The Archaeology of Britain: An introduction from ... - waughfamily.ca

• 122 • Colin Haselgrove
East Anglia and East Yorkshire.
The ‘territorial oppida’ of south-east
England—with their imposing but
discontinuous earthworks defining
large tracts of land around places of
social and political importance—must
be included in this phenomenon
(Figure 7.6). These sites do not
represent urban centres in any modern
sense. At St Albans (Verulamium), much
of the delimited area was occupied by
individual settlements (both elite
dwellings and ordinary farmsteads)
and their fields, while other sectors
were used for burial, ritual and
metalworking. The surrounding
earthworks were probably constructed
more for symbolic purposes than for
defence. Only Silchester (Calleva;
Hampshire), where a regular street
plan was laid out in the late first
century BC, has so far yielded evidence
for a large nucleated settlement.
Territorial oppida appeared later
than the enclosed series and
themselves fall into two groups. The
first, including Colchester
(Camulodunum), St Albans and
Silchester, were important preconquest
centres that continued into
the Roman period; the second group
came to prominence after AD 43 due
to their location on the frontiers of
Figure 7.6 Plans of territorial oppida.
the newly established Roman province.
Bagendon (Gloucestershire) and
Stanwick (North Yorkshire) are examples. Many oppida contained cult centres, while coins bearing
their names attest to their political importance. These associations are not surprising, given that
the enactment of religious rituals and the reproduction of political power are linked in most
traditional societies. Oppida were extensively involved in long-distance trade with the Roman
world; in several cases, their rulers had probably entered into formal treaties with the Emperor.
RELIGION AND BURIAL
Before the first century BC, domestic settlements provided the setting for ritual activity, including
feasting and the sacrifice of domestic animals, household objects and sometimes people. Evidence
comes in the form of remains periodically deposited in storage pits and at entrances or boundaries
(Hill 1995b). On smaller farms, such rituals took place once every few years, but at the hillforts,