Silchester Roman Town. The Insula IX Town Life Project. Volume 1.
With contributions by Denise Allen, John Allen, Edward Besly, Kate Clark, Nina Crummy, Peter Davies, Claire Ingrem, Nancy Fulford, Mark Robinson, Ruth Shaffrey, Hilary Snelling, Jane Timby, Klare Tootell and Sandie Williams.
The Society of Antiquaries' excavation of Silchester's Insula IX in 1893-4 left most of the stratigraphy undisturbed. A new programme of work has shown that the Insula underwent radical change, c. AD 250/300, with the construction of new workshop and residential buildings on the orientation of the Roman street-grid, following the demolition of mid-Roman buildings arranged on different, pre- and early Roman alignments. The plans of several properties and individual buildings were recovered, and analysis of the rich range of artefactual and biological data has allowed a detailed and differentiated characterisation of the life and occupations of the inhabitants in the 4th century. The context of the 5th century ogham-inscibed stone is explored and the history of the insula is followed into the 5th/6th century.
Author(s): Michael Fulford, Amanda Clarke, Hella Eckardt
Series: Britannia Monograph Series, 22
Publisher: Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies
Year: 2006
Language: English
Pages: XVIII+404
City: London
List of Figures viii
List of Tables xiii
Acknowledgements xv
Preface xvii
PART I: THE EXCAVATION
1. INTRODUCTION (Michael Fulford) 3
Context of the research (1): Silchester 4
Context of the research (2): the late Roman town in (Southern) Britain 7
Structure of the late Roman report: the development of a methodology 11
Silchester Insula IX: the late Roman archaeological resource 11
The excavation area: rationale 12
The late Roman occupation: introduction and methodology 13
Chronology 14
Pits and post-excavation strategy 15
Buildings and other contexts: post-excavation strategy 15
2. THE EXCAVATION (Michael Fulford, Amanda Clarke, Hella Eckardt) 16
The streets 16
The southern area 18
The northern area 47
The latest occupation: northern and southern areas (Object 122) Phase 6 75
PART II: THE FINDS
1. THE COINS POST A.D. 250 (Edward Besly) 81
2. THE POTTERY FROM THE LATE ROMAN DEPOSITS (Jane Timby) 86
Introduction and methodology 86
The pottery from the late Roman pits 87
General discussion 108
3. THE LATE ROMAN GLASS (Denise Allen) 116
Introduction 116
Joints 116
Vessel glass of the first and second centuries 117
Vessel glass of the later second and third centuries 118
Vessel glass of the later third and fourth centuries 118
Post-Roman glass 119
4. THE SMALL FINDS (Nina Crummy) 120
Introduction 120
The late Roman pits and wells (by object) 122
The assemblage in general 128
5. THE WORKED STONE (Ruth Shaffrey) 133
Rotary querns 133
Building stone 133
Whetstones 134
Conclusions 134
6. CERAMIC BUILDING MATERIAL FROM THE LATE ROMAN PITS AND WELLS (Peter W. Davies and Hella Eckardt) 135
7. IRON NAILS (Hella Eckardt) 139
PART III: IRONMAKING AND IRONWORKING
1. IRONMAKING AND IRONWORKING: THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXT (Klare Tootell) 145
The pits and wells 146
The layers 151
Summary 158
2. THE SLAG BASINS (J. R. L. Allen) 160
Character in hand-specimen 160
Chemical composition 161
Discussion 162
PART IV: BIOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSES
1. THE ANIMAL BONE (Claire Ingrem) 167
The late pits and wells 167
The late Roman layers 184
2. THE DOG ASSEMBLAGE (Kate Clark) 189
3. THE OYSTER SHELLS (Sandie Williams) 196
Introduction 196
Late Roman oysters from Silchester 197
Conclusion 198
4. THE HUMAN REMAINS (Hilary Snelling) 200
Introduction 200
Methodology 200
Results 200
Discussion 202
Conclusion 205
5. THE MACROSCOPIC PLANT REMAINS (Mark Robinson with Nancy Fulford and Klare Tootell) 206
Introduction 206
Waterlogged plant remains 207
Charred plant remains 209
Mineralised plant and arthropod remains 212
Discussion 216
PART V: THE CHARACTER, CHRONOLOGY AND USE OF THE LATE ROMAN PITS: THE SILCHESTER FINDS ASSEMBLAGE (Hella Eckardt)
The character and use of the pits 221
The chronology of the pits 228
Pit assemblage composition 233
Conclusion 244
PART VI: DISCUSSION AND SYNTHESIS
(Michael Fulford)
Setting the scene: the reorganisation of the insula 249
Characterising the late Roman occupation 252
Buildings 1 and 5 255
Building 5 259
Building 7 261
Building 8 262
The north-west property 264
Change through time 266
The wider context 267
Behaviour 271
The latest occupation and the abandonment of Insula IX 273
Tebicatos and his milieu 278
The end of occupation 280
Conclusion: developing the late Roman urban profile 282
APPENDICES
1. THE SCHEDULE OF COINS (Edward Besly) 289
2. THE POTTERY (Jane Timby) 291
3. THE CATALOGUE OF THE GLASS (Denise Allen) 314
4. SUMMARY OF SMALL FINDS CATALOGUE (Nina Crummy) 328
5. WORKED STONE (Ruth Shaffrey) 337
6. THE ANIMAL BONE (Claire Ingrem) 339
7. THE DOG BONE (Kate Clark) 363
8. THE HUMAN REMAINS (Hilary Snelling) 370
9. THE MACROSCOPIC PLANT REMAINS (Mark Robinson with Nancy Fulford and Klare Tootell) 374
10. ANALYSIS OF THE PITS (Hella Eckardt) 380
BIBLIOGRAPHY 385
INDEX 399