New Roman and prehistoric aerial discoveries at Grandford, Cambridgeshire.

New Roman and prehistoric aerial discoveries at Grandford, Cambridgeshire. The Romano-British settlement at Grandford lies northwest of thetown of March, in the heart of the Fens of eastern England. It straddlesthe `Fen Causeway', a Roman road that ran west-east across theFens, and which probably originated at the legionary vexillationfortress at Longthorpe, near Peterborough, held between c. AD 48 and61/62. Small-scale excavations between 1958 and 1968 demonstratedoccupation for much of the Roman period, down to the later 4th century,beginning at least as early as c. AD 65 (Potter & Potter 1982). Itwas suggested on various grounds that the settlement may have startedlife as a Roman fort, constructed in the aftermath of the greatrebellion of AD 60-61, led by Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni (Potter 1981:85-7). This hypothesis has now been strikingly confirmed by aerialphotographs taken in July 1999. However, the remains are of not one, buttwo superimposed forts of different sizes, the larger measuring some 140x 100 m., suitable for an auxiliary unit of 500 soldiers. They aresituated within the bend of a now extinct river, the silt spreads fromwhich were present at the base of the excavated areas, themselveslocated a short distance to the south of the forts; an elderlyman's skeleton, with a 1st-century brooch broochOrnamental pin with a clasp to attach it to a garment. Brooches developed from the Greek and Roman fibula, which resembled a decorative safety pin and was used as a fastening for cloaks and tunics. , was found in 1962embedded within them, face down, probably drowned. An immediately post-Boudiccan date for the later fort (whicheverthat was) remains plausible, and is further supported by the recentdiscovery by metal detectorists of items of 1st-century armour. Butthere is also a possible historical context for the first fort. Tacitus(Annals 12.31) describes an earlier Icenian revolt, in AD 47, thedenouement de��noue��mentalso d����noue��ment ?n.1. a. The final resolution or clarification of a dramatic or narrative plot.b. of which is likely to have taken place at Stonea Camp, 9 kmto the southeast (Jackson & Potter 1996: 43-4). There is littleevidence otherwise for much of a military presence in Iceni territory(which was accorded the status of a client kingdom), and ordinarypolicing was clearly thought unnecessary. The Fen Causeway Fen Causeway or the Fen Road is the modern name for a Roman road of England that runs between Denver in the east and Peterborough in the west. Its path covers 24 miles, passing March and Eldernell (near Whittlesey) before joining the major Roman north-south route Ermine can thus beseen as a military road, constructed in the aftermath of insurrection, apoint further underlined by the recent identification, by R. Palmer(pers. comm.), of another probable fort along its route, at Eldernell, 7km to the west of Grandford. The new photographs of Grandford also document significantprehistoric activity. There are indications that there may have been thewestern terminus of what looks very much like a cursus, with a width ofc. 60 m; interestingly, the Roman ditches follow its alignment. Inaddition, there is a ringwork, some 50 m in diameter, with traces ofprobable post-settings or a second slight ditch within it. This wouldappear to be either a form of henge monument Archaeologists use the term henge monument to describe a site where a henge is combined with other features such as stone circles, standing stones, barrows, cairns or timber circles.It is different from a hengiform monument which does not involve a true henge. or a large barrow. Theidentifications are supported by Neolithic and Bronze Age Bronze Age,period in the development of technology when metals were first used regularly in the manufacture of tools and weapons. Pure copper and bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, were used indiscriminately at first; this early period is sometimes called the flint toolsthat occurred residually in excavated Romano-British layers. In short,Grandford, which has been continuously cultivated since itslong-standing pasture was first broken up on 1967, is slowly yieldingsome remarkable new discoveries, as the plough bites ever deeper --revealing, yet ruining, past landscapes. References JACKSON, R.P.J. & T.W. POTTER. 1996. Excavations at Stonea,Cambridgeshire 1980-85. London: British Museum British Museum,the national repository in London for treasures in science and art. Located in the Bloomsbury section of the city, it has departments of antiquities, prints and drawings, coins and medals, and ethnography. Press. POTTER, T.W. 1981. The Roman occupation of the central Fenland,Britannia 12:79-133. POTTER, T.W. & C.F. POTTER. 1982. A Romano-British village atGrandford, March, Cambs. London: British Museum. Occasional paper 35. B. ROBINSON, Peterborough Museum & Art Gallery, Priestgate,Peterborough PE1 1LF, England