Over time, the Roman occupation led to big changes in British agriculture. As the population grew so did agricultural production; 50 new species of cereals, fruit and vegetables were introduced; farming technology saw the introduction of corn driers, the Roman plough and other implements; and country estates began to appear to meet the growing demand for food from the towns.
How these and other developments impacted agriculture and the rural landscape in the southern part of the Province were the focus of a one day conference organised by the Roman Studies Group of Surrey Archaeological Society and enjoyed by delegates from throughout Southern England and beyond.
The Conference was opened by Professor Mike Fulford who presented an overview of The Dynamics of Change, including changing population levels over the period of occupation, acceleration of the Late Iron Age growth of towns, the impact of the Roman armed forces on demand for food, movement of foodstuffs from the south to the north of the Province, growing nucleation of rural settlement, the intensification of agriculture and the development of grain exports to the Rhineland.
The development of rural settlement in the Province was covered in two presentations: the first by Paul Booth of Oxford Archaeology who spoke about Small Towns and Rural Settlement in Kent; the second by David Rudling of the University of Sussex who covered Rural Settlement in Roman Sussex. Whilst stressing the need for more research, both speakers provided well informed and thoroughly up to date views on their chosen counties.
Paul Booth explained that whilst Kent is rich in evidence of Roman rural settlement, the distribution of the evidence is unbalanced quantitatively towards the north and east of the county, whilst excavation evidence is disproportionately focused on villas. Paul used evidence from a number of fieldwork projects to illustrate the physical characteristics of rural settlement and the variety of rural settlement patterns in the county. David Rudling reviewed evidence for rural settlement in various areas of Roman Sussex including the brickearths of the coastal plain, the Chalk Downs, the Greensand ridge and the Weald, explaining the main types of settlement and land use in these areas as well as the evidence for field systems, which is often minimal
The Environment of Southern Roman Britain was covered by Petra Dark of the University of Reading. Petra explained the importance of analysis of pollen sequences in studying the environment of Roman Britain. She explained that the slight increase in temperature and drier conditions in the period AD43 – 400 was suitable for extension of agriculture in Southern Britain and the introduction of new crops, including vines. There was probably less woodland in Southern Roman Britain than now and cereal production was particularly widespread. Attention was also given to the impact of farming on the environment including the impact of wood clearing and soil changes.
Both the arable and pastoral sides of agriculture were covered in the concluding two sessions: Gill Campbell of English Heritage dealt with a range of crop questions in her stimulating presentation of Market Forces-A Discussion of Crop Husbandry, Horticulture and Trade in Plant Resources, whilst Mark Maltby of the University of Bournemouth covered The Meat Supply of Roman Towns in Southern England.
Gill Campbell discussed the archaeobotanical dataset from Southern England showing how plant remains have been preserved, the recovery techniques used, and the nature of the archaeology excavated have constrained and influenced our understanding of plant utilisation in the Roman period. The three major developments in terms of food resulting from the Roman occupation were the creation of new consumers, the introduction and consumption of new plant foods and the development of horticulture. Gill discussed developments in the popularity of various grains and also gave the audience the benefit of her expert knowledge of corn driers.
Finally, Mark Maltby, using evidence from large assemblages of animal bones uncovered by excavations from major Roman towns in Southern England, gave a fascinating account of meat consumption and butchery practices. It is clear that there were professional butchers in all major towns during the occupation. Most attention was given to beef but Mark also covered the contribution to the meat supply from other domesticated animals as well as wild animals, birds and fish. He finished with some observations on the evidence for ritual deposition of animal bones.
It is hoped to publish the full Proceedings of the Conference in due course.
This was the second major conference to be organised by Surrey Roman Studies Group. The next will be in the Spring of 2012. The Group undertakes a very full programme of excavations, geophysical surveys and field walking as well as holding a monthly series of talks and several visits to Roman sites throughout the Southern Counties during the summer. For further details of the Group’s activities see the Society’s website: www.surreyarchaeology.org.uk/groups/roman
Edward Walker