Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society 95

Paper on more than fifty burials representing a portion of a late Romano-British cemetery outside the southwest gate of the Roman town of Durobrivae, near Peterborough. Pre-dating the cemetery were parallel ditches demonstrating rural activity (livestock management) during the mid- to late-third century. Towards the end of the third century the land was used for burial. Disturbed inhumations of at least fifty-seven individuals were recorded, of both sexes and all ages. The graves lay on various alignments. Some had been placed in wooden containers and two in stone coffins, with a possible instance of stone-packing. There were two possible cases of decapitation. The burials appeared to be unfurnished, with the exception of a child who was accompanied by copper alloy and ivory armlets, as well as amber and glass beads from a necklace. The cemetery appears to have remained in use throughout the fourth and into the early part of the fifth century. The presence of undated headlands associated with ridge and furrow systems suggests that the site reverted to agricultural use during the medieval to post-medieval periods. Includes separately authored contributions on

Excavation c.200m east of a Roman villa found evidence of an early to middle Roman enclosure, succeeded by a late Roman cemetery with a contemporary field system. Sixty-eight identifiable individuals were buried in the cemetery, with a further four among the field ditches. Inhumations were generally in an extended supine position, oriented west-south-west to east-north-east; there was no evidence for use of coffins, and grave goods were present in only two cases. Includes separately authored contributions on

Report on a Romano-British temple complex just southwest of Devil's Dyke and overlooking a Roman villa 1km away in Reach, to which the site appears linked by a trackway. The complex consisted of a main compound, defined by a palisade trench, containing three subsidiary areas: the large outer enclosure may represent a funerary precinct or temenos. Placed centrally within it is a rectangular area, itself subdivided, which, on the basis of cropmark evidence, contains a possible shrine or temple. To the north, post-dating the central enclosure, an internal double-ditched courtyard surrounds a circular feature and associated square structure, possibly a second shrine or temple. Within the third enclosure to the southwest a small single-celled building may represent another shrine or mausoleum. On the basis of artefactual evidence, the whole complex appears to have been short lived, the main focus being the first century and earlier half of the second century. The site was subsequently abandoned and was reused by Early Anglo-Saxons as a burial ground. An undated adult inhumation was found within demolition debris associated with the shrine/mausoleum located within the southwestern enclosure, while seven further inhumations were scattered across the investigation site. Two were identified as Anglo-Saxon on the basis of associated grave goods. The remaining graves were not excavated and may have been late Roman or Anglo-Saxon in date. Includes separately authored contributions on

Excavations close to the parish church of Orton Waterville revealed Anglo-Saxon settlement remains dating from the seventh/eighth century to the eleventh/twelfth century. These mainly comprised enclosure ditches of various phases, pits, post-holes, and one possible sunken-featured building. Some hand-made pottery, though undecorated and undiagnostic in form, may pre-date the seventh century. The article summarises the excavation results and their significance.

In 1924 two wall paintings were discovered in a small room in Second Court, St John's College, Cambridge. Stylistic and art historical information indicates that the paintings are more or less contemporary with the building of Second Court at the turn of the seventeenth century. Although the subject matter was originally thought to be associated with a poem by Dryden, the current study has demonstrated that the paintings are in fact an allegory of the Five Senses, using animal imagery, a subject not uncommon in the decorative arts in this period. Analysis of the original materials and painting techniques showed that the paintings were relatively sophisticated with a wide range of pigments employed. The paintings suffered considerable damage during uncovering, and following their discovery were treated with a layer of beeswax. The coating subsequently became dark and cloudy, obscuring much of the detail. In addition, the hair plaster substrate on which the paintings were executed had become detached from the lath structure of the wall and was vulnerable to further damage. In 2003 a programme of remedial treatment was undertaken to stabilise the paintings, to prevent further deterioration and to improve their visibility. The conservation programme not only enabled the paintings to be treated, but provided the opportunity for a detailed technical and art historical study.

The article explores development of the parish of St Giles in the first post-enclosure period and the roles played by some Cambridge colleges. The period saw little building, but transformation of the eastern part of an almost wholly arable landscape into pastures, pleasure gardens, nurseries and playing fields. Fewer than a dozen `gentlemen's residences' were erected, most of them on the periphery of the parish, while a moderate number of solid workring class houses were built in the earlier populated areas of Castle Hill, Pound Hill and Newnham, again on the edges of the parish, and an unknown number of impermanent rural dwellings whose exact locations are not known.

Note on archaeological investigations which established the location of medieval fen edge deposits, closer to the presumed area of the original settlement than previously suspected. This was followed in the twelfth to thirteenth century by land reclamation by dumping of silt and some domestic waste, in conjunction with canalisation of a nearby watercourse. Six buildings were constructed at the site between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries, apparently of similar construction and typical of buildings of the early post-medieval period in other Fenland villages. The site appears to have been primarily domestic.

Numerous brief, separately authored summaries of archaeological fieldwork carried out in Cambridgeshire during 2005, arranged alphabetically by town or parish, with a separate section listing desk based assessments.