EXCAVATING THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN BRITAIN

Transcription

1 EXCAVATING THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN BRITAIN 2015 FIELD REPORT Amazon Riverboat Exploration 2012 FIELD REPORT 1

2 Excavating the Roman Empire in Britain 2015 FIELD REPORT Background Information LEAD PI: Nick Hodgson REPORT COMPLETED BY (NAME): Nick Hodgson PERIOD COVERED BY THIS REPORT: 2015 Field Season

3 Phone: Web: earthwatch.org facebook.com/earthwatch twitter.com/earthwatch_org Dear Earthwatch Volunteer, I d like to thank you warmly for the hard work and enthusiasm that you invested in the Arbeia Roman Fort, South Shields research project in We have made important discoveries that would not have been possible without your input. As ever, I ve enjoyed working alongside people from many countries and backgrounds who have taken a great interest in who we are and what we do, and who have made a strong commitment to our research. All who worked on the dig will know that we made important finds of Roman pottery, metalwork (particularly brooches), and animal bone. But 2015 saw a particularly important breakthrough: beneath the deepest Roman layers, we found pre-roman Iron Age cultivation furrows the first evidence that this area of South Shields was occupied and farmed by the indigenous inhabitants in pre-roman times. In 2016, we intend to explore further the impact that the arrival of Roman imperial forces had on this pre-existing Celtic civilization. As in , it has been a delight to see Earthwatch volunteers working closely with local residents of South Shields, participants in our community archaeology initiative, WallQuest: Hadrian s Wall and its legacy on Tyneside. Working alongside inspirational Earthwatch volunteers has fired the interest of these local volunteers and helped them understand their place in the world and appreciate the archaeological heritage of their neighbourhood. You have helped make all this possible and I thank you again for having been part of our project. I hope you enjoy reading this report and that you will continue to follow the progress of our research in the future. With best wishes on behalf of my fellow PIs, Paul Bidwell and Alex Croom. Nick Hodgson, Principal Investigator

4 SECTION ONE: Scientific research achievements TOP HIGHLIGHT FROM THE PAST SEASON We hit the Iron Age. Beneath the deepest Roman layers we found pre-roman Iron Age cultivation furrows, the first evidence that this area of South Shields was occupied and farmed by the indigenous inhabitants in pre-roman times. REPORTING AGAINST RESEARCH OBJECTIVES Objective 1: To find further archaeological evidence for the transition from Iron Age to Roman society at Arbeia. (For project location, see Image 1. ) Important progress made: beneath the deepest Roman layers we found pre-roman Iron Age cultivation furrows, the first evidence that this area of South Shields was occupied and farmed by the indigenous inhabitants in pre-roman times. The plough marks (Image 2) formed a distinctive criss-cross pattern of narrow furrows scoring the natural clay subsoil, of unmistakably Iron Age type (made with a primitive wooden plough known as an ard). 1. Location of excavation trenches outside southwest corner of Arbeia fort TWAM

5 2. Iron Age plough marks showing up in the 3. 1st century AD bow brooch from the 2015 excavation TWAM pre-roman ground level TWAM Objective 2: To locate, date and understand the origins of the Roman site at Arbeia. More of the early phase of Roman activity described in last year s report was revealed, notably a deposit of burnt demolition materials and rubbish, rich in finds, directly overlying the Iron Age plough-marks. The pottery from this deposit suggests a second century date at the earliest, suggesting that this part of the site was not used by the Romans until several decades after the earliest firmly dated activity (Hadrianic, AD 120s) that has been found elsewhere at South Shields. The present research area does not therefore contain the nucleus of the early Roman occupation. However, the finding in 2015 of a bow brooch of 1st century AD type (Image 3) points to earlier Roman settlement in the vicinity. Objective 3: The recovery of the complete plan of Arbeia Roman Fort and supply-base in its various periods, including the details of its envelope of defensive ditches and any annexes. The clay bank which occupies this area (Images 4, 5), overlying the dump of burnt material just described, appears now to be a constructed mound or rampart of two phases, and is not, as concluded in last year s report, upcast from the defensive ditches of the fort extension of c. AD 205. This rampart pre-dates the outer ditch of the fort extension and may belong to an enclosure predating the fort extension, and contemporary with the Period 4 fort to the north (broadly of AD in date), but its exact date and purpose is not yet understood. In a second excavation area measuring 10 x 10 m immediately abutting the S angle of the visible fort, tumble from the collapsed fort wall was found to be lying in a large ditch, 8.6m wide (Image 6). This seems likely to be the same as Ditch H excavated at the south-west gate in , which belonged to a re-fortification of early post-roman date. The presence of this large ditch of post AD 400 date is of great importance is suggesting a fifth century AD but post-roman use and re-fortification of the site. Recording of the stones from the collapsed fort wall (Image 7) allowed several dictinct sources for the material to be established; most had been re-used from earlier structures (the fort extension wall here was not built until around AD 210) and derived from a range of different quarry-sources. In terms of material culture the 2015 season produced an important group of Roman brooches (Images 3, 8).

6 4. Panorama of Dig Site John Kopecky, volunteer 5. Volunteers working on sections through the clay rampart material TWAM

7 6. Excavation on fort wall and tower collapsed into late ditch outside SW corner of fort TWAM 7. Volunteers recording types of stone used in the fort wall collapsed into the fort ditch TWAM

8 8. 2nd century AD trumpet brooch from the 2015 excavation TWAM Objective 4: Recovery of more of the plan of the vicus (civilian settlement) outside the fort walls. Excavation of the vicus levels was completed in 2014 and the 2015 excavation focused on levels earlier than the third-century vicus. 9. Volunteer unearthing complete 2 nd century AD pot from the demolition and rubbish layer underlying the clay rampart construction TWAM

9 10. PI Nick Hodgson and volunteers discussing the pottery finds from the demolition and rubbish layer underlying the clay rampart TWAM Objective 5: To enhance understanding of economy and systems of supply of the frontier zone and how these fitted into the context of the Roman empire. Earthwatch volunteers in 2015 have cleaned, weighed, catalogued, drawn and studied large amounts of imported pottery that continue to be found in the excxavations (Images 9, 10). This information will be used to test the hypothesis that trade in pottery from diverse sources was a by-product of much larger importation of grain into northern England because local indigenous agriculture could not fully meet the requirements of the Roman army, and that this is the reason for a permanent coastal supply-base at South Shields. A report on strontium isotope analysis of third-centuery AD animal bones from Earthwatch excavations at South Shields indicates that the animals were procured at a 100-mile + distance from the site, in south-west Scotland or north-west England, supporting the hypothesis of long-distance supply. Finds of whalebone found on the site (Image 11), currently being studied in collaboration with York University, add a new dimension to the materials known to have been exploited for food or other purposes.

10 11. Whalebone from the 2015 excavation area TWAM Objective 6: To assist in the management of the World Heritage Site by assessing the degree of archaeological survival in areas outside the fort that might be subject to future development. Work in 2015 has confirmed the depth of Roman and pre-roman Iron Age archaeological stratigraphy surviving outside ithe fort in an area which might be proposed for building development in the future. Objective 7: To engage local communities in recovering more information about the course of Hadrian s wall through urban Tynesdie and the history of Roman forts and settlements. This objective has been achieved by the continued integration of the Earthwatch supported research with the community archaeology project WallQuest, funded by the UK Heritage Lottery Fund and other bodies. Working alongside international Earthwatch volunteers has inspired local residents and helped fire their interest in researching and safeguarding the Hadrian s Wall World Heritage Site in their neighbourhood.

11 INCREASING SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE MoS 1.2 Peer Reviewed Publications SECTION TWO: Impacts An interim report on the 2014 season was published in the annual journal of Roman-British and kindred studies Britannia vol. 46 (2015), pp 291-2, where the support of the Earthwatch Institute is fully acknowledged. The following PI publications since the last report draw on the results of Earthwatch sponsored work at Arbeia: Hodgson, Nick, Rural settlement in the northern frontier zone: the impact of Hadrian s Wall, in D J Breeze (ed.), The Impact of Rome on the British Countryside: a conference organized by the Royal Archaeological Institute, Chester, October 2013, London, 2014, pp Hodgson, Nick, Native settlements on the North side of Hadrian s Wall: new evidence for their history, in L Vagalinski and N. Sharankov (eds), Limes XXII. Proceedings of the 22nd International Congress of Roman Frontier Studies Ruse, Bulgaria, September 2012 (= Bulletin of the National Archaeological Institute XLII, 2015), Sofia, 2015, pp The following publications by other specialist scholars are based on material excavated and processed by Earthwatch teams at Arbeia: Greep, Stephen, A late-fourth century/early-fifth century furniture maker s workshop at the Roman fort of South Shields, Arbeia Journal 10 (2015), See also themaster s thesis cited in 1.3 below. DISSEMINATION OF RESEARCH RESULTS Grey literature and other dissemination The following academic thesis draws on the evidence of animal bones excavated and processed by Earthwatch volunteers at Arbeia: Waterworth, Jess, Food for thought: an investigation into South Shields as a major supply base in North-West Britain during the 3rd century AD (MSc Archaeological Science Dissertation, Durham University), The project is disseminated through the website: An annual conference is held (in 2015 on 14 November) to discuss the results of the Earthwatch sponsored project at South Shields, usually attended by around 100 scientists and members of the public. See also attached project poster (Appendix 1) for dissemination of project at public events. DEVELOPING ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERS MoS 2.1 Education Over 60 individual school students visited the site to see research in progress or to participate alongside Earthwatch voluteers via the WallQuest community archaeology project. PARTNERSHIPS MoS 3.1 Organizations Actively Engaged The Arbeia Society continues to provide grant-aid towards publication and dissemination costs. The biomolecular identification team at the University at York are collaborating on a study of whalebone from the site.

12 CONTRIBUTIONS TO CONVENTIONS, AGENDAS, POLICIES, MANAGEMENT PLANS MoS 4.1 Informing Policies or Management Plans International Policies or Management Plans: Arbeia is part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site and the Management Plan for the Hadrian s Wall section of the tran-national site recognizes the research at Arbeia as improving understanding of the World Heritage Site and promoting a sense of ownership of the heritage asset among the local community. In particular the excavations at Arbeia have influenced the management plan in its call for Hadrian s Wall to be more clearly understood in the urban areas of industrial Tyneside. National or Regional Policies or Management Plans: Data from Arbeia has been highly influential on two regional archaeological research Frameworks, the North-East Archaeological Regional Research Framework (NERRF, 2006) and the Hadrian s Wall Archaeological Research Framework ( Frontiers of Knowledge, 2009). The first of these is currently undergoing revision and the Project PIs have ben invited to contribute. Local Policies or Management Plans: We have built on the success and prestige of the Arbeia Earthwatch programme with the Heritage Lottery Funded WallQuest community archaeology project. Grants in support of this community project have been awarded partly because of the approach to volunteer engagement which has been pioneered by Earthwatch, for example, in utilizing the varied skills and life experiences of voluneers rather than relying on pedagogic methods. MoS 4.2 Actions or activities that enhance natural and/or social See below under Impacting Local Livelihoods ENHANCING NATURAL AND/OR SOCIAL CAPITAL MoS 5.1 Conservation of Taxa Not applicable MoS 5.2 Conservation of Habitats Not applicable MoS 5.3 Conservation of Ecosystem Services Not applicable MoS 5.4 Conservation of Cultural Heritage The Earthwatch project contributes to the continued maintenance and intellectual enhancement of Arbeia, which is part of the Hadrian s Wall World Heritage Site. Increased knowledge of the buried archaeology in the fort area informs planning decisions on local building developments so that impacts on the buried archaeological heritage can be mitigated. MoS 5.5 Impacting Local Livelihoods The mobilization of members of the local community in this research project via the WallQuest community archaeology project involves training and experience of a range of transferable skills that will enhance employability in an area that has one of the highest rates of unemployment in the United Kingdom, while a focus on youth engagement has raised awareness amongst young people in South Shields of their heritage environment and opportunities to participate.

13 SECTION THREE: Acknowledgements, Funding and Appendices ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to acknowledge assistance in the 2015 season from the Arbeia Society, South Tynesdie Council, to the Heritage Lottery Fund and all the other funders of WallQuest, but above all to the volunteers, both those from Earthwatch and those from the local community. APPENDICES APPENDIX 1 Project poster Excavating the Roman empire in Britain

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