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Author: Stephen Rippon Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA ISBN: 0199645825 Category : Art Languages : en Pages : 472
Book Description
It has long been recognized that the landscape of Britain is one of the 'richest historical records we possess', but just how old is it? The Fields of Britannia is the first book to explore how far the countryside of Roman Britain has survived in use through to the present day, shaping the character of our modern countryside. Commencing with a discussion of the differing views of what happened to the landscape at the end of Roman Britain, the volume then brings together the results from hundreds of archaeological excavations and palaeoenvironmental investigations in order to map patterns of land-use across Roman and early medieval Britain. In compiling such extensive data, the volume is able to reconstruct regional variations in Romano-British and early medieval land-use using pollen, animal bones, and charred cereal grains to demonstrate that agricultural regimes varied considerably and were heavily influenced by underlying geology. We are shown that, in the fifth and sixth centuries, there was a shift away from intensive farming but very few areas of the landscape were abandoned completely. What is revealed is a surprising degree of continuity: the Roman Empire may have collapsed, but British farmers carried on regardless, and the result is that now, across large parts of Britain, many of these Roman field systems are still in use.
Author: Colin Roberts Publisher: ISBN: 9780857042989 Category : Languages : en Pages : 144
Book Description
The historic county of Berkshire lies at the heart of Southern England, stretching for some 70 miles from the Marlborough Downs to the suburbs of West London. Its landscape is one of contrasts ¿ in the east, a lowland bordered by the River Thames, dominated by the great forests of Windsor and Swinley, and rarely beyond the reach of modernity. To the west it meets the chalk and becomes more hilly and remote, finally reaching the downs at Streatley, Lambourn and Inkpen, where the rolling countryside is watched over by red kites and buzzards. This book celebrates the character and contrast of Berkshire's scenery, with a collection of fine art photographs taken in all seasons. Each image is accompanied by a narrative which recounts the author¿s experience of the place, together with some background information about the subject. The emphasis is on countryside and parkland, but buildings and landmarks which blend well with the landscape are also included. The author's passion for the outdoors reveals a unique mix of subjects, from the well-known and familiar to the unusual and obscure. The result is a book which makes an ideal companion for enjoying the scenery of England's Royal County.
Author: Hadrian Cook Publisher: Archaeopress Publishing Ltd ISBN: 1803275367 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 382
Book Description
Wessex is famous for its coasts, heaths, woodlands, chalk downland, limestone hills and gorges, settlements and farmed vales. This book provides an account of the physical form, development and operation of its landscape as it was shaped by our ancestors. Major themes include the development of agriculture, settlements, industry and transport.
Author: Graham Brown Publisher: Oxbow Books Limited ISBN: Category : History Languages : en Pages : 248
Book Description
It is over one hundred years since the publication of the wide ranging archaeological field investigation undertaken on the Marlborough Downs by the Rev A C Smith. His work Guide to the British and Roman Antiquities of the North Wiltshire Downs in a Hundred Square Miles round Abury was originally published in two volumes in 1884 by the Marlborough College Natural History Society, then reprinted and bound into a single volume and published in 1885 by the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society after half the original print run was destroyed in a fire. As in most works of inventory the volume has certainly stood the test of time and is still one of the basic reference texts for students of the area. Since then, apart from a few notable exceptions, archaeological literature about the area has been largely site-based and there has been little concerning the Marlborough Downs as a whole. In order to try and redress this imbalance, a day conference was organised in April 2002 at the University of Bath, Swindon, where it was possible to acknowledge and mark the ongoing validity of Smith's work and where a number of papers on various aspects of recent research on the Marlborough Downs were presented. The results of the conference are presented in this volume, together with a number of other commissioned contributions from individuals who have undertaken research in the area during the last decade or so. Each essay stands alone, but they are connected by a common theme, that of the land and how it has changed over millennia.
Author: Peter Spring Publisher: Pen and Sword ISBN: 1473853842 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 683
Book Description
Everyone has heard of the Great Wall of China and knows of Hadrian's Wall and the other barriers lining stretches of Rome's imperial frontiers. But Peter Spring's original new study demonstrates that far from being exceptional, the building of walls and other linear defences was commonplace among the peoples and states of pre-modern era. He finds examples virtually all across the globe and analyses their forms and strategic functions. He finds patterns for their distribution, an important recurrent theme being the divide between settled agriculture and nomads. The author argues that it is mistaken to view such undertakings as necessarily purely defensive measures that might be evidence of insecurity or a 'maginot line mentality', as they were in fact often about aggressive assertion of control over a region or strategic routes. This original and thought-provoking study brings new light and insight to a fascinating and neglected aspect of human political and military history. It The clear text is supported by numerous, specially drawn maps and photographs.