Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 November 2011
A 10-ha site discovered on Langwood Ridge, a spur of Chatteris Island, during the Fenland Survey is amongst the largest open Iron Age settlement scatters known in Britain (Site 26; TL4180 8520). Correlating with a series of linear cropmarks and the possible outline of a stone building on aerial photographs, in the course of the survey a distinct Roman component was also identified. This multi-period settlement, whose ‘in-fen’ situation is directly comparable to Stonea, was assessed by the Cambridge Archaeological Unit of the University of Cambridge in the winter of 1993 in conjunction with the Fenland Management Project (FMP). Nine other Iron Age/Roman scatters are known upon the ridge, including two within the immediate vicinity (Sites 24 and 25; FIG. 2). Moreover, cropmark complexes, respectively involving large field boundaries and more minor paddocks, lie just north-east of the main scatter (Sites 12 and 13). The nearest, the Site 12 field-system, was also trenched in conjunction with the Site 26 fieldwork. Given these densities, one theme of the programme was that of site definition; it is difficult to know where each site begins and ends. As a result, in part, of not being able to adequately delineate the allocated scatter, the investigations grew and to provide broader landscape context neighbouring sites were also sampled (Sites 13, 14, 23–25, and 29).