Lyde Green Roman Villa, Emersons Green, South Gloucestershire / / edited by Matthew S. Hobson, Richard Newman.

• Superior document: Archaeopress Roman Archaeology Series ; v.85
• TeilnehmendeR: Newman, Richard,; Hobson, Matthew S.,
• Place / Publishing House: Oxford : : Archaeopress Publishing Ltd,, 2021.
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Archaeopress Roman Archaeology Series
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (264 pages)

Lyde Green Roman Villa, Emersons Green, South Gloucestershire was excavated between mid-2012 and mid-2013 along with its surroundings and antecedent settlement. The excavations took place as part of the Emersons Green East Development Area, funded through the mechanism of commercial archaeology by Gardiner & Theobald LLP. The results of the stratigraphic analysis are given here along with specialist reports on the human remains, pottery (including thin sections), ceramic building material, small finds, coinage and iron-working waste. Six open-area excavations allowed the archaeologists the rare opportunity to trace a substantial part of the site's layout. Three ancillary buildings within the villa compound, including a bathhouse, were excavated. Evidence of advanced water management was uncovered in the form of lead piping, ceramic drain tiles and an enigmatic stone structure built into a canalised spring line. The villa's economy included stock raising, crop processing and iron and textile production. The settlement appears to have originated in the mid-1st century AD, or slightly earlier.

Table of Contents

Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright page -- Contents Page -- Contents -- List of Figures -- Introduction -- Figure 1.1 The location of Lyde Green -- Figure 1.2 The location of the trial trenches and excavation areas -- Research objectives, methodologies and summary of results -- Figure 2.1 Plan illustrating the location of Iron Age sites in the region of Bristol and South Gloucestershire -- Figure 2.2 The tribal territory of the Dobunni -- Figure 2.3 Plan showing the concordance of phasing between all excavation areas -- Figure 2.4 Archaeological features recorded within Excavation Area A by phase -- Figure 2.5 Selected sections across archaeological features within Excavation Area A -- Figure 2.6 Archaeological features recorded within Excavation Area B by phase -- Figure 2.7 Selected sections across archaeological features within Excavation Area B (1) -- Figure 2.8 Selected sections across archaeological features within Excavation Area B (2) -- Figure 2.9 Plan of archaeological features within Excavation Area C by phase -- Figure 2.10 Selected sections across archaeological features within Excavation Area C -- Figure 2.11 Plan of archaeological features within Excavation Area D by phase -- Figure 2.12 Selected sections across archaeological features within Excavation Area D -- Figure 2.13 Plan of archaeological features within Excavation Area E by phase -- Figure 2.14 Plan of archaeological features in Excavation Area F by phase -- The development of the landscape before the 1st millennium AD -- Figure 3.1 Neolithic stone axe (SF 23) -- Figure 3.2 Excavation Area A, phase 1 pit [1006] -- Dating the origins of the rural settlement at Lyde Green: a Late Iron Age enclosure system? -- Figure 4.1 Plan of the D-shaped enclosure excavated in Area D, with Wardell Armstrong's 2013 Evaluation Trench 1 and gully terminus [118] also shown.

Figure 4.2 Plan of phase 1-3 within Excavation Area D, including the D-shaped enclosure ditch -- Figure 4.3 Plan showing Late Iron Age and Early Romano-British field system and enclosures (Excavation areas A-D, Periods 2, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3 and 4.1). -- Figure 4.4 Plan of pit [3949] and wind break [4212] plan and section, located within Excavation Area B -- Figure 4.5 Comparison of the D-shaped enclosure within Excavation Area D with Kingsdown Camp -- The Romano-British period and the villa estate -- Figure 5.1 Plan showing pre-villa features in excavation areas A-D -- Figure 5.2 T-shaped corn-drying oven {6236} with foundation trench (4193) located in Excavation Area B -- Figure 5.3 Structure {4226} within Excavation Area B -- Figure 5.4 Excavation Area C, phase 4 rectangular enclosure ditch [2468] -- Figure 5.5 Plan and section of well {2330} within Excavation Area C -- Figure 5.6 Three-celled rectangular building {1650} within Excavation Area D -- Figure 5.7 Plan of Excavation Area B showing features relating to the use-life of the Roman villa -- Figure 5.8 Floor plan of the tripartite corridor villa found within Excavation Area B -- Figure 5.9 Plan of structure {4213} found within Excavation Area B -- Figure 5.10 Plan of structures {4196} and {4235} found within Excavation Area B -- Figure 5.11 Plan of structure {4219} and furnace 3615 found within Excavation Area B -- Figure 5.12 Plan of structure {3583} found within Excavation Area B -- Figure 5.13 Plan showing the location of the cremation burials found in areas B and D -- The Romano-British artefacts (mid-1st century AD to 5th century AD) -- Figure 6.1 Profile illustrations of the handmade ceramics produced in the Iron Age tradition -- Figure 6.2 Illustration of six cremation urns and one accessory vessel (no. 88) -- Figure 6.3 Profile illustrations of Early Roman pottery.

Figure 6.4 Profile illustrations of the Early-mid Roman pottery (1) -- Figure 6.5 Profile illustrations of the Early-mid Roman pottery (2) -- Figure 6.6 Profile illustrations of the Mid-late Roman pottery -- Figure 6.7 Profile illustrations of the Late Roman pottery -- Figure 6.8 A selection of brooches from Lyde Green -- Figure 6.9 Selected small finds from Lyde Green. Items of personal adornment and toilet implements -- Figure 6.10 Selected small finds from Lyde Green -- Figure 6.11 Ceramic weights -- Figure 6.12 Lead pipe (SF 62) found within structure {4213} and column base found within structure {6197} -- Figure 6.13 The 77 coins from Lyde Green, by Reece period -- Figure 6.14 Comparison of the coins assemblage from Lyde Green with those from ten other villa sites in the region -- The development of the landscape from the Roman period to the present day -- Figure 7.1 Archaeological features of medieval and Post-medieval date recorded within the excavation areas -- Lyde Green and the Romano-British villas of South Gloucestershire -- Figure 8.1 The excavation areas, shown in relation to a Digital Terrain Model (LiDAR data from the Environment Agency, 2005). -- Figure 8.2 Map showing the altitude of villa sites within the region -- Figure 8.3 Lyde Green in the context of other Roman villa sites and the principal Roman roads in the region -- Figure 8.4 Map of villa sites in the region related to modern land-use -- Appendices -- Figure 9.1 Rubbings of decorated and stamped Samian ware sherds described in the catalogue -- Figure 9.2 Thin sections of the selected Roman pottery sherds -- Figure 9.3 Images of ceramic building material fabrics and mortar -- List of Tables -- Research objectives, methodologies and summary of results -- Table 2.1 Concordance of phasing between excavation areas -- The development of the landscape before the 1st millennium AD.

Table 3.1 Human remains recovered from Bronze Age Vessel 4 -- Table 3.2 The Bronze Age pottery: sherd count, vessel form and context -- The Romano-British period and the villa estate -- Table 5.1 Contextual information on cremations excavated in Areas B and D -- Table 5.2 The Human Remains: summary of the assemblage's state of preservation -- Table 5.3 The Human Remains: measurements of bone fragmentation -- Table 5.4 The Human Remains: quantification of neonatal bones -- Table 5.5 Quantification of human skeletal elements from deposit (3203) -- Table 5.6 Age Estimates using regression equations from Scheuer et al. (1980) (In. Scheuer &amp -- Black 2000, 394 &amp -- 415) -- Table 5.7 Selected archaeobotanical data -- The Romano-British artefacts (mid-1st century AD to 5th century AD) -- Table 6.1 The Iron Age pottery. Distribution of ceramic forms by area and context -- Table 6.2 The Iron Age pottery: technology and surface finishing -- Table 6.3 The Iron Age pottery: fabric types -- Table 6.4 The Iron Age pottery: rim forms -- Table 6.5 The Iron Age pottery: rim diameters -- Table 6.6 Pottery summary by ware group and excavation area -- Table 6.7 Samian by manufacturing region. Incidence across Site Areas A-D and unstratified contexts. Percentage values show relative abundance by area as a proportion of all pottery. -- Table 6.8 Samian summary showing breakdown by vessel form/fabric. -- Table 6.9 Pottery attributed to ceramic phases 1-3 by ware group. The quantities given are sherd count, weight and rim EVEs -- Table 6.10 The Early Roman pottery (Ceramic phase 1: mid-1st c. to early 2nd c. AD) -- Table 6.11 Pottery from enclosure ditch [1005] in Area D, representative of Ceramic phase 1 (mid-1st c. AD to early 2nd c. AD) -- Table 6.12 Pottery assemblage from pit [1489] in Area D, representative of Ceramic Phase 2 (mid-2nd c. to mid-3rd c. AD).

Table 6.13 Area C ditch [2296] and ditch [2444] (CP2) pottery summary -- Table 6.14 Area C ditch [2254] and Area B layer 3881 (CP3) pottery summary -- Table 6.15 Vessel forms summary by 'Ceramic Phase' -- Table 6.16 Stratified CBM form classes -- Table 6.17 CBM fabrics as a proportion of the whole assemblage -- Table 6.18 CBM forms in fabric T01 -- Table 6.19 CBM forms in fabric T11 -- Table 6.20 Number of different key classes on flue tile -- Table 6.21 List of stratified coins -- Table 6.22 Roman coins found during the excavations at Lyde Green -- Table 6.23 Total count and weight of each slag type -- Table 6.24 Dimensions of the furnace bases -- Table 6.25 Dimensions of the hearth bottoms -- The development of the landscape from the Roman period to the present day -- Table 7.1 Medieval pottery from Lyde Green -- Lyde Green and the Romano-British villas of South Gloucestershire -- Table 8.1 Attributes of villas within c. 17 km of Lyde Green -- Appendices -- Table 9.1 Summary of radiocarbon dates -- Table 9.2 HH-XRF analyses of the smelting tap slag samples (weight %) -- Table 9.3 HH-XRF analyses of the smelting slag and furnaces bases (weight %) -- Table 9.4 HH-XRF analyses of the hearth bottom samples (weight %) -- Table 9.5 HH-XRF analyses of the smithing slag samples (weight %) -- Table 9.7 Comparison of the mean values of the HH-XRF analyses of the tap slags and furnace bottoms from the Saxon Site and the tap slags and smelting slags from the Villa Site (weight %) -- List of Plates -- Research objectives, methodologies and summary of results -- Plate 2.1 The excavation team working on Area B in February 2013 -- The development of the landscape before the 1st millennium AD -- Plate 3.1 Sherds of Bronze Age pottery, Vessel 3 -- Dating the origins of the rural settlement at Lyde Green: a Late Iron Age enclosure system?.

Plate 4.1 Furnace [3949], showing wall {3863}, with wall {3921} in the background. Looking south.