Pub Date : 2022-08-18DOI: 10.1017/S0068113X22000319
John Reid, Regine Müller, S. Klein
Abstract Roman lead sling bullets (glandes) have been found at Windridge Farm near St Albans in Hertfordshire since the 1970s. A previous study suggested these missiles could have originated from a plough-disturbed hoard of Roman lead objects. More recent discoveries of glandes from other sites throughout Europe have enhanced our understanding of depositional characteristics, morphology and lead sources for Roman sling bullets and this paper offers an alternative explanation for their loss. Their atypical form (for Britain), and the prospect of a continental origin of the lead ore for their manufacture, suggest an early date of deposition. We also argue that the number of bullets and the pattern of their dispersal are indicative of an episode of conflict. After review of attested early military engagements that could have taken place in the vicinity, we propose that the projectiles may relate to one of two events: Claudius's invasion under the auspices of Aulus Plautius in a.d. 43 or Caesar's second incursion of 54 b.c.
{"title":"The Windridge Farm Glandes Revisited: Clues to Conquest?","authors":"John Reid, Regine Müller, S. Klein","doi":"10.1017/S0068113X22000319","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S0068113X22000319","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Roman lead sling bullets (glandes) have been found at Windridge Farm near St Albans in Hertfordshire since the 1970s. A previous study suggested these missiles could have originated from a plough-disturbed hoard of Roman lead objects. More recent discoveries of glandes from other sites throughout Europe have enhanced our understanding of depositional characteristics, morphology and lead sources for Roman sling bullets and this paper offers an alternative explanation for their loss. Their atypical form (for Britain), and the prospect of a continental origin of the lead ore for their manufacture, suggest an early date of deposition. We also argue that the number of bullets and the pattern of their dispersal are indicative of an episode of conflict. After review of attested early military engagements that could have taken place in the vicinity, we propose that the projectiles may relate to one of two events: Claudius's invasion under the auspices of Aulus Plautius in a.d. 43 or Caesar's second incursion of 54 b.c.","PeriodicalId":44906,"journal":{"name":"Britannia","volume":"53 1","pages":"323 - 346"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2022-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48605980","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-08-18DOI: 10.1017/S0068113X22000320
Richard Hobbs, L. Perucchetti
Abstract Beaded rims are a characteristic feature of late Roman silver plate vessels, many of which have been found in British treasures including Mildenhall and Traprain Law. This paper discusses how these beaded rims provide insights into the production of silver plate, adding to what little is known of silver plate workshops. Vessels in the Mildenhall treasure provide a case study, after which measurements from beaded rims on other treasures from Roman Britain and the western Roman Empire are compared and discussed.
{"title":"Beaded Rims on Silver Plate Vessels in Late Roman Britain and Beyond","authors":"Richard Hobbs, L. Perucchetti","doi":"10.1017/S0068113X22000320","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S0068113X22000320","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Beaded rims are a characteristic feature of late Roman silver plate vessels, many of which have been found in British treasures including Mildenhall and Traprain Law. This paper discusses how these beaded rims provide insights into the production of silver plate, adding to what little is known of silver plate workshops. Vessels in the Mildenhall treasure provide a case study, after which measurements from beaded rims on other treasures from Roman Britain and the western Roman Empire are compared and discussed.","PeriodicalId":44906,"journal":{"name":"Britannia","volume":"53 1","pages":"385 - 401"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2022-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43710844","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-08-18DOI: 10.1017/S0068113X22000277
J. Allen
Abstract A substantial database of published excavation and other reports has been used to map the character and distribution in Roman Britain of whetstones, those unprepossessing implements essential in the home, farmstead, workshop and barracks for the maintenance of edge-tools and weapons. The quality of the geological identifications in the reports varies considerably, but a wide range of lithologies are reported as put to use: granite, basalts-dolerites, lava, tuff, mica-schist, slates/phyllites, Brownstones, Pennant sandstone, micaceous sandstones, grey sandstones/siltstones, Millstone Grit, Coal Measures, red sandstones, ferruginous sandstones, sarsen, Weald Clay Formation sandstones, sandy limestones, shelly limestones, cementstones, and (Lower) Carboniferous Limestone. On distributional evidence, some of these categories are aliases for alternatively and more familiarly named lithologies. Bringing ‘high-end’ products to the market, the long-running industry based on sandstones from the Weald Clay Formation (Lower Cretaceous) emerges as a British economic feature, evidenced from the Channel coast to the Scottish Borders, and with a recently demonstrated, substantial representation on the Roman near-continent. The distribution maps point to another and more complete British industry, based on the Brownstones (Old Red Sandstone, Devonian) and Pennant sandstone (Upper Carboniferous), outcropping close together in the West Country. A more systematic and geology-based treatment of excavated whetstones in the future is likely to yield yet more insights into the role these artefacts played in the economy of Roman Britain.
{"title":"Whetstones in Roman Britain: Character, Distribution, Provenance and Industries","authors":"J. Allen","doi":"10.1017/S0068113X22000277","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S0068113X22000277","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract A substantial database of published excavation and other reports has been used to map the character and distribution in Roman Britain of whetstones, those unprepossessing implements essential in the home, farmstead, workshop and barracks for the maintenance of edge-tools and weapons. The quality of the geological identifications in the reports varies considerably, but a wide range of lithologies are reported as put to use: granite, basalts-dolerites, lava, tuff, mica-schist, slates/phyllites, Brownstones, Pennant sandstone, micaceous sandstones, grey sandstones/siltstones, Millstone Grit, Coal Measures, red sandstones, ferruginous sandstones, sarsen, Weald Clay Formation sandstones, sandy limestones, shelly limestones, cementstones, and (Lower) Carboniferous Limestone. On distributional evidence, some of these categories are aliases for alternatively and more familiarly named lithologies. Bringing ‘high-end’ products to the market, the long-running industry based on sandstones from the Weald Clay Formation (Lower Cretaceous) emerges as a British economic feature, evidenced from the Channel coast to the Scottish Borders, and with a recently demonstrated, substantial representation on the Roman near-continent. The distribution maps point to another and more complete British industry, based on the Brownstones (Old Red Sandstone, Devonian) and Pennant sandstone (Upper Carboniferous), outcropping close together in the West Country. A more systematic and geology-based treatment of excavated whetstones in the future is likely to yield yet more insights into the role these artefacts played in the economy of Roman Britain.","PeriodicalId":44906,"journal":{"name":"Britannia","volume":"53 1","pages":"269 - 294"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2022-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43711891","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-08-18DOI: 10.1017/S0068113X22000289
H. Cool
abstract This article draws attention to the fragments of two glass bottles found in auxiliary fort contexts of Antonine date in Britain which can be shown to have been made within the Flavian legionary fortress at Bonn. They are evidence of hitherto unsuspected aspects of legionary production and of supply within military establishments. They are also evidence of how long some artefacts could have remained in use. Reasons that might have prompted their manufacture are explored.
{"title":"Glass Bottles and Military Production","authors":"H. Cool","doi":"10.1017/S0068113X22000289","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S0068113X22000289","url":null,"abstract":"abstract This article draws attention to the fragments of two glass bottles found in auxiliary fort contexts of Antonine date in Britain which can be shown to have been made within the Flavian legionary fortress at Bonn. They are evidence of hitherto unsuspected aspects of legionary production and of supply within military establishments. They are also evidence of how long some artefacts could have remained in use. Reasons that might have prompted their manufacture are explored.","PeriodicalId":44906,"journal":{"name":"Britannia","volume":"53 1","pages":"373 - 383"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2022-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43219012","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-08-17DOI: 10.1017/S0068113X22000290
E. Evans.
Abstract A recent paper in Britannia explored some of the potential factors which might have led to potters in the Silchester area continuing the production of flint-tempered pottery, already established in the Iron Age, into the start of the Roman period. This paper attempts to expand the discussion by considering the viewpoint of the potters’ customers and what they might have been looking for when purchasing their pots, with particular emphasis on the characteristics required of cookwares.
{"title":"Potters or Cooks? Changes in the Later Iron Age/Early Romano-British Ceramic Industry at Silchester","authors":"E. Evans.","doi":"10.1017/S0068113X22000290","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S0068113X22000290","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract A recent paper in Britannia explored some of the potential factors which might have led to potters in the Silchester area continuing the production of flint-tempered pottery, already established in the Iron Age, into the start of the Roman period. This paper attempts to expand the discussion by considering the viewpoint of the potters’ customers and what they might have been looking for when purchasing their pots, with particular emphasis on the characteristics required of cookwares.","PeriodicalId":44906,"journal":{"name":"Britannia","volume":"53 1","pages":"347 - 356"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2022-08-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46033529","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-30DOI: 10.1017/s0068113x22000010
T. Penn
{"title":"Glass of the Roman World. Edited by J. Bayley, I. Freestone and C. Jackson. Oxbow Books, Oxford, 2019. Pp. 232, illus. Price £35. isbn 9781789253399.","authors":"T. Penn","doi":"10.1017/s0068113x22000010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0068113x22000010","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44906,"journal":{"name":"Britannia","volume":"53 1","pages":"539 - 540"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2022-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48875394","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-17DOI: 10.1017/S0068113X21000490
Anthony L. Beeson, M. Nichol, R. Massey
Abstract A Roman villa building at Mud Hole, Boxford, West Berkshire, was examined by excavation in 2017 and 2019, and found to be of probable fourth-century date. One room of this otherwise seemingly modest villa contained a remarkable late fourth-century figured mosaic, which features a number of rare mythological subjects not previously encountered in Britain. Inscriptions suggest the name of the villa owner (Caepio) and his wife (Fortunata), with a possible Spanish connection. The mosaic's central panel is ornamented with the triumphs of Pelops and Bellerophon, the former known only from two other mosaics, in Syria and Spain. The borders also contain depictions of stories unknown on other mosaics, but all concerned with aspects of triumph. The central panel is upheld by walking telamones (giants), otherwise only known on a mosaic from Tusculum, and the mosaicists have attempted to use foreshortening to give the floor a trompe l'oeil effect. The rare subjects depicted on the floor all relate to either Poseidon, Pelops, Bellerophon or Atlas, and suggest high standards of mythological knowledge and longevity of classical culture amongst the villa-owning inhabitants of late fourth-century Berkshire. The mosaic shows a connection to earlier depictions of the Pelops story, but is highly original in its interpretation of them and follows a contemporary trend, not previously encountered in Britain, of its subjects breaking out from their ornamental borders. The mosaic is an altogether exceptional discovery and can be considered an important example of late Roman art so far found in Britain.
{"title":"The Triumphs of Pelops and Bellerophon: Unique Mosaic Evidence of Romanitas in Late Roman Britain","authors":"Anthony L. Beeson, M. Nichol, R. Massey","doi":"10.1017/S0068113X21000490","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S0068113X21000490","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract A Roman villa building at Mud Hole, Boxford, West Berkshire, was examined by excavation in 2017 and 2019, and found to be of probable fourth-century date. One room of this otherwise seemingly modest villa contained a remarkable late fourth-century figured mosaic, which features a number of rare mythological subjects not previously encountered in Britain. Inscriptions suggest the name of the villa owner (Caepio) and his wife (Fortunata), with a possible Spanish connection. The mosaic's central panel is ornamented with the triumphs of Pelops and Bellerophon, the former known only from two other mosaics, in Syria and Spain. The borders also contain depictions of stories unknown on other mosaics, but all concerned with aspects of triumph. The central panel is upheld by walking telamones (giants), otherwise only known on a mosaic from Tusculum, and the mosaicists have attempted to use foreshortening to give the floor a trompe l'oeil effect. The rare subjects depicted on the floor all relate to either Poseidon, Pelops, Bellerophon or Atlas, and suggest high standards of mythological knowledge and longevity of classical culture amongst the villa-owning inhabitants of late fourth-century Berkshire. The mosaic shows a connection to earlier depictions of the Pelops story, but is highly original in its interpretation of them and follows a contemporary trend, not previously encountered in Britain, of its subjects breaking out from their ornamental borders. The mosaic is an altogether exceptional discovery and can be considered an important example of late Roman art so far found in Britain.","PeriodicalId":44906,"journal":{"name":"Britannia","volume":"53 1","pages":"185 - 225"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2022-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42397685","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-05DOI: 10.1017/s0068113x22000101
M. Stewart
{"title":"The People's Roman Remains Park. By D. Kidd and J. Stokes. Harton Village Press, South Shields, 2020. Pp. viii + 236, illus. Price £15. isbn 9781838310004.","authors":"M. Stewart","doi":"10.1017/s0068113x22000101","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0068113x22000101","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44906,"journal":{"name":"Britannia","volume":"53 1","pages":"550 - 551"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2022-05-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49129298","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-04DOI: 10.1017/S0068113X2200006X
K. Greene
.
{"title":"Recycling and Reuse in the Roman Economy. Edited by C.N. Duckworth and A. Wilson. Oxford studies on the Roman economy. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2020. Pp. xxviii + 478 pp., illus. Price £100.00. isbn 9780198860846.","authors":"K. Greene","doi":"10.1017/S0068113X2200006X","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S0068113X2200006X","url":null,"abstract":".","PeriodicalId":44906,"journal":{"name":"Britannia","volume":"53 1","pages":"545 - 546"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2022-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42848321","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-02DOI: 10.1017/S0068113X22000149
Bill Griffiths
{"title":"Hadrian's Wall: Creating Division. By M. Symonds. Bloomsbury Academic, London, 2021. Pp. xv + 213, illus. Price £19.99. isbn 9781350105348.","authors":"Bill Griffiths","doi":"10.1017/S0068113X22000149","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S0068113X22000149","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44906,"journal":{"name":"Britannia","volume":"53 1","pages":"558 - 559"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2022-05-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44776755","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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