As part of the road widening scheme between London and Dover, Oxford Archaeology 
South uncovered a large boundary ditch of Iron Age origin that contained Iron 
Age and Roman inhumations, adjacent to which was a small mid-late Roman 
cemetery, interpreted as a rural cemetery for Romano-British farmers. Grave 
goods in the cemetery were restricted to a few individuals with hobnailed boots. 
Bulk bone collagen isotopic analysis of 11 skeletons of Iron Age and Roman date 
gave a typical C(3) terrestrial signal (average δ(13) C = -19.8‰, δ(15) N = 
9.3‰), but also revealed one (SK12671) with a diet which included a substantial 
C(4) component (δ(13) C = -15.2‰, δ(15) N = 11.2‰). This is only the second such 
diet reported in Roman Britain. Subsequent δ(18) O(c) and (87) Sr/(86) Sr 
measurements on the dental enamel in this individual were, however, consistent 
with a "local" origin, indicating that either C(4) protein was consumed in Late 
Roman Britain, or that he came from somewhere else, but where conditions gave 
rise to similar isotopic values. If we accept the latter, then it indicates that 
using oxygen and strontium isotopes alone to identify "incomers" may be 
problematic. The provision of hobnailed boots for the dead appears to have had a 
strong symbolic element in Late Roman Britain. We suggest that in this case the 
boots may be significant, in that he was being equipped for the long march home.