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Agriculture and Population: Occupation and Burials in the Extramural Area of Margidunum on the Fosse Way in Nottinghamshire

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 September 2023

Andrew Simmonds
Affiliation:
Oxford Archaeology andy.simmonds@oxfordarchaeology.com martyn.allen@oxfordarchaeology.com lauren.mcintyre@oxfordarchaeology.com carl.champness@oxfordarchaeology.com
Martyn Allen
Affiliation:
Oxford Archaeology andy.simmonds@oxfordarchaeology.com martyn.allen@oxfordarchaeology.com lauren.mcintyre@oxfordarchaeology.com carl.champness@oxfordarchaeology.com
Lauren McIntyre
Affiliation:
Oxford Archaeology andy.simmonds@oxfordarchaeology.com martyn.allen@oxfordarchaeology.com lauren.mcintyre@oxfordarchaeology.com carl.champness@oxfordarchaeology.com
Carl Champness
Affiliation:
Oxford Archaeology andy.simmonds@oxfordarchaeology.com martyn.allen@oxfordarchaeology.com lauren.mcintyre@oxfordarchaeology.com carl.champness@oxfordarchaeology.com

Abstract

This paper presents the results of an excavation that uncovered c. 390 m of roadside plots within the ribbon development alongside the Fosse Way on the south-west periphery of the walled small town of Margidunum in Nottinghamshire. The roadside plots appear to have been used for a combination of domestic occupation and agricultural activity, and to the rear lay 54 inhumation burials in 52 graves (including two double burials) and a single urned cremation burial, whose skeletons bore evidence for the tough working lives of the individuals. These are interpreted as the remains of peasant farmers and as evidence for the agricultural focus of the settlement, and of ‘small towns’ more generally. A contrast is drawn between the apparent poverty of this community and the apparently more high-status occupation within the defended core of the town.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

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Footnotes

Incorporating contributions by EDWARD BIDDULPH, PAUL BOOTH, SHARON COOK, JANE EVANS, LYNNE KEYS, JULIA MEEN, REBECCA NICHOLSON, CYNTHIA POOLE, IAN R. SCOTT, RUTH SHAFFREY, HILARY SLOANE and DORIS WAGNER

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