Roads of ages

摘要

The minute and painstaking detective work of archaeology is not necessarily a natural fit with the heavy diggers and heated bitumen of a major highways project. However, such schemes have helped unearth some incredible discoveries that enlarge our understanding of world history. This is an important issue as the nation gears up for a major project around our most famous prehistoric landmark, Stonehenge, but there was also an important case in point this year in Highways England's Leeming to Barton scheme (see pages 52-54). Excavations along the route suggest the A1 has been a functioning highway for at least 2,000 years and one that could have played a key role in the Roman conquest of northern England.