Sensing the late Iron Age and Roman Past: geophysics and the landscape of Hertfordshire.

在铁器时代晚期和罗马时期，赫特福德郡是一个人口稠密的县。许多铁器时代的“原始城镇”--oppida--已知或怀疑包括Wheathampstead、Verulamium/St Albans、Welches Farm和Braughing。其中一些遗址发展成为罗马时期的城镇，包括该省第三大城镇维鲁拉米姆的主要遗址。除了城镇，还有从罗马别墅到不起眼的农庄的乡村遗址网络，可能每平方公里有一个。在一些地方，前罗马时期的田野系统保留到了今天。尽管对城镇和农村遗址进行了许多研究，例如在Verulamium、Gorhambury、Baldock、Dicket Mead和Chells的发掘，但关于这些遗址的布局及其相互之间的关系，我们仍然有很多不知道的东西。挖掘可能是最著名的考古研究技术，但成本高、速度慢，只能观察相对较小的区域。航空摄影，特别是2010年由赫特福德郡CC委托进行的100%调查，为我们增加了许多新的遗址和信息，但不利于制作更详细的遗址平面图，特别是较小的乡村遗址。因此，该项目旨在使用地球物理测量技术，主要是磁学测量，检查全县的各种铁器时代和罗马遗址。通过使用磁力计，我们可以创建土壤下面的平面图，而不必求助于挖掘。虽然缺乏挖掘的年代精度，但它可以在航空图像和挖掘遗址之间提供有价值的中间水平的数据。我们将对维鲁拉米姆的罗马小镇以及全县的其他遗址进行调查。调查结果将被合并并使用地理信息系统进行检查。该项目由感兴趣的团体组成的联盟，包括考古研究所、伦敦大学学院、韦尔文考古学会、圣奥尔本斯和赫特福德郡建筑与考古学会、北赫特福德郡考古学会、青年考古学家俱乐部的韦尔文哈特菲尔德和圣奥尔本斯分会、韦尔文哈特菲尔德博物馆服务、圣奥尔本斯博物馆、圣奥尔本斯市议会和赫特福德郡历史环境记录。目前正在提供培训，使用先进的车载磁力计在全县进行这些调查。此外，还将为任何社区遗产团体成员举办为期一周的暑期学校。该项目的结果将使我们能够研究诸如Verulamium的布局和发展、县内众多围栏的性质以及农村聚落的模式等问题。结果还将被反馈到Herts历史环境记录中，以帮助他们保护我们县的遗产。可以通过项目的网站和博客跟踪项目的进展情况，结果将在各种地方发布和展示，包括在项目结束时举行为期一天的会议。

In the late Iron Age and Roman period Hertfordshire was a densely settled county. A number of Iron Age "proto-towns" - oppida -are known or suspected including Wheathampstead, Verulamium/St Albans, Welches Farm and Braughing. Some of these sites developed into the towns of the Roman period including the major site at Verulamium, the third largest town in the province. As well as the towns, a network of rural sites ranging from Roman villas to modest farmsteads existed, probably as many as one per square kilometre. In places, the pre-Roman field systems have survived to the modern day.Although much research has been conducted on both the towns and the rural sites, for example the excavations at Verulamium, Gorhambury, Baldock, Dicket Mead and Chells, there is still much we do not know about the layout of these sites and their relationship to each other. Excavation, perhaps the best known archaeological research technique, is expensive and slow and can only look at relatively small areas. Aerial photography, especially the 100% survey commissioned by Hertfordshire CC in 2010, has added many new sites and information to our understanding, but is less good for producing more detailed plans of sites, especially the smaller rural sites.This project, therefore, aims to examine a variety of Iron Age and Roman sites across the county using geophysical survey techniques, principally magnetometry. By using a magnetometer we can create plans of what lies beneath the soil without having to resort to excavation. Although lacking in the chronological precision of excavation, it can provide a valuable intermediate level of data between the aerial image and an excavated site. We will be surveying the Roman town at Verulamium as well as other sites across the county. The survey results will be combined and examined using GIS.The project is formed of a coalition of interested groups including the Institute of Archaeology, UCL, the Welwyn Archaeological Society, the St Albans and Hertfordshire Architectural and Archaeological Society, the North Hertfordshire Archaeological Society, the Welwyn Hatfield and St Albans branches of the Young Archaeologists Club, Welwyn Hatfield Museum Service, St Albans Museums, St Albans City Council and the Hertfordshire Historic Environment Record. Training is being provided in the use of an advanced cart-based magnetometer for undertaking these surveys across the county. In addition, a week long summer school will be run for any community heritage group member.The results of this project will allow us to examine issues such as the layout and development of Verulamium, the nature of the numerous enclosures in the county, and the pattern of rural settlement. The results will also be fed back into the Herts Historic Environment Record to help them protect our county's heritage. The progress of the project can be followed via the project's website and blog, and the results will be published and presented in a variety of places including a one day conference at the end of the project.