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A Roman Pond at Wyre Piddle, Worcestershire, with a Brief Survey of Ponds in Roman Britain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 April 2016

Derek Hurst
Affiliation:
Archive & Archaeology Service, Worcestershire County Council dhurst@worcestershire.gov.uk lgriffin@worcestershire.gov.uk lpearson@worcestershire.gov.uk
Nicholas Daffern
Affiliation:
Wardell Armstrong n.daffern@wa-archaeology.com
Laura Griffin
Affiliation:
Archive & Archaeology Service, Worcestershire County Council dhurst@worcestershire.gov.uk lgriffin@worcestershire.gov.uk lpearson@worcestershire.gov.uk
Katie Head
Affiliation:
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Plymouth University katie.head@plymouth.ac.uk
Elizabeth Pearson
Affiliation:
Archive & Archaeology Service, Worcestershire County Council dhurst@worcestershire.gov.uk lgriffin@worcestershire.gov.uk lpearson@worcestershire.gov.uk
Sylvia Warman
Affiliation:
Historic England sylviawarman@hotmail.com

Abstract

Artificial Roman ponds present in various guises, but they are relatively rarely found in the service of rural agriculture. This article focuses on a possible example of this type from Worcestershire, where extensive excavation has been carried out. The results demonstrate the potential of a pond for the reconstruction of wider landscape usage, while the considerable quantity of associated finds potentially sheds some light on social practice. A review of similar sites across Roman Britain suggests there may be practical (in essence curatorial) issues about the fuller investigation of such features once identified, in order that a similarly high level of data can be achieved more regularly, and suggests a need for prospection/mapping for the better management of this resource, especially employing newly available LiDAR data.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2016. Published by The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies 

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