Paper short abstract:

A composite picture of the Roman town at Aldborough, obtained from field-walking, geophysical survey and air photographic investigation, provides opportunity to compare and contrast the different techniques employed and make recommendations for future collaborative work using multi-scalar data.

Paper long abstract:

The civitas capital of Isurium Brigantium lies beneath the medieval village of Aldborough, North Yorkshire. The village is small and redevelopment in recent years has been minimal; as a result, much of the former Roman town is preserved under pasture and arable farmland. Protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument, understanding of the spatial and chronological development of the Roman town is most suitably progressed via non-intrusive survey methods. In recognition of this, a sustained programme of field-walking has been conducted over the past 20 years by members of the Yorkshire Archaeological Society, directed by Colin Dobinson. In 2009, Martin Millett and Rose Ferraby of the University of Cambridge established the Aldborough Roman Town Survey, employing magnetometer survey, resistance survey and Ground Penetrating Radar. As a complement to this, in 2010 an air photographic analysis and mapping project was completed of the town and its immediate hinterland by Tara-Jane Sutcliffe as part of an English Heritage Professional Placement in Conservation in Aerial Survey and Investigation. The composite picture drawn from these multi-scalar surveys not only helps to develop our particular understanding of Isurium Brigantium, but also provides opportunity to compare and contrast the different techniques employed and make recommendations for future collaborative work. In particular, this paper will explore the methods and resolutions of data capture; the means of filtering and calibrating primary data; and the criteria for validating interpretation.