The archaeology of Constable Country: the crop-marks of the Stour Valley

ABSTRACT

The Stour valley, which forms the boundary between the counties of Essex and Suffolk, contains a remarkable series of crop-marks. These comprise a wide variety of ring-ditches and other monuments, including two cursuses, together with extensive areas of trackways and field boundaries. The crop-marks were first systematically recorded in the late 1950s and have been subject to aerial photography, by a variety of individuals and organisations, ever since. Whilst well known locally, the extent of the Stour valley crop-marks is not widely appreciated outside the region. Following publication of a Regional Research Framework for the Eastern Counties, and building on the work of the National Mapping Programme, a GIS-based synthesis of the crop-marks has been prepared. This has clarified the variety and complexity of the crop-marks and enabled the relationship of monuments, field systems, the river, and valley topography to be explored. It is intended to use this work as a platform from which to enhance long-term management of the crop-marks and to promote further fieldwork.

KEYWORDS:

• Stour valley
• air photography
• crop-marks
• GIS methodology
• prehistory