In 2022 we excavated this settlement as part of the National Highways A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet Improvement Scheme. The settlement was occupied for centuries and is part of a wider landscape of farmsteads dotted across this region.
In these videos you can see where we’ve excavated different finds and features, and learn how the site changes over hundreds of years.
Early phase (before 50 BC)
This video shows the earliest evidence of people living around this area – during the Iron Age (700 BC – AD 43) and earlier. We can see that people had settled here by the Iron Age, but don’t know if anyone lived in this exact spot before then.
Transitional Phase (50 BC - 200 AD)
This video shows the change from Iron Age to growing Roman influence on the settlement. We mainly see this change in new technologies and access to goods from the rest of the Roman Empire.
Roman Period (200 - 410 AD)
This video shows how the settlement continues to change and develop in the later part of the Roman period. By this point, people have lived here in practically the same spot at different times over hundreds of years.
Other Settlements
This farmstead is one of several similar settlements that existed all across this area. These videos shows one of these settlements, which we excavated 2021-2022. It also spans from the Iron Age into the Roman period, with evidence of people in the area even earlier.
