and particularly Frere 1987, 288). Forty years ago Graham Webster reviewed the archaeological evidence for its use, and his account (Webster 1955) superseded earlier national and regional accounts (e.g. Cunnington 1932, 173; cf. Webster 1955, 199 n. 2). Since 1955, however, a considerable expansion in both excavation and publication, coupled with developments in recovery, recording and identification procedures, has resulted in a commensurate increase in the quantity and quality of the available evidence, which makes a detailed re-assessment of coal's significance overdue.The importance of the archaeological evidence is emphasized by the limited literary testimony of the use of coal in the ancient world in general. What references there are are difficult to interpret. Solinus (Collectaneae rerum memorabilium, cited in Haverfield 1906, 220-1) refers to a fuel that 'never whitens into ash but, as the flame fades, turns into rocky balls', which was used on the altar of Minerva in Britain, presumably at Bath. But this identifiable description is unique and, as Webster (1955, 199) noted, the fact that the word carbo was probably used to indicate both coal and charcoal makes other identifications in classical sources difficult. One or two other references may occur, by Theophrastus (De Lapidibus, 11,[12][13], possibly to denote the use of lignite in Thrace, Liguria and Elis (Eichholz 1965, 96-8), and by Pliny (Natural History, 34.20), recording the use of carbo for bronze working in areas of the provinces short of wood; but the problems are highlighted by the uncertain nature of the fuel noted in Pliny {Natural History, 2.111) and regarded by Webster (1955, 199) as natural gas, and by the probable variety of other inflammable substances known to authors such as Theophrastus (De Lapidibus, 11, 14 and 19), which Eichholz (1965, 96-8) interprets as references to pitchstone and palygorskite. In addition to the problems of interpretation, however, the almost complete silence of classical sources on the use of coal is not unduly significant, considering the limited degree to which they refer to non-political matters in north-western Europe.The nature and reliability of the evidence Some 200 Romano-British sites, ranging from small farmsteads to major towns are listed in the Appendix (see p. 00) as having yielded stratified coal. They represent a minimum of several hundred individual contexts, often reflecting temporally or functionally diverse aspects of the same site. Indeed in many instances far more coal-yielding contexts have been identified on sites than published accounts would lead one to believe, and this may well be equally true of other sites where it has been impossible to consult full archives. However, a number of points need to be made about the variety and consistency of this substantial body of evidence. Firstly, it should be noted that excavators' identifications of coal have been accepted at face value because confirmation has rarely been possible. Coal has been taken to include (where the differentiat...
Littleborough lies on the west bank of the river Trent between Newark and Gainsborough, at the point where the Roman road from Lincoln to Doncaster crossed the river. Finds of Roman material from the site are recorded from the sixteenth century onwards and Roman tile occurs built into the small Norman church. Epigraphic and literary evidence combine to identify the site with Segelocvm, the place name apparently referring to a pool with rapid current in the river. The present paper brings together a considerable amount of new evidence from aerial photographs by J.K. St Joseph and D.N. Riley and the results of excavations by W.B. Clark in 1954–56 and by J.S. Wade in 1968–70. The combined data suggest a substantial defended settlement lying to the north of the present road from Sturton-le-Steeple to the river bank.
The Early Iron Age enclosures and associated sites on Sutton Common on the western edge of the Humberhead Levels contain an exceptional variety of archaeological data of importance not only to the region but for the study of later prehistory in the British Isles. Few other later prehistoric British sites outside the East Anglian fens and the Somerset Levels have thus far produced the quantity and quality of organically preserved archaeological materials that have been found, despite the small scale of the investigations to date. The excavations have provided an opportunity to integrate a variety of environmental analyses, of wood, pollen, beetles, waterlogged and carbonised plant remains, and of soil micromorphology, to address archaeological questions about the character, use, and environment of this Early Iron Age marsh fort. The site is comprised of a timber palisaded enclosure and a succeeding multivallate enclosure linked to a smaller enclosure by a timber alignment across a palaeochannel, with associated finds ranging in date from the Middle Bronze Age to the Roman and medieval periods. Among the four adjacent archaeological sites is an Early Mesolithic occupation site, also with organic preservation, and there is a Late Neolithic site beneath the large enclosure. Desiccation throughout the common is leading to the damage and loss of wooden and organic remains. It is hoped that the publication of these results, of investigations between 1987 and 1993, will lead to a fuller investigation taking place.
project by the University of Sheffield investigated the possible existence of a civil settlement (vicus) around the fort through geophysical survey and trial excavation. The stated aim of the volume under review is to publish reports on the most recent work and to synthesize an account of the development of fort and vicus from all the available data. In fact, it goes further than this, since Dearne, the principal author and editor, also publishes archive reports (with suitable editorial commentary) on the Richmond/Gillam excavation and on Bartlett's excavation (11-35). Although there is no report included here on the 1960s work, the concluding synthesis also integrates that important body of evidence. The bulk of the volume comprises reports on resistivity survey and trial excavations in an area close to the southeast side of the fort (37-63), further out to the southeast on the fringe of the vicus (65-97), a n^ immediately to the west and southwest of the fort (99-130). There are brief notes on an air-photograph showing features to the northeast of the fort across the Noe (131-2) and on a 70 kg stone ball from the fort (133, argued to be too heavy to be a ballista projectile!). The volume concludes with a long and detailed synthesis of the evidence for the phasing and function of fort and vicus (135-64). All in all this is a useful compilation on a neglected and interesting site. Brough is unusual for the fact that it is one of only two south Pennine forts to be reoccupied in the midsecond century and held into the fourth. In consequence of this long military presence one might expect to find a substantial civil settlement here, not least because this was a lead-mining area as well as a trans-Pennine communications line. In the event, the results are tantalisingly ambiguous. The soils were moderately unresponsive to resistivity and weather/ground conditions less than ideal at the time the surveys were carried out. Although large areas were surveyed, the results by and large look like thick-spread porridge, in which some road alignments can be made out, but little else. Excavation revealed traces of timber buildings close to the fort (one associated with an iron-working hearth) and on the eastern fringe of the vicus (again associated with iron-working). Overall, preservation was poor and the plans are somewhat incomplete. On the western side of the fort, the traces of possible buildings are still more fragmentary and many of the features recorded may be property divisions, drainage features, or activity areas rather than dwellings. It is perhaps unfortunate, therefore, that the only substantial stone-footed vicus buildings are identified by D. from the fuzzy resistivity plots and not confirmed by excavation. Conclusions about the supposed size and nature of the late vicus must thus be treated with caution (cf. 37-40, 151-6).
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