Modern roadschemes are an exemplary way to identify and record huge quantities of archaeological remains. Projects like the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon Improvement Scheme (https://highwaysengland.co.uk/a14-cambridge-to-huntingdon-improvement-scheme-archaeology/) have raised the bar for how archaeology can be done on such schemes. Utilising modern recording techniques and technology for recording archaeology, they show what can be achieved and released is interesting news stories while a project is still underway.
These projects also set an example in terms of collaborative working and positive attitudes to teamwork and safety. Much of this is due to the way in which such projects are procured and managed. The Highways Agency and the Tier 1 contractors leading such schemes have been instrumental in shaping these high standards.
In terms of archaeological results, such linear schemes are very useful. Crossing many field systems and geological and topographical variations, they allow us to learn how land was being used in different ways according to such variations.
They also allow us to learn how old boundaries can be, and how natural contours or small streams can have a profound effect on the way land is organised and owned/used. Susan Oosthuizen has written extensively on the ways in which land boundaries can be understood, and their ancient roots recognised. Her book Landscapes Decoded, published in 2006, looked at the Bourn Valley west of Cambridge. This discussed the ways in which apparently modern field systems could be shown to have their roots in the Saxon period, a millennia earlier than many realised. Oosthuizen also discussed the possibility that certain boundaries may be even earlier.
The area west of Cambridge has since been archaeologically investigated due to several roadschemes and residential developments in recent times. In certain cases, this meant the date of landscapes could be understood more directly and the dates of use pushed back even further. Roman Settlements and Iron Age Settlements were recorded shaping themselves around field boundaries that are still in use today. In some cases, roads, parish boundaries and hedgerows between fields can be shown to have been in use for over two millennia.
The results of some investigations are available online for free download at this time. This brings the incredible findings to the public. Meaning everyone can learn about the archaeology along such schemes. The publication Farming on the Edge (link below) covers land from the Caxton Gibbett roundabout to the western edge of Cambridge. In 2020, there are the beginnings of a new roadscheme, heading west from the Caxton Gibbett roundabout to the Black Cat roundabout (https://highwaysengland.co.uk/a428-black-cat-to-caxton-gibbet-home/). What discoveries lie ahead?
These results of that earlier investigation were managed, analysed and written up by Albion Archaeology (https://www.albionarchaeology.co.uk/) published by an East Anglian Archaeology Monograph (http://eaareports.org.uk/). East Anglian Archaeology is a series of reports on the archaeology of an English region.
References:
EAA 123, 2008: Farming on the Edge: archaeological evidence from the clay uplands west of Cambridge, by Joe Abrams and David Ingham. East Anglian Archaeology. ISBN 978 0 9556546 0 2
Oosthuizen, S. Landscapes Decoded: The Origins and Development of Cambridgeshire's Medieval Fields - Explorations in Local and Regional History v. 1. Publisher: University of Hertfordshire Press. ISBN:9781902806587
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