The Association for Roman Arch a e o l o g y AARRAA NNEEWWSS March 2010 Issue 23 ARA members assemble at the Roman lighthouse at Dover Castle, 17th August 2009, on the first of at least three tours covering the Roman forts of the Saxon Shore. View looking north with the Saxon church of St. Mary-in-Castro to the right and the great tower of the castle in the distance to the left. Photo: © Grahame Soffe. CO N T E N T S ARA CONTACTS Page Hon. President: Professor John J. Wilkes BA, PhD, FBA, FSA Hon. Chairman: Grahame Soffe BA, Editorial 2 Tel: 01367 244857 Contents and Contacts 2 Hon. Vice-Chairman: Mike Stone BA, Cert Ed, MITG The Great North Museum 3 and 4 26 Awd r y Close, Chippenham, Wil t s h i r e, SN14 0TQ. Tel: 01249 446385 Archaeological Round-up Director: Bryn Walters BA, 4, 8, 23 and 25 75 York Road, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN1 2JU. Tel/Fax: 01793 534008 Hon. Treasurer: David Evans PhD, Romans, Police Cars and Gunley Stables, Marton, Welshpool, Powys, SY21 8JL. Tel: 01938 561398 Football Fans 5 to 8 e-mail: [email protected] Treasurer’s Report 9 Hon. Archivist: Anthony Beeson, Eden House, 18 Bowden Close, Coombe Dingle, Bristol, BS9 2RW. Bignor Roman Villa 9 e-mail: [email protected] Dates for your Diary 9 Trus t e e s : Gilt Glass Tesserae 9 Anthony Beeson, David Evans, Don Greenwood, Vix Hughes, Sam Moorhead, Grahame Soffe, Michael Stone, Bryn Wal t e r s The Missing 90% in Hon. Membership Secretary: Don Greenwood BA Roman Britain 10 12 Harewood Close, York, YO30 5XQ. Tel: 01904 670995 The Ermine Street Guard 10 Hon. Editor (ARA NEWS 24 onwards): Nicholas Hogben, Roman Displays at the Flat 1, 5 Canterbury Road, Westbrook, Margate, Kent, CT9 5AQ Grosvenor Museum, e-mail: [email protected] Chester 11 and 12 Editorial Committee (ARA NEWS): Nicholas Hogben, Don Greenwood BA and Bryn Walters BA Tour Booking Forms: Research Adviser: Professor Martin Henig MA, DPhil, DLitt, FSA Self-Drive to Ashmolean Institute of Archaeology, 36 Beaumont Street, Oxford, OX1 2PG Museum, Oxford 13 Internet Web Site: Annual Dinner Weekend 14 www.associationromanarchaeology.org.uk Long Weekend Summer The views expressed herein are not necessarily the views of the ARA Board Tour 15 and 27 © Copyright remains with individual Authors, and the ARA Board cannot accept responsibility for the accuracy or content of such articles Self-Drive to Hallaton Any Member requiring a copy of the Memorandum and Articles of Association Treasure 16 should apply in writing to the Director at the Registered Office address Tour to Roman Germany 17 The Association for Roman Archaeology Limited is a Charitable Company Limited by Guarantee Company Registered No. 3218318 (Wales) British Registered Charity No. 1056599 Alderney’s ‘Shore Fort’ 18 to 21 R e g i s t e red Office: The Association for Roman Archaeology Limited, 75 York Road, Swindon, Wi l t s h i re, SN1 2JU ARA’s Honorary President 22 and 23 ARA Members are invited to send press cuttings from local and national Obituaries 24 and 25 newspapers concerning Roman matters (indicating date and source) to the ARA Hon. Archivist, Anthony Beeson, at: Donations and Bequests 26 Eden House, 18 Bowden Close, Coombe Dingle, Bristol, BS9 2RW. Report on ARA Discussion E-mail: [email protected] Forum 27 and 28 Many thanks to those who have already responded. The Grosvenor Museum at Chester our figu re h e a d . ED I T O R I A L have updated some of their Roman display and cite the original discovery The remainder of the magazine He r e is the 23rd edition of AR A of a cauldron by Professor Newstead contains various re p o rts – The NE W S , just in time for Easter. during excavations between 1922 Trea s u re r ’s Report, a rep o r t on a and 1935 and how it has been C o n f e rence which took place in The cover picture is of the Dover displayed over the years, culminating Ox f o r d in Februa r y on the Romano- ph a ro s which featured in the Long in its modern display today. British Countryside, and, most Weekend Summer Tour – Forts of the im p o rt a n t l y , the Discussion Forum Saxon Shore part 1. You can book for Another member, Nich Hogben, has document, where we are endeavour- pa r t 2 of this tour using the Booking supplied an intriguing article on the ing to cultivate greater assistance for F o rm on page 15 with the full Roman ‘Shore Fort’ of Alderne y . It has some of the routine jobs curren t l y i t i n e r a ry on page 27. The other seen many metamorphoses over the ca r ried out by a small number of Booking Forms are also in the centre, centuries to attain its current form people – generally the Trustees – who and, as always, photocopies are quite and use, all ably described and work hard to keep the Association acceptable if you do not wish to illustrated by Nich. aflo a t . adulterate your copy of the magazine. Members will be pleased to learn that I hope I’ve said enough to whet your Th e r e is an article on the Great North the ARA now has a new Honorary appetite for a good read, but don’t Museum at Newcastle, with a number Pr esident, Professor John Wilkes, and fo r get to get your Tour Bookings in of excellent illustrations. Member our Chairman, Grahame Soffe, has ea r l y , as there is likely to be a big Rebecca Newman, gives us a p roduced a potted history and demand, as always. travelogue of her visit to Algeria, in t r oduction for those of us not in the again illustrated with excellent academic mainstream. We welcome David Gollins, pi c t u re s . such a prominent archaeologist for Editor – AR A NE W S . THE GREAT NORTH MUSEUM The 2009 Hadrian’s Wall Pilgrimage that crosses the display area. Many visited the newly opened Gre a t pilgrims only gradually realised that North Museum in Newcastle. It is this snake is in fact a representation situated in an impressive building of the Wall. I say ‘only gradually close to the Civic Centre and the realised’ because the labelling on this shopping area of central Newcastle. re p resentation is extremely poor. ARA members who knew the old I n f o rmation was obviously not Museum of Antiquities will recognise allowed to get in the way of design. the Roman and Anglo-Saxon Few of the forts, turrets and material that has been moved to the milecastles on the snake are named new museum (Figures 1, 2 and 3). or numbered. Pilgrims spent a few merry minutes trying to work out The museum designers have been which fort was which and we pilgrims were supposed to know the Wall! One of the few forts to be labelled was Carvoran which because of the joys of computer spell check has been labelled ‘Caravan’. Sad that no-one (do they still have curators in new look museums?) seems to have noticed or is bothered enough to make a correction. In spite of all the space in the new Fig. 3. The Mithraic altar to Sol found in the museum the much loved Mithraeum south of the vicus at reconstruction of the Mithreum at Housesteads Roman fort on Hadrian’s the Museum of Antiquities has gone Wall, in 1822. See also note at end of to be replaced with an audio-visual article. Photo: © Anne Woollett. display. Sad to see it go – it was a lovely example of an old museum given lots of space in which to display c u l t u re which Chesters Museum the Roman inscriptions and artifacts. continues to encapsulate so well The exhibits and the now almost (Fig. 4). compulsory talking heads, video and computer displays are wrapped Some of the inscription stones are around a snake like illuminated track tucked away behind pillars and you Fig. 1. The head of the God Antenociticus found at Benwell. Photo: © Anne Woollett. Fig. 2. The tombstone of Aurelia found in Carlisle. Photo: © Anne Woollett. Fig. 4. Display of Mithras sculpture and inscriptions. Photo: © Anne Woollett. Fig. 6. A section of unlabelled Anglo-Saxon stonework – note the intricate carving. Photo: © Anne Woollett. C ross. Why no in Mary p o rt, the Tullie House labels for these Museum in Carlisle and the museums i m p o rtant pieces at Birdoswald, Vi n d o l a n d a . of sculpture? Corbridge, Wallsend and South Shields – all with clearly labelled One highlight of displays and all with lots of books for our museum visit sale. The Pilgrimage also visited Fig. 5. Two dedication stones from Hadrian’s Wall – from Halton Towers (top) and High Rochester (below). Museum identification numbers are on was our welcome Chesters Museum where the internal bottom right hand supports. Photo: © Anne Woollett. f rom the walls have been given a new coat of University of paint so the inscription stones now have to do quite a lot of bending N o rt h u m b r i a ’s Pro - Vice Chancellor have a reddish backdrop. There was down and moving about to match up who sang for us without a script all general agreement that the stones the (tiny) numbers next to the the verses of ‘When Geordie built the look really good against the new inscriptions with the panels telling Wall’.