Britannia iii I was able to give a very summary and outline picture of Roman coinfinds in Britain. 1 A year later this picture was extended to France and Italy, 2 and various similarities and differences were noted. At the same time John Casey was working particularly on military coin-finds, and he came independently to very similar conclusions. 3 A framework had been established: there was a British pattern which was different from the continental pattern and all British sites, to a greater or lesser extent, lay within this pattern. The most obvious features, drawn out in diagram form in Britannia iii, 4 included low coin-loss on every site from the Claudian conquest to A.D. 260, high coin-loss from 260 to 294, a dip from 294 to 330, a major peak from 330 to 348, and a general high level of coin-loss in the fourth century. In the last twenty years various methods have been tried in order to separate out the very different types of sites within Roman Britain-forts, temples, towns, and villas for example-into different patterns of coin-loss. The assumption on which this was based, though never made explicit, was that since there was reason to believe that different activities went on at forts and temples this ought to result in different patterns of coin-loss, and these in turn ought to be visible in the archaeological record. There have been some signs of success but, in general, any divisions found were seldom clear-cut and the methods used were judged to be complicated. Several review articles and chapters have summarised this work in detail, with full bibliographies, so that only a short summary will be given here; more details can be found in the works cited. 5 A major move forward came when it was recognised that, within the overall British pattern, towns had a pattern of coin-loss which was different from all other sorts of site. Since all sites other than towns are by definition in the countryside this gave a separation out into urban and rural patterns of coin-loss. The characteristics of the two groups depended on the number of coins from the late third century (260 to 294) compared with the number of coins from the later fourth century (330 to 402). Towns, in general, have equal numbers of coins from the two periods; other sites have more coins, sometimes three-or four-times more, in the later period. It must be noted that this differentiation 1 'A short survey of the Roman coins found on fourteen sites in Britain',
The Roman military site at Longthorpe, west of Peterborough, was discovered by observation from the air in 1961: no traces now remain on the surface. Excavations between IQ6J and 1973 have shown that a 27-acre fortress with timber buildings, accommodating a legionary vexillation together with auxiliary troops, was succeeded by an 1 i-acrefort. The period of occupation extended from c. 44/8 to c. 62. Crop marks observed from the air at Orton Stanch, 400 m. southeast of the fortress, have led to the discovery of a native farmstead. Excavations there by Messrs. A. Challands, G. B. Dannell and Dr. J. P. Wild have shown that agricultural activities were intermitted for the period of the occupation of the fortress, the settlement being replaced by a large industrial establishment or worksdepot involved in pottery manufacture and possibly in bronze-working with clear military connections. The present report describes the excavation of the fortress : the industrial site is to be published in a future volume of Britannia. Communications (FIG. I) The fortress is situated c. 2-8 miles (4-5 km) east of the junction of the early Roman military roads now known as Ermine Street and King Street in the parish of Ailsworth, north of the Nene, but itself lies on no known Roman road. It may however be significant that an alignment of Ermine Street further south near Norman Cross, if projected northwards, would approach the neighbourhood of the fortress via a comparatively straight parish boundary on the east side of Orton Waterville. The surviving traces of Margary's road 25, running southeast from King Street in Upton parish to the Fen Causeway has an alignment in the north part of Castor parish which if projected would pass close to the north of the fortress: 5 this road, however, or at least its eastern extension, the Fen Causeway, leading to Icenian territory, is likely to have been constructed after the period of the fortress's occupation. 6 Certainly the fortress must have been served by roads during its brief occupation of some 20 years, but the absence of clear traces of them suggests that consolidation of the road-system took place later. The River Nene, which flows past the site, is navigable to light traffic. Geographical and historical setting Excavation has suggested that the site was occupied from soon after A.D. 43 (and perhaps in 48) to c. 61 or 62. Considered in relation to the military history of this period, the fortress appears to have a dual role. First the Fosse Way, only some 34 miles distant at the nearest point in the neighbourhood of Leicester, could be reached by easy routes, so that Longthorpe is well placed to reinforce the early frontier (FIG. 3); secondly, it could control traffic between the Iceni and their northwestern neighbours and could also supervise the region west of the Fens, where the expanded frontier of the Catuvellauni marched with that of the Coritani. After 49, which saw the foundation of the colonia at Camulodunum, 70 miles to the southeast , and the transfer of Legion XX to the borders...
An analysis of the Roman coins lost on different types of site within Roman Britain shows strong chronological and geographical trends, as well as providing a critique for the current classification of sites.
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