Andrew Simmonds – författare

Excavations by Oxford Archaeology at Kingshill South on the eastern edge of Cirencester in Gloucestershire uncovered evidence for prehistoric and Roman activity. The earliest evidence comprised a pit dating to the late Neolithic period or early Bronze Age, and the site was also inhabited during the late Bronze Age or early Iron Age. There was a gap in activity until the late 1st century AD, when fields were laid out on the site's southern slope. Three buildings were recorded within the area of the excavation. Building 1 was a domestic, stone-footed building best described as a proto-villa. Building 2 was an aisled building with an apsidal end and is likely to have served an agricultural function. Both were constructed in the 2nd century AD. Building 3, dated to the late Roman period, is interpreted as a granary. The settlement was abandoned by the late 4th century AD. The site remained agricultural land until the establishment of Cirencester's eastern suburb in the 20th century. Grain, meat, and wool, among other goods, were produced at the Roman settlement, probably to supply the town of Corinium Dobunnorum. Evidence for craft activity, including pin-making, horn-working and smithing, was also recorded. Formal burials and disarticulated human bone were encountered across the settlement. Analysis of the bones revealed remarkable insights into the lives of the settlement's inhabitants. The habitual, possibly craft-related, activity performed by one young female adult required her to spend much of her time in a squatting position. One adult male had a facial disfigurement which had an impact not just on his daily life, but also the manner of his burial.

The valley floodplain landscape covered by the Gill Mill quarry, almost 130ha, was intensively exploited from about 300 BC at a variety of Iron Age settlements. The largest of these remained in occupation into the early 3rd century AD, but meanwhile a large nucleated settlement grew up around a road junction roughly 1km distant to the NW. This became the sole focus of occupation, covering an area of about 10ha. Featuring multiple ditched enclosures, some in very regular layouts associated with one of the roads, the settlement contained relatively few identified buildings and appears to have had a specialised economic role related to systematic cattle management, illuminated in part by large finds and environmental assemblages. It may have been an integral component of a wider estate holding and perhaps had an administrative focus (including a shrine) at its unexcavated centre. It is notable that occupation of the site had almost entirely ceased by about AD 370.

The cemeteries around Roman Gloucester remain as windows through which the past populations of the town and preceding fortresses may be studied. Excavations by Oxford Archaeology in London Road between 2004 and 2006 revealed substantial parts of one of these cemeteries, at Wotton, lying by one of the main Roman roads east of the town. In addition to the nine cremation and 64 inhumation burials, a rare mass grave was found of at least 91 individuals, possibly victims of the Antonine Plague which swept the Roman Empire during the later 2nd century AD. This report analyses the burials for what they can tell us of the origins, health, status and funerary practices of the people living in Gloucester from the 1st to 4th century AD. The development of the Wotton cemetery itself is also studied, using evidence from excavations undertaken from the 19th century onwards.The current investigations also unearthed vertebrate deposits in the gravel cap dating to the Pleistocene, including hippopotamus and possibly bison and elephant. The significance of this assemblage in terms of the local geology is discussed.