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Colchester Archaeological Report 11, Camulodunum 2

Published in 1947, Camulodunum 2 is the well-known account of the excavations between 1930 and 1939 at Sheepen in Colchester. Its authors, Christopher Hawkes and Rex Hull, intended that in due course there should be a companion volume about the dykes. The excavation of the latter tended to be regarded as the provenance of Christopher Hawkes rather than Rex Hull. As a result Christopher Hawkes was particularly active in Colchester from the late 1940s to the late 1950s; his last piece of fieldwork in the town was a complete section across the ditches of the Triple Dyke which he directed in 1961. Although never based permanently in Colchester, he corresponded with those who were active there in his absence (mainly Rex Hull and A F Hall) and provided them with a ready source of advice and support.

Camulodunum 2 is the result of a collaborative venture between Christopher Hawkes and Philip Crummy, director of the Colchester Archaeological Trust since 1971. The book contains descriptions of all the dykes, as well as accounts of the fieldwork relating to the dyke system and Camulodunum in general in the late Iron Age and early Roman periods. Sixty years of excavation are covered, beginning in 1932 with the work on the Lexden Dyke directed by Christopher Hawkes. There is an account of the various surveys and studies of the dyke system starting with that of Lufkin and Smith in 1722. There are substantial discussions by Christopher Hawkes of the Lexden Tumulus (following Jennifer Foster's study published in 1982) and of the Sheepen site in the light of the controversy over the date when occupation started there. The Gosbecks site is discussed in full and the origin and development of Camulodunum are considered at length.

Christopher Hawkes completed the drafts of his various texts within months of his death in 1992. Philip Crummy subsequently revised his own contributions and added a chapter to take into account the most recent developments.

Publication of the report was made possible by a generous grant from English Heritage.

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