Rural Settlement in Roman Britain Project
Agriculture and industry in Roman Wales
Dr Martyn Allen University of Reading Modern topsoil acidity values in Wales and the UK Zooarchaeological evidence
• 45 sites with animal bone
• Only 12 sites with more than 100 identified specimens
• The majority of sites are located on the south-east coast The exploitation of major domesticates: Relative frequencies of cattle, sheep/goat and pig bones on sites with over 100 identified specimens
cattle sheep/goat pig 100.0
80.0
60.0
%NISP 40.0
20.0
0.0 70.0 Chronological patterns in 60.0 50.0 animal bone assemblages 40.0 cattle
%NISP 30.0 sheep/goat 20.0 pig 10.0 0.0 Prestatyn LIA (1st C BC-mid ER (1st-2nd C AD) LR (3rd-4th C AD) 1st C AD)
70.0 60.0 50.0
40.0 cattle Coygan Camp sheep/goat %NISP 30.0 20.0 pig 10.0 0.0 LIA (1st C BC-mid 1st C AD) LR (3rd-4th C)
70.0 60.0 50.0
Cowbridge 40.0 cattle sheep/goat %NISP 30.0 20.0 pig 10.0 0.0 ER (1st-2nd C AD) LR (3rd-4th C) Proportions of horse bones from faunal assemblages across Wales 10.0 9.0 8.0 7.0 6.0 5.0 4.0 3.0
%NISP horse bones horse %NISP 2.0 1.0 0.0
• Considerable variation in proportions of horse bones present at different sites
• Horses primarily used for riding—no evidence for donkeys or mules
• Horse may have been consumed at some sites—partial skeletons found at Nash and Church Farm, Caldicot Sites with horse items and transport equipment
20
15
10 No. sites No. 5
0 harness fittings hipposandal riding bit /terret rings /horseshoe
8 7 6 5 4
No. sites No. 3 2 1 0 farm villa vicus roadside hillfort other settlement The exploitation of other animals: Presence/absence of other species on late Iron Age/Roman sites in Wales
70.0
60.0
50.0
40.0
30.0 % sites present sites % 20.0
10.0
0.0 Field systems
Rumney Great Wharf (Allen and Fulford 1986) Field systems
Church Farm, Caldicot (Corney 2009) Field systems
Nash, Gwent Levels (Meddens and Beasley 2001) Field systems
Caerau I and Caerau II (St. J O'Neill 1936) Presence and distribution of agricultural tools
no. sites no. items 25
20
15
10
5
0 scythe sickle/pruning plough spade/hoe rake hook/billhook equipment
http://www.iadb.co.uk/romans/main.php?P=5 http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/90261 Archaeobotanical evidence
• 38 sites with plant assemblages, mostly the south-east and the north-west
• Little intra-regional variation in the types of crops grown
• Free-threshing wheat well represented; rye more common in Gwynedd and Clwyd-Powys; small number of samples
Glamorgan-Gwent (n=11) Gwynedd (n=13) Dyfed (n=7) Clwyd-Powys (n=7)
100.0
80.0
60.0
40.0
20.0 % assemblages present % assemblages
0.0 Evidence for crop-processing and storage
Collfryn, Llansantffraid Deuddwr (Britnell 1989)
• Multi-ditch hilltop enclosure
• Numerous roundhouses and storage structures
• Domestic activity is more limited in the Roman period, but storage continues to be common
• Romano-British botanical sample included large quantities of bread wheat, smaller quantities of oats, rye, flax and emmer wheat
• A high frequency of cereal grains is indicative of the final stages of crop- processing Evidence for crop-processing and storage
Cefn Du, Gaerwen (Cuttler et al. 2012)
• Late Iron Age/early Roman farm with stone roundhouses and workshop
• A rectangular, nine-post structure (Structure 4), is thought to have been a granary
• Four botanical samples represent a mixture of crop-processing stages
• Spelt, bread wheat and hulled barley all present
• The occurrence of perennial weeds is suggestive of ard ploughing. Sites with corndryers: evidence for status? Glasfryn, Tremadoc (Kenney 2006; Breese and Anwyl 1909) Sites with corndryers: evidence for status?
Cwmbrwyn (Ward 1907) Sites with corndryers: evidence for status?
Plas Coch, Wrexham (Jones 2011) Evidence for food-processing: sites with querns and millstones
14.0
12.0 site 10.0
8.0
. querns per querns. 6.0
4.0
Average no Average 2.0
0.0 villa (n=5) farm (n=35) hillfort (n=5) vicus/roadside settlement (n=9)
• Vici and roadside settlements produce around 3 times as many quernstones as other rural settlements
• High numbers of querns recovered from Usk (Burrium) (76), Caldicot (40), Cowbridge (17), Coygan Camp (16), Bush Farm (14) and Breiddin Hillfort (11)
• No agricultural mills known from Roman Wales, but millstones recovered from Usk, Whitton Lodge and Prestatyn Evidence for textile-production
spindlewhorls loomweights needles 8.0
7.0
6.0
5.0
4.0
3.0
average no. artefacts site per artefacts no. average 2.0
1.0
0.0 farm (n=35) villa (n=6) vicus/roadside hillfort (n=9) settlement (n=5)
• Spindlewhorls most common artefact associated with textile-production
• Textile equipment is more common in some areas where other types of find tend to be rare—e.g. Dyfed
• Spindlewhorls are most common on hillfort sites—largely due to high number from Braich y Dinas, Penmaenmawr Mineral extraction, quarrying Anglesey copper mining (RIB) and ceramic production
• Evidence for limestone quarrying in the south-east
• Clay extraction seen at Holt, associated with tile, brick and pottery production
• Iron smelting sites predominantly in the south of the region
• Lead/silver mining and smelting sites in the north-east (Prestatyn, Pentre Farm, and Ffrith), on the west coast (Llangynfelyn), and in the south (Lower Machen and Goldsland Woods)
• Gold mining at Dolaucothi-Pumsaint The role of the military in the mineral extraction industry
Dolaucothi-Pumsaint (Burnham and Burnham 2004)
• Gold-mining complex in a valley on the south-west edge of the Cambrian mountains
• Auxiliary fort established mid-AD70s, reduced in size c.AD100 (stone- defended fortlet) before abandonment in the AD120s
• Extensive vicus settlement to the south of the fort, including a bathhouse, continues in use until the mid-2ndC AD
• 3rdC AD pottery from the gold mines suggest further use; plus late Roman timber building constructed within the fort (civilian use?) Future priorities
• Environmental data remain limited and geographically-restricted
• The recovery of significant animal bone assemblages is a priority for a better a understanding of: • animal husbandry regimes • butchery practices • the dietary contribution of meat and dairy • the importance of secondary products for craft manufacture (e.g. bone, leather, horn)
• Similarly, the recovery of a greater sample of mineralised plant remains is urgently required to further investigate land-use, agricultural developments and the economic relationships between different sites
• Surveys of metal ore-rich areas would be productive, particularly where known industrial sites are few (e.g. Ceredigion)