A series of archaeological investigations conducted as part of the planning process has added to our knowledge of Roman settlement and landscape exploitation in an area south of modern Reading, Berkshire. None of the archaeological sites reported here are remarkable in themselves, nor are there abundant finds, nor any spectacular individual objects to record, but the steady accumulation of evidence from many such small sites can transform the way such areas are perceived. These sites, in particular, which all lie less than a day's journey from Silchester, provide a valuable contribution to an understanding of the nature and development of the hinterland of the Iron Age and Roman town.

The five sites reported in this volume include: a Roman occupation site and landscape management at Three Mile Cross; a very similar late Iron Age/early Roman settlement and landscape in south Reading, and at two smaller sites in Shinfield; while a final short paper reports on a Bronze Age pit and Iron Age 'currency bar' hoard from south Reading.