Aldborough Roman Town Project: 2017 Excavations

This record primarily consists of a spreadsheet with links to the files that constitute the data and other supporting information that detail the excavations in 2017. The main record for the Aldborough project is here: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/275723 The collection relating to this particular dataset may be found at this URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/335104; in addition, permanent links (DOIs) to the individual records (context sheets, find listings etc) are available in the attached spreadsheet. The Aldborough Roman Town Project was set up in 2009 by Dr Rose Ferraby and Prof. Martin Millett, Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge. The project was designed to carry out archaeological research on the town of Isurium Brigantum, now the village of Aldborough in North Yorkshire, with an aim to better understanding its origins, development and its role in the social, political and economic scene of Roman Britain. This built upon a huge body of work already carried out by Colin Dobinson and volunteers from the Yorkshire Archaeological Society. Fieldwalking took place over large areas in and around the Roman town, as well as some small areas of geophysical survey. This data is all being brought together as part of the project. To begin with, the project will use geophysical survey to establish a landscape scale view of the sub-surface archaeological remains of the town, its defenses, road system and extra-mural areas. Already after only 3 years, this has revealed that Isurium Brigantium is far less straight forward than has previously presumed; rather the evidence collected so far suggests a much more complex picture of development, use and evolution into the Anglo-Saxon period. Once the survey is complete, excavation may take place to start to investigate some of the more complex areas of the town. A number of different geophysical techniques are being employed at the site, in order to better understand the various aspects of the archaeological record. Magnetometer and topographic surveys have been used across large areas of the town, whereas Ground Penetrating Radar has been used in limited areas with more complicated stratigraphy.