Stuart Foreman (Editor); Dan
Stansbie (Editor)
Excavation by Oxford Archaeology in 2009 during construction of the Stanford
Wharf Nature Reserve, funded and supported by the developer, DP World London
Gateway, uncovered remarkable evidence for Iron Age and Roman-period salt
making and associated activities. Structures included a probable boathouse,
unique in Roman Britain. The excavations shed new and important light on
evolving methods of salt production, which reflect wider changes in economy and
society in the Thames Estuary between c. 400 BC and AD 400. Salt had a particular
economic importance in the ancient world as a food preservative – changing scale
and methods of production provide an essential background for understanding
processes such as urbanisation, civilian trade and military supply.
9789491431074, £42, August 2012
9780904220711, £20.00, January 2013
HB, 475p, Groningen Archaeological Studies 19, Barkhuis
HB, 209p, 178 (mostly col.), Oxford Archaeology Monographs 18, Oxford Archaeology