SummaryExcavations at Hembury (Devon) in 1980–83 have revealed a new Neolithic earthwork to the north of the causewayed enclosure excavated by Miss D. M. Liddell in 1930–35. The eastern defences of the Iron Age hillfort have been examined for the first time and a sequence of box rampart followed by dump rampart demonstrated. The latter phase of construction is datable to the second or first century b.c. On the Roman conquest of the region the northern end of the hillfort was occupied by Roman troops who constructed a series of regular planned timber buildings, including a structure identified as a fabrica. This occupation probably ended in the 60s a.d. and thereafter the hillfort remained in disuse.

The large hillfort at Hembury, near Honiton (Devon) is one of the most impressive late prehistoric sites in South-West England. Occupied in the Neolithic and Iron Age, it was taken over by a Roman force about or shortly before A.D. 50. Substantial timber buildings were constructed, including a probablefabrica, in which iron from the adjacent Blackdown hills was worked. The Roman site was abandoned by the early Flavian period and not reoccupied. Though not evidently a conventional fort, Hembury joins a list of hillforts in South-West England which were used by the Roman army in the early decades of conquest. These include Hod Hill and possibly Maiden Castle (Dorset), Ham Hill and South Cadbury (Somerset).

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The Small Towns of Roman Britain* By MALCOLM TODD I. INTRODUCTION T HOSE loosely planned roadside settlements, Strassensiedlungen, or 'small towns' and minor settlements as they are generally known in Britain, are a phenomenon common to all the provinces of the Roman Empire, but perhaps because of their very familiarity, and the difficulties attending study of their remains, they have never been systematically examined, even in a single province. The large-scale attention accorded by excavators to some major Roman towns has never been directed towards humbler settlements. A brief study of those in Germania Inferior and eastern Gallia Belgica was attempted by the late Franz Oelmann in 1922. 1 Oelmann tried to demonstrate, on evidence that has not been greatly enlarged since 1922, that the Strassensiedlungen of northern Gaul, the Germanies and Raetia were principally settlements of traders, and not agricultural villages. 'Aber auch die Einstrassensiedlungen, fur die die Bezeichnung vicus sicher iiberliefert ist, sind keine Dorfer in unserem Sinne, keine Bauernsiedlungen gewesen, sondern Niederlassungen von Kaufleuten und kleinen Gewerbetreibenden, und daher eher unseren Marktflecken oder einfach Markten, wie man in Siiddeutschland sagt, zu vergleichen.' 2 Little evidence on the character of the lesser civilian settlements was at that time available from Britain, or any other province, and in discussing Britain Oelmann was compelled to confine his attention to house-types from the larger towns, supporting his argument for the presence of 'kleine Gewerbetreibende' (small craftsmen) in the towns of the western provinces with the evidence of strip-houses at Caerwent and Silchester. The minor settlements have since been treated only incidentally by archaeologists, generally in the context of provincial administration. It is likely that some served as the administrative centres of pagi,i and in at least a number staging-posts of the cursus publicus were housed. At least from time to time, some housed officers from the staff of the provincial governor, notably beneficiarii consulares,* and occasionally perhaps stratores consulares.S But the * The first draft of this article was read by Professor Frere, a later version by Mr. Rivet. The shortcomings that have survived their criticism are to be ascribed to the author. 1 'Gallo-Romische Strassensiedelungen und Kleinhausbauten.'

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