An intriguing examination of what we can learn about life in Roman Britain, using one woman's third-century tombstone as a starting point.The tombstone of Julia Velva, one of the best-preserved examples from Roman Britain, was found close to a Roman road just outside the center of York. Fifty years old when she died in the early third century, Julia Velva was probably from a wealthy family able to afford a fine monument. Patrick Ottaway uses the tombstone as the st...

This critical assessment of the archaeology of the historic city of Winchester and its immediate environs from earliest times to the present day is the first published comprehensive review of the archaeological resource for the city, which as seen many major programmes of archaeological investigation.There is evidence for activity and occupation in the Winchester area from the Palaeolithic period onwards, but in the Middle Iron Age population rose sharply with settlement was focused on two...

Yorkshire was part of the Roman Empire for about 340 years and the remains of the period are all around us to this day. They range from the Roman fortress walls at York to the sites of country villas and humbler farmsteads. The region’s museums are full of Roman objects from fine sculpture to the pottery and metalwork used in daily life. Place-names like Catterick and Doncaster remind many of us that we still live where the Romans once set up camp.Patrick Ottaway has written an ent...

Over the last twenty-five years archaeology has revolutionised our knowledge of the early history of British towns. Based on his day-to-day involvement in urban archaeology, Patrick Ottaway reviews the important discoveries and research themes of this period, and considers how long-term urban research projects have revealed new information about towns and the lives of their inhabitants. The work of the urban archaeologist is examined in close detail, and attention is given to the critical ...

From shortly before AD 800 until the Norman Conquest, England was subject to raids from seafaring peoples from Scandinavia - the Vikings. However, they were not only raiders but also traders and settlers. During this period, the English state was unified under a single ruler for the first time and Anglo-Saxon society underwent great changes. Using the latest archaeological evidence from places such as London, Lincoln and York, the author reassesses the Viking contribution ...

Walks Through History Kent, is a celebration of the beauty and poetry of the county. Here is just one of the walks in the book in case you are on a day trip or just want to sample the style of the walks before buying the whole book. Each walk in this book has been chosen not only because it is a pleasant walk in its own right, but also because it goes past sites which reveal the rich and varied history of the county. Each walk is arranged chronologically, and has a major historical theme. ...

Medieval Rural Settlement: Britain and Ireland, AD 800-1600 is a major assessment and review of the origins, forms and evolutions of medieval rural settlement in Britain and Ireland across the period c. AD 800-1600. It offers a comprehensive analysis of early to late medieval settlement, land use, economics and population, bringing together evidence drawn from archaeological excavations and surveys, historical geographical analysis and documentary and place-name study. It is intended to be...

Sir Robert Atkyns's Ancient and Present State of Glostershire, which appeared in 1712, was the first published survey of the county. Alan Pilbeam's Gloucestershire 300 Years Ago is written to celebrate Atkyns's achievement and to present his information in a more accessible form. Atkyns's work is critically assessed with reference to other sources and used as a basis for comparison with today's landscape. Fully illustrated in both colour and black and white, it in...

The Story of Durham traces the evolution of a city that medieval writers likened to Jerusalem, which Ruskin termed one of the wonders of the world, and which Pevsner, more modestly, called one of the architectural experiences of Europe.To Bill Bryson, meanwhile, Durham appeared 'a perfect little city' with 'the best cathedral on planet Earth'. The city is a physical manifestation of a significant event in our history: the Romanesque cathedral and castle to...

The Parisi were a tribe located somewhere within the present day East Riding of Yorkshire, UK, known from a brief reference by Ptolemy. They were originally immigrants from Gaul and share their name with the tribe that occupied modern day France. Fairly obvious from their name, they gave the French capital its name. The investigation of the Parisi began in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, following the trend for antiquarian exploration elsewhere in Britain...

The name 'Wessex' is full of echoes of the ancient past - of Stonehenge, Avebury and Silbury Hill - and of the regional novels of Thomas Hardy 'The ploughing up of traditional downland pastures and the removal of ancient hedgerows, woodlands and wetlands from the vales have changed some of Hardy's 'windswept' grasslands and dairy-rich lowlands. Even so, Wessex contains some fine countryside and a wealth of monuments of different ages. Besides the glories of the prehistoric legacy, there is...

An authoritative and radical rethinking of the history of Ancient Britain and Ancient Ireland, based on remarkable new archaeological finds.British history is traditionally regarded as having started with the Roman Conquest. But this is to ignore half a million years of prehistory that still exert a profound influence. Here Francis Pryor examines the great ceremonial landscapes of Ancient Britain and Ireland – Stonehenge, Seahenge, Avebury and the Bend of the Boyne – as well as the...