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

Roman Britain: military dimension
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(e.g. Figure 8.5d), though their internal buildings, where known, were of timber. Late watchtowers,
as attested along the coast of North Yorkshire, show similar developments as compared to their
first- and second-century predecessors; that at Filey is described below (Figure 8.6c).
Fort sites can often be quite closely dated. Knowledge of the overall historical framework
provided by the literary account and the epigraphic sources usually allows a general context to be
established. Refinement of that chronology derives from the associated material remains,
particularly the coins, pottery and, to a lesser extent, glass and metalwork. Study of Roman
pottery, particularly the fine tablewares, and most notably the ubiquitous imported red glossware
known as Samian, is so well developed as to allow quite close dating by that means alone in the
first and second centuries AD. Occasionally, circumstances permit even closer dating when
waterlogged conditions preserve structural timbers that can be dated by dendrochronology.
CHANGING PERCEPTIONS
The most substantive change in our perception of the military occupation of Britain since the
Second World War has been brought about by aerial reconnaissance, which is the single most
important method of discovering new archaeological sites from the Neolithic period onwards.
The combination of the morphological distinction of Roman military sites and the primary
Roman period interest of some major aerial photographic practitioners has resulted in a massive
increase in our knowledge of the numbers, types and distributions of both temporary and
permanent military installations. This, in turn, has greatly enhanced our understanding of the
process of conquest and consolidation. Some 45% of all forts and fortlets in Scotland, for example,
and the vast majority of all temporary camps in Britain have been discovered from the air since
the last war (e.g. Figure 8.2).
Excavation techniques have developed significantly also, though their impact has been less
dramatic and far-reaching. Military establishments were for long thought to be sufficiently regular
in both form and lay-out to require only minimal examination. Thus, up to the 1970s, a process
of small-scale sampling was deemed adequate to elucidate their history and development, as
exemplified in the excavations at Fendoch (Perthshire), Birrens (Dumfriesshire) and Longthorpe,
near Peterborough. It has since been realized that forts were less regular and standardized, and
that their periods of occupation may be more complex. This requires more extensive investigation,
as has been undertaken at, for example, Elginhaugh (Midlothian) and South Shields and Wallsend
in north-east England.
Both of these developments have in turn contributed to an increasing emphasis being placed
on archaeological evidence in its own right, more than simply as an adjunct to the literary
sources that previously always took primacy. Such an approach is illustrated, for example, in
the lengthy reassessment of the role of Agricola in the conquest of the north of Britain (Hanson
1991).
While the development of radiocarbon dating, so important for prehistory, has had little or no
impact on Roman archaeology because of its imprecision, dendrochronology has had some
significant impact where excavation has recovered quantities of waterlogged timber. Dating by
matching tree-ring patterns on oak timbers to a master sequence can give a chronological precision
equal to the best historical or epigraphic dating. It has been responsible, for example, for the
pushing back of the long-accepted date for the establishment of the fort at Carlisle, contributing
to the reassessment of the chronology of the conquest of the north. Other aspects of
archaeological science are also proving significant. Most important has been the analysis of
environmental evidence from excavations, both pollen and macro-fossil remains. These have