A Late Iron Age and Romano-British Site at Gale Common, North Yorkshire

Abstract

A late Iron Age to late Romano-British rural landscape centred on two core occupation areas was identified. The western settlement, in the form of a nucleated Iron Age farmstead, was inhabited in the first century bc, while the eastern core was occupied from the late first century ad. Settlement was predominantly at a basic rural level, shifting eastwards during the later second century ad to a less regular settlement with a rectilinear field system. The settlement became more Romanised, incorporating in the middle of the fourth century ad a rectangular timber building and proportions of pottery types more usually associated with villas. The settlement appears to either move, contract, or begin to dissipate in the later fourth century ad.

Keywords:

• Late Iron Age
• Romano-British
• rural settlement
• rectangular building