Reassessing Lowbury Hill, Oxfordshire: 1st -7th Centuries AD

Courts, S. (2026) Reassessing Lowbury Hill, Oxfordshire: 1st -7th Centuries AD. PhD thesis, University of Reading. doi: 10.48683/1926.00128656

Abstract/Summary

Lowbury Hill, Oxfordshire, is an enigmatic site; from the first explorations of the site in the 19th century, through to today, the site has remained an archaeological unicum. The rectilinear enclosure, long thought to be a temple temenos, has rounded, playing card corners of the type most frequently associated with military structures, but appears to lack any temple or shrine structure. The numerous artefacts recovered from the site point towards visitation, but the site’s relatively remote location and the absence of reliable water sources or other amenities make visitation difficult to envision. The site’s reuse as an Early Medieval cemetery, hosting only two apparently unrelated burials, has likewise frustrated archaeologists, with the barrow of an older man receiving the bulk of the scientific study to date. This has left his female counterpart buried in the line of the Roman wall to become a victim of myth-making and speculation, ultimately resulting in her story being one of mutilation and murder. This thesis redresses the balance, analysing Lowbury Hill’s archaeology as holistically as possible, to argue that the site was more likely to be a multi-functional gathering point, potentially a rural periodic market. Viewed through this lens, Lowbury’s placement in the landscape, built environment or lack thereof, and finds begin to make sense. Similarly, a reanalysis of the female burial in context reveals that far from being a victim of mutilation and murder, she was an immigrant who received a respectful burial in line with local customs. Finally, this thesis demonstrates the value in reanalysing archival sites holistically, breaking away from traditional typological identifications, and studying rural Roman and Early Medieval lifeways on their own terms. This work need not mark the end of Lowbury Hill’s story; future research will likely yield important insights into Roman and Early Medieval Britain.

Item Type	Thesis (PhD)
URI	https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/id/eprint/128656
Identification Number/DOI	10.48683/1926.00128656
Divisions	Science > School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science > Department of Archaeology
Date on Title Page	November 2025
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