24th February 2013, 11:40 AM
Publication of even quite minor archaeological evidence can have ramifications down the line - having spent much of the last year getting my head around the bits-and-bobs that came up on a fairly narrow linear job I've been able to do any amount of 'joining up the dots' with other evidence from the surrounding landscape, mostly from published sources. If that evidence wasn't easily available I couldn't have done half as much, what with trips to the HER costing £100 a shot! The latest hot-off-the-press was realising last thing on Friday afternoon that two bits of Roman archaeology (neither in themselves of much interest, a bit of field system and part of a roadside settlement enclosure) four fields apart do, when taken together, show that Margary and the OS have a major Roman road marked in the wrong place - this realigns it over a length of about 4 miles and shows that a major river crossing was not where all the literature says it was (and relocates it in a town centre, not off in the fields) - quite a difference down the line for the curators making recommendations I'd suggest? Wouldn't have been possible without the information being easily available. Job No.1 on Monday am is writing it up...for publication :face-approve: