The Archaeology of Britain: An introduction from ... - waughfamily.ca
The Archaeology of Britain: An introduction from ... - waughfamily.ca
The Archaeology of Britain: An introduction from ... - waughfamily.ca
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• 128 • Colin Haselgrove<br />
distribution, although by the end <strong>of</strong> the period potters in the Wareham-Poole Harbour (Dorset)<br />
area were supplying highly standardized wares to most <strong>of</strong> the surrounding region. In much <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Britain</strong>, however, lo<strong>ca</strong>lized manufacture remained the norm until the Roman conquest.<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>introduction</strong> <strong>of</strong> the fast potter’s wheel in the late second century BC led to the appearance<br />
in eastern and southern England <strong>of</strong> curvaceous new ceramic forms with horizontal grooves or<br />
raised cordons. Not all areas adopted the new technology, and traditional handmade vessels <strong>of</strong>ten<br />
continued in use alongside finer, wheel-thrown forms. When Roman pottery began to be imported<br />
in quantity after c.20 BC, the new shapes—beakers, cups, dishes, flagons, lids and platters—were<br />
quickly copied. Although domestic ovens are common on settlements, there is no firm evidence<br />
for pre-Roman pottery kilns in <strong>Britain</strong>, and even wheel-thrown vessels were probably fired in<br />
simple bonfire-clamps.<br />
Bronze luxury goods were probably made by a small number <strong>of</strong> highly skilled and possibly<br />
itinerant metalworkers, adept in working both sheet and <strong>ca</strong>st metal, and conversant with continental<br />
fashions. At Gussage All Saints (Dorset), a single pit yielded enough <strong>ca</strong>sting moulds for 50 sets <strong>of</strong><br />
horse gear and vehicle fittings, although the context <strong>of</strong> this operation remains uncertain<br />
(Wainwright 1979). <strong>An</strong>other relatively small settlement, at Weelsby Avenue, Grimsby (Humberside),<br />
yielded debris, including failed <strong>ca</strong>stings, <strong>from</strong> the manufacture <strong>of</strong> horse harness, although here<br />
the evidence suggests a longer timespan for production. <strong>The</strong> main sources <strong>of</strong> copper, tin and<br />
lead seem to have been in the west and south-west, although some metal may have been imported.<br />
From the late first century BC onward, imported Roman brass (an alloy <strong>of</strong> copper and zinc) was<br />
<strong>of</strong>ten used for decorative metalwork in place <strong>of</strong> tin bronze.<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>ca</strong>tegories <strong>of</strong> decorative metalwork found reflect the same social and ritual<br />
preoccupations —feasting, warfare and driving vehicles—as in the Later Bronze Age. Sheet<br />
bronze was employed for <strong>ca</strong>uldrons, shields and s<strong>ca</strong>bbards, and to clad wooden objects like<br />
buckets and tankards, while lost-wax <strong>ca</strong>sting was used for chariot fittings and horse harness,<br />
and to make components <strong>of</strong> composite artefacts like mirrors and torcs. A range <strong>of</strong> decorative<br />
techniques such as engraving and repoussé work, adding coloured ornament such as coral and<br />
enamel, and plating were all used. Based on the evolving form and decoration <strong>of</strong> the objects,<br />
insular art is divided into five stages (I–V), starting in the fifth century BC and lasting to the<br />
early centuries AD (Stead 1996).<br />
Gold and silver objects were rare until the later second century BC, when imported Gallo-<br />
Belgic gold coinage began to circulate in south-east England and hoards containing torcs were<br />
buried in some numbers. <strong>The</strong> presence at Snettisham <strong>of</strong> older torcs indi<strong>ca</strong>tes that such objects<br />
may have been less uncommon in earlier centuries than the archaeologi<strong>ca</strong>l record now suggests.<br />
By the later first century BC, most areas <strong>of</strong> lowland <strong>Britain</strong> were striking gold and silver coinages<br />
(De Jersey 1996). Copper-alloy coinage is, however, confined to south-east England, where struck<br />
types replaced <strong>ca</strong>st issues at about this time. Most later coinages bear the name <strong>of</strong> the issuing<br />
ruler in Roman letters (Figure 7.11). No British coin dies have yet been found, but several oppida<br />
have yielded baked-clay slab moulds, evidently used for minting or other forms <strong>of</strong> high status<br />
metalworking.<br />
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CHANGES<br />
Climatic and environmental deterioration persisted well into the Iron Age. Continued retreat<br />
<strong>from</strong> upland areas and competition for land in favoured lowlands are likely to have been factors<br />
behind the construction <strong>of</strong> many early hillforts. <strong>The</strong> prominence <strong>of</strong> storage facilities confirms<br />
the importance <strong>of</strong> food supplies to such sites, many <strong>of</strong> which are in areas like southern Scotland