In 1991 Spitalfields Market in London's East End was relocated, paving the way for one of the largest and most complex excavations ever launched in London, taking place on a site measuring almost thirteen acres. This superb book tells the story of the excavation and the 2000-year history of the area from the Roman period to the present day. Details on the finds recovered, and the methods and recording systems used, are interspersed with a narrative history of the site. The book begins with the Roman burial ground and the remains of a wealthy Roman woman and her sarcophagus which became the focus of a memorable episode of Meet the Ancestors . The book then moves on to the medieval period and the 12th-century hospital which was founded at Spitalfields along with its church, infirmaries and other buildings, and burials. Finds from this period are supplemented with broader discussion of life in medieval London, such as disease and medicine, and the changing landscape around the site. During the Reformation, the hospital and priory were closed but the story of the site continued. The land was taken by the Crown, parts of the site were leased, most notably as artillery ground, with new housing and cottage industries to follow. Finds dating to the English Civil War, evidence relating to the transformation of the site from an aristocractic enclave to a suburb of immigrants, the redevelopment of the area in the 17th and 18th centuries, through to the opening of Spitalfields Market in 1682, brings us full circle.

North west England has largely been neglected in studies of medieval landscapes in favour of the Midlands and East Anglia although it has much to offer. Described here as a `frontier landscape' encompassing the modern regions of Lancashire, Cheshire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester, the author discusses changes to the medieval landscape and why these occurred. He outlines and characterises the major period of expansion and economic boom that took place in the north west from 1086 to 1349 and asks why political and military matters seen to have had such an important role in landscape change. Issues of perceived marginality are also discussed as Higham looks in turn at the local population and their environment, land use and agrarian practices, woodland, forest and pasture, buildings, farms and estates, markets and fairs and the Church and the landscape. A great addition to the series.

Walking through the British countryside often leaves you with numerous questions and no means of finding the answers in one, readily accessible place. This new encyclopedia by Richard Muir contains almost 1,000 entries which provide explanations of terms, features and concepts connected with the history and archaeology of the landscape. Short definitions and descriptions are joined by longer discussions of themes, concepts and approaches such as the origins of the village green, the parish, milestones, and the meaning of words Dalloch, souterrain and watergate. A useful aid for those investigating the landscape and a handy reference for those who seek a more informed landscape experience.

Funded by English Heritage, the Humber Wetlands Project (1992-2000) sought to identify, survey and study the archaeology of an extensive wetland area of the Humber basin lowlands. This book draws on the findings of that project, placing them within the context of other research carried out in the area and evidence from other regions. The well-preserved archaeological remains document the occupation and exploitation of the area over thousands of years and, in this book, Robert Van de Noort traces how human use and perceptions of the wetlands has changed over the last 10,000 years. What he reveals is that the area has been exploited as a locale for settlement, for its natural resources, its waterways and its role as a spiritual place associated with ancestor cults, since prehistory. The archaeological evidence pointed to profound changes in the use and perception of the wetlands with the arrival of the Romans and with perhaps a retreat to higher ground during the medieval period in response to sea-level changes.

The Peak District has been inhabited by humans for tens of thousands of years, beginning the process that irreperably changed the shape of the landscape. This volume focuses on this relationship between human settlers and farmers and the landscape showing how both have been affected by the other. Following a brief examination of the earliest evidence for hunter-gatherers, principally stone artefacts and cave sites, the authors focus on the activity that, more than anything else, has shaped the landscape that we see today, agriculture. The study searches for evidence of the earliest farmers in the remains of fields, structures, sacred monuments and burials, including over 500 barrows. The authors trace fluctuations in farmers' fortunes, especially during the Iron Age when the climate changed for the worse. Supported by maps, photographs and illustrations, the book discusses the impact of hillforts and the Romans, the increase in mining, Christian monuments, the creation of villages, the uses of woodland, common ground and enclosed areas, the introduction of turnpike roads and the industrial monuments of the 18th and 19th centuries. This is more of a chronological survey than an in-depth study of the Peak District although the narrative is informative if rather impersonal.

For over 500 years, from the middle Iron Age to the early Roman period, the 1st gravel terrace of the river Thames at Thornhill Farm appears to have been lived in and worked as a cattle ranch. Extensive excavations by Oxford Archaeology between 1986 and 1989 revealed large parts of the settlement, including paddocks, stock enclosures and droveways, all designed to control and manage the herds of animals. Evidence for domestic houses points to small family groups living at the site and tending to the livestock. The surrounding gravel terraces and floodplain would have formed open pastureland, upon which lay a number of other settlements, some of which were also operating specialist pastoral economies. The settlement at Thornhill Farm was constantly being developed and remodelled until the early 2nd century AD, when it was replaced by a series of trackways and some of the earliest hay meadows in Britain. What happened to the inhabitants of Thornhill Farm at this time is unknown, but it seems likely that the whole settlement was subsumed into a larger agricultural estate based at neighbouring Claydon Pike. The excavations at Thornhill Farm formed part of a co-ordinated archaeological response to the threat posed by gravel extraction during the creation of the Cotswold Water Park. This book presents the results of this phase of work, and discusses the significance of the site within the local and regional landscape.

This volume presents the results of work from five separate developer-funded excavations between 1992-8. Bronze Age field ditches were sealed by domestic buildings relating to the expansion of early Roman London after AD 70, contemporary with the timber amphitheatre located nearby beneath the Guildhall. The masonry fort was built in the early 2nd century AD and there was no evidence of a long-suspected predecessor. The fort's buildings seem to have gone out of use around the end of the 2nd century AD and its southern defensive ditch was backfilled. Extensive reoccupation came with the establishment of burgage plots after AD 1050. Twelfth-century development included buildings with cellars and evidence of bone- and metalworking. Birds of prey and high-quality pottery and glass imply the presence of a high-status person or property in the 13th century, but little survies from after this time.

In 1995 a second phase of excavations was undertaken by Oxford Archaeological Unit (OAU) at Reading Business Park in advance of development. This volume reports on the occupation evidence they found dating to the Neolithic, Bronze Age and medieval periods. The Neolithic features included an unusual segmented ring ditch, and a number of pits and postholes, with associated flint assemblages dating to the late Neolithic. A field system, composed of rectangular boundary ditches, was laid out in the area prior to the establishment of the late Bronze Age settlement. The evidence for the late Bronze Age settlement included five roundhouses, and a number of post-built structures. The excavators also found numerous deposits of burnt flint that were made in one area in the later Bronze Age, and over time these grew into a substantial and unusually large elongated burnt mound. The authors discuss the origin of these deposits, together with the management of the overall landscape in the later Bronze Age.

Wimbotsham is one of more than 400 moated sites in Norfolk and was investigated ahead of a sewer being laid by the local water company. This report on the excavation and associated archival research reveals Wimbotsham as a moated rectory, most probably built by the de Warenne family at the end of the 12th century. The excavation found two earth building platforms, a series of internal drainage channels, remains of a 13th- or 14th-century timber-framed building and an assemblage of finds that included domestic and some high-status objects. The site went into decline in the 15th and 16th centuries and was abandoned by 1626.

This is a corpus of the best-preserved earthworks in Norfolk grassland. Each site plan is accompanied by descriptive text and a summary of the documentary evidence. The settlement earthworks are almost entirely medieval and include deserted villages and the more numerous shrunken settlements as well as manorial sites where more than a single moated platform survives. Monastic sites and castles where, in some instances, additional earthworks have been found, form two important sections. Water features include some fishponds together with plans of Norfolk's few water meadows. Ridge and furrow, another rarity in the county, also appears and the survey ends with a selection of parkland earthworks.

A thorough and detailed report on the excavation of a low-status Roman site in advance of gravel extraction in Boreham, 8 km to the north-east of Chelmsford. Whilst briefly discussing prehistoric evidence at the site relating to Neolithic deposits, early to middle Bronze Age ring-ditches, a late Bronze Age settlement and an early Iron Age building, the main focus is on the 2nd- to 4th-century Roman villa and associated settlements and deposits. The Roman aisled villa and house was found to be set within a ditched compound with a network of fields and enclosures and also encompassing a bath-house and ancillary buildings including a granary and workshop or store. The methodology and results of the excavation are rpesented in detail and analysis of finds, zoological and botanical remains attest to the economy and means of production in the site as well as its wider significance for the area. Summaries in English, French and German.

A policy document from the Association of Local Government Archaeological Officers. Its objcetives are: to provide a quick reference on standards applicable to fieldwork and subsequent activities; to provide a statement of philosophy on fieldwork, standards and research frameworks; to implement PPG guidelines; to improve standards, and to provide a benchmark for monitoring and assessing projects. The document is also available as a PDF on line at www. eaareports.org.uk, look under ALGAO.

This richly illustrated volume presents important new evidence for early modern industry and settlement at two sites in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Taken together, the Richmond and Mortlake sites provide valuable evidence of the great increase in development occurring in small towns on the outskirts of London from the mid 17th century. Excavation at 29-34 George St, Richmond also drew on a historical study of documentary evidence, showing the town's development from the 15th century onwards. Looking at several sites in Mortlake uncovered significant evidence pertaining to the post-medieval industry that arose here, and even included excavation of a First World War shell-filling factory.

This volume is the second of several volumes presenting previously unpublished findings relating to Roman Southwark. This looks at an extensive sequence of Roman metalworking workshops and hearths, from the late 1st-late 4th centuries AD. The book is split into discussions of the metalworking industry, the period covered, and an analysis of the finds and is extensively illustrated throughout.

The excavation at 201 Bishopsgate in 1998-9 uncovered evidence for Londinium's northern cemetery, roadside occupation along Roman Ermine Street, and medieval and later development to the west of Bishopsgate. This area has been extensively used and re-used, from burials to refuse-disposal to houses, as London has expanded. This volume documents the excavation with many pictures and tables, as well as extensive descriptions and discussions of the excavation at each stage.

The river crossing and access to the River Thames were major influences on the siting of Roman Southwark, where Watling Street and Stane Street converged. Excavations at Courage's Brewery revealed an archaeological sequence dating back to Prehistoric times. The Roman remains begin from AD40-55 and show the development of the site from the 1st to the 4th centuries, as the area increased in wealth before the occupation phase ended to be replaced with a cemetery. This excavation report provides important new information about the development of Roman Southwark, leading the way for further publication and research.