Objects of the Past in the Past. Investigating the significance of earlier artefacts in later contexts

Abstract

the various forms and developments. Chapter 7 reviews the evidence for early medieval Exeter. There is little evidence for any settlement activity within the former town during the fifth to eighth centuries. A small cemetery at the Roman basilica lay below a mid-Saxon cemetery and later-Saxon minster, so does indicate some population continuity, if at a massively reduced scale. In the late ninth century, Exeter became a defended burh, and this saw a revival of urban life. By the tenth century there was wider occupation with streets largely ignoring the earlier Roman street grid, several parish churches, along with the minster (and later cathedral). Exeter was the fifth most productive mint in England, suggesting a sizeable population. Chapter 8 discusses later medieval Exeter, where it remained a major town in the south-west, becoming an episcopal and royal centre and an international port (particularly in ceramics). This is a richly illustrated chapter, with many photos, plans, and reconstruction images. The second volume of the series, compliments the first, by presenting a series of specialist contributions that support Volume I’s more general overview. Chapter 1 offers a short introduction to the project. Chapter 2 provides summaries of the excavations carried out within the city of Exeter between 1812 and 2019, while Chapter 3 draws together the evidence for the plan of the legionary fortress and the streets and buildings of the Roman town. Chapter 4 presents the medieval documentary evidence relating to the excavations at three sites in central Exeter (High Street, Trichay Street and Goldsmith Street), with the excavation reports being in Chapter 5–7. Chapter 8 reports on the excavations and documentary research at Rack Street in the south-east quarter of the city. There follows a series of papers covering recent research into the archaeometallurgical debris, dendrochronology, Roman pottery, Roman ceramic building material, Roman querns and millstones, Claudian coins, an overview of the Roman coins from Exeter and Devon, medieval pottery, and the human remains found in a series of medieval cemeteries.