Books in the British Archaeological Reports British Series series

The central theme of this study is an examination of the processes of change in Iron Age social organisation and identity on a regional scale using the Severn-Cotswolds area in England as a case study. It aims to provide a coherent narrative of the period in the region based on the wealth of current data now available, providing a basic storyboard against which future studies can react. This study focuses not just on the landscape, in which human actions were worked out, but recognises that neither the elements (the material culture, settlements, landscape) nor the processes (production, exchange, deposition and social reproduction) can be divorced from one another but need to be combined to form a coherent picture of community identities, organisation and relationships. This broad research theme is an attempt to move beyond a recent emphasis on 'deconstruction' in Iron Age studies and move towards the creation of basic narratives to explain the burgeoning archaeological record. The study discusses in detail the settlement and material culture of the region, and provides a synthesis of a range of new and unpublished data, identifying the diversity and complexity in this material. Through this a narrative emerges of wider, long-term processes of cultural change. In particular, this study asks how different areas of the region developed and the extent to which the archaeological evidence suggests different social organisations. Further, it questions what their impact was on the chronologies and processes of landscape and social change. The Severn-Cotswolds is ripe for regional synthesis for a variety of reasons.Principal in these is the relative neglect of the region in Iron Age studies in recent years with no synthetic studies since brief county surveys in the 1980s. This trend has continued with the Severn-Cotswolds examined as part of other regions, such as Wessex or the Welsh Marches rather than independently. The region is geographically diverse whilst focused around a significant geographical feature- the Severn Estuary. This makes it ideal to assess varying patterns of identity and social organisation and their relation to varying landscapes and/or social, cultural and economic influences. The region is also unusual in having a wealth of evidence for later Iron Age regional production and exchange systems in pottery, briquetage and glass beads to which can now be added quern stones, making it ideal to examine more closely the relationships between production, exchange, settlement patterns and social organisation.

This study of pre-1850 church monuments from Norfolk, aims to marry together the understanding of material artefacts developed in archaeology, with the detailed topographical, social and economic knowledge of a particular region, built up through landscape studies and local history, in a study of church monuments. As such, it stands out from the vast bulk of work on the subject, which is carried out within the discipline of art history.

The excavations undertaken at Chiltington in East Sussex revealed two Roman pottery kilns, as well as remains from prehistory and from medieval period.The kilns are well documented, and all the finds were examined and catalogued. Three phases were identified. The pottery produced on the site indicate a strong New Forest influence.

With contributions by Alistair Barclay, Lynne Bevan, Marina Ciaraldi, Rowena Gale, James Greig, Annette Hancocks, Kay Hartley, John Hovey, Gwilym Hughes, Rob Ixer, Erica Macey, Elaine L. Morris, David Smith, Steven Willis and Ann Woodward.This book describes the results of the excavation of seven areas at Whitemoor Haye Quarry, in the River Tame valley. The periods most strongly represented are the Iron Age and Romano-British, although finds from other periods have also been recorded.

The conference 'Debating Late Antiquity in Britain AD300-700' (held at the University of York in June 2003) had three principal areas of interest - What was the fate of Roman Britain? To what extent did Anglo-Saxon material, so well known in the cemeteries of eastern England, reflect a ?violent immigration from the continent on a large scale? What was the fate of the 'British' population in the West? The 13 papers published from the conference discuss these questions.

This work is a catalogue of the Roman military equipment held in the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff. Included are an historical survey of the collections of the Museum relevant to this study; a brief account of the Roman Army in Wales; and an explanation of the structure of the catalogue. The catalogue is followed by a gazetteer which gives an outline description of the sites from which the material comes and a listing of the objects by site, with cross-reference to the catalogue proper. There is also a discussion which gives a brief overview of the collection as a whole.

This work examines the development of antiquarian and archaeological thought and practice in Cork, Ireland, from the early 1800s.

Egglestone marble, also known as Teesdale marble, is one of a group of so-called sedimentary 'marbles', such as the better-known Purbeck and Tournai marbles, in which natural calcite cement has filled the original pore-spaces to such an extent that the stone is capable of receiving a high polish. Its merits include its attractive grey-brown surface finish when polished, its suitability when freshly quarried for detailed carving, and the fact that it is capable of being extracted in very large blocks and slabs. The description of the stone in this study is based on polished samples taken from the quarry known as 'Abbey Quarry', in the picturesque landscape in the North Riding of Yorkshire (England). Egglestone marble has received little attention in the past, perhaps because there is no evidence of its use for building purposes. No examples have been found of its deployment for columns or other structural elements in buildings, but there is a wealth of material and documentary evidence of its widespread employment for other artefacts, and this work provides a thorough study of the them and their settings.

Belt buckles have long been recognised as an integral part of the costume of early medieval men and women. As items of dress, buckles and belt suites were subject to regional diversity as well as changes in fashion. This makes them especially valuable for the investigation of typological and chronological variation, particularly as belt sets which were imported into Anglo-Saxon England from the Continent provide a strong link to the coin-based chronologies there. As coin-dated graves are largely absent from Anglo-Saxon England until the seventh century, belt buckles offer the potential to refine the chronology for Anglo-Saxon artefacts in general. This work investigates the classification and development as well as social significance of Anglo-Saxon beltbuckles from the late fifth to the early eighth centuries. The book explores the non-utilitarian significance that objects can have in general and the way different classes of dress accessories were used in Anglo-Saxon society in particular, to create and maintain social relations. A chapter reviews the literature on belt buckles. This includes the most important articles on late Roman belt equipment and covers British as well as Continental publications. The core of this book is a typology for early Anglo-Saxon belt buckles. Buckles without plate and with plate are allocated to 40 Types and Typegroups, which have 37 sub-Type(group)s, some of which are further subdivided into variants. Each Type or Typegroup is examined with regard to its characteristics, chronology and comparative pieces. A consideration of costume follows, including the evidence for leather belts and clothing and introduces contemporary depictions of belts and buckles. Also included are analyses of the modes of production and distribution of early Anglo-Saxon buckles, assessing the cultural connections with Roman Britain, Merovingian France, Byzantium and the Mediterranean, and Scandinavia reflected in these buckles.

This volume is intended as a Gedenkschrift to celebrate the work and legacy of Dr Brian Dobson. The papers are provided by members of the Hadrianic Society, which Brian was instrumental in setting up over 40 years ago, and represent a range of Roman scholarship by current and former university professors, museum and post-excavation professionals, field archaeologists and non-professionals. The range of papers is indicative of the range of interests held within the Hadrianic Society and those of Brian himself, but focus on the Roman army and Roman frontiers, particularly Hadrian's Wall.

This study looks at the changes that were taking place within later Iron Age society in East Anglia (the counties of Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk, England) and the rise of complexity on both a macro and micro scale. To do this the author focuses on feasting and consumption and the role it played in changing the face of society during the Iron Age. It is not just food or drink themselves that are important, but also their consumption as a social event. The research focuses on a number of issues: Recognising the feast in the archaeological record; Separating the feast from daily cuisine and the relationship between them; and through her dataset, the author considers over time (and space): The structure and symbolism of the feast; The specific events that are marked by archaeologically visible feasts and whether this changes over time and space; How feasts were organised, which is in turn linked to; Agency - who is holding the feasts and for whom? Who is doing the consuming and who is acquiring the items for feasting? How many people attended these events - can this be distinguished in the archaeological record? How are feasts involved in lifecycles, both temporally and spatially? Consequently, this research enhances current knowledge of Iron Age society through an investigation of feasts and their social effects. By identifying known major social changes in Iron Age Britain, the author has been able to demonstrate how these events are reflected or articulated in feasting practices, and has highlighted new ways in which to identify feasts and the different modes of consumption through a reanalysis of old sites and the study of new ones. Additionally, this research has sought to fill some gaps in our knowledge of Iron Age Britain and brought research into East Anglia up to the same standard achieved in Wessex. As well as providing a new and important perspective to the study of Iron Age Britain, this work will aid the understanding of Iron Age society as a whole.

The content of this report which examines the geological source of the earliest examples of fine freestone carving in the province, first-century tombstones and architectural fragments, is primarily aimed at students and researchers of Roman archaeology,with only a passing interest in geology. For this reason the author has included a glossary of geological terms and where possible made the geological terminology and techniques of analysis in the main text as clear as possible. For academics from more scientific disciplines (archaeological scientists and geologists), certain Chapters (two and six) and appendices examine the geological materials in much greater detail. The download also has an overview of British Jurassic Freestones, including amended geological maps of outcrops in southern England and northern France courtesy of the British Geological Survey. This section may therefore provide a useful tool for stone-masons, conservationists and cathedral archaeologists in identifying suitable limestone materials for restoration work.

This research elucidates the character, distribution and extent of the archaeology relating to prehistoric settlement in the study area of south-east Wales, including the south-western part of Herefordshire. This has not only demonstrated the wealth and density of prehistoric activity-archaeology which has been found to exist in the region but it adds greatly to what already had been carried out previously. The sheer quantity of material, artefacts and sites now demonstrates how important this region was in prehistory. The region concerned covers an area of c. 3500sq km. It has been through the analysis of existing settlement sites, their distribution, topographical preferences, aspect and altitude which has enabled the author to locate new sites like those found in the Black Mountains (19 at present) where none existed before. Fieldwork has also demonstrated that the lowlands need to be examined closely as there is a far greater potential for new sites to be found in this landscape as exemplified by the new Rhadyr sites near Usk. A multi-disciplinary approach to all aspects of prehistoric activity in the region has enabled the author to create a new understanding of how the landscape was utilised during the prehistoric periods. The extensive Appendices contain all of the assembled material in a usable format, together with grid references and the location of sources. It is from this material and those mentioned in the text that the distribution maps have been compiled.

The purpose of this book is to put the achievements of Agricola's navy, apparently understated by Tacitus, in their true perspective, with the proposition that the Roman fleet reached the furthest limit of the known world, Thule, or Mainland, Shetland, where it located a convenient anchorage, possibly in Lerwick harbour. To support this theory, firstly the identification of Thule as Shetland during the classical period from the time of Pytheas onwards is investigated through collation of geographical sources, secondly the earliest manuscript of Tacitus' Agricola comes under closer scrutiny at the relevant points than ever before, and finally contemporary literature is reassessed to determine the significance of Caledonia and Thule in the Flavian propaganda machine and to suggest the first Roman presence in the Shetland Islands.

This work studies the enclosed sites of Peeblesshire, Berwickshire and selected sites from E Dumfriesshire, Scotland. This area has seen very little interest in archaeological research in the past. The aim of the study was to examine the later prehistoric enclosed sites and to look at their landscape settings. From this data, possible settlement patterns can be observed, at both regional and local levels, and from these follow observations of enclosed sites together with their immediate terrain and archaeological features nearby, and from these an organised archaeological landscape can be seen, although it is a cumulative rather than a contemporary picture. When viewing the results from this study, a major boundary between two different enclosed site patterns can be detected, one including Berwickshire, Selkirkshire, Peeblesshire and far N - NW part of E Dumfriesshire, and the other one including the rest of E Dumfriesshire. This boundary differs from previously suggested ones and forms a firm basis for further studies on more than one level.

This study considers how the treatment of death in related forms of material culture might have contributed to the definition of elite identity and the constitution of power structures throughout the changes which took place in England c. 1350-1700. The following discussion will also assess the nature of identity and how it is comprehended in past and contemporary theoretical discussion. The formation of medieval and early modern elite identities will be considered with reference to the funerary material culture of a single region, Gloucestershire, focusing intensively upon the iconographical and textual themes presented therein and analysing these within the context of contemporary social and religious change. This evidence will be considered against the ideal of 'dying well' as presented in the Ars Moriendi texts. It is suggested that the ideological potential of this concept was exploited to its fullest potential during the period under study. The idealised pious death provided affluent members of society with a focus for competition, the significance of which can only be fully comprehended if the texts are analysed alongside other forms of material culture.

This work takes a fresh look at the phenomenon of 'regional variation' and at the ways in which it has been depicted and characterised. It looks in particular detail at the exercise undertaken by Roberts and Wrathmell to map regional variation and at the Central Province that has been widely adopted as one of the main outcomes of their work. It then analyses the many and varied factors, both environmental and cultural, that have been held to contribute to regional variation, and then applies this theoretical analysis to a study area in southern England. The English landscape is extremely varied, due to geology, topography and climate, but also to the activities of human communities over several millennia. Scholars have long recognised patterns within this variation, such as the upland and lowland zones and the contrasting patterns of human settlement. The purpose of this research is to investigate the incidence of this patterning and then to suggest possible reasons for it. The study starts with a general introduction, in which some themes are identified and a number of conventions established. Regional variation is then discussed in theoretical terms, and the familiar geographical and cultural subdivisions of the historic landscape reviewed at the national level, leading to the identification of a distinct swathe of countryside which is called the 'Central Zone' for the purposes of this work. The various possible causal factors are addressed in the context of a carefully chosen study area, and a number of conclusions are put forward. The existence of a Central Zone is supported, although no definitive delineation is suggested, and its orientation is shown to vary, depending on the period and criteria in question. Conventional explanations for regional variation are examined, and the conventional opposition between environmental and cultural factors is found wanting. Instead a new dynamic is suggested, in which these broad groups of factors are seen to be operating together to create circumstances to which local communities respond by making calculations as to the best strategies to adopt, given their knowledge, resources and traditions. Their decisions determine the detailed development of the landscape, but these are circumscribed in turn by the predisposition of the community itself and of the landscape around it.

The focus of this research is on the later prehistoric period, from the earliest constructional origins of western Scotland crannogs in the late Bronze Age through to their apparent emergence as status dwellings in the Early Historic period after the midfirst millennium AD. The aim is to investigate the ways in which crannogs functioned as settlements, both on a practical, economic as well as a symbolic and socio-cultural level. Throughout, the primary concern is with contextualisation, considering crannogs within their correct chronological and cultural context through the critical analysis of dating evidence as well as the identification of the relevant ritual and symbolic themes- i.e. the Iron Age veneration of water. It is argued in this book that the stereotypical view of a crannog that has largely been derived from the results of work carried out on Irish crannogs has been misleading in the case of the Scottish sites, tending towards a view of crannogs as high-status strongholds, often as royal seats. Though crannogs were certainly a significant feature of the Early Historic period in Scotland, there is as yet no evidence of direct connections to royalty in this period and, based on the currently available evidence, the characterisation of crannogsas high status sites is misguided in the context of their late Bronze and Iron Age origins.

Military monuments in Lincolnshire (eastern England) have hitherto received little attention, with only four being the subject of published studies. No attempt has previously been made to produce a corpus of surviving examples. There are 62 military effigies in Lincolnshire, including some of national importance as well as many others of great interest. In the former category are the effigies at Careby, Halton-Holegate, Holbeach, Kirkstead Abbey, Stoke Rochford and Surfleet. The main object of the critical catalogue in this volume is to provide an accurate analytical description of these figures as they appear today; a project that has been long overdue, for what is some of England's finest extant medieval monumental sculpture. The catalogue is arranged chronologically, with the monuments being divided into four main groups. Every effigy is illustrated and the accompanying catalogue entry gives a description of the effigy and the armour shown and an account as to the person thought to be commemorated by the figure.

This book traces interest in Egyptology in Manchester (England) and the surrounding towns from the early nineteenth century, when interest in Egypt first developed, through travel and business links, to the benefactions and dedicated work of cotton men and women who helped to build up and to display the remarkable collections which can be seen to this day. The second half of the book starts in the middle of the twentieth century when the focus became more scientific. The Manchester Mummy Project was pioneering in its day and the Manchester Protocol which laid down a tested methodology for mummy studies became accepted world-wide. Since its inception, mummy studies in Manchester have gone from strength to strength and the KNH Centre for Biomedical Egyptology is now pursuing ground-breaking research. The last section explores a selection of notable contributors to the Egyptological scene in Manchester.

Archaeological excavation, salvage recording and watching briefs were undertaken at Metchley Roman fort, Birmingham in 1999-2001 and 2004-2005. The areas investigated were located mainly to the west of the Roman military complex. The earliest features may have belonged to a construction camp (Phase A/ Phase 1A), preparatory to the layout of the first fort (Phase 1B), around AD 48. The western defences of this fort comprised double-ditches and a turf rampart. A new discovery was a palisade trench forming a western annexe or enclosure (Phase 1C) which may have been associated with the on-site manufacture of pottery, specifically mortaria. Most importantly, the excavations provided the first structural evidence for a civilian settlement at the site (Phase B). This comprised a total of six timber-framed structures, including three open-sided strip buildings, interpreted as shops, laid out along a gravelled trackway leading out of the fort. The western annexe or enclosure and the settlement were contemporary with the first fort. This short-lived settlement was succeeded by a complex of ditched livestock compounds (Phase C). A livestock 'funnel' leading to the fort's west gate was an integral part of this arrangement, confirming the nexus between the external livestock enclosures and the livestock enclosures previously recorded within the fort interior. Both the external and internal livestock enclosures belonged to the Neronian military stores depot (Phase 2B). The location of Metchley at an important road junction, and at, or adjoining, several tribal boundaries, could have proved important for the collection of livestock from the surrounding countryside. Assuming it was concerned with the supply of auxiliary rather than legionary units, Metchley is likely to have supplied forts within the local or regional area. The western livestock complex was abandoned by the early Flavian period. This zone to the west of the military complex was not brought back into use during subsequent occupations of the military complex, which continued up to the end of the 2nd century (Phases 3-4).With contributions from Lynne Bevan, Marina Ciaraldi, Hilary Cool, C. Jane Evans, Annette Hancocks, Kay Hartley, Rob Ixer, Erica Macey-Bracken, Wendy Smith, Jane Timby, Roger Tomlin, Roger White, Felicity Wild, David Williams, and Steven WillisIllustrations by Nigel Dodds and Bryony Ryder

This research focuses on the British Iron Age and challenging the current hypotheses of exposing the dead on five Iron Age sites in Hampshire and one from Dorset, England. Current theories are based on anthropological analogies and classical texts to understand and interpret the burial record. However, this research focused on understanding the formation of the burial record employing a new science-based methodology. This new approach is both integrated and multidisciplinary, combining the osteological and context taphonomic physical or material evidence to discern cultural behaviour from natural processes. The approach utilises a wide range of forensic anthropology and taphonomy, including l'anthropologie de terrain or archaeothanatology, to identify archaeological signatures from three key and interrelated areas: the remains, the deposition context, and the relationship between the corpse and its deposition circumstance. A new system of categorising Iron Age remains was developed to differentiate funerary and depositional behaviour between sites.

The first volume in the series Studies in the History of Collections, this work places archaeology, history of art, and British antiquarianism in the wider context of Europe's cultural heritage. The Story focuses on antique sculpture, the principal type of classical art known to artists, collectors and scholars from the Renaissance until the later nineteenth century. Includes a complete catalogue of the Ashmolean Museum's casts and a fascinating Chronological Chart.

The primary aim of this volume is to summarize and assess for the first time all available primary evidence for the earliest forms of monumental architecture built within a geographically discrete area of the British Isles - the chalk landscapes of Central South-eastern England. This extremely detailed study includes all the significant mounds, land cuts, flint workings, and monumental architecture (4500-1500 BC) of the South Downs in context, including Blackpatch, Cissbury, and Harrow Hill.

This work is ostensibly a study of the archaeology and history of a single Roman landscape - the Fenlands of East Anglia. However, it was also the author's intention to consider the issues raised by the application of post-colonial theory to landscape archaeology. The aims of this study are thus two fold: to explore the nature of imperialism as practiced in the Roman Empire from a post-colonial perspective, and, secondly, to test a series of models generated in relation to the Roman Fenlands. The study as a whole is much concerned with an examination of Roman imperialism as it is with the detail of a particular case study.

This book developed out of the need to address the issues surrounding the potential impact of urbanization and later, industrialization, on past human health in England. The main aims of the research were to assess differences in the levels of morbidity and mortality in non-adults from urban and rural environments, and to explore the types of evidence for morbidity observed on non-adult skeletons. The study was based on two urban (York and London) and two rural (Northamptonshire and North Yorkshire) sites in England (between 850 and 1859). The use of skeletal and dental indicators of stress were examined as measures of environmental change, and also what factors in the urban and rural environments may be contributing to any difference between the samples.

Bedfordshire Archaeology Monograph Series No 4This volume on the archaeology of the English county of Bedford and its environs brings together the results of five excavations over a four year period in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It includes settlement sites dating to the Iron Age and Roman period, cemeteries and craftwork centres. One of the cemeteries, Kempston, includes a significant proportion of decapitations from the Roman period and there is a detailed analysis of this phenomena. At the same site burial from the 6th century AD hints at some form of continuous settlement in the area. Kempston is also interesting for the possibility that it is a planned rural settlement dating to the earliest years of the Roman province. This volume also includes the largest finds and ceramics assemblages presently published in the county and is an essential database of artefactual material for any future work. It also contains full accounts of several pollen columns taken at Ruxox and Kempston and provides a commentary on the environmental history of the region from the late post-glacial. The additional data on palaeo-environmental evidence from the sites provides a detailed insight into the affect of the environment on later prehistoric communities and the means by which these communities changed and adapted the environment. In a small way the "Archaeology of the Bedford Region" continues the debate into the role of human agency in change and adaptation to events at a local level, moreover rather than seeing the archaeology of the region as series of dated phases it presents both qualitatively and, where appropriately, quantatively, the almost continuous changes that took place amongst the rural populations of this region during the later prehistoric and Roman periods.With major contributions by Michael J. Allen, Peter Barker, Francesca Boghi, Anthea Boylston, Caroline R. Cartwright, Brenda Dickinson, Holly Duncan, Dawn Enright, Peter Guest, Sheila Hamilton-Dyer, Terry A. Spencer (formerly Jackman), Ed McSloy, Yvonne Parminter, Antony F. Roberts, Charlotte Roberts, Rob Scaife, Dan Shiel, Anna M. Slowikowski and Jackie Wells.Illustrations by Roy Friendship-Taylor, Peter Froste, Cecily A. Marshall, Lisa A. Padilla and Faith Puetress.

This is a wide-ranging study of the southern English county of Wiltshire in the Roman and early medieval periods (c. 100-1100 AD), focusing on the key themes of landscape, settlement and society and using a combination of archaeological, topographical and historical evidence. Particular emphasis is given to place-names, which, it is argued, can help us to locate Romano-British settlements and inform us about the British survival in the post-Roman period. Early chapters tackle the transition between the Roman and Early Saxon periods, challenging current theories on the decline of Roman Britain and the Anglo-Saxon adventus. Subsequent chapters examine the evidence for early medieval territorial and ecclesiastical structure in Wiltshire, in addition to the Anglo-Saxon farming landscape. There is also detailed consideration of the origins of the medieval settlement pattern and a discussion of the relationship between settlements and the ranks of Anglo-Saxon society.

This report provides the integrated results of extensive archaeological investigations undertaken at the site of a former car park located between Much Park and St. John's Street, Coventry (central England) between 2007 and 2010. The results have demonstrated that the site represents one of the most important investigations into medieval Coventry, and is of national significance. The features, deposits and structures can be divided into seven main phases beginning in the 12th century, through to the present day.With contributions by Steve Allen, John Cherry, Cecily Cropper, Amanda Forster, Ben Gearey, David Higgins, Matilda Holmes, Roz McKenna, Phil Mills, Quita Mould, Rebecca Nicholson, Stephanie Rátkai, Ruth Shaffrey, David Smith, Tony Swiss, Penelope Walton Rogers, Angela Wardle; illustrations by Nigel Dodds, Jemma Elliot and Kevin Colls; finds photography by Graham Norrie and ceramic report (Appendix 1) by Stephanie Rátkai and Jemma Elliot.

The academic consensus that the Roman invasion of Britain in AD 43 landed at Richborough, Kent, has been challenged in recent years. Proponents of the alternative hypothesis that it took place at or near Fishbourne, West Sussex, have claimed that this makes better sense of the account in the ancient sources. This volume asks what sense the Fishbourne hypothesis makes in terms of the options for the naval strategy of the crossing. After considering the respective archaeological and topographical contexts of the sites, the work discusses general logistical issues as well as the type of ships available to the invading forces and assesses the evidence for their performance. The study concludes by looking at the choices facing the Roman naval planners of AD 43.