Harry Kenward

Roman Grain Pests in Britain: Implications for grain supply and agricultural production

It is over 30 years since Paul Buckland first presented a series of arguments concerning beetle (Coleoptera) grain pests: their origin, the timing of their introduction to Britain, and their implications for agricultural production during the Roman occupation. Here we return to the topic in the light of new data from a range of archaeological deposits, including civilian and military sites dating from the earliest period of Roman occupation. Infestation rates and, potentially, grain loss may have been high throughout Roman Britain, though many infestations may have been in equine feed. Beetle grain pests are not recorded in Britain prior to the Roman invasion, and it appears that they were absent, or extremely rare, in the early medieval period and up to the Norman Conquest. This pattern of occurrence is reviewed and it is suggested that ecological theory offers an explanation which is in accord with supposed socio-economic changes and trade. The role of grain pests is considered in the economic modelling of Romano-British agriculture. INTRODUCTION: GRAIN PESTS IN ROMAN BRITAIN — A CORDON SANITAIRE BROKEN? I n the late 1970s Paul Buckland 1 made a number of important points concerning the introduction of grain pests to Britain during the Roman period, including their potential importance for the reconstruction of Roman agricultural yields, and any resulting estimations of the population of Roman Britain based on these theoretical yield figures. Buckland noted that granary beetle pests were present, and sometimes abundant, in most of the samples from the Roman deposits which up to that date had been examined for insects. Buckland drew on evidence from the first-century A.D. harbour at Fishbourne, West Sussex;2 the fourth-century well at Barnsley Park Villa, Glos.;3 third-century charred grain at Droitwich, Worcs.;4 the Roman sewer at York (the fills of which are probably of thirdor fourth-century date);5 the second-/third-century fortress 1 Buckland 1978. 2 Osborne 1971a. 3 Coope and Osborne 1968. 4 Osborne 1977. 5 Buckland 1976. Britannia 42 (2011), 243–262 doi:10.1017/S0068113X11000031

Six-legged Hitchhikers: An Archaeobiogeographical Account of the Early Dispersal of Grain Beetles

Abstract Grain-associated insect species are economically important and archaeologically significant. Their dispersal around the globe and eventually across the North Atlantic region surely occurred through human transport rather than naturally. Most beetle cereal pests are now nearly cosmopolitan in their distribution, but their prehistoric ranges appear to have been more restricted. What is known or surmised of the early dispersal of these insect species is summarized, and the role of archaeobiogeographical data in investigating past human contact evaluated. Analysis of fossil and historic records of grain-associated beetles suggests that their dispersal corresponded with assumptions concerning human movement and interaction in the past. There is a significant fossil record for some grain beetles, but it is incomplete and predominantly from northwest Europe. More fossils are needed from across the Palaearctic and North Africa. The examination of pre-agricultural natural deposits in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Indian Subcontinent might reveal the original ranges of the pest species, the stages by which they entered into association with humans, and their earliest dispersal. With a more complete fossil record, the grain fauna may provide a useful proxy by which to evaluate cultural contact and human migration into the North Atlantic region in the past.

A high-resolution record of mire development and climatic change spanning the Late-glacial–Holocene boundary at Church Moss, Davenham (Cheshire, England)

Excavations of deposits filling a closed basin within glacial drift at Church Moss, Davenham, near Northwich (Cheshire, England) revealed a sequence of Late-glacial and Early Holocene sediments. Analyses of pollen and plant and invertebrate macrofossils were undertaken, together with loss-on-ignition analyses and a programme of AMS radiocarbon dating, to provide a record of changing biostratigraphy and climatic and ecological regimes. The infilling of features identified as frost-cracks in the till flooring the basin gave remains that reflected conditions of extreme cold towards the end of the Devensian. The pollen record from a 3.5 m sequence of peat towards the deepest part of the basin, supported by radiocarbon dates, shows that organic deposition was initiated during the Late-glacial Interstadial and continued into the early part of the Holocene. There was some evidence for a cool episode during the interstadial, with amelioration prior to the rapid onset of the tundra conditions of the Loch Lomond Stadial. Following the stadial, amelioration was rapid. There was evidence from both central and marginal sequences for a mosaic of fen dominated by sedges and often also mosses, with short-lived small pools through much of the succession. Change to terrestrial conditions proceeded intermittently, probably as a result of subsidence caused by solution of underlying salt-bearing strata

Cottam: An Anglian and Anglo-Scandinavian settlement on the Yorkshire Wolds

SUMMARYThe presence of Anglian and Anglo-Scandinavian settlements at Cottam, East Yorkshire, was first indicated in 1987 by numerous finds of copper alloy coins, dress pins and strap ends by metal detector users. This report presents the results of fieldwork carried out on behalf of the Department of Archaeology, University of York, between 1993–95, including fieldwalking, geophysical survey, and excavation. This revealed an enclosure of the eighth to ninth centuries, containing traces of a small number of post-built halls. In the late ninth century this settlement was abandoned. A new enclosed settlement was laid out nearby, which was occupied briefly in the early tenth century. It is argued that the Anglian settlement may have been part of a royal multiple estate but that, as a result of estate reorganization after the Scandinavian setdement, it developed into an independent manor. Cottam is the first so-called ‘productive’ site in the environs of York to be the subject of archaeological investigations....

Pubic lice ( Pthirus pubis L.) were present in Roman and Medieval Britain

As methods of retrieval become ever better, and analysis more refined, the horrid vermin of human occupation are identified and mapped. Recent analyses of deposits from Carlisle provide data on pubic lice.

Further archaeological records of Aglenus brunneus (Gyll.) in Britain and Ireland, including confirmation of its presence in the roman period

I have recently (Kenward, 1975) reviewed our knowledge of the past and present ecology and distribution of the blind colidiid beetle Aglenus brunneus (Gyllenhal), a species of considerable interest in studies of archaeological insect assemblages. The origin of A. brunneus as a recent human importation from North America, proposed by Peyerimhoff (1945), was shown to be unlikely in view of its presence in tenth century York. The significance of the beetle as a component of archaeological assemblages and some lessons from it concerning the study of archaeological insects in general were outlined. A considerable amount of new data concerning A. brunneus has since accrued. The insect has now been found in samples covering a wide time span from a variety of sites throughout England and in Eire. At the time the earlier account was written the presence of A. brunneus in Roman Britain could not be reliably established, the only available record (from the Roman sewer at York, Buckland, 1976) being open to doubt in view of the fossils’ association with clearly contaminant insects. I have since found the species in two more Roman deposits from York. The first group of specimens came from late third to fourth century backfill of a timber-lined well, constructed during the late second or early third century, at the Skeldergate site (Bishop, 1977). It is possible that open textured Roman fill was later infiltrated by fine particles, including insect remains. The Aglenus could thus have a post-Roman origin, but on the balance of the available evidence they are probably Roman. The second record of the species from Roman levels in York is based on several individuals from a deposit associated with foundation timbers of a riverside building dated to AD 90-110 at the Coney Street site (Hall & Kenward, 1976). The insects were taken from a thin layer of peaty silt, immensely rich in the remains of several species of grain beetle. This was overlain by a thick clay seal, itself succeeded by several phases of Roman deposits. The authenticity of the specimens is thus beyond dispute and the already highly implausible theory of a Viking introduction from North America, considered in the earlier paper (Kenward, 1975), can be eliminated. The spoiled grain habitat is one from which A. brunneus seems to be best known at the present day and to which recent published records refer (Hinton, 1945; Hunter et al., 1973; Salmond, 1956; Woodroffe, 1967). It is interesting to note that grain beetles [Uryzaephilus surinamensis (L.) and Sitophilus granarius (L.)] also formed a good proportion (26.6%) of the fauna of the sample from the Skeldergate well. Such an

Pattern in Thinly-Distributed Plant and Invertebrate Macrofossils revealed by Extensive Analysis of Occupation Deposits at Low Fisher Gate, Doncaster, U.K.

Abstract Urban archaeological deposits of 11th-18th century date from an excavation in Doncaster were subjected to an extensive survey of macrofossil plant and animal remains. For the most part, the deposits contained few remains but the strategy adopted proved useful in revealing repeated occurrence of certain kinds of fossils. These were used to make deductions concerning various aspects of the nature of the occupation of the site.

An interpretation of biological remains from Highgate, Beverley

The combined evidence from plant macrofossils and insect remains from an early medieval site at Highgate, Beverley, East Yorkshire, has been used to determine the origin and mode of formation of some enigmatic “peaty” layers. These appeared to be the result of dumping of large quantities of organic waste, interesting in view of the position of the site between town and Minster. Problems of data presentation are briefly considered, and some new methods employed.

Insect invaders of reconstructed Anglo-Saxon houses at West Stow, Suffolk, England

Abstract The insect fauna, particularly beetles (Coleoptera), of four modern reconstructions of Anglo-Saxon houses at West Stow, Suffolk, UK, has been investigated by pitfall trapping. Modest numbers of insects were recovered from each structure. The overlap with the fauna recovered from archaeological floor deposits of about the same period was notable, being greater than predicted, since the reconstructions lacked the litter and waste believed to have been available as insect habitats in the past.

Archaeological Implications of Plant and Invertebrate Remains from Fills of a Massive Post-Medieval Cut at Low Fisher Gate, Doncaster, U.K.

Abstract Plant and invertebrate remains from a series of fills of an enigmatic early post-medieval cut feature at a site in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, were studied as part of a site-wide investigation. Some rich and diverse assemblages were recovered whose interpretation was not simple. It is argued that the material represents infill of a feature deliberately dug for water management, probably originally used as a pond for livestock, but latterly also for the dumping of a variety of materials during its life.