ENGINEERS carrying out flood repair work have uncovered what archaeologists believe was the Roman version of the M62.
An Environment Agency team preparing the flood defences at Corbridge, in Northumberland, have discovered part of a ramp leading to a Roman bridge over the River Tyne.
The section of retaining wall indicates the presence of a Roman road along the south bank of the river.
Historians believe the find is of national significance because it is the first evidence of an East-West road in the area and may have been the Roman equivalent of today's modern trans-Pennine route. It was discovered during work to reinforce a stretch of bank damaged in January's floods.
Would someone please tell me how Hopksi and others do the "here", "BBC" and "Telegraph" type of link, where it takes you straight into the item? Can't work it out.
Ancient Welsh history has been turned on its head by the discovery of a huge Roman fort.
Archaeologists using special equipment to scan underneath the countryside have confirmed that a 2,000-year-old settlement at Dinefwr in Carmarthenshire would have been a huge centre of Roman military might.
Spanning an area greater than two rugby pitches, it indicates controlling our ancestors was far harder work than had previously been believed.
Emma Plunkett Dillon, the National Trust in Wales's archaeologist, said, 'At Dinefwr we appear to have one of the most significant Roman archaeological landscapes in Wales preserved under the turf and invisible on the surface.
'The forts are shown to be associated with roads, a civilian settlement and a possible bathhouse and the quality is remarkable.
'The site has the potential to enhance and possibly rewrite our understanding of the Roman conquest of Wales.'
Remains were initially discovered in 2003, but only now has it been brought to light just how large the settlement is.
Two overlapping Roman forts at the site almost certainly date to the 1st century AD.
The later fort was surrounded by an impressive set of defences. The earlier fort was even bigger and could be the largest garrison fort ever found in Wales.
The forthcoming dig is part of a project to restore the landscape of Dinefwr Park and Castle.
Gwilym Hughes, of Cambria Archaeology, said, 'The discovery could transform our understanding of the Roman conquest of South-West Wales and our intention is to determine the character of the buried archaeology through this work.
'Although we can tell a lot from the geophysical survey, excavation will provide the critical dating evidence from items such as coins and pottery that may confirm when the forts were built and abandoned.'
The organisation's Dr Nikki Cook added, 'We knew about the Roman settlements in the area, but this means the idea that most of the Welsh were happy about Roman occupation does not ring true.
'They wouldn't have had such a huge military facility, with the ability to contain so many legionaries, if they didn't need them.
'Most of the population were eventually Romanised, because there were a lot of benefits to it, but it may not be until a lot later than we had thought.'
Tony Robinson and the Time Team will be filming live from the excavation on July 2 and 3 as part of their 'Big Roman Dig' week.
There will also be two public open days, on Saturday, July 9, and Saturday, July 16.
Henge protest petitions presentedTWO new petitions with 7,500 signatures calling for a halt to quarrying near the Thornborough Henges have been handed to North Yorkshire County Council. Nearly 5,500 signed up from all over the world to an online petition organised by the Friends of Thornborough, while a conventional paper petition was signed by more than 2,000 people from across the county. The petition stated: "The internationally important Thornborough Moor and its surrounding area with its natural, historic, hydrological and archaeological features are under threat from quarrying. Please sign below if you are opposed to such developments." John Lowry, chairman of The Friends of Thornborough, said the huge amount of opposition to quarrying around Thornborough Henges cannot be ignored. "The voice of both local people and international opinion is clear and unequivocal, and no amount of words by Tarmac can change that fact!" he said. "Such unprecedented public opinion cannot be ignored by our elected councillors, who must now prove they have changed their attitude to heritage preservation by voting to reject Tarmac's application to extend its present quarry on to Ladybridge Farm. "As long as this mining company retains ownership of Thornborough Moor and its gravel deposits, the spotlight of concerned world opinion will remained focused on North Yorkshire." But Tarmac estates manager, Bob Nicholson, claimed opponents had been mis-informed. "Much of the opposition to our planning application has been generated through the spreading of mis-information and one only has to look at the Friends of Thornborough website to see this, as it describes areas of Thornborough Moor adjacent to the Henges as 'proposed quarry' – when the application site is actually at Ladybridge Farm, more than half a mile away from the nearest henge." He added: "May we reiterate that the henges and the area around them are already scheduled protected monuments, there is absolutely no plan to quarry the henges, and the planning application is not for Thornborough Moor - the area around the henges. "Our application seeks to continue a long established existing sand and gravel quarry operating under archaeological monitoring on an area of agricultural land where an extensive professional archaeological survey has found only limited evidence of Mesolithic and Neolithic artefacts such as flint arrowheads, which can be preserved by record and conserved for further study." l See Letters, page 7 24 June 2005
KCC Latest news 400,000-year-old hand axe cuts it for Swanscombe 23 June 2005
Date of press photo call: Wednesday 29 June
Time: 11am (speeches at 11.15, opening ceremony 11.45)
Location: Swanscombe Heritage Park, Craylands Lane, Swanscombe
Details: Phil Harding from Wessex Archaeology – part of Channel 4’s Time Team - will cut a ribbon to celebrate the park’s new entry feature. This is a sculpture based on a 400,000-year-old hand axe discovered in the park. The ceremony will celebrate many hours of work by the local community, businesses and public sector in restoring one of the most important archaeological sites in northern Europe. It also marks the 70th anniversary of the discovery of human skull fragments there.
Local schoolchildren will enjoy an organised treasure hunt in the park and will take part in the opening ceremony. Guests will be offered an optional guided tour of the site at 12 noon to see the project work which has been carried out by Groundwork Kent Thameside and Swanscombe Action Group. A short display of the ancient art of flint-knapping will also be given at 12 noon.
Speeches will be given by Swanscombe Action Group Chairman, Cllr Bryan Read, Patrick Conrad from Groundwork Kent Thameside, KCC Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport Richard King and Professor Chris Stringer from the Natural History Museum. The project has been supported by a number of partners with part funding from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. KCC is the accountable body.
Originally posted by Venutius: I found a new Roman road at the weekend. running n-s to the west of Aldbrough in N. Yorkshire. Thats three parallel Roman roads in ten miles.
Peterborough City Council is to hold two public meetings about plans to build a renewable energy plant near the famous Flag Fen Bronze Age site.
Local residents and businesses will get the opportunity to question the company behind the £250 million, 29-acre waste processing energy park proposed for the site at Fengate in Cambridgeshire.
The two-hour meetings will be held on July 13 at Peterborough Central Library and on July 25 at Peterborough Town Hall Council Chamber.
The developers estimate that the plant could handle more than a million tonnes of waste each year. Innovative technology will then be used to generate electricity by burning the waste along with biomass (organic matter such as plants) at very high temperatures in an oxygen deficient environment.
Dr Pryor recognises the importance of renewable energy: "Anyone living in the fens has to be in favour of any electricity generation which doesn't contribute to global warming and I'm wholly in favour, in principle. But," he added, the location of the plant "seems to me really very insensitive." While he considers the possibility of a visitor centre at the plant to be a good idea, he added: "It isn't going to make up for the impact of the development."
Responsibility for approving or disapproving the planning application lies with the Department for Trade and Industry. The city council has until September to compile a report and make comments for consideration.
"The new site at Ladybridge Farm is also near the henges, but archaeological consultants said a survey found there was only thin and scattered evidence of prehistoric activity."
I'd just like to point out, these were of course Tarmac's archaeological consultants.
We believe the site is part of the same Neolithic settlement that was found over the road at Nosterfield Quarry. This revealed what Tarmac's consultants said at the time (1994/5) was "the largest concentration of Neolithic features of this type so far found in the north of England" - more than 80 different features. Prior to this, a 2% sample of the area had relvealed no dateable archaeoloical features and the area had been deemed of little archaeological significance.
A 2% survey at Ladybridge has found 7 Neolithic archaeological features concentrated exactly where we expected.
We also feel that the 2% sample was insufficient to properly evaluate the archaeological potential of the site. I for example that the incineration plant at Flag Fen had to do 5% trenching.
Answers to a burning question found at hill fort Jul 5 2005
Gareth Morgan, Western Mail
EXPERTS digging at the site of a historic hill fort believe that they have uncovered vital clues to how people disposed of the dead in Roman times.
While Stone Age peoples erected large burial chambers to remember their dead, little is known about the ceremonies that took place during the time of the Roman empire.
Now a dig at Dinefwr Park, Llandeilo, has uncovered fragments of burnt bone that suggest cremation burials could have been under way at the site as early as the second century.
The "outstanding" site, filmed by the BBC's Time Team, was discovered in 2003 and in recent weeks the existence of two overlapping Roman forts was confirmed.
But the cremation site is what really excites archaeologists from Cambria Archaeology, which is working in partnership with the National Trust.
Dr Nikki Cook, the site's deputy director, said, "This cremation pot, which was found on the first day, was a star find because it was still intact and should tell us more about an area where so much is unknown."
The pot has been sent to laboratories for tests while the dig continues for another two weeks with public open days each Saturday.
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