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Dr
John
Allan
Exeter Archaeology
The Custom House
The Quay
Exeter
EX2 4AN
England
Excavation at Bantham Ham in 2001 examined occupation which yielded radiocarbon dates centring on the late 5th and early 6th centuries. Despite the limited area of exposure, a major and unusually well-preserved assemblage of post-Roman Mediterranean amphorae was recovered; among sites in the British Isles, the quantity of ceramics is second only to that from Tintagel. This assemblage is of great significance in the study of links between western Britain and the Mediterranean in the Post-Roman Period, raising questions about the date, duration and character of trading patterns, and about their late Roman antecedents. Study of well-preserved bone, shell, charcoal and charred plant macrofossils allows consideration of aspects of the economy and environment of the site.