H. E. M. Cool

Exploring Romano¿British finds assemblages

This paper presents a synthesis of current approaches to the comparison of archaeological assemblages. It draws its data from Roman Britain but the methodology discussed is equally applicable to other periods and places. Different types of assemblages including those of small finds, broken vessels and animal bones are discussed, and the problems relating to quantification are considered. The different sorts of questions that may be asked of data of varying quality are examined, and it is shown that even ‘poor quality’ data can provide useful insights into past societies. It is argued that to explore the full richness of the data available, multivariate statistics are an invaluable tool and this is illustrated by exploration of two groups of assemblages using Correspondence Analysis. Finally, attitudes within the archaeological community which may prove a barrier to further advances are examined.

Glass-making and the Sixth Legion at York

It has long been accepted that the Roman soldier was as likely to be engaged in craft or building activities as he was in specifically military ones such as fighting or drill practice. Vegetius listed the specialists that could be expected in a legion. They included builders of various types, people who could make vehicles, armourers, and weaponsmiths. The soldiers in auxiliary units also needed similar skills as the lists dating to the beginning of the second century at Vindolanda make clear. These gave details of the numbers of men engaged in different activities, and noted builders, shoemakers, and men working at some type of kiln or furnace. The archaeological evidence shows that the range of craftsmen was a large one. Potting industries were set up when the local potters did not provide the suite of vessels the soldiers required. Metalsmiths turned their hands to enamelled vessels as well as utilitarian items with a more obviously military function such as harness-fittings and studs. This paper will explore another possible facet of military craftsmanship, that of the manufacture and working of glass which is suggested by the recovery of glass-melting pots and partially reacted glass batch material at 16–22 Coppergate, York.

Excavations on the Site of the Roman Signal Station At Carr Naze, Filey, 1993–94

Excavations in 1993 and 1994 on Carr Naze, Filey, occasioned by the threat of coastal erosion, revealed remains of the late Roman signal station previously examined in 1857 and 1923. Details of the plan and structures were recorded. Occupation deposits in the courtyard produced a number of stratified coins and other artefacts. Study of the animal bone assemblage has suggested systematic provisioning of the site from a regional base. In the post-Roman period, a massive and hitherto unrecorded earthwork was erected to the east of the signal station.

A Newly Found Inscription on a Pair of Silver Bracelets from Castlethorpe, Buckinghamshire

In about 1827 a small hoard of coins and jewellery was found whilst ploughing at Castle-thorpe, Buckinghamshire. The hoard consisted of a pair of silver bracelets, a silver ring with a cornelian intaglio showing Bonus Eventus, and silver and bronze coins, the latest of which belonged to the reigns of Antoninus Pius (138–161) and Verus (161–169). The hoard had been contained in a ‘small black urn’ which was not recovered at the time. During a recent detailed study of the jewellery, which is now in the British Museum, it was observed that the bracelets were inscribed.