In the Shadow of Segsbury

January 2, 2024
This article is from Current Archaeology issue 407


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Large infrastructure schemes are often archaeologically exciting because they allow us to explore underlying features on a landscape scale. This comprehensive monograph summarises the results of one such excavation, by Cotswold Archaeology, where the creation of a new water pipeline in Oxfordshire prompted the investigation of an area of c.48ha, uncovering finds ranging from the Mesolithic to the Anglo-Saxon period. Highlights include possible post-built structures, an intriguing pit alignment, and Iron Age and Roman settlements, as well as two small cemeteries, one late Roman in date, the other Anglo-Saxon. We also learn of an unusual Iron Age burial in a re-purposed storage pit: that of a young woman who had been arranged with her arms above her head, her knees widely splayed, and her feet removed and placed beside her (see CA 352). Finds are first summarised by the area of the site and the historical period that they came from; there then follow in-depth discussions of the human remains (including genetic and isotope analysis, and the funerary practices that they reflect), artefacts, and environmental evidence.

Paolo Guarino and Alistair J Barclay
Cotswold Archaeology, £15.99
ISBN 978-1999822224

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