Armchair archaeology

ARCHAEOLOGISTS across the land have been forced to lay down their shovels, but that hasn’t stopped them discovering previously unknown ancient settlements and Roman roads. Research in the South-west, conducted by a group of volunteers, has unearthed 30 settlements, as well as more than 20 miles of Roman roads. They are believed to date from between 300BC to AD300.

When lockdown began, eight volunteers were asked to study aerial surveys of the Tamar Valley and its surrounding areas, such as Hayne Down, Dartmoor (above). The work is part of a National Lottery-funded project, Understanding Landscapes, and is yielding extraordinary results, with only one-tenth of the material having been studied. Chris Smart from the University of Exeter says: ‘I knew we’d find some things, but I didn’t think it would be so many. The types of sites are what you would expect, but it’s the number that is so surprising. Dozens have been found, but it will be hundreds by the time the volunteers are finished. We’re seeing a much greater density of population than we thought.’

Fran Sperring, one of the volunteers, tells The Guardian: ‘It has been totally engrossing. We simply try to spot anything that looks manmade and has not been accounted for before. If we see something interesting, we flag it up to Chris. So far, I’ve spotted what is apparently a stretch of Roman road and an enclosure complex that could be Iron Age or Romano-british.’

Once lockdown is ended, all of the discoverd sites will be investigated in person, but, at the moment, their locations are being kept secret to avoid any metal detectorists making unnecessary journeys to search for artefacts.