BRITANNIA

A JOURNAL OF ROMANO-BRITISH AND KINDRED STUDIES

VOLUME 42 (2011)

CONTENTS

ARTICLES

RONALD HUTTON, Romano-British Reuse of Prehistoric Ritual Sites, 1–22

STEPHEN G. UPEX, The Praetorium of Edmund Artis: A Summary of Excavations and Surveys of the Palatial Roman Structure at Castor, Cambridgeshire 1828–2010, 23–112

A.K. BOWMAN, J.D. THOMAS and R.S.O. TOMLIN, The Vindolanda Writing-Tablets (Tabulae Vindolandeses IV, Part 2), 113–144

DAVID B. CUFF, The King of the Batavians: Remarks on Tab. Vindol. III, 628, 145–156

NINA CRUMMY, A Campanian Vessel Foot from Silchester, 157–165

STEVEN WILLIS, Samian Ware and Society in Roman Britain and Beyond, 167–242

DAVID SMITH and HARRY KENWARD, Roman Grain Pests in Britain: Implications for Grain Supply and Agricultural Production, 243–262

SHEPPARD FRERE with an Appendix by PATRICIA WITTS, The Saga of Verulamium Building XXVII 2, 263–274

ANDY HAMMON, Understanding the Romano-British–Early Medieval Transition: A Zooarchaeological Perspective from Wroxeter (Viroconium Cornoviorum), 275–305

NOTES

JOHN PETERSON, Measuring the Landscape of the Bartlow Hills, 307–309

JÖRN SCHUSTER, A Lead Bust of the Goddess Isis from Groundwell Ridge, Swindon, Wiltshire, 309–314

BRYN WALTERS, A Probable Opus Sectile Pavement from the Halstock Villa in Dorset, 315–318

ROMAN BRITAIN IN 2010

I Sites Explored by E.M. Chapman, F. Hunter, P. Booth and P. Wilson, 319–398

II Finds Reported by S. Worrell and J. Pearce, 399–437

III Inscriptions by R.S.O. Tomlin, 439–466

REVIEWS

BARBET, A. and M. FUCHS with L. RODUIT (Eds), Les Murs murmurent: Graffitis gallo-romains (by R.S.O. Tomlin), 467–468

COLLINS, R. and L. ALLASON-JONES (Eds), Finds from the Frontier: Material Culture in the 4th–5th Centuries (by Hella Eckardt), 468–469

COWAN, C., F. SEELEY, A. WARDLE, A. WESTMAN and L. WHEELER, Roman Southwark, Settlement and Economy: Excavations in Southwark, 1973–91 (by Harvey Sheldon), 469–470

DRIESSEN, M., S. HEEREN, J. HENDRIKS, F. KEMMERS and R. VISSER (Eds), TRAC 2008. Proceedings of the Eighteenth Annual Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference: Amsterdam 2008 (by Ben Croxford), 470–471

DÜRRWÄCHTER, C., Time, Space and Innovation: an Archaeological Case Study on the Romanization of the North-Western Provinces (50 BC to AD 50) (by Phil Freeman), 471–472

FISCHER, A., Vorsicht Glas! Die römischen Glasmanufakturen von Kaiseraugst (by H.E.M. Cool), 472–473

SHEPHERD, J. and A. WARDLE, The Glass Workers of Roman London (by H.E.M. Cool), 472–473

HASELGROVE, C., The Traprain Law Environs Project, Fieldwork and Excavations 2000–2004 (by Andrew Dunwell), 474–475

HAYWARD, K., Roman Quarrying and Stone Supply on the Periphery — Southern England: a Geological Study of First-Century Funerary Monuments and Monumental Architecture (by Andrew Pearson), 475–476

HINGLEY, R., The Recovery of Roman Britain 1586–1906 (by Richard Reece), 476–477

HODGSON, N., Hadrian’s Wall 1999–2009: A Summary of Excavation and Research Prepared for the Thirteenth Pilgrimage of Hadrian’s Wall, 8–14 August 2009 (by Pete Wilson), 477–478

BIDWELL, P. and N. HODGSON, The Roman Army in Northern England (by Pete Wilson), 477–478

HODGSON, N., Roman Scotland. XXI International Limes (Roman Frontiers Studies) Congress, Newcastle upon Tyne. Handbook to Accompany the Post-Congress Excursion to Scotland, 24–26 August 2009 (by Pete Wilson), 477–478

ENGLISH HERITAGE, An Archaeological Map of Hadrian’s Wall (by Pete Wilson), 477–478

ISLES, P. and D. SHOTTER (Eds), Lancaster’s Roman Cemeteries (by John Pearce), 478–479

JONES, J.E., The Maritime and Riverine Landscape of the West of Roman Britain (by Edith Evans), 479–481

KAGAN, J., Gem Engraving in Britain from Antiquity to the Present: with a Catalogue of the British Engraved Gems in the State Hermitage Museum (by Martin Henig), 481–482

KIERNAN, P., Miniature Votive Offerings in the Roman North-West (by Nina Crummy), 482–483

LAMOINE, L., Le Pouvoir local en Gaule romaine (by Penelope J. Goodman), 483–484

LAWRENCE, S. and A. SMITH, Between Villa and Town: Excavations of a Roadside Settlement and Shrine at Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire (by Barry C. Burnham), 484–485

POULTER, J. (with a supplementary report: ‘Mapping Matters with the Antonine Wall’ by

P. McKeague), Surveying Roman Military Landscapes across Northern Britain: The Planning of Roman Dere Street, Hadrian’s Wall and the Vallum, and the Antonine Wall in Scotland (by Robert Witcher), 485–486

RÉMY, B. with P. FAURE, Les Médecins dans l’Occident romain: Péninsule Ibérique, Bretagne, Gaules, Germanies (by Helen King), 486–487

ROTHE, U., Dress and Cultural Identity in the Rhine-Moselle Region of the Roman Empire (by Mary Harlow), 487–488

RUSHWORTH, A., Housesteads Roman Fort – the Grandest Station. Excavation and Survey at Housesteads, 1954–95, by Charles Daniels, John Gillam, James Crow and others (by Nick Hodgson), 488–490

SYMONDS, M.F.A. and D.J.P. MASON (Eds), Frontiers of Knowledge. A Research Framework for Hadrian’s Wall, Part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site (by Rebecca Jones), 490–491

TROW, S., S. JAMES and T. MOORE, Becoming Roman, Being Gallic, Staying British: Research and Excavations at Ditches ‘Hillfort’ and Villa 1984–2006 (by John Creighton), 491–492

VAGALINSKI, L.F., Blood and Entertainments; Sports and Gladiatorial Games in Hellenistic and Roman Thrace (by Tony Wilmott), 492–493

WILMOTT, T. (Ed.), Hadrian’s Wall. Archaeological Research by English Heritage 1976–2000 (by Paul Bidwell), 492–493

WILMOTT, T. (Ed.), Roman Amphitheatres and Spectacula: a 21st-Century Perspective. Papers from an International Conference held at Chester. 16–18th February, 2007 (by Michael Fulford), 493–494


BRITANNIA 2011 ABSTRACTS

Ronald Hutton: Romano-British Reuse of Prehistoric Ritual Sites

Much interest has been taken recently in the reuse of prehistoric ceremonial sites during later prehistory and early history, but only limited attention has been paid to this phenomenon during the Romano-British period. This paper seeks to build on existing work by making a detailed study of such activity in three specific cases: the limestone caves of the Bristol Channel region, the Neolithic chambered tombs of the Cotswold-Severn area and the Peak District, and the three most spectacular prehistoric monuments of the Wessex chalklands: Stonehenge, the Avebury complex and the Uffington White Horse.

Stephen G. Upex: The Praetorium of Edmund Artis: A Summary of Excavations and Surveys of the Palatial Roman Structure at Castor, Cambridgeshire 1828–2010

Antiquarian and modern excavations at Castor, Cambs., have been taking place since the seventeenth century. The site, which lies under the modern village, has been variously described as a Roman villa, a guild centre and a palace, while Edmund Artis working in the 1820s termed it ‘The Praetorium’. The Roman buildings covered an area of 3.77 ha (9.4 acres) and appear to have had two main phases, the latter of which formed a single unified structure some 130 by 90 m. This article attempts to draw together all of the previous work at the site and provide a comprehensive plan, a set of suggested dates, and options on how the remains could be interpreted.

A.K. Bowman, J.D. Thomas and R.S.O. Tomlin: The Vindolanda Writing-Tablets (Tabulae Vindolandeses IV, Part 2)

This article contains full editions with commentaries of the second and final instalment of the approximately 37 ink writing-tablets from Vindolanda discovered in the excavation seasons of 2001, 2002 and 2003. The editions are numbered continuously from 870, following the sequence in Tab. Vindol. IV.1, and are grouped in the following categories: Military Document, Letters, Descripta.

David B. Cuff: The King of the Batavians: Remarks on Tab. Vindol. III, 628

Tab.Vindol. III, 628 is a letter of an auxiliary decurion of cohors VIIII Batavorum that begins with the greeting ‘Masclus Ceriali regi suo’. A.R. Birley tentatively suggested that the title held a literal force, while Bowman and Thomas interpreted the word as meaning ‘patron’ on the basis of OLD s.v. 8 and a parallel with P.Mich. VIII 472 = CEL 147, a letter, also from a military context, from ‘Claudius Tiberianus Longino Prisco domin[o] et regi suo’. This article examines the Batavian and military contexts of these interpretations beside other epigraphic examples of rex as ‘patron’.

Nina Crummy: A Campanian Vessel Foot from Silchester

In 2009 a leaded bronze vessel foot topped by a figure of Harpocrates was found in a Neronian or early Flavian levelling deposit on the University of Reading’s excavations in Insula IX at Silchester. Comparanda point to the foot originally having been fitted to a vessel for cooking or for heating liquids that was made in Campania in the Tiberian or early Claudian period. Its recovery is further evidence that a high-status early Roman building was located close to Insula IX.

Steven Willis: Samian Ware and Society in Roman Britain and Beyond

Samian ware being widely present, of striking quality, and highly useful to the archaeologist has a special position within Roman studies. This article brings a large body of samian ware data together to explore the nature of its incidence at settlements and in graves. The examination shows how the nature of samian ware distribution is highly structured between different types of site and between different consumers. This is shown to be so in the case of both Britain and the other Western provinces. The findings raise issues around the use of samian ware in society and point the way to harnessing the rich potential of samian as a source of information as understanding of its utility for the archaeologist expands.

David Smith and Harry Kenward: Roman Grain Pests in Britain: Implications for Grain Supply and Agricultural Production

It is over thirty years since Paul Buckland first presented a series of arguments concerning beetle (Coleoptera) grain pests: their origin, the timing of their introduction to Britain, and their implications for agricultural production during the Roman occupation. Here we return to the topic in the light of new data from a range of archaeological deposits, including civilian and military sites dating from the earliest period of Roman occupation. Infestation rates and, potentially, grain loss may have been high throughout Roman Britain, though many infestations may have been in equine feed. Beetle grain pests are not recorded in Britain prior to the Roman invasion, and it appears that they were absent, or extremely rare, in the early medieval period and up to the Norman Conquest. This pattern of occurrence is reviewed and it is suggested that ecological theory offers an explanation which is in accord with supposed socio-economic changes and trade. The role of grain pests is considered in the economic modelling of Romano-British agriculture.

Sheppard Frere with an Appendix by Patricia Witts: The Saga of Verulamium Building XXVII 2

Recent debate about the dating of Building XXVII 2 at Verulamium highlights a potential conflict between archaeological and stylistic dating of mosaics. The stratigraphic and artefactual, particularly the numismatic, evidence for the dating of the construction of Building XXVII 2 and subsequent phases of activity are examined in detail. The coin finds indicate a late date (after c. a.d. 380) for the initial construction of this building and its mosaics, with a sequence of development suggesting the continuation of urban life well into the fifth century. This dating has been challenged, however, and it has been suggested that the mosaics, stylistically, are significantly earlier. Comments are offered on the stylistic dating of the Verulamium mosaics in an Appendix by Patricia Witts. In conclusion, there would appear to be no compelling reason why the historically important sequence of structures, suggesting the continuation of urban life in Verulamium well into the fifth century, as originally proposed has to be rewritten.

Andy Hammon: Understanding the Romano-British–Early Medieval Transition: A Zooarchaeological Perspective from Wroxeter (Viroconium Cornoviorum)

The demise of the Western Roman Empire combined with Germanic migration and influence from Continental Europe had a tumultuous and profound effect on the cultural and social identities of Britain’s population. The fifth to seventh centuries a.d. remain a poorly understood epoch in British history, hence the once traditional ‘Dark Ages’ label. A variety of factors have contributed to this phenomenon, which include the exact nature and timing of the Roman administration’s abandonment of Britannia, the precise character and extent of Germanic migration, questionable historical sources, the paucity of physical evidence, and problematic artefact dating. Zooarchaeological analysis can, therefore, aid the elucidation of this period through the development of new perspectives, highlighting the socio-cultural (and economic) processes involved in the emergence of early medieval Britain from Roman Britannia. Large-scale excavations were carried out at the baths basilica of Wroxeter (Shrops.) between 1966 and 1990. The city was the fourth largest urban centre in Roman Britain, and was the civitas-capital of the Cornovii. The excavations demonstrated how the public buildings of this central insula fell into disuse, prior to the possible construction of a grandiose private residence and complex in the sub-Roman period. It has been postulated that this building represents the palatial complex of a tyrannus, or possibly a bishopric of the ‘Western British’ church. Analysis of the resultant animal bone assemblage has provided an opportunity to explore the social and ethnic identity of the site’s inhabitants through their dietary habits.