Britannia 32

which notes scatters of military equipment beneath the Flavian levels at Chichester which are interpreted as representing a supply-base for Legio II

Reports that a collection of copper-alloy brooches and brooch moulds were found during systematic metal detecting. One of the brooch moulds was found with a complete brooch casting in situ. Three other unfinished brooches of the same type were also found, all with spruces attached. A geophysical survey coupled with a series of trenches failed to locate any archaeological features.

Fieldwork and excavation revealed extensive drainage and landscape management in the Roman period. The engineering requirements for planning of the drainage, management of the landscape and maintenance of the sea defences are interpreted as having been organised and carried out by the Roman army. It is suggested that the reclaimed levels would have been a prime resource for the provision of beef to the legionaries at Caerleon (Isca Silurum). Includes separately authored reports on:

which notes 223 fragments of stone and building materials

which comprised some 2,691 bones and bone fragments, with cattle (93.2%) being the dominant species. Also reports on three juvenile and one partial adult cattle burials

which reports on foraminifera, plant macrofossils, pollen and diatoms. Suggests that the immediate environment during the first and second centuries AD was saltmarsh at lower elevations and grassland further upslope

Several case studies drawn from major and minor urban sites and one Late Roman military site demonstrate the prevalence of ritual behaviour through structured deposition in a domestic context. The incidence of examples spans the period between the Late Iron Age and the end of the Roman period. This practice relates to similar behaviour evinced in first millennium BC Britain which in turn can be seen in a wider north-west European context.

Comparison of the heavy mineral suite derived from samples of blocks of the distinctive off-white facing stone used in the third-century Saxon Shore fort at Brancaster, Norfolk with that from stone used in the medieval church and castle and elsewhere in Castle Rising village, Norfolk, leaves little doubt that they are identical. The material originates in the Leziate beds of the Castle Rising area and was probably transported by sea to Brancaster, a distance of some thirty-five kilometres.

which contextualises the bowls and considers the ritual deposition of pewter objects in `wet' places

suggests that the vessels date from the fourth century AD

In the course of re-cataloguing the coarse pottery in the Silchester Collection of Reading Museum more than seventy vessels ranging in date from the late-first century BC to the fourth century AD were identified where the belly had been deliberately pierced. Although, as with further pierced vessels from the continuing excavation at Silchester, the majority were found deliberately placed in pits and wells alongside completely intact pottery vessels, the explanation for the piercing is not confined to a ritual practice and alternative interpretations are discussed. More examples have also been identified from cremation cemeteries in London and Ospringe, Kent.

The Roman place-name Coccium appears in the Antonine Itinerary in Lancashire approximately half-way between Ribchester and Manchester. Its location was long thought to have been at Wigan but more recently Edgeworth, twenty-one kilometres to the north-east, was suggested. Since then excavations have indicated a short-lived military presence at Wigan. This latest is re-assessment based on the Roman road system, for which some fresh evidence is presented, together with a study of local place-names and Roman finds The study concludes that a site in Standish, north-west of Wigan, is the most convincing location for Coccium.

Presents notes on fieldwork projects undertaken at Roman sites around the country during 2000. Sites are listed by region, then alphabetically by county (or unitary authority). Also features a report on Roman inscriptions recovered in Britain.