The Fields of Britannia

Rippon, Stephen, Smart, Chris, Pears, Ben

ISBN 10: 0199645825 / ISBN 13: 9780199645824

Published by Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 2015

About this Item

Former library copy. Pages intact with possible writing/highlighting. Binding strong with minor wear. Dust jackets/supplements may not be included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.

Seller Inventory # 54860643-20

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Fields of Britannia
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, Incorporated
• Publication Date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0199645825
• ISBN 13: 9780199645824
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Very Good
• Weight: 1.94 pounds

About this title

Synopsis

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.

About the Author

Stephen Rippon, Professor of Landscape Archaeology, University of Exeter,Chris Smart, Associate Research Fellow, University of Exeter,Ben Pears, Honorary Research Associate, University of Exeter

Stephen Rippon is Professor of Landscape Archaeology at the University of Exeter.

Chris Smart is an Associate Research Fellow in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Exeter.

Ben Pears is an Honorary Research Associate at the University of Exeter.