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 / rings /

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 -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

/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)