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Reductions in the cost of transporting manufactured goods have been an important element in economic development in the recent past, and previous research suggests that the Roman period in Britain also saw substantial reductions in such costs. The authors investigate how far it is possible to measure changes in transport costs by considering the spatial distributions of pottery from known Roman production locations over time. Their analysis of an extensive database of pottery assemblages is designed to evaluate a series of expectations concerning how reductions in transport costs may have affected such assemblages and their distribution. Results suggest that costs were reduced by a factor of about two, leading to related changes in pottery production, distribution, and consumption over time. The ability to quantify changes in transport costs opens new perspectives for investigating the general determinants of economic development using archaeological data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies investigating changes in domestic architecture from the Iron Age to the Roman period in the northwestern provinces of the Roman empire have often suggested an important degree of continuity in domestic social relations, although the province of Mediterranean Gaul, Gallia Narbonensis, has been underrepresented in these studies. This article employs access analysis to compare domestic space in Mediterranean Gaul at three preconquest Iron Age settlements (ca. 500–50 BCE) and five Roman-period houses from the first–second centuries CE. This analysis suggests that many Roman houses in Gallia Narbonensis helped structure quite different forms of daily social interactions and encounters through important changes in the physical organization of domestic space. In particular, the communitarian organization of domestic space for the Iron Age settlements seems to have encouraged daily encounters within and between domestic groups through shared, communal spaces, rather than separating social units into coherent sets of rooms that in a modern setting we would consider “houses.” By contrast, in the Roman period internally organized domestic spaces emphasized specialization and internal divisions, structuring socioeconomic distinctions, and in doing so, signaled an important social rupture that contrasts with other provinces of Gaul. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During excavations at the Hellenistic-Roman port of Berenike (on the Red Sea coast of Egypt) in the winter of 2019, work in the so-called Northern Complex documented a religious space from the Late Roman period. The excavation of a portion of this space recorded material that, together with the architecture, suggests a ritual function associated with a falcon cult. This study examines the features of this edifice and the interpretation of the religious materials found in it and proposes a possible relationship with the Blemmyan population who lived in Berenike between the fourth and sixth centuries CE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the article is to assess the significance of a solitary find of a Roman bronze barrel-shaped bucket and a handle from another bronze vessel. Besides a necessary artefactual analysis, the authors also pay attention to palynological findings and mainly to the interpretation of the find, whose location on a spur above the river Dyje is unusual, without any confirmed relations to the surrounding barbarian settlement from the Roman Period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An unexcavated ancient building in the ruins of the Arab village of Sejara is tentatively identified as a synagogue from the Roman or Late Roman period. This suggestion is based on architectural fragments found on the site, in the modern village Ilaniya and at a nearby moshav, as well as an inscription in secondary use photographed in the 1920s. The surviving portion of the dedicatory text seems to mention two women with Latin names, Lucilla and Sacerdotilla, the second being quite rare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Late Roman and the Early Migration Periods, i.e. the 4th and the early 5th centuries AD, in the Polish Western Carpathians, especially in the Sącz Basin, the adjacent Sącz Beskid Mts and Wyspowy Beskid Mts as well as in the Krosno-Jasło Basin, a significant intensification of settlement is observed. The area has been investigated through archaeological surface surveys and excavations; in the Sącz region, five sites have been excavated with the results published to date. This text presents the results of test excavation at yet another site, Podegrodzie 7, Nowy Sącz district. In the feature investigated there a rare jug ornamented with glossed triangles, several storage vessels of the Krausengefäße type, as well as some organic remains were discovered. Palaeobotanical analysis has shown that common barley (Hordeum vulgare) was the predominant species cultivated by the inhabitants of this territory. The radiocarbon date obtained from a charcoal sample corresponds to the chronology of the site determined by the ceramics typology. The results of the excavation at Podegrodzie 7 site are complemented with a map presenting the location of settlement in that area in the Late Roman and the Early Migration Periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers the stadium-gymnasium complex at Messene, built in the third century BCE, as an architectural unity and as a vehicle for the assertion of civic identity among Messenians, both young and old. Through the published archaeological and epigraphical evidence, the discussion examines the complex's situation in the landscape, the east and west stoas, and the propylon in light of this aspect of the gymnasium's function. Special attention is paid to the monumental Hellenistic tombs on the west and to the extensive changes made to the west stoa in the Roman period. The results show how the remains of the gymnasium reflect dynamic processes of remembering and forgetting, and illustrate attempts by various elite families in the Hellenistic and Early Roman periods to position themselves at the center of official civic memory through changes to the building's fabric. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current advances in spatial simulation bring unprecedented possibilities for spatiotemporal modeling. In this paper, we focus on modeling the impact of settlement on land use in the Roman period in the Dutch river area, on the northern frontier of the Roman Empire. During this period, the area witnessed a strong population increase that put more demands on the available land to produce food, not only for the local population, but also for the soldiers stationed on the frontier and the citizens of the newly founded towns. We compare an agent-based model (ABM) of agricultural production in the region (ROMFARMS), and a model using the Past Land Use Scanner (PLUS. Both were used to estimate the effects of increased agricultural demand through simulations of food production, taking into account the available workforce and the productivity and availability of suitable land. However, how should we evaluate the model outcomes? What are the advantages and limitations of each? We discuss issues of scale, temporal resolution and model inputs, together with questions of technical implementation and validation. In this way, we aim to point the way to future researchers to implement these approaches effectively in other contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the late Avar period (eighth to ninth century ad), vast quantities of utilitarian artefacts were produced in series in the Carpathian Basin, a phenomenon not seen since the end of the Roman period. The distribution of these articles reflects not only the region's settlement pattern, but also how these artefacts were disseminated. The communication network in the Carpathian Basin underwent a significant transformation between the early and late Avar period: its major nodes, equated with population centres but not necessarily with elite centres, contributed to moulding a social and cultural milieu that included specialized craftsmen. An early single hub in southern Transdanubia was replaced by multiple centres by the late Avar period. Around ad 700, a bipolar settlement pattern emerges in the southern part of the Carpathian Basin. It seems that the Great Hungarian Plain began to play an equal, if not dominant, role in the communication network of the Carpathian Basin at this time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study discusses the inventory of finds from a sunken house that decayed in the last third of the 3rd c. or the first half of the 4th c. The feature was investigated in 2010. The backfill layers contain a relatively large number of archaeological finds - pottery, glass, bronze, iron, bone and antler artefacts. Specifically, the collection of finds includes a coin, bone and bronze needles, spindle whorls, an amulet, iron knives, nails and fragments of tools. The analysis of pottery shows that the majority of ceramics were used for dining purposes while larger vessels - storage containers - are rare. Only a minor part of the pottery finds from the feature are Roman imports. Special attention is paid to the iron amulet box and the fragment of a clay vessel with a rooster-like (or hen-like) spout. The research together with other surveys in the Upper Žitava region corroborates the view that - contrary to previous beliefs - the region was densely settled from the end of the 2nd c. to the 5th c. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article concerns large storage vessels (Krausengefäße) from the Late Roman Period and the Early Migration Period, found in large numbers in the Polish West Carpathians. Traditionally, it has been assumed that they were used to store grain. It seems, however, that storage vessels found inside houses probably were local 'pantries' - places used to keep various agricultural and gathered produce and its products, intended for direct consumption. They were probably also used to store drinking water. Storage vessels dug into the ground outside houses may have served as local reservoirs of water for consumption or pottery manufacture. The water might have been brought to the settlement in other, smaller, 'storage' vessels. On the other hand, ground granaries and pits dug in the ground, properly secured against birds, rodents and postharvest pests, were much more suitable for long-term grain storage. The characteristic rim of the Krausengefäße vessels, shaped as a flange, was undoubtedly functional and connected to the vessel's closure system. It was an element of a tight cover whose function was to make access to the inside of the vessel as difficult as possible. The lid was probably made of organic material, thick textile of leather, which - once placed over the vessel and tied under the flange - tightly sealed the vessel. This flange-shaped rim was an important invention, which served to strengthen the edges of the vessel and allowed the vessel to be closed easily, quickly and tightly. It secured the contents during both transport and storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A silver shield-head bracelet and a silver eastern-type spring-cover fibula were found in Otaslavice through metal detector survey. Both artefacts are closely related to finds attributed to the Wielbark culture. Their dating conforms to phase B2a or the second third of the 2nd c., respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses a single find of a Roman coin - a subaerat Gallienus antoninianus - a random find from the Pustý hrad (Deserted) Castle in Zvolen. The find corroborates the view that the site was settled in the Early or Late Roman Period. The coin is a Roman currency commonly used in trade with the Quadi. A thorough analysis of the coin allowed us to determine its age, method of production and interpret its historical context. So far, no similar contemporary finds of young subaerat antoninianus coins are known from the Danubian Barbaricum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Petra Garden and Pool Complex in the ancient city center has been dated based on stratigraphy and an array of diagnostic finds. The present study of the coarse wares from selected contexts at the site (augmented by amphorae and fine wares) aims to show corroborative evidence from the ceramic assemblage to support the dating of three major phases in the history of the complex: the construction of the monumental Nabataean garden and pool complex in the end of the 1st century BCE, the Roman renovations in the early 2nd century CE and, last but not least, the second destruction that ended the occupation of the complex, most probably at the end of the 6th century CE. The overall purpose of this paper is to contribute to the knowledge of Petra coarse ware pottery from the Nabataean and Roman periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses recent fieldwork at the Meroitic settlement site of Selib 2, a town located on the west bank of the Nile between the Third and Fourth Cataracts, investigated by the Banganarti/Selib Polish Archaeological Mission since 2010. The fieldwork was concentrated on uncovering the earliest occupation strata from the 1st/2nd centuries CE. Two mud-brick buildings were fully excavated, along with contemporaneous occupational horizons, yielding, among others, unique bell-shaped decorated vessels, a copper plate, and a female clay figurine. Storage jars used as ovens and cooking places were present in all phases and can be considered as a characteristic furnishing of the explored households. Moreover, an archaeological reconnaissance extended the boundaries of the settlement eastward, providing new data for studies of the settlement plan and its various stages of development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thin-walled cooking pottery of the early to late Roman period originating from the area of Morphou Bay in the northern part of Cyprus, excavated by the Paphos Agora Project of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, is studied in this paper in order to shed new light on the nature of the supply patterns of this extraordinary class of pottery. The collected data--on the macroscopic characteristic of the ware and shape--and a chronological analysis as well as quantitative study of the assemblage have indicated a continuous presence of this group in Nea Paphos, reflecting perhaps some sort of special social requirements combined with an economic background. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2023, a rescue archaeological excavation was conducted in Mayerova and Střední streets in the cadastral area of Modřice (Brno-Country District), uncovering a part of a Roman period Germanic settlement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thanks to the analysis of hooked pins in the Przeworsk culture, a new division of this category was introduced. A new typological classification of the hooked pins was made and their two types (1-2) and their subtypes (A-B) were defined. The article takes into account the territorial and chronological range of their occurrence, from the early Pre-Roman Period to Roman Period and the Migration Period. The function of the hooked pins is also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The site at Jawty Wielkie (NE Poland) was discovered in 2015. At that time, an iron razor and 50 copper alloy artefacts were found here, mostly brooches and bracelets, some of them with traces of burning. With the exception of the razor from the Late Pre-Roman Period, presumably of the Oksywie Culture, all the others are dated to the Roman Period and the Migration Period. They are probably traces of a previously unknown cemetery of the Wielbark Culture, established already at the end of phase B1. Thus, along with they confirm the earlier than previously thought settlement of this culture in the Iława Lake District. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the differentiation of Scandinavian gold ring ornaments with serpentine endings from the 3rd and 4th centuries CE. The results of the phylogenetic and CAPCA analysis were used here to re-examine the previous interpretation of political ties between the various regions of Scandinavia, within the "center-periphery" and gift-giving models. The special position of the power center in Zealand was also discussed. All the large ornaments of this type in the graves of the Zealand elites are characteristic of the western part of the Central Baltic zone. Therefore, a hypothesis was put forward that the Zealand elite belonged to the network of connections created by the elites from Gotland, Oland, and the eastern part of mainland Sweden. In this context, the subject of the causes of the crystallization of the Zealand power center was once again taken up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides the edition and commentary of two Punic and one Latin funerary inscription of Roman imperial date from inland areas of Tripolitania. The first two texts were discovered at Al-Brahama village in the vicinity of Al-Rujban in the Western Jebel district of Libya. The first is neo-Punic, the second is Latin. The neo-Punic inscription consists of seven lines, of which the first four lines are legible and their translation is unproblematic. However, the rest are illegible as a result of damage to the stone. The Latin inscription consists of four lines that are easy to read and translate. Finally a reinterpretation of an already published text (HNPI Tarhuna N1) from the area between Tarhuna and Garyan is presented, and some observations on tombs in the Jefara plain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By the time the Roman empire reached its greatest extent, in the early decades of the second century ad, wooden barrels were a key part of a trade network that supported a complex extended economy. These objects do not, however, routinely survive in the archaeological record and very few sites have yielded large, multi-phase, assemblages for study. Although relatively rare, individual finds and assemblages have been found sufficiently regularly to allow us to consider barrel production and use during the Roman period. These objects can have complex cultural biographies from their original production to their final deposition. Current and previous research at Vindolanda, a Roman fort in northern Britain at the edge of the Roman empire, provides a context for reflection on these objects and their biographies. Emphasis is given to whether this material demonstrates repeated, possibly habituated, practices of adaption and recycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reconstruction of last millennia Sea Surface Temperature (SST) evolution is challenging due to the difficulty retrieving good resolution marine records and to the several uncertainties in the available proxy tools. In this regard, the Roman Period (1 CE to 500 CE) was particularly relevant in the socio-cultural development of the Mediterranean region while its climatic characteristics remain uncertain. Here we present a new SST reconstruction from the Sicily Channel based in Mg/Ca ratios measured on the planktonic foraminifer Globigerinoides ruber. This new record is framed in the context of other previously published Mediterranean SST records from the Alboran Sea, Minorca Basin and Aegean Sea and also compared to a north Hemisphere temperature reconstruction. The most solid image that emerges of this trans-Mediterranean comparison is the persistent regional occurrence of a distinct warm phase during the Roman Period. This record comparison consistently shows the Roman as the warmest period of the last 2 kyr, about 2 °C warmer than average values for the late centuries for the Sicily and Western Mediterranean regions. After the Roman Period a general cooling trend developed in the region with several minor oscillations. We hypothesis the potential link between this Roman Climatic Optimum and the expansion and subsequent decline of the Roman Empire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we seek to explore the ways in which landscapes become venues not only for manipulations of the past in a present, but also for shaping possible futures. Considerations of temporality and being in the landscape have been more strongly focused on the past and social memory than the future, anticipation and projectivity, but these are vital considerations if we are to preserve the possibility that past people imagined alternative futures. A fruitful archaeological context for an exploration of past futures can be found in the choices people made during the late Iron Age and Roman period in Britain, which has an increasingly rich and high-resolution material record for complex changes and continuities during a period of cultural interactions and imperial power dynamics. More specifically, recent research into the architectural and material practices evident on rural settlement sites and across landscapes forces us to challenge preconceptions about the reactive/reactionary culture of rural societies. Case-studies from Kent and the West Country will be deployed to develop the argument that in the materializing of time, the future has a very significant part to play. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 55 B.C. Julius Caesar crossed into Britain and was immediately engaged in a unique style of warfare. The Iron Age Britons used sturdy and fast two-horse chariots to respond to Roman invasion. This article looks at the tactics of and analyzes aspects of the battle chariot. It assesses the capabilities of the people who fielded the chariot and the means used to sustain their resources and gauge their capabilities. Drawing on both classical and archaeological sources, this article presents a fuller account of Caesar's two trips to Britain in 55-54 B.C. and the British warfare he encountered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the ceramic repertoire of Al-Qārah al-Ḥamrā, a small settlement in the Fayyūm on the north shore of Lake Qārūn, dating from the Hellenistic to Early Roman period. A selection of wares discovered is discussed and broadens the picture of activities occurring at the site. The paper further contributes to the understanding of the infiltration of Greek ceramic shapes and influences, the impact this had on a local community, and the transition to Early Roman wares. The ceramics also evince the trade connections between the Fayyūm, and the rest of Egypt and the Mediterranean, indicating the extent of exchange and communication outside the Fayyūm. Comparisons with Karanis, Tebtynis, and other larger sites point to a similarly diverse repertoire of materials and further stress the interconnectedness of this region. Such analysis is particularly relevant considering the paucity of archaeological data from small-scale Fayyūm settlements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The creation of memory and place within landscapes has received considerable critical attention in archaeology in recent years, with a focus on power relations, social cohesion, and social memory. As yet, such notions have not been fully explored within Roman contexts, generally in the Eastern Mediterranean, and particularly within the Roman province of Syria. In this region, the well‐preserved Graeco‐Roman temples of Lebanon have long been interpreted as powerful symbols of the Roman period. However, because of this status, study of these impressive structures has centred primarily on certain aspects, for example, the 'Roman‐ness' of their architecture and the practical construction of their sacred landscapes. Utilizing notions of memory and power, place and performance, this paper seeks to move beyond such empirical analyses. Focusing on three case studies, it explores elements of the development of place through memory within the rural environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much has been written about the Petra Papyri since their discovery in 1993. However, little has been published on their connection with taxes, and our understanding of Petra and trade has changed considerably in the last couple of decades. The papyri provide plenty of information concerning the material culture of Byzantine Petra. The purpose of this paper is to review the economic and historical information in the papyri related to taxes on the land, and to understand the economic reality in Petra and its hinterland during the Byzantine period. The papyri indicate the existence of a stable society and continuity of human settlement in Petra and its neighbouring areas such as Udhruh and Al-Sadaqa, especially after the frequent earthquakes that threatened the region between the fourth- and seventh-centuries AD. It is clear from the papyri that there is an advanced tax system in the Petra region during the sixth-century AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The language of the Ancient Greek novelist, Achilles Tatius, is often described as 'Atticist' (that is, imitating or recalling the Attic dialect). To date, however, no precise analysis on the Atticist nature of his language has been undertaken. This paper will look at evidence for Atticist practices in Achilles Tatius' Leucippe and Clitophon as revealed by his choices relating to two groups of second declension words: contract nouns and adjectives and those of the so-called 'Attic declension'. Qualitatively, I will look at quotations from ancient grammarians and lexicographers regarding the Atticist nature of these morphological categories and individual words in these classes. Quantitatively, I will compare Achilles' actual use and preferences with those of other authors from both the Classical Attic and Hellenistic Koinē periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How diasporans tell the story of their origin in the homeland and how they came to their new home abroad is just as important as the historical context(s) in which the diaspora community was created. This study draws attention to one common strategy employed by Egyptian Jews in the Hellenistic and Roman periods (in the Letter of Aristeas, the writings of Philo of Alexandria, and 3 Maccabees) when remembering and (re)creating accounts of their origins in the diaspora in ways that legitimized life abroad: the use of diaspora-homeland connections and comparisons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article re-introduces the study of law in the Roman provinces into debates on Romanization 'from the periphery', bringing together evidence from both the Eastern and Western parts of the empire. The focus is on individuals who used Roman law in their private dealings before the Constitutio Antoniniana (212 CE): how they used Roman law, why they did so, and whether or not their usage can be regarded as the kind of provincial agency that has been emphasized in recent studies of Romanization. The argument is based on documents reflecting private legal practice. Although there are important differences in both the number and type of such documents in the Eastern and Western provinces, the same methodology can fruitfully be applied across the empire. It then becomes apparent that, at least in the first decades after provincialization, individuals' reactions to the availability of Roman legal instruments were rather similar in the East and West. By employing Roman legal instruments that should have been reserved for Roman citizens, non-citizens in the provinces could assert a higher status than they in fact possessed. Roman law became a tool that locals could and did use to advance their own, individual goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most surprising omissions in Philo's retelling of Moses's life in his De vita Moysis is the Sinai pericope. The Alexandrian omitted Exod 17:14-Num 20:13 with the exception of the spy story (Num 13:1-14:45). There appear to be three reasons for the omission. First, Philo recognized the doublet of the story of the water from the rock (Exod 17:1-7//Num 20:1-13). This provided a narrative rationale for the omission. Second, he routinely omitted place names from his narrative, an ars narrandi that helped to universalize the text. Third, the omission enabled him to avoid the association of Sinai with the covenant. Philo retold the story of Moses, but turned Moses outward into the larger world rather than inward to his own community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers an overview of the habitation history of the basin of Ioannina Epirus, from the Early Iron Age to the Roman period. The numerous settlements in this region experienced continuous, often uninterrupted, habitation from the Late Bronze Age to the Hellenistic or even Roman Imperial period. The foundation of fortified settlements/acropoleis in the late fourth to early third century BC should no longer be interpreted as a result of a synoecism , since unfortified villages continued to flourish. From the Augustan period onwards, Romans seem to have settled in the area, although it is also possible that the local population adopted Roman habits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study which looked at Roman Britain and its key to understanding the historiographical debates of Edmund Spencer's time. Information on the Roman Britain section of the Briton Moniments; Spenser's acknowledgement of the direction historiography was taking; Alterations of the relationship between history and glory; Ammunition against Geoffrey of Monmouth's medieval myths.

In recent decades, archaeologists in regions such as Germany, Italy, and France have developed an increasingly robust approach to the identification of early churches and thus dismissed a number of formerly misidentified examples in the process. In Britain, however, various supposed "churches" discovered in the twentieth century continue to be referred to as such despite a lack of strong evidence to substantiate this. One such example is a structure found at Butt Road, Colchester. In this article, the issues surrounding the interpretation of this building as a church are revisited and enhanced, while it is illustrated why other interpretations, such as a "pagan funerary banqueting hall," are also unlikely. Following this, the possibility that the building served as a mithraeum is put forward, for mithraea offer stronger parallels that account for the building's size and structure, as well as its faunal and small-find assemblages. As such, it will highlight the need to revisit other previously identified "churches" from Roman Britain and to apply a more rigorous analysis, which may yield alternative conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers an overview of what every theologian and scholar of religion should know about changes in biblical studies that have taken place concerning the past depreciation of Second Temple Judaism, the use of newly discovered sources and their implications, as well as integrative approaches to top-down (reflected beliefs, prescribed practices, textual sources) and bottom-up (intuitive beliefs, lived practices, material culture) processes. Changes in the field lead to the re-writing of the history of the Bible and of Judaean society in the Greco-Roman context. By means of this co-authored research article, we wish to demonstrate the benefit of, as well as the need for, interdisciplinary work in the study of antiquity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aisled hall at North Warnborough has attracted attention as one of a handful of examples frequently included in surveys and analyses of this common architectural type as well as for arguments related to the gendered use of space. This article presents a new architectural analysis of this building and attempts to set it within its immediate and wider archaeological and geological landscape context. A theoretically informed interpretation of the social significance of this site is offered, which has broader implications for the studies of Romano-British architecture, rural settlement, and landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archaeology has been firmly embedded in the British planning systems for over a quarter of century, and development-led fieldwork is now by far the largest source of new information available to researchers. Custom and practice in the way that such work is conducted has evolved over this time, yet methodological innovation has been surprisingly limited. Using the data gathered in a major survey of the rural settlement of Roman Britain, this paper explores some themes in the way that commercial work is undertaken and seeks to open up a long-overdue debate about professional practice in a development-led context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]