BRITANNIA
32 (2001) ABSTRACTS
(journal published
in November 2001 and despatched in December)
The silver coinage
of Cunobelin, ruler of the North Thames territories between c. A.D. 10 and 42, has received little
attention in comparison to the more common gold and bronze coinages struck in
his name. This paper is based on a detailed archaeological and numismatic study
of the c. 335 silver coins now
recorded. It shows how the various types can be divided into six main groups,
distinctive both temporally and spatially: an early series, a Kentish series, a
middle series, a western series, and two late series. It concludes that,
despite this advance in understanding of one particular aspect of Cunobelin’s
coinage, there remains a fundamental need for more work on related aspects of
the numismatic history of this period.
The paper
supports the credibility of Dio’s account of the Claudian Invasion, arguing
that a landing or landings in Kent were followed by the advance of the whole
army to a decisive battle at the Medway river. Division of force in three
landings between Richborough and Chichester before the decisive battle is shown
to be strategic folly, while recently revived theories of a single landing near
Chichester, based on an erroneous belief that the early surrender of part of
the Dobunni necessitated their immediate garrisoning, are equally unfounded.
The claim of Richborough to be the invasion base is shown to eclipse that of
Chichester.
The paper outlines eightenth-century discoveries
of mosaic pavements, linked with the visits of William Stukeley, and more
recent work on the site of a major courtyard villa that measures overall 260+m
by 80m wide. Material from the site ranges from the second to the fourth
centuries with evidence of later Saxon occupation. Aerial photography,
geophysical surveys, limited excavation and archival work have been combined to
produce a plan of the villa with a comment about the possible development of
the site and its setting within the Nene valley close to the Roman town of Durobrivae.
Justine Bayley, Don MacKreth and Heather
Wallis: A
Romano-British Brooch Production Site: Old Buckenham, Norfolk
A
collection of copper-alloy brooches and brooch moulds dating to the
Romano-British period was found in Norfolk by a local metal detectorist in
1994. The recovery of metal moulds is
unparalleled in this country and in other parts of the western Roman Empire. A
subsequent programme of field work (including geophysical survey followed by
excavation) was carried out by the Norfolk Archaeological Unit. No
Romano-British features or artefacts were found during this work. The
metal-detected finds have been described in detail and placed, on typological
grounds, within the chronological framework of brooches in Roman Britain.
Metallurgical analysis sought to identify the nature of the alloys used. It is
likely that the items were manufactured before A.D. 150, perhaps having been
lost by an itinerant metalworker.
All work
was funded by English Heritage.
John F. Potter: The Occurrence of Roman Brick and Tile in
Churches of the London Basin
A detailed
analysis of the external fabric of the ecclesiastical buildings in the London
Basin reveals that reused Roman brick/tiles were utilised in 310 instances.
Each of these churches is cited, and in 32% of the cases the Roman material is
used in a structural capacity. A contoured map of the geographical distribution
of the churches incorporating Roman brick/tile is presented. It is likely that
the intensity of this distribution mirrors most of those areas of Roman
settlement where the brick/tile was originally manufactured. Dates of
incorporation of much of the Roman material into the church walls have been
determined. The dates suggest that many Roman buildings may have remained in
use throughout Anglo-Saxon times.
F.M. Meddens and M. Beasley: Roman Seasonal Wetland
Pasture Exploitation near Nash, on the Gwent Levels, Wales
The site at
the Welsh Water Treatment Works is situated in the coastal wetlands of the
Gwent Levels. An area of managed Roman pastureland is described, revealing the
field-systems, the changing environment and the drainage and ritual control
mechanisms used by the herders pasturing cattle on the levels. Environmental
evidence suggested an ineffective or lacking river-wall and the occurrence of
regular fresh and saltwater flooding events. Predominantly juvenile cattle and
a pair of inhumations appear to have been used in ritual burials aimed at
re-enforcement of boundaries and the preservation and increase of herd
fertility.
The Roman
leather footwear from Vindolanda is of exceptional quality and comes from
well-dated contexts ranging from the mid-80s to the third/fourth century A.D.
Six main categories of footwear are identified and some thirteen styles, each
with clearly demarcated life-spans. Comparison with other sites reveals the
international character of Roman footwear styles in the NW provinces. This
combined with the rapid succession of new styles means that footwear can be a
useful dating tool. The author further suggests that the conscious choice of
footwear style may indicate a desire to participate in an international Roman
identity.
Several
case studies drawn from major and minor urban sites and one late Roman military
site in southern Britain build on a re-evaluation of evidence from the 1890-1909
excavations at Silchester in conjunction with the results emerging from
continuing excavation within the town and from the fort of Newstead in Scotland
to demonstrate the prevalence of ritual behaviour through structured deposition
in a domestic context. The incidence of examples spans the period between the
late Iron Age and the end of the Roman period. This practice relates to similar
behaviour evidenced in first millennium B.C. Britain which in turn can be seen
in a wider north-west European context.
Ancient
sources often mention separate summer and winter dining-rooms, at least in the
residences of the wealthy. This article looks at the possibility that larger
town-houses and villas in Britain had such rooms by analysing their design and
location as well as the arrangement and subject matter of their mosaics.
Dining-rooms suitable for summer use can be identified throughout the Roman
period; from the second century these are often paired with large, richly
adorned rooms with hypocausts which were perhaps their winter equivalent. The
development of these dining-rooms is charted from simple examples to elaborate
and more obviously seasonal types built in the fourth century
Philip Rance:
Attacotti, Deisi and Magnus Maximus: the Case for Irish
Federates in Late Roman Britain
This
paper assesses the evidence for the 'Attacotti', a mysterious and apparently
cannibalistic people who are recorded attacking the fourth-century British
diocese, but who, uniquely among the peoples of the British Isles beyond Roman
rule, later appear as units in the Roman army. An examination of their identity
and origins demonstrates that both Roman and modern authors have mistaken an
Irish collective noun denoting political status for a specific tribal name.
Consequently modern scholarship has considerably misunderstood the nature and
location of the threat posed by this 'tribe'. This study also suggests
circumstances for the recruitment of the Attacotti and their transfer to the
continental comitatus, set in the
wider context of the on-going debate concerning the presence of barbarian
troops in later Roman Britain.
J.R.L Allen, M.G. Fulford and A.F.
Pearson: Branodunum on the Saxon Shore (North
Norfolk): a Local Origin for the Building Material
Comparison
of the heavy mineral suite derived from samples of blocks of the distinctive
off-white facing stone used in the third-century Saxon Shore fort at
Brancaster, North Norfolk, and initially thought to be of a Wealden origin,
with that from stone used in the medieval church and castle and elsewhere in
Castle Rising village (North Norfolk) leaves little doubt that they are
identical. The material originates in the Leziate Beds of the Castle Rising
area, although it has not been seen in
situ, and was probably transported by sea to Brancaster, a distance of some
35 km.
J.L. Davies:
RIB 414: a
New Early Garrison for a Welsh Auxiliary Fort
The
excavations of 1911-13 on the site of the principia
of the fort at Castell Collen (Rad.) discovered a fragment from a
dedication-slab. R.P. Wright attributed it, on grounds of lettering, to the
Trajanic period, but was unable to conjecture how a text apparently reading ..I
M A… might be expanded. This note suggests a revised reading of ..L M A… and
that the inscription records work probably undertaken by Cohors IIII Delmatarum
Caroline Earwood, H.E.M. Cool and Peter
Northover: Two Pewter
Bowls from a Mire in South Wales
The paper
reports on the recovery of two pewter vessels (a shallow dish and a small bowl)
from a mire at Abercynafon, Powys. Packed one inside the other, the bowls
appear to have been deliberately deposited, perhaps for ritual purposes. No
other Roman artefacts were discovered but worked timber from the pond dates to
the third to ninth century A.D. The results of the metallographic analysis are
comparable with analyses of other late Roman pewter hoards and the typology of
the vessels places them in the fourth century A.D. The ritual deposition of
pewter objects in 'wet' places is discussed.
Accepting
that north of Hadrian's Wall the Cosmographer's source for his lists of places
was a Roman military map (originally Flavian in date but later revised for
Antonine and Severan campaigns), and that accordingly place-names in the region
south of the Antonine Wall are normally those of military sites closely
associated with roads, the paper attempts to identify their locations, using
both topographical and etymological clues. Only in Votadinian territory, where
Roman forts and roads are few, does the Cosmographer appear to have listed a
sequence of native settlements before arriving at the start of the following
section, the Antonine Wall itself.
Michael Fulford and Jane Timby: Timing Devices,
Fermentation Vessels, 'Ritual' Piercings? A Consideration of Deliberately
'Holed' Pots from Silchester and Elsewhere
In the
course of re-cataloguing the coarse pottery in the Silchester Collection of
Reading Museum more than 70 vessels ranging in date from the late first century
B.C. to the fourth century A.D. were identified where the belly had been
deliberately pierced. Although, as with further pierced vessels from the
continuing excavation at Silchester, the majority were found deliberately
placed in pits and wells alongside completely intact pottery vessels, the
explanation for the piercing is not confined to a ritual practice and
alternative interpretations are discussed. More examples have also been identified
from cremation cemeteries in London and Ospringe, Kent.
Martin Henig and Jean Bagnall Smith: Two Romano-British Reliefs
from Ancaster in Lincolnshire
The note
discusses two Roman reliefs carved out of oolitic limestone, found at Ancaster,
Lincolnshire, one depicting Minerva and the other a Genius. The new finds add
to what is already, by Romano-British standards, a reasonably large number of
sculptures from the town and its vicinity, suggestive of a local school.
E. Waddelove:
The Location of Roman Coccium?
The
Roman station of Coccium appears in
the Antonine Itinerary in Lancashire approximately half-way between Ribchester
and Manchester. Its location was long thought to have been at Wigan but more
recently Edgeworth, 21 km to the north-east, was suggested. Since then
excavations have indicated a short-lived military presence at Wigan. This
latest re-assessment based on the Roman road system, for which some fresh
evidence is presented, together with a study of local place-names and Roman
finds and an appreciation of the topographical significance of the name Coccium leads to the conclusion that a
site in Standish, 4.5 km north-west of Wigan, is the most convincing location.
Helen Winton:
A Possible Roman Small Town at Sansom's Platt, Tackley, Oxon.
Aerial
photographs of a possible Roman small town at Sansom’s Platt, in the parish of
Tackley, Oxfordshire, show a previously unsuspected layout of roads and
buildings, including a temple. The cropmarks are situated to the south-east of
the confluence of the rivers Glyme and Dorn, adjacent to the Roman road called
‘Akeman Street’ which extends between Cirencester and St Albans. The site is
one of a series of Roman settlements, known at Quenington, Asthall, and
Wilcote, on the route of the Roman road.