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To locate the source(s) of the Roman building materials re-used in the church of St John the Baptist, Reedham, Norfolk, survey by ground-penetrating radar within the church and churchyard identified areas of potential interest. These were investigated by small-scale excavation. Roman fabric employing Leziate grey quartzite rock, and brick and tile, was found in two locations about 25 m apart. The style of Roman build is consistent with that of a military structure such as the Saxon Shore fort at Brancaster built using the same stone as at Reedham. Tenth-century pottery was found incorporated in patches of mortar flooring located in one trench within the outline of a rectangular structure, c. 11.5 m by 3.75 m, partly confirmed by excavation and aligned parallel with the north wall of the nave. Radiocarbon dates give an approximate terminus post quem for the mortar floor of the mid-seventh to mid-eighth century. The trench was situated opposite a stretch of nave wall built solely of Roman brick and tile and cut by an arch of c. 1200, subsequently blocked c. 1300. Our results suggest an Early Medieval side chapel or porticus built against the north wall of an Early (mid-seventh to mid-eighth-century) Medieval church. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rose Ferraby & Martin Millett. 2020. Isurium Brigantum: an archaeological survey of Roman Aldborough (Research Reports of the Society of Antiquaries of London 81). London: Society of Antiquaries of London; [...]

Determining the internal layout of archaeological structures and their uses has always been challenging, particularly in timber-framed or earthen-walled buildings where doorways and divisions are difficult to trace. In temperate conditions, soil-formation processes may hold the key to understanding how buildings were used. The abandoned Roman town of Silchester, UK, provides a case study for testing a new approach that combines experimental archaeology and micromorphology. The results show that this technique can provide clarity to previously uncertain features of urban architecture. Keywords: Roman Britain, urban structures, chronologies of architecture, formation processes, Introduction A new approach has been developed to reconstruct the architectural layouts of timber-framed and earthen-walled early Roman urban structures. Unlike masonry buildings with clearly defined walls, the interpretation of [...]