Fieldwalking the cropmark landscape on the Sherwood Sandstone of Nottinghamshire

Cropmarks on the Sherwood Sandstone of Notts, discovered and published by Derrick Riley, are analyzed in combination with artefacts recovered through a programme of fieldwalking. A coherent landscape of fields, mostly laid out in a pattern resembling brickwork, is seen to be integrated with small enclosures, presumed farmsteads, situated at approximately 1km apart where the cropmarks are best represented. Fieldwalking covered 491 hectares in 97 areas, including 76 of the enclosures plus a sample of related fields. It was undertaken in transects of 10m width, plotting all artefacts individually. The distributions of Romano-British artefacts are assessed in relation to the morphology of the cropmarks. Most numerous are potsherds ranging from diffuse scatters to well-defined clusters, mostly from the sites of the enclosures. Other finds include metalwork (coins, lead-weights/spindle-whorls, fragmentary brooches), quernstones and a single bead. Fire-cracked pebbles seem to coincide with some enclosures.