Britannia 31

Considers motives for hoarding -- from safe-keeping to ritual -- in the context of the wider contemporary material culture, using the mid-second-century hoards from Snettisham (Norfolk), Backworth (Northumberland), and Castlethorpe (Buckinghamshire) as examples.

Second-century roofing tiles for Chester fortress manufactured by the civilian firm of Aulus Viducus.

Work at the site of an enclosure situated in an area known to be a rich source of IA and RB metalwork finds. The enclosure consists of a 5ha rectangular ditch with an inner rampart. Within it are three wood-lined wells or shafts which were also excavated. The deepest of these contained at least fifty complete urns deposited in AD 50-90. There was no apparent pre-RB occupation and the site may be defensive or specifically ritual. There are notes on:

Excavations in 1998 confirmed that the construction of the outer camp predates the inner. Size and relationship to the Antonine Wall are also considered.

The damaging effects of rabbit infestation and tree-growth in an area of considerable archaeological importance prompted excavation.

Problems with the documentary sources for early fifth-century invasions and civil wars.

Leaded bronze sceptre head and other objects.

Sites explored and inscriptions.