Tracing routeways through accidental losses

Suggested period: ROMAN

It is often suggested that lost roads trackways could be re-discovered by meticulously plotting linear scatters of finds. Roman roads are thought to be particularly amenable to this approach, due to the large amounts of easily recognisable material culture from this period, particularly coins. But little structured research has actually taken place to confirm the validity of this approach. An undergraduate dissertation could take a known (but disused) Roman road and look at the finds signature along its length; a PhD could look at the entire concept of movement around the countryside and how this might be visible through portable antiquities. Active researchers in the field include Martin Bell at Reading and several at the University of East Anglia, for example James Albone and Sarah Harrison.

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Created by: Helen Geake
Created: 5 years ago