| Abstract: | It is observable - from standing buildings-that the stone used in the study area of the East Brittany Survey has for the most part travelled a very short distance (< 5 km), whether the building is grand or simple. Excavation has demonstrated that the same is true of structures of earlier periods, although Roman building is differentiated by its preference for the very hard stones that occur to the north of the area. Surface scatters of building stone on modern arable fields, if carefully observed, are a useful tool for locating stone-built settlements of the historic period and scatters of Cambrian siltstones can point to the location of medieval seigneurial settlements. Manuring scatters of roofing slate, which can be differentiated by period, are a useful tool for defining the arable worked from settlements, especially in the later and post-medieval periods, and therefore for mapping the changing patterns of land-use. With sufficient training of volunteers or of a research team, a large body of data can be gathered very economically. |
