History and Background

Transcription

1 17 Marcham/Frilford Excavaion Trenche 5 T r a c k w a y Feaure Projeced Feaure 9 29 ROMAN/SAXON CEMETERY 500M TO NORTH c 8b 7 Sie A Sie B N Palaeochannel 18 33A Sie C MODERN HEDGE LINE TRENDLES FIELD B 4 GARDEN OF FORMER NOAH S ARK INN Mere 11 Trench 20 Trench 21 3 Fig. 1: Plan of he ie a Marcham howing he locaion of renche excavaed from 2001 o 2007, a well a Bradford and Goodchild excavaion ie in he Noah Ark garden. 1 MARCHAM_PP1_8_CS2.indd 1 17/6/08 17:32:26

2 Hiory and Background Our excavaion concenrae on he ie of Marcham (alo known a Frilford), which i locaed in he Vale of he Whie Hore (on he A338 o Wanage behind he former Noah Ark Inn) [Fig. 1]. The archaeology on he ie pan he prehioric, Roman and Saxon period. I include prehioric encloure and building, a Roman emple encloure, a Roman amphiheare-like building, known a a emi-amphiheare and a Saxon cemeery. The cemeerie [Fig. 2] The lae Roman and Saxon cemeerie were excavaed in he lae 19 h and early 20 h cenurie. Over 300 inhumaion and cremaion have been found in hi area. Thi i one of few cemeerie ha pan he lae Roman and Anglo-Saxon period. Fig. 3: The Iron Age archaeology excavaed by Bradford and Goodchild (1939, fig. 3). In Sie C an Iron Age ring-haped dich lay direcly underneah he laer Roman rounda [Fig. 4]. Thi ha led o peculaion ha he ie may alo have had a religiou funcion in he Iron Age. Fig. 2: Plan of he lae Roman and Saxon cemeerie (Bradford and Goodchild 1939, fig. 12B). Bradford and Goodchild excavaion In he 1930 Bradford and Goodchild excavaed in he garden of he Noah Ark Inn. They found a Roman emple and circular building, known a a rounda. A well a hee Roman remain, Bradford and Goodchild alo found Iron Age roundhoue, pi and diche [Fig. 3]. Fig. 4: Plan of he archaeology found in Sie C howing he Iron Age dich and he Roman rounda above i (Bradford and Goodchild 1939, fig. 5). Time line c BC; The Bronze Age c. 700 BC; The Iron Age AD 43; The Roman Emperor Claudiu invade Briain AD 313; The Roman Empire conver o Chriianiy AD ; The Roman leave Briain; he Saxon invade England 2 MARCHAM_PP1_8_CS2.indd 2 17/6/08 17:32:27

3 Dicovering he emi-amphiheare reiiviy and magneomery. Reiiviy ue probe o meaure how eaily he oil conduc elecriciy uing he principle ha he damper he oil he more eaily i will conduc elecriciy. Sone wall have high reiiviy becaue hey are drier and o do no conduc elecriciy eaily. Diche and pi are damper, o hey give low reading. Magneomery meaure diorion in he earh magneic field caued by buried archaeological feaure. Feaure cu ino he oil, like diche and pi, caue high anomalie in he magneic field; hey appear black on he plo. Sone wall, on he oher hand, appear whie. In 1976 during crop-praying over Trendle Field (he field o he ea of he garden of he Noah Ark Inn), a urpriing dicovery wa made of a building ha looked like a Roman amphiheare [Fig. 5]. Small-cale excavaion were carried ou in he 1980 by Richard Hingley, which found he one arena wall and a recangular one rucure a he ouhern cardinal poin. Prehioric Marcham A well a he Iron Age archaeology found in Bradford and Goodchild excavaion, prehioric feaure have alo been excavaed in Trendle Field. Poery from he diche viible on he geophyical urvey ugge hey were dug in he Bronze Age and Iron Age. To he norh of he diche over 32 inercuing pi were found [Fig. 7]. The pi conained a lo of animal bone and burn one. Fig. 5: Aerial phoograph of he emi-amphiheare, appearing a a large darker green circle in he field. The rucure i in a naural hollow a he norhern end of a dark green linear feaure running ouh, which i an ancien ream channel. Prior o our curren excavaion, a geophyical urvey wa alo carried ou in Trendle Field [Fig. 6]. The reuling image howed clearly he one wall of he emi-amphiheare wih feaure a i four cardinal poin, a large recangular building in he cenre of he field and a yem of prehioric diche in he ouh-weern corner. Fig. 6: Geophyical plo of Trendle Field. The diche appear black; one wall are whie (Oxford Archaeomaic). Fig. 7: The Iron Age pi in Trench 14 under excavaion. How doe geophyical urvey work? Geophyic i a way of eeing beneah he oil wihou digging. There are wo main mehod of geophyic: Wha are cropmark? Cropmark can help u o idenify archaeological ie from he air. The preence of archaeological feaure underground affec he growh of crop. Crop grow hicker and dener over unken feaure, uch a diche and channel, bu over wall hey grow parer. So on aerial phoograph, diche appear darker han he urrounding vegeaion and wall ligher. 3 MARCHAM_PP1_8_CS2.indd 3 17/6/08 17:32:34

4 Roman Marcham rounded by a porico, which were buil c. AD [Fig. 9]. A a laer dae an annexe of hree room wa added. The rounda wa c. 11 m in diameer; i wa probably buil a a imilar ime o he main emple. During he Roman period, he ie a Marcham became a hriving rural religiou complex. The main elemen of hi complex were he emple inide i acred encloure and he emi-amphiheare. A pahway ran from he ouh of he emi-amphiheare oward he eaern enrance o he acred encloure. In addiion, o hee rucure, here were everal ancillary building and hrine. One of hee hrine, in rench 36, wa on he line of he pahway ariculaing he ie [Fig. 8]. Thi hrine eem o have been poiioned deliberaely over ome earlier Iron Age pi. Thi ugge ha he complex wa deigned o refer back o he pa aociaion of he ie. Fig. 9: Plan of he main emple a excavaed by Bradford and Goodchild (1939, fig. 9). MF 07 Trench 36 N 20.5, ,35.5 Thee wo building were locaed inide a walled encloure called a emeno. A gravel pahway ran from he enrance in he eaern encloure wall o he main emple building , ,25.5 Fig.10: A ypical Roman emple: he Maion Carrée, Nîme (Ward- Perkin 1981, fig. 137) Sone conrucion Mere 20.5, ,20.5 Fig.8: The Iron Age pi and Roman hrine in rench 36. The emple and i encloure Bradford and Goodchild excavaed wo building inide he emple encloure: he main emple and he rounda. The main emple compried a quare room ( cella ) ur- Fig.11: Plan and reconrucion of a ypical Romano-Celic-yle emple: he Albachal ancuary, Trier (Ward-Perkin 1981, fig. 139A). Roman emple Claical Roman emple, uch a he Maion Carrée in Nîme, were uually recangular in plan. They were placed on a high podium and were approached by ep, which ran acro he fron of he building [Fig. 10]. The fron par of he building (he porico ) wa open and urrounded by free-anding column. A riangular pedimen decoraed he upper par of he porico. Behind he porico, wa he encloed par of he emple (he cella ); hi wa alo urrounded by column, bu hee were aached o he ouide wall, which encloed he pace inide he emple. Many emple in Roman Briain had a lighly differen deign; hey are known a Romano-Celic emple [Fig. 11]. They ofen had a quare cella, which wa urrounded by a walkway or porico. Thee emple were uually no on a high podium, bu raher were placed inide a large acred encloure (he emeno ). The encloure boundary wa marked ou by wall, diche or fence. 4 MARCHAM_PP1_8_CS2.indd 4 17/6/08 17:32:39

5 Inide he Sacred Encloure an arch or column. Thee would have framed he view from he enrance and guided he eye oward he emple building raigh ahead. Wha happened inide he acred encloure? Wha happened inide he acred encloure? Over 100 coin have been found on he emple pahway, depoied a ac of peronal worhip. Very few arefac have been found elewhere inide he encloure, which ugge ha general acce wa rericed and ha he precinc wa kep clear. Enering he acred encloure From he enrance in he eaern encloure wall, viior would have been able o ee he emple direcly ahead. Two rucure eiher ide of he pahway inide he enrance would have made he enrance eem impreive and monumenal [Fig. 12]. Thee feaure are ypical of Roman emple in ouhern Briain. A large pi and midden in he ouh-eaern corner of he encloure may have been ued for he dipoal of oher objec ued inide he emple encloure. The find from hi area included veel gla, oyer hell and a large amoun of animal bone. Thi ugge ha aciviie inide he encloure may have included feaing. The rucure o he ouh (Trench 32) and norh (Trench 15) of he pahway inide he emeno mirrored each oher in alignmen, layou, and dimenion. In boh building he eaern norh-ouh wall were creaed uing he encloure wall. Boh building have an inernal diviion o creae wo room. The exerior wall o he norh and o he ouh appear o have coninued furher we, uggeing ha a hird, open-froned room may alo have exied. Nohing ha urvived o ugge a poible funcion for he room or for he aciviie ha migh have aken place in hem. Animal were alo probably acrificed a he emple a offering o he god. A heep burial ha been found in rench 15 inide he acred encloure, which confirm hi idea [Fig. 13]. The heep wa buried wih an unuual mall poery jar, which may have been ued during he riual. Two oppoing plinh were poiioned eiher ide of he pahway on he ame alignmen a he inernal pariion wall. Thee plinh migh have provided foundaion for MF 07 Trenche 15 & 32 Trench 15 Coninuaion of emeno wall in Trench 15 N Hearh? Enrance? Temeno wall 10.9, Plinh = TEMENOS ENTRANCE PATHWAY Pah coninue oward Temple 31.4, Fig. 13: A complee heep burial found in rench 15; noe he poery jar included wih he burial. Pah coninue Plinh Coninuaion of emeno wall in Trench Enrance? Temeno wall Enrance Trench , , Mere Fig. 14: A complee cow keleon under excavaion in rench 30. Fig. 12: The rucure inide he enrance in renche 15 and 32. Wha can we learn from animal bone? In general, animal bone can ell u a lo abou wha mea people ae in he pa and wha heir ock-breeding and buchery pracice were. In emple conex, hey can alo ell u a lo abou riual pracice, including feaing and animal acrifice. A he Roman emple in Uley, Glouceerhire, 35,000 animal bone were recovered, paricularly heep and goa. The high number of heep and goa bone indicaed ha he Roman god Mercury wa worhipped a he ie. 5 MARCHAM_PP1_8_CS2.indd 5 17/6/08 17:32:47

6 The Building in Trenche 15 and 18 veel gla, amian ware, uch a beaker and oher dining equipmen from Gaul, and grinding bowl ( moraria ). Thee find ugge ha eaing and drinking may have been one of he aciviie carried ou in hee building. Several hearh were alo excavaed inide hee building [Fig. 15]. In addiion, evidence for mall-cale mealworking ha been found. I i poible ha meal objec were being made inide hee building, which were hen old a voive iem o people viiing he emple. Three building have been excavaed in renche 15 and 18 direcly ouide he emple encloure o he norh and ouh of he enrance. Thee building were walled on hree ide and open oward he ea. The wo building o he ouh (rench 18) were eparaed by an oudoor, couryard area [Fig. 14]. MF 05 Trench 18 11, ,30.5 N ,28 Norh Building Hearh Hearh Temeno wall Fig. 15: One of he hearh inide he Trench 18 building. Wha are moraria? [Fig. 16] Thee bowl, which were uually whie, were ued for mixing and grinding fooduff. The bowl were broad wih a prominen rim and pou. The inide of he bowl wa gried o aid he grinding proce. Grinding bowl made in Oxfordhire were diribued acro he Midland and ouhern Briain from he 2nd o 4h cenurie AD. 6.75,20 Couryard Area Beween Building Souh Building Floor urface Temeno wall Floor urface , , Mere Fig. 16: Two example of grinding bowl from he Oxfordhire poerie [Young 1977, fig. 21]. Fig. 14: Plan of he building excavaed in rench 18. Wha were hee building ued for? Thee building were probably ued o provide for he need of he people viiing he emple. A very large number of find came from hi area, including a high proporion of Below: Fig 17: A ypical example of decoraed amian ware [Clique e al. 1996, fig.X11]. Samian Ware Thi kind of poery, alo known a erra igillaa or Arreine Ware, ha a gloy orange-red appearance and ofen ha moulded decoraion, omeime howing myhological cene [Fig. 17]. I wa a higher cla of poery (known a a fineware ), which wa ofen ued for eaing and drinking, raher han cooking. Samian ware were made in large number in workhop in norhern Ialy and Gaul; i wa expored widely around he Roman Empire. 6 MARCHAM_PP1_8_CS2.indd 6 17/6/08 17:32:55

7 The SemiAmphiheare amphiheare. The viewing bank, however, did no enirely encircle he arena, which i imilar o a heare. In Gaul hee building were ofen buil in aociaion wih emple and ancuarie, a a Marcham. They were probably ued for a variey of religiou performance, including recial and comba. In i iniial phae he rucure had a circular arena (c. 40 m in diameer) wih a and-covered floor. The arena wa encircled by a wall, which had an enrance o he we. The wall ielf wa urrounded by a bank, which did no run around he whole perimeer of he rucure. To he ouh, a maonry drain exied under he wall and bank [Fig. 18]. 0 Luèce, Pari Lillebonne Marcham S. Alban Mere Fig. 19: Plan of imilar building from Gaul and Briain. The hrine o he ouh-we of he emi-amphiheare The religiou naure of hi building i renghened by a hrine found in Trench 24. A large number of find were found aociaed wih hi building, in paricular peronal iem uch a bronze and bone hairpin and comeic poon [Fig 20 & 21]. Two furher animal burial (anoher heep and a cow) were alo found in hi area. Fig. 18: View of he inerior of he arena looking ouh along he drain. Ine: Deail of he Royal Box, fir dicovered by Richard Hingley, howing he drain running underneah. A a laer dae a recangular rucure (he o-called Royal Box ) wa conruced o he ouh of he arena. I may have eaed digniarie. Above lef: Fig. 20: A elecion of bronze hair pin and comeic poon found a Marcham. Above righ: Fig. 21: Two of he brooche found a Marcham. Below: Fig. 22: A drawing by William Sukeley of he amphiheare a Silcheer a i looked in 1724 [Fulford 1989, plae 1a] Wha wa hi rucure ued for? Thi building i a cro beween an amphiheare and a heare; a common ype in norhern and cenral Gaul [Fig. 19]. The arena pace of hi building make i imilar o an Amphiheare in Briain Amphiheare were a Roman adapaion o he Greek heare ha allowed he audience o view game and figh in he round. In Briain, everal example are known, for example a Caerleon, Cheer, London and Silcheer [Fig. 22]. Thee amphiheare are impler han one from he Medierranean, uch a he Coloeum in Rome. In Briain, mo amphiheare were buil by digging an oval pace for he arena. The oil from digging ou he arena wa ued o make bank, which urrounded he arena and on which wooden ea could be conruced. 7 MARCHAM_PP1_8_CS2.indd 7 17/6/08 17:33:08

8 2197 Lae Roman and Saxon Marcham Alo in he lae Roman or Saxon period a group of eigh burial were placed in he eaern enrance of he emiamphiheare [Fig. 25]. The burial were all on an ea-we alignmen and had no grave good. Thi ugge ha he people buried here were Chriian. I i poible ha hey were buried in hi locaion o mark he cloure of he arena a a funcioning pagan monumen. The rench 2 building Thi large building (c. 34 m long x 17 m wide) wa locaed beween he emple encloure and he emi-amphiheare. I compried a main cenral room wih annexe o he we, norh and ea [Fig. 23]. The coin evidence ugge ha he building wa conruced c. AD 340. MF 01/MF 02 Trench 2 25, Sone Sone wall Morar pread Building, rubble, ile, bone & coin Spread of burn wood remain 11,26 25,5, Burn area/hearh 2024 Cobble/rubble pread ,23 MF03 TRENCH EXTENSION Beam lo EXCAVATION 2001 EXCAVATION ,13 11, , Mere 35,11 Fig. 23: Plan of he lae Roman building in rench 2. Wa hi building an early church? I ha been uggeed ha hi building wa an early rural church due o i conrucion dae, ha i afer he converion of he Roman Empire o Chriianiy in AD 313. Over 680 coin were found in hi building, which comprie c. 40% of he oal ie coin aemblage [Fig. 24]. Thee coin overlap in dae wih hoe from he emple pahway, which ugge ha he emple and hi building were in ue a he ame ime. A i i unlikely ha pagan and Chriian religion would have been pracied ogeher on he ame ie, i i alo unlikely ha hi building wa an early church. A he momen he precie idenificaion of hi building remain uncerain. The afer-life of he emi-amphiheare Afer he 4h cenury AD he ue of he emi-amphiheare eem o have changed. In he cenre of he arena rough working urface and evidence for flimy rucure have been found. Thi aciviy eem o have coninued ino he middle Saxon period. Fig. 25: One of he lae Roman or Saxon burial under excavaion in he eaern enrance o he emi-amphiheare. Wha can we learn from keleon? Skeleon provide archaeologi wih a wide range of informaion abou he pa. A well a being able o find ou he age, heigh and ex of he people buried, cienific analyi of he bone can ell u abou people die, healh and where hey may have moved from. We can alo learn abou he au, occupaion and belief of people by looking a how people were buried and wha iem hey were buried wih. Below: Fig 24: A elecion of lae Roman bronze coin from he rench 2 building. Roman coin: he fir Euro? In he Roman period, Roman coin were ued and exchanged acro he Roman Empire and even a far afield a India. Roman coin came in everal denominaion from a gold aureu o a bronze a. On one ide he coin had picure of he emperor head. On he oher ide he coin were decoraed wih picure of deiie, famou building or even. Thee picure were ofen accompanied wih an incripion, which named he emperor and omeime communicaed meage uch a SPES ( hope ) or FELICITAS ( properiy ). 8 MARCHAM_PP1_8_CS2.indd 8 17/6/08 17:33:15