SNN116499 - Archaeology on Furlough: Roman Planting Trenches in the East of England

Across eastern and central England, archaeological excavations of Roman sites have uncovered rows of parallel trenches which are usually interpreted as remains of cultivation systems. There are a number of different interpretations of them, including vineyards and ‘lazy beds’. There are however solid arguments against both of these, and consequently their use remains disputed. The goal of this project was gather a large sample of excavation reports, and analyse the trenches’ characteristics, contents and relationships to other contemporary Roman features, in order to understand them better. The project team identified 52 sites with good or possible examples—over twice as many as the most recent survey (Lodwick in Allen et al. 2017). They comprised mix of open area excavations and evaluations. The trenches are typically 60–80cm wide, dug c. 25cm into the natural geology, and rectangular in profile. They were spaced an average of 4.5–5.5 metres apart, which suggests that other crops might have been grown in beds between the trenches. Most of the planting trenches were positioned close to watercourses, although they did not generally show signs of waterlogging, water erosion or irrigation. Their fills usually produce few finds or environmental remains. Pottery recovered from them typically dates from the late Iron Age through to the second century AD. Most appear to have been backfilled promptly after being excavated. The limited environmental remains recovered from the trenches’ fills are inconclusive. The small amount of charred grain recovered suggests field manuring using midden material, rather than crop-processing. Charred remains of cultivated beans (Fabaceae) and peas (Pisum sativum) were also identified on a handful of sites, along with one example of carrot (Daucus carota). Pollen samples identified three sites with cereal pollen, four with Brassicaceae (turnips, cabbages, along with wild taxa), and one unique site with Vitis, indicating cultivation of grapes. While the environmental evidence was limited, the balance of probability points to most of the trenches being used for raising vegetables and possibly herbs. The ‘planting trenches’ show many characteristics of house gardens described by Roman authors, and excavated elsewhere in the Roman world. But many are substantially larger than the systems the Roman authors describe, and capable of supplying hundreds of people. Oddly, however, most planting trenches were not located close to either villas or towns, where they might have fed large populations. They were however very closely associated with roads: indeed, more than half were within one kilometre of a known Roman road. One possible interpretation is that the planting trenches might have been established to support the Roman army during the first century of the Roman occupation, and positioned close to roads in order to provision troops on manoeuvre. Once civilian administration became established in the south and east of Britain, and the military moved north and west, most of the planting trenches fell out of use. One recommendation from this project is that the term ‘planting trenches’ be adopted for these features. A major barrier the project team encountered gathering information on them was the large variety of terms in use, including cultivation system/beds/rows/ trenches, bedding trenches, planting beds and lazy beds. The lack of consistent terminology made sites difficult to identify, and there are doubtless other examples not included in the gazetteer attached to this report.