The fieldwork undertaken 2004–8 and reported on in this book was initiated by the chance find of a piece of fine white marble likely to be Parian (and, therefore, imported), which had been recovered on the surface of a field at Manor Farm, Thwing, by amateur archaeologist ‘Stivvie’ Thomas. This discovery was promptly reported to Tim Schadla-Hall, who then contacted Martin Millett to investigate this surprising find. A team was assembled to carry out surface investigations, including magnetometer survey and field walking, complementing the crop mark mapped in Stoertz’s Ancient Landscapes of the Yorkshire Wolds (Reference Stoertz1997), which showed an extensive ladder settlement (so-called as its conjoined enclosures resemble the rungs of a ladder) to the south of the village pond at Thwing. Further enclosures and linear features extend northwards towards the large Neolithic round barrow of Willy Howe. A series of excavations focused on the stone foundations of a building that had survived remarkably well despite many years of ploughing.

This volume, like Millett’s previous East Yorkshire publications, goes beyond the conventional excavation report, and assembles a wide range of detailed evidence to shed new light on Roman activity within this region. After Chapters 1 and 2, which set the scene, Chapter 3 provides an account of the detailed survey of the ladder settlement, comparing the results of geophysical survey, field walking, crop mark analysis and metal detector survey, to provide chronological phasing of the ladder settlement. The finds included some unusual objects such as a decorative copper alloy fitting from a box or piece of furniture, Roman coins and brooches, as well as quern fragments and Roman pottery. Chapter 4 presents the results of the excavation of the building, which was quite unusual. Unlike most Roman rural buildings of this type (the term ‘villa’ is deliberately avoided), which were elaborated by the addition of a corridor and wings, the central part of the north-eastern-facing side of this simple three-roomed structure was indented. A row of posts was inserted between the ‘wings’ to support a roofed corridor, thus producing a winged-corridor effect by contraction rather than extension. Chapters 5 and 6 discuss the situation of the building in its wider settlement and landscape context, with Chapter 7 bringing together study of patterning of finds. In Chapter 8, Millett provides an insightful synthesis of the ladder settlement. He also considers the relationship that the Roman inhabitants of this landscape may have had with the nationally significant Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments of the Great Wold Valley such as Willy Howe. While the southern portion of the ladder settlement complex provides evidence for small-scale mixed farming – which, apart from the piece of marble, is not out of the ordinary – he suggests that the quality of the metal finds in the northern portion extending towards Willy Howe and the Gypsy Race itself may be the result of some form of structured deposition reflecting the ritual significance of the landscape here.

Chapter 9 presents the results of the geophysical survey undertaken around the well-known villa at Rudston, and concludes with a discussion of the famous mosaics and their possible North African connections. Chapter 10 places the research at Thwing and Rudston into a broader context. Somewhat quirkily, the volume concludes with a chapter considering what turned out to be a cylindrical artefact from the Merlin engine of a Halifax bomber that crashed into the field near Thwing in April 1942.

The editors are to be congratulated on coordinating the contributions of thirty-three specialists, all carefully acknowledged. Lacey Wallace, in particular, deserves praise for the most attractive page layout, as one of the great strengths of this volume are its illustrations in both colour and greyscale. The use of colour greatly facilitates clarity in understanding site plans and field walking data. The combination of colour photographs and line drawings of artefacts is particularly attractive. This volume is a most important contribution to our understanding of the archaeology of one of East Yorkshire’s most important archaeological regions and will be of interest to all those with a particular interest in Roman Britain. Thanks to the generosity of sponsors including the Roman Research Trust, Prehistory and Roman Sections of the Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society and the East Riding Archaeological Research Trust, this volume is available at its surprisingly low price from: http://jeremymillspublishing.co.uk/bookshop/index.php?id_product=346&controller=product.