Britannia 37

Excavations by MoLAS at 30 Gresham Street and 12 Arthur Street in the City of London in 2001 have led to a complete reassessment of the provision of Roman London's water supply. Four massive first- and second-century wells contained remains of two types of mechanical water-lifting machines or bucket-chain systems. The discoveries allowed identification of a similar bucket-chain from the Cheapside Roman baths, found fifty years earlier by Ivor Noël Hume of the Guildhall Museum. Archaeological and engineering analysis has revealed the water-lifting capacity of the machines, which could have supplied a significant proportion of the town's population with clean water. Includes

The paper presents preliminary research into the social and economic impact of early urban settlement in Britain, focusing on the case-study area of Late Iron Age to Roman Essex. Through fresh analysis of ceramic assemblages from Colchester and Heybridge, the authors describe hitherto unrecognised socio-cultural groupings and identities through subtle differences in the deposition of pottery in the generations before and after conquest. The concluding discussion concentrates on problems that still need to be addressed in describing the economic basis of early urban society in Britain. Includes

Paper focusing on the meaning of the actions that lead to iron objects being found in archaeological contexts of later prehistoric and Roman date. It is argued that the placing of iron objects within the physical landscape reflects upon the changing nature of society at this time. In Iron Age studies, many deposits in rivers, bogs and in the pits, ditches and post-holes of settlements are now interpreted as `special' material buried for significant reasons, through acts that are often called `structured deposition'. This approach has had a deep influence on the excavation and post-excavation of Iron Age settlements and is now coming to influence the study of the deposition of artefacts on Roman sites. The paper develops the idea that much of the later prehistoric and Roman ironwork found on settlements and elsewhere was deliberately deposited for what might loosely be called `ritual' or `religious' motives; for much of this period the proportion of the artefacts lost accidentally was possibly quite small. Artefacts in other materials also require comparable study, but, while work that integrates the examination of items made from different materials on individual sites is important, this paper focuses upon iron due to its potential significance as a highly symbolic medium. Includes

In order to study the possibility that some samian (terra sigillata) vessels remained available and/or in circulation for quite some time, a review has been made of closed groups (especially grave-assemblages), as a useful starting point. The paper argues that it is reasonable to expect some complete first-century samian vessels to have survived into the second century; also that some second-century vessels had survived into the fourth century at least throughout Roman Britain.

The author argues that the fourth-century Rudston `aquatic' mosaic is likely to show Oceanus at the centre rather than Neptune, and the dominant position of the head on the floor suggests that the inspiration for it derives, however remotely, from North African models where the scene was common. This is made more plausible by the fact that African influence is also detectable on the famous Venus mosaic by the same mosaicist in an adjacent room in the same building. At Brading, the central figure in the main reception room -- a half-naked man with stick, globe and sundial -- is identified, not just as a generic `philosopher' type, but specifically as the third-century b.c. astronomer and poet, Aratus, on the basis of comparanda on mosaics, tapestry, silverware and in an illustrated manuscript of his work, the Phaenomena. It is further suggested that the key to reading the damaged larger part of the Brading floor above Aratus might be a Latin translation of his work, possibly that by Avienus c. a.d. 350, if the mosaic is indeed approximately of that date rather than earlier, and that the subject-matter of the panels alluded to constellations described in the poem. A very tentative attempt is made to identify what might have been depicted in the panels, on the basis of the mythology behind the constellations as explained in Latin adaptations of the poem: those of Perseus and Andromeda are illustrated in the surviving panel, and possibly Phaethon and Eridanus, Hercules and the serpent in the Garden of the Hesperides, and conceivably Pegasus at a spring were shown in the other three. It is also suggested that these unusual scenes might have been based on an illustrated manuscript of the work in the possession of the dominus at Brading. Be that as it may, the mosaic does appear to provide further evidence of the depth of classical learning displayed by at least some members of the Romano-British rural élite in the fourth century a.d.

Fascicules 7 and 8 of Roman Inscriptions of Britain II, dealing with samian and coarse pottery respectively, contain some sixty examples of graffiti associated with funerary contexts. Most graffiti are personal names and traditionally these were thought to record the names of the deceased. Analysis has revealed, however, that the names are more likely to be those of mourners or gift-givers. This is suggested by case-endings (graffiti that indicate possession are relatively few), the presence of multiple names in single graves, and the observation that many names were inscribed on ancillary vessels, rather than cinerary urns.

The form vilbiam has been long known from the earliest of the Bath curse tablets to have been discovered. It has usually, but with some reservations, been regarded as a female personal name. If so, then, this curse tablet (RIB 154) is the only one to record the theft of a person. It is suggested here that vilbia, rather than being a personal name, is the term for some form of sharp-pointed object. It is further argued that it may be of Celtic origin and may have a Celtic reflex in Middle Welsh gwlf.