The Roman Rural Settlement Project Portable material culture in the Romano‐British North: Extracting meaning from rural artefacts Dr Tom Brindle Artist’s reconstruction of Riding Wood Settlement, Bellingham, Northumberland 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Proportion of sites in the north toilet_cosmetic 40.0% 0.9% with individual classes of security 36.7% 0.9% objects (presence/absence) lighting_equipment 26.7% 0.9% weighing_objects 33.3% 1.8% agricultural_tools 30.0% 1.8% religious_objects 46.7% 2.6% 1.8% hairpins 26.7% writing_equipment 50.0% 3.5% equine_transport_objects 53.3% 4.4% recreation 50.0% 4.4% Vici and other nucleated sites military_fittings_weaponry 53.3% 6.1% All farms household_furniture 56.7% 7.0% hobnails 46.7% 6.1% finger_rings 40.0% 5.3% coins 80.0% 11.4% brooches 56.7% 8.8% other_dress 63.3% 16.7% knives_tools 46.7% 16.7% bracelets 53.3% 19.3% textile production 50.0% 18.4% food production 43.3% 47.4% Average values for finds at nucleated sites, villas and farms (total number divided by number of sites) 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% lighting_equipment 0.7 0.00.0 hairpins 11.7 0.00.40.0 toilet_cosmetic 3.5 0.00.10.0 coins 185.1 10.06.60.2 military_fittings_weaponry 15.1 1.00.20.2 religious_objects 4.3 0.5 0.00.0 recreation 6.8 1.0 0.10.0 Vici and other nucleated sites (not other_dress 6.2 0.5 0.40.3 Piercebridge) writing_equipment 2.2 0.5 0.10.0 Villas brooches 9.6 2.0 0.60.1 finger_rings 3.7 1.0 0.10.1 Complex farms equine_transport_objects 6.1 2.0 0.30.0 security 3.6 1.5 0.0 Enclosed farms bracelets 7.3 2.0 0.9 0.4 textile production 4.3 2.5 1.1 0.3 hobnails 0.6 0.5 0.1 0.0 household_furniture 6.1 7.0 0.40.0 knives_tools 9.3 14.5 0.70.3 weighing_objects 1.9 3.5 0.00.0 agricultural_tools 0.8 1.5 0.0 food production 8.4 8.5 6.9 1.8 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Religious objects The South West Recreation Lighting equipment Hairpins Weighing_objects Writing equipment Security Equine/transport objects Villas (No = 114) Coins Other dress Household Complex Farms (No = 63) Knives/tools Agricultural_tools Enclosed Farms (No = 27) Bracelets Finger rings Brooches Cosmetics and appearance Textiles Military fittings/weaponry Food production 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Yorkshire lighting_equipment writing_equipment agricultural_tools toilet_cosmetic security military_fittings_weaponry recreation religious_objects Villas (No = 14) hairpins finger_rings weighing_objects Complex Farms (No = 36) hobnails bracelets Enclosed Farms (No = 37) household_furniture equine_transport_objects coins_total Unenclosed Farms (No = 10) Textiles brooch_total knives_tools Range of materials present at vici etc (no = 30) 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% Percent 30% 20% 10% 0% Materials Reconstruction of vicus life outside Housesteads fort ©English Heritage (by Peter Urmston) Range of materials present at farms (no = 114) 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% Percent 30% 20% 10% 0% Reconstruction of farmstead at Pegswood Moor, Morpeth (J Proctor, 2009, Pre‐Construct Archaeology) Materials Pottery at vici etc and farms 100% Ceramics 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% Vici etc Farms 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% All pottery BB1 Samian Amphora Mortaria Frequency of major imported pottery in assemblages (proportion of total assemblage, where pottery occurs) 12% 10% 8% 6% Vici Farms 4% 2% 0% Samian Amphora Mortaria Stone objects Whetstones Presence of whetstones 50% 40% 30% Nucleated sites (No = 20% 30) 10% Farms (No = 0% 114) Nucleated Farms (No = sites (No = 114) 30) Presence of querns 70% 60% 50% 40% Nucleated 30% sites (No = 30) 20% 10% Farms (No = 0% 114) Nucleated Farms (No = sites (No = 114) 30) Reconstruction of vicus life outside Housesteads Roman altar recovered from Maryport in fort ©English Heritage (by Peter Urmston) 2012 (I Haynes and University of Newcastle) Reconstruction of farmstead at Pegswood Moor, Morpeth (J Proctor, 2009, Pre‐Construct Archaeology) Reconstruction of farmstead at Pegswood Moor, Morpeth (J Proctor, 2009, Pre‐Construct Archaeology) Reconstruction of vicus life outside Housesteads A craftsman depicted on a gilt glass vessel using an adze or a hatchet (early fort ©English Heritage (by Peter Urmston) fourth century,Vatican Museums) http://www.dartmouth.edu/~rogerulrich/tools_woodworking.html Evidence for industrial activity Evidence for industry 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% Nucleated sites 20% (No = 30) 10% Farms (No = 114) 0% Evidence for metalworking at farms with iron objects 60% Farms with iron 40% objects (No = 41) 20% Farms without 0% iron objects (No = Iron slag Evidence for 73) metalworking Kennel Hall Knowe, North Tynedale: A ‘typical’ northern rural finds assemblage for an enclosed farmstead (c. 100 BC –AD 200) ‘A very limited assemblage, mainly of native hand built pottery along with two sherds of Romano‐British coarse wares’ ‘Other finds comprise two stone pounders, three rotary querns (beehive), stone spindle whorl, two stone hones, pot boilers, lead fragment, iron ring, iron nail, and iron slag’. Distribution of glass bangles from excavated sites Predominance of opaque white glass bangles of Kilbride‐Jones Type 3A, a very common type with distribution focussed on Scotland, NE and into Yorkshire Frequency of classes of glass bangle at farms and other sites 70% 60% 50% 40% Irby, Wirral – Farms 30% possible glass Vici etc bangles of 4th century date 20% 10% 0% Type 3a All other types Bangle types Vessel glass Hartburn (enclosed farm) Abraded glass intaglio showing Achilles dragging Hector around the walls of Troy Gowenburn River Camp (enclosed farm) Carnelian intaglio with lion pursuing a deer and hound pursuing ?hare Glass recycling? Glass workable at approx. 675 °C Iron forging processes between approx. 800 °C ‐1100 °C Relationship between iron working and glass objects at farms 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% Percent 20% 10% 0% Iron slag at farms Iron slag at sites Metalworking at Metalworking at with glass farms sites with glass objects objects ‘Exotic’ objects at farms Average values for finds complex farms and enclosed farms (total number divided by number of sites) 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% toilet_cosmetic 0.07 0.00 hairpins 0.14 0.00 household_furniture 0.29 0.03 equine_transport_objects 0.21 0.03 lighting_equipment 0.07 0.02 coins 0.29 0.07 textile production 0.43 0.18 brooches 0.14 0.07 knives_tools 0.36 0.16 Complex farms (no = 14) writing_equipment 0.07 0.03 Enclosed farms (no = 61) recreation 0.07 0.03 other_dress 0.29 0.18 bracelets 0.29 0.20 hobnails 0.07 0.05 food production 0.71 0.51 finger_rings 0.07 0.07 military_fittings_weaponry 0.07 0.08 religious_objects 0.00 0.03 weighing_objects 0.00 0.03 ‘Exotic’ artefacts at enclosed farms Milking Gap‐ Dragonesque brooch (between Hadrian’s Wall and vallum, though probably earlier) Old Brampton ‐ Square walled building, lighting equipment, figurine of Mercury, possible hypocaust, hoard of 3rd century coins Vallum House Hotel, Burgh Road, Carlisle ‐ pottery imports, coin. Attribution as farm uncertain –a military defensive role postulated for the enclosure Ochre Brook –pottery imports and other finds. Tile production for 20th Legion at Chester Coins at farms 129 coins from 13/114 farms (present at 11%) • Fawden Dean –as of Domitian • Huckhoe – sestertius of Hadrian • Bridge House, Wark – as of Faustina I • Dutton’s Farm, Lathom – small hoard denarii TPQ AD 138 • Ochre Brook – assemblage includes 2 Iron Age coins • Aston Park, Great Budworth ‐denarius of Hadrian, as or dupondius of 1st/2nd century, sestertius, probably of Lucilla. • Birch Heath, Tarporley – as or dupondius Late coins at farms • Chester‐le‐Street • 87 coins from one site ‐ Catcote, Hartlepool (including 80 4th century nummi from a single building). Other finds including brooches, hairpins etc indicating ‘connectedness’ • Faverdale, Darlington. Painted wall plaster, hairpins, tweezers, hobnails… • Rockliffe Park, Hurworth‐on‐Tees, near Darlington. Millstone, copper‐alloy dishes, stylus • Irby, Wirral Average number of objects at complex farms by sub‐type (no of objects divided by number of sites). 0.7 E.g. Blagdon Park 2, 0.6 Northumberland (Hodgson et al. 2012) 0.5 Enclosure complexes 0.4 Complex Enclosures 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.0 hairpins hobnails bracelets recreation production production coins_total finger_rings other_dress knives_tools brooch_total toilet_cosmetic food textile writing_equipment household_furniture equine_transport_objects military_fittings_weaponry E.g. Faverdale, Darlington (Proctor 2012) Blagdon Park 2, Northumberland (Hodgson et al. 2012) Faverdale, Darlington (Proctor 2012) National distribution of late Roman coins at farms and other sites Implications for our understanding of PAS finds in the North? http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/Resources/learning/digging /army/s1.html ‘Finds groups were a very minor part of the archaeological resource here…a genuine reflection of the scarcity of artefactual evidence recorded from rural settlements in the region…’ (Taylor 2007, 43)* * Taylor, J. (2007) An atlas of Roman rural settlement in England, CBA Research Report 151.