Catharine Patrick

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The sites investigated are all within small towns or villages that have been the site of continuous settlement since at least medieval times. Consequently, the excavations proved very productive, revealing evidence for a wide range of activities and sometimes considerable spans of occupation. At Woodhurst, a Romano-British settlement was later succeeded by Saxon and then medieval occupation of the same area. Fordham provided a detailed insight into changing patterns of activity in a single location during the Anglo-Saxon period. Investigations at Buckden produced a less wide-ranging but nonetheless significant view of economic activities during medieval times. Finally, the excavations at Soham and St Neots revealed sequences running respectively from the Late Saxon and medieval periods through until modern times.