In 2019, Berryfields gained media attention when it was announced that archaeologists had discovered a unique cache of chickens’ eggs in a waterlogged Roman deposit, potentially a votive pool. This was not the only noteworthy discovery: an extensive Middle Iron Age (MIA) settlement and field system, a Roman ladder settlement and roads, and the possible timbers of a crossing over the river Thame are all highlighted in this report.
This volume from Oxford Archaeology presents the results of fieldwork carried out in advance of construction of the Berryfields Major Development Area (MDA), primarily a housing estate and rail station, on the outskirts of Aylesbury. In accordance with planning policy, the 195-ha site was subject to a multi-event approach of evaluations, survey and excavation between 2002 and 2016, as well as both casual and organised metal-detecting. Berryfields sits close to the Roman road of Akeman Street, which runs between Corinium (Cirencester) and Verulamium (St Albans) via the fort and town at Alchester. It is located within a complex later prehistoric and Roman landscape, including the probable Romano-British ‘small town’ at Fleet Marston and the Iron Age hillfort in Aylesbury itself.
The volume follows a standard site report layout, with chapters introducing the site and its archaeological background followed by specialist reports on the finds, human and animal remains, and environmental evidence, and, lastly, a synthetic discussion. The lithic analysis reveals that only sporadic visits were made to the area in earlier prehistory. Both the settlement evidence and the finds suggest a hiatus in the Late Iron Age (LIA). The pottery is mainly of local and regional production, with some Roman period imports of samian and amphorae.
The small finds date from the early occupation, including several brooches, a mirror and a bracelet, which may have been a military award (armilla). Much of the metalwork was recovered from a marshy area adjacent to the pool, interpreted as a locus for ritual deposition. Numerous coins came from the pit fills associated with the pond, including a higher proportion of first- and second-century types than elsewhere on site. Otherwise, the coin profile is similar to other minor roadside settlements in the region, largely comprising third- and fourth-century issues.
The bulk finds reflect Berryfields’ location on the fringes of a larger settlement or industrial area, presumed to be centred on Fleet Marston, although no nucleus has yet been determined. Small quantities of brick/tile and nails suggest simple or lower-status occupation in the Romano-British period, although there were occasional finds of material reused from higher-status buildings along Akeman Street. The excellent waterlogged preservation of the pond fills and related pits allowed detailed environmental analysis and interpretation of the landscape through time. The human skeletal remains date to the Roman period; the absence of Iron Age burials reflects wider patterns in Britain. However, the lack of isotopic or aDNA analysis leaves some questions unanswered. The high proportion of equine bones in the MIA and Romano-British period is notable. These faunal remains show little evidence of butchery, implying horse-rearing for transport, and this may have been central to the local economy. The authors discuss the relationship between the multi-period settlement, the road and potential supply links to the Roman army/cavalry.
This is a reasonably priced and coherent report that presents results from diverse interventions over more than a decade. The finds reports are detailed and well illustrated. Nevertheless, there are occasional omissions and errors. Maps showing the wider landscape of sites and roads (figs 6.2, 6.3) surely belong in the archaeological introduction rather than the final chapter, as they provide crucial orientation; their placement results in much paging back and forth. The appended catalogue of largely unstratified coins is lengthy and could instead have been made available as a digital download.
A concluding discussion considers Berryfields within the wider archaeological landscape and the authors pose questions for future research. Does Berryfields sit on a pre-existing routeway dating back into the MIA? Was there a LIA hiatus or do unexcavated features represented by intense geophysics results date from this period? Was Fleet Marston a Roman ‘small town’, a dispersed, polyfocal settlement or even a group of villages? Whatever your opinion of the HS2 rail project, its construction may well reveal new insights into these themes in this part of Buckinghamshire and beyond.
