Air Reconnaissance in Britain, 1961–64

Abstract

Systematic air reconnaissance of Romano-British sites has continued during the last few years, with results that are summarized in this paper which supplements accounts of earlier surveys already published in this Journal . In both the summers of 1963 and 1964 a prolonged dry spell affected much of eastern Scotland, but this region apart, the weather was not particularly favourable for the development of crop marks in the period under review: the dry spell in central and southern England in 1964 came too late to affect the cereal crops, but was the cause of remarkable differential growth in certain roots, particularly beet. The greatest gain in information is in the military zone of north Britain, where photography repeated year by year never fails to yield discoveries: in the civil districts of the Province, Romano-British settlements and their agriculture are the most rewarding subjects to study. Nearly every feature here described has been examined on the ground, for only so can an accurate impression be gained of a site in relation to its surroundings: except where noted otherwise, no remains are ordinarily visible on the surface. The records and photographs on which this account is based are housed in the offices of the Committee for Aerial Photography of the University of Cambridge.