BRITANNIA

Nick Hodgson: Elginhaugh: the Most Complete Fort Plan in the Roman Empire (W.S. Hanson, Elginhaugh: a Flavian Fort and its Annexe; W.S. Hanson, A Roman Frontier Fort in Scotland: Elginhaugh), 365–368

REVIEWS

Adams, G.W., and Tobler, R., Romano-British Tombstones between the 1st and 3rd Centuries. Epigraphy, Gender and Familial Relations (by Valerie Hope), 369–370

Aldhouse-Green, M., Boudica Britannia. Rebel, War-leader and Queen (by Nina Crummy), 370–371

Braithwaite, G., Faces from the Past: A Study of Roman Face Pots from Italy and the Western Provinces of the Roman Empire (by Edward Biddulph), 371–372

Breeze, D.J., and Jilek, S. (eds), Frontiers of the Roman Empire. The European Dimension of a World Heritage Site (by Philip Freeman), 372–374

Breeze, D.J., Edge of Empire. The Antonine Wall. Rome’s Scottish Frontier (by Philip Freeman), 372–374

RCAHMS, The Antonine Wall: 1:25,000 Map (by Philip Freeman), 372–374

Crummy, P., Benfield, S., Crummy, N., Rigby, V., and Shimmin, D., Stanway: an Elite Burial Site at Camulodunum (by Hella Eckardt), 374–376

Fenwick, C., Wiggins, M., and Wythe, D. (eds), TRAC 2007. Proceedings of the Seventeenth Annual Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference (by Hella Eckardt), 376

Freeman, P.W.M., The Best Training-Ground for Archaeologists: Francis Haverfield and the Invention of Romano-British Archaeology (by Margarita Díaz-Andreu), 377–378

Fulford, M., Clarke, A., and Eckardt, H., Life and Labour in Late Roman Silchester: Excavations in Insula IX since 1997 (by Barry C. Burnham), 378–379

Gardner, A., An Archaeology of Identity: Soldiers and Society in Late Roman Britain (by Richard Reece), 379–380

Grant, A.E., Roman Military Objectives in Britain under the Flavian Emperors (by W.S. Hanson), 380–382

Gugl, C., and Kastler, R. (eds), Legionslager Carnuntum. Ausgrabungen 1968–1977 (by Lynn Pitts), 382–383

Guirand, H., Intailles et camées de l’époque romaine en Gaule II (by Martin Henig), 383–384

Hartley, B.R., and Dickinson, B.M., Names on Terra Sigillata. An Index of Makers’ Stamps and Signatures on Gallo-Roman Terra Sigillata (Samian Ware). Volume I (A to AXO) (by Peter Webster), 385–386

Hartley, K.F., and Tomber, R., A Mortarium Bibliography for Roman Britain (by Neil Holbrook), 386–387

Huld-Zetsche, I., Der Mithraskult in Mainz und das Mithräum am Ballplatz (by Joanna Bird), 387–388

Hunter, F., Beyond the Edge of the Empire — Caledonians, Picts and Romans (by Jane Webster), 388–389

Simmonds, A., Márquez-Grant, N., and Loe, L., Life and Death in a Roman City: Excavation of a Roman Cemetery with a Mass Grave at 120–122 London Road, Gloucester (by Simon Esmonde Cleary), 389–390

Spickermann, W., Germania Inferior (by Malcolm Todd), 390–391

Stallibrass, S., and Thomas, R. (eds), Feeding the Roman Army: The Archaeology of Production and Supply in NW Europe (by David J. Breeze), 391–392

Taylor, J., An Atlas of Roman Rural Settlement in England (by Steven Willis), 393–394

Todd, M., Roman Mining in Somerset. Excavations at Charterhouse on Mendip 1993–1995 (by William Manning), 394–395

White, R., Britannia Prima: Britain’s Last Roman Province (by Andrew Gardner), 395–396

Wilmott, T., The Roman Amphitheatre in Britain (by Nick Bateman), 396–397

Yeates, S.J., The Tribe of Witches: The Religion of the Dobunni and Hwicce (by Simon Rodway), 397–398

BRITANNIA 2009 ABSTRACTS

Paul R. Sealey: New Light on the Wine Trade with Julio-Claudian Britain

Exports of Italian wine to Gaul were in steep decline from c. 50 B.C. A quite different picture emerges from Britain where finds of the Italian Dressel 1 amphora peak at the very end of the form, c. 10 B.C. The discrepancy between Gaul and Britain is explained by the export of commodities from Britain to supply the Roman army on the Rhine, and is the expression of a direct interest in the island by the Roman state. Afterwards, the number of wine amphoras reaching Britain declined sharply: in the fifty years before the Roman invasion the volume of amphora-borne wine imported by Britons fell by between two-thirds and three-quarters. This decline is apparent from both rich graves and settlement sites. The fall in the number of wine amphoras cannot be accounted for by the replacement of the amphora by the barrel as the standard commercial wine container: we are dealing with a real decline in the volume of wine traded. In Gaul there was a similar slump in wine imports from Italy, and the same pattern is repeated in Mediterranean shipwrecks. It can be explained by growing demand for wine in Italy itself: wine that had hitherto been exported was now consumed in the peninsula.

Raphaël Clotuche: The Scheldt Valley Commercial Activity Zone: 350 Hectares of the Gallo-Roman Landscape

The research undertaken on the Scheldt Valley Commercial Activity Zone was the first large-scale excavation in the Valenciennes region (Northern France), permitting an insight into the organization of a large territory. It has yielded a great wealth of data on land use and settlement and it forms a key point of reference for any future research within the region for each of the studied periods. The article discusses the characteristics of the occupation of the territory, allowing the development of new models for the occupation, structure, and management of the land and the institution of settlements and their related material culture. It argues for a Roman-indigenous land cadaster, until now unobserved for this part of Roman France. The different enclosures and their internal organization are described (buildings, wells, ponds, an artisanal zone, a road system, and a burial zone), showing the persistence of numerous protohistoric sites into Roman times, which is explained by the continuity of the agricultural system and a voluntary integration into a Roman administration. The Onnaing-Scheldt Valley demonstrates the importance of large-scale excavations for the understanding of land use.

Hella Eckardt, with Peter Brewer, Sophie Hay and Sarah Poppy: Roman Barrows and their Landscape Context: a GIS Case Study at Bartlow, Cambridgeshire

This paper examines the landscape context of the Bartlow Hills, a group of large Romano-British barrows that were excavated in the 1840s but have been largely neglected since. GIS is employed to test whether it was possible to view the mounds from nearby roads, barrows and villas. Existing research on provincial barrows, and especially their landscape context, and some recent relevant applications of GIS are reviewed. We argue that barrows are active and symbolically charged statements about power and identity. The most striking pattern to emerge from the GIS analysis is a focus on display to a local rather than a transient audience.

Michael Fradley: The Field Archaeology of the Romano-British Settlement at Charterhouse-on-Mendip

The Romano-British lead-mining complex at Charterhouse-on-Mendip has long been recognised as amongst the most important industrial sites within the British province. This paper brings together the results of the recent English Heritage earthwork survey of the site which has enabled for the first time the full characterisation of the settlement and its relationship with the core mining zones of the Blackmoor and Velvet Bottom valleys. It has also allowed a reassessment of life within an industrial settlement such as Charterhouse which challenges many preconceived perceptions of these settlement forms.

Rebecca H. Jones and Peter McKeague: A ‘Stracathro’-Gated Temporary Camp at Raeburnfoot, Dumfriesshire, Scotland

The review of a series of oblique aerial photographs recording a Neolithic bank barrow and adjacent post-medieval field-system identified the ground-plan of a Roman temporary camp on the rising ground to the north-east of the Roman fort at Raeburnfoot, Dumfriesshire. Further analysis, later confirmed by field survey, recognised the presence of at least two upstanding gateways of a form usually referred to as the ‘Stracathro’-type and so far only known in Scotland. All the other examples are known only as cropmarks, making the camp at Raeburnfoot the sole visible earthwork camp with these unusual entrances known in the Roman world.

D.F. Mackreth: An Unusual Romano-British Brooch from Norfolk, with a Note upon its Probable Affinities

A brooch from Marham, Norfolk, is identified as being a hybrid Colchester Derivative and its relationship with other Colchester Derivatives is discussed. An examination of the basic distribution of the parent of the Marham brooch, the Rearhook, shows that it is of Icenian origin. Discussion of other rare hybrids along with the dating of the parent reveals that, alone of British brooches, the Rearhook has what may be described as an abrupt cut-off date which can be equated with the suppression of the Iceni. Only one hybrid has any development, and that is the one to which the Marham brooch belongs. The fantail foot found on many Rearhooks also has a later history which is examined. The discussion focuses on the dating and distribution of what may be described as ultimate Rearhook derivatives. The early post-Boudiccan history of the Iceni is alluded to and a case presented for the probable deliberate plantation of Icenians at Castleford.

Justine Bayley, Ben Croxford, Martin Henig and Bruce Watson: A Gilt-Bronze Arm from London

The left hand and forearm from a slightly over life-size bronze or copper-alloy arm was excavated during 2001 at 20–30 Gresham Street, within the City of London. It was discarded in a quarry pit, which flooded with groundwater turning it into a pond and was subsequently backfilled c. A.D. 60–70. The arm was presumably part of a public statue, perhaps of an emperor or god, which had been deliberately broken up. The Boudican revolt of A.D. 69 is one possible context for the destruction of Roman statuary in London, but the end of Nero’s reign, some ten years later, is another period when any statues of this very unpopular emperor could have been broken up. The article includes a catalogue of previous finds of bronze statuary from London (where more fragments of arms and hands have been recovered than anywhere else in Britain), the results of metallurgical examination of the arm, and a discussion of iconoclasm in Roman Britain.

James Gerrard: The Drapers’ Gardens Hoard: A Preliminary Account

Recent excavations by Pre-Construct Archaeology in the City of London uncovered a large hoard of twenty bronze, pewter and iron vessels and other objects in the fill of a Late Roman well. The hoard is the largest group of such objects to be excavated under modern conditions and is exceptionally well dated. This paper provides an illustrated catalogue of the vessels, discusses their date, and suggests reasons for their deposition.

John F. Drinkwater: Crocus, ‘King of the Alamanni’

Crocus was an authentic historical figure. His influence at the court of Constantius I may be explained in a number of ways, the most plausible being that he provided significant military assistance as leader of an unusually large force of warriors from the interior of Germania, not local Alamanni.

Anthony A. Barrett: Saint Germanus and the British Missions

Constantius’ biography of Saint Germanus, written c. A.D. 480, includes accounts of two missions undertaken to counter the spread of Pelagianism in Britain. Germanus’ first mission is mentioned also in the chronicle of Prosper, dated to A.D. 429. The second mission is undated, and is almost certainly a fantasy. Germanus’ supposed initial victory by persuasion is implausible. Also, Prosper’s account of Pope Celestine I’s anti-Pelagian campaigns demonstrates that the heresy was suppressed in Britain in the first mission. The chronology of Tibatto’s rebellion precludes a second mission, and its chronological anomalies arise from the need to accommodate just such a second mission.