Archaeologists working on the HS2 route have discovered how an Iron Age village in Northamptonshire developed into a wealthy Roman trading town. Evidence found during a dig of the site near the village of Chipping Warden has shown how the settlement, believed to have been established in about 400 BC when it was made up of more than 30 roundhouses, expanded during the Roman era in the years around 300-400 AD, with new stone buildings and new roads emerging. The site, known as Blackgrounds after the black soil found there, is one of more than 100 to have been examined by archaeologists between London and Birmingham since 2018, with experts saying it turned out to be “one of the most impressive”. The archaeologists found more than 300 Roman coins along a wide road, suggesting that commerce in the area was significant as the village developed into a wealthy town. The …