Silbury Hill, Wiltshire: Roman Coins from the Silbury Region
Author(s): S Moorhead
Geophysical survey in 2006, part of the Silbury Hill Conservation Project, revealed extensive settlement in two fields south of Silbury Hill. The Later Silbury project consisted of an archaeological evaluation in 2010 and reassessment of surviving material from earlier excavations in the immediate area. The project aimed to characterise the Romano-British settlement, and to elucidate this poorly understood phase of activity around the monument and within the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site, contributing to future management and presentation. Roman Silbury was probably a roadside settlement or small town along the London to Bath road (the modern A4). Immediately south of the road, any surviving features were masked in the magnetic survey by pipelines. In the arable field sloping down to the Kennet, the surveys indicated an extensive settlement, including a minor road or trackway running south from the road with three large subdivided rectangular enclosures to its west. Five evaluation trenches were opened here, concentrating on one of the enclosures and avoiding the large stone buildings identified by ground penetrating radar. Three trenches were opened in the water meadow to investigate geophysical anomalies and alluvial deposits near the river. Work on the coins from the area by Sam Moorhead over a number of years has contributed greatly to knowledge of the area, and this report describes ten groups of coin finds. It makes available the catalogues of several assemblages which have not previously been fully published. Taken as a whole, the assemblages provide an interesting chronological profile for coin use / loss in the Silbury region which informs other research into Roman activity in the region.
- Report Number:
- 102/2011
- Series:
- Research Department Reports
- Pages:
- 49
- Keywords:
- Coin Excavation Roman Settlement
