Iron Age and Roman Coins from Hayling Island Temple
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IRON AGE AND ROMAN COINS FROM HAYLING ISLAND TEMPLE DAPHNE BRIGGS, COLIN HASELGROVE, AND CATHY KING Introduction THE Romano-Celtic temple on Hayling Island, Hampshire, was excavated between 1976 and 1982, following extensive investigations at the turn of the century.1 The earliest structure on the site was a circular timber building, set within a roughly square enclosure, which appears to be a courtyard. The Iron Age shrine is thought to have stood from the later first century BC until the second half of the first century AD, when it was levelled to make way for a massive stone-built replacement. The Roman temple embodied the main elements of its predecessor on a far larger scale and has close architectural parallels with the large circular shrines of central and western Gaul. In the early second century AD there were further alterations, and the temple continued in use throughout the century. Although the building itself then went into decline, the coin evidence suggests that activity on the site continued until at least the end of the fourth century. Coin deposition within the temple 151 Iron Age coins were found during excavations, together with 152 Roman coins.2 The majority of these had probably been deliberately deposited, presumably as offerings, together with many other types of artefacts, at the end of what may well have been a complex sequence of ritual activities involving the objects in question.3 The accompanying late Iron Age material includes personal items such as brooches, bracelets, and rings; four speculum mirrors; horse and vehicle trappings; warrior equipment; and miscellaneous items, including two bronze tankard handles and several iron 'currency bars'. Other pre-Conquest finds include local Iron Age pottery, some of it wheel-turned cordoned ware imitating the north Gaulish tradition, and sherds of imported Italian wine amphorae, as well as quantities of animal bone, mainly sheep or goat, and pig. The absence of cattle bones is conspicuous, and probably reflects a feature of the cult practised at the site. Several of these objects, especially pottery and animal bone, and 1 See R. Downey, A. King, and G. Soffe, 'The Hayling Iron Age and 330 Roman coins. The proportion of Roman Island temple and religious connections across the Channel', coins found in securely stratified contexts falls off sharply in in Temples, Churches and Religion; Recent Research in the second century AD. Of all identifiable Roman coins dated Roman Britain, edited by W. Rodwell (B.A.R. 11, Oxford, before AD 98 (101), 56 (55.45%) were found in stratified 1980), pp. 289-304; A. King, 'Hayling Island 1976-82, part contexts. Of the second century coins (25), 8 (32%) were one: the Iron Age temple', Hampshire Field Club Archaeol. stratified; of those dated AD 193-360 (133) only 16 (12.03%) Soc., Archaeol. section Newsletter 1, 3 (1982), 8-11; id., on were stratified, while of those dated later than that (38) none at the Roman temple, ibid, 1. 5 (1983), 2-7; G. Soffe, on the all were recovered from stratified contexts. The significance of Saxon evidence, ibid., 1, 5 (1983), 8-12. Full report on the these figures for the history of the site will be considered in 1976-82 excavations forthcoming. The existence of the more detail in the final report, when the rest of the evidence is Roman building was first recorded in 1826. The first available. excavations took place between 1897-1907, although it was 3 See, for example, discussi on of the complex rituals not until 1966 that the building was recognized as a Romano- employed at the third- to first-century BC sanctuary at Celtic temple. A single plated Iron Age silver coin of Gournay-sur-Aronde in Picardy: J-L. Brunaux, P. Meniel and uncertain type was found in the earlier excavations. F. Poplin, Gournay I: Les fouilles sur le sanctuaire el 2 Fourteen Iron Age and 178 Roman coins were recovered I'oppidum (1975-1984), (Rev. Archeologique de l'icurdie No. as surface finds after the conclusion of systematic excavations Special), (Amiens, 1985); J.-L. Brunaux, The Celtic Gauls; (see fig. 4). The final totals for the site as a whole were 165 Gods, Rites, and Sanctuaries (London, 1988), 119 ff. 2 IRON AGE AND ROMAN COINS FROM HAYLING ISLAND TEMPLE to a lesser extent coins and brooches, although no weaponry, continued to be placed in the temenos of the Roman temple until the early third century AD. The nature of the subsequent use of the site is uncertain. The post-excavation recovery of Roman coins from topsoil in the general temple area suggests that activity on the site continued, though there could have been a shift in the focus of activity in the late Roman period (cf. fig. 4 below). A number of the coins were probably deposited in small groups rather than singly (e.g. HI 143-148), but the detailed stratigraphic analysis which might permit reconstruction of other less obvious associations has yet to be undertaken.4 Some of the other metal objects were also grouped around burnt areas of gravel or mud-stone, which may have been offering points. Like coins, brooches are frequent finds at other Romano-Celtic temples in Britain and on the Continent, and presumably fulfilled a similar function as offerings.5 The brooch assemblage from Hayling is of particular interest since the proportion of true Nauheim types (11%) - as opposed to derivatives - stands out from other British sites, matching exactly the early chronological emphasis and Continental affinities of the coins.6 Another important category is the group of broken sword-shaped iron 'currency bars'. These standardized iron ingots were in widespread use in central-southern England during the middle Iron Age. Whether or not such objects originally had any monetary significance, a recent study has shown that in most if not all cases their deposition was motivated by ritual beliefs.7 Hayling Island would therefore seem to represent a continuation of the tradition, although it is the first formal temple to yield such a find - most 'currency bars' come from settlement boundaries, or natural settings such as rivers, caves, or rocks - and lies at the end of their chronological range.8 Many of the small metal objects on the site were bent or broken before deposition. The breaking of metal objects deposited for votive reasons is well known on other British and Continental temple sites. Some of the Iron Age and Roman coins have also been deliberately damaged, which in this particular context may suggest sacrificial intent (see Table 1). The great majority of such coins are pre-Claudian in date, suggesting that this practice was at its height before and immediately after the Roman conquest of Britain. While it is natural to assume that bent or stabbed plated coins were so treated to test for plating, most of the deliberately damaged Iron Age coins at Hayling Island were of perfectly good manufacture, calling into question the usual interpretation of cuts and stabs even with the plated coins on this site. Where the Roman plated coins are concerned, there is also a conspicuous absence of the 'bankers' marks' and regular stamps so often employed elsewhere in Britain in the process of sorting genuine from false denarii, but a prevalence instead of crude cuts and stabs that would be equally compatible with ritual destruction. The identity of the cult to which the shrine was dedicated remains unknown. It is, however, very probable that the temple was part of the development of the Chichester-Fishbourne area under Verica and Cogidubnus. There was an early temple to Neptune and Minerva at Chichester,9 and the composition of the Iron Age finds at Hayling Island might suggest dedication to another martial deity. 4 At the contemporary Gallo-Roman temple site at Bois (Gazetteer by R Home and A. King in W. Rodwell (ed.) op. L'Abbe, Eu, in Normandy, there was clear evidence that many cit. n. 1 above, pp. 369-555). of the coins were originally deposited in heaps and piles, some 6 Information from J. Bayley and S. Butcher. of them probably in woven containers. See M. Mangard, 7 R. Hingley, 'Iron Age "currency bars": the social and 'Informations archeologiques: circonscription de Haute- economic context', Arcliaeol J 147 (1990), 91-117. Normandie', Gallia 36 (1978), 295-313. Bois l'Abbe offers a 8 It is possible that the Iron Age shrine at Hayling Island number of parallels to Hayling Island. It too lies close to the was in use for some time before coins began to be deposited sea and has yielded a few British coins. there. 5 The 1962-71 excavations at Harlow temple, Essex, for '' See J.E. Bogaers, 'King Cogidubnus in Chichester: example, yielded 96 brooches (N.E. France and B. M. Gobel, another reading of R.I.B. 91', Britannia 10 (1979), 243-54. The Romano-British temple at Harlow) (Harlow, 1985). See also B.W. Cunliffe, Excavations at Fishbourne 1961—71 Brooches are equally common finds on Gallo-Roman temples (Leeds, 1971). IRON AGE AND ROMAN COINS FROM HAYLING ISLAND TEMPLE TABLE Deliberately damaged coins (*= plated coin): site phase coin period Iron Age coins HI no. 8 edge apparently flattened with a blow IV B2 12 edge bent X B2 14 holed IV B2 39 edge chisel-cut and coin hammered II/IV B3 71 cut in half X B2 74 cut in quarters X B1 94* edge stabbed III/IV B2 103* cut roughly in half X B3 124* edge cut II/IV, some VII G3 132* bent and slashed X G3 135 cut in half X G2 151* cut in half X G3 152* slashed X G1 Roman coins 168 halved as, stabbed 3 times" X Rla 175* stabbed X Rla 179* pricked X Rla 185* cut in half, edge hammered X Rib 188* stabbed III/IV Rib 191* pricked IV Rib 195 halved as, cut IV/VII Rlc 196* pricked X Rib 198* cut in half, broken X Rib 201* scratched VII Rlc 211* slashed, pieces snapped from rim X Rid 228 edge bent X R2a 235 edge bent X R2a 263* 3 pieces snapped off, preserving portrait X R3 293* piece cut off X R8 362 cut in half X R13b 436 cut in half X R15a 451 cut in half X R10-16 The history of the local dynasty in this period is relevant to the evolution of the temple.