A Roman road network that spanned Devon and Cornwall and connected significant settlements with military forts across the two counties as well as wider Britannia has been discovered for the first time.
Archaeologists at the University of Exeter have used laser scans collected as part of the Environment Agency’s National LiDAR Programme to identify new sections of road west of the previously understood boundary.
Using sophisticated geographical modeling techniques, which incorporate information around gradients and flood risk, the researchers have then been able to map out the full extent of the network and begin to understand the rationale for its existence.
Among the things it reveals is that far from Exeter being the main nerve center of the network, it was North Tawton that supported strategically vital connections with tidal estuaries north and south of Bodmin and Dartmoor.
These findings are explored in Remote Sensing and GIS Modeling of Roman Roads in South West Britain which has been published in the Journal of Computer Applications in Archaeology.
2023-08-07 10:24:03
Source from phys.org