Hella Eckardt

Migration and diversity in Roman Britain: A multidisciplinary approach to the identification of immigrants in Roman York, England

Previous anthropological investigations at Trentholme Drive, in Roman York identified an unusual amount of cranial variation amongst the inhabitants, with some individuals suggested as having originated from the Middle East or North Africa. The current study investigates the validity of this assessment using modern anthropological methods to assess cranial variation in two groups: The Railway and Trentholme Drive. Strontium and oxygen isotope evidence derived from the dentition of 43 of these individuals was combined with the craniometric data to provide information on possible levels of migration and the range of homelands that may be represented. The results of the craniometric analysis indicated that the majority of the York population had European origins, but that 11% of the Trentholme Drive and 12% of The Railway study samples were likely of African decent. Oxygen analysis identified four incomers, three from areas warmer than the UK and one from a cooler or more continental climate. Although based on a relatively small sample of the overall population at York, this multidisciplinary approach made it possible to identify incomers, both men and women, from across the Empire. Evidence for possible second generation migrants was also suggested. The results confirm the presence of a heterogeneous population resident in York and highlight the diversity, rather than the uniformity, of the population in Roman Britain.

A Lady of York: migration, ethnicity and identity in Roman Britain

Modern methods of analysis applied to cemeteries have often been used in our pages to suggest generalities about mobility and diet. But these same techniques applied to a single individual, together with the grave goods and burial rite, can open a special kind of personal window on the past. Here, the authors of a multidisciplinary project use a combination of scientific techniques to illuminate Roman York, and later Roman history in general, with their image of a glamorous mixed-race woman, in touch with Africa, Christianity, Rome and Yorkshire.

People on the move in Roman Britain

Abstract Levels of mobility in the Roman Empire have long been assumed to be relatively high, as attested by epigraphy, demography, material culture and, most recently, isotope analysis and the skeletons themselves. Building on recent data from a range of Romano-British sites (Poundbury in Dorset, York, Winchester, Gloucester, Catterick and Scorton), this article explores the significance of the presence of migrants at these sites and the impact they may have had on their host societies. The authors explore the usefulness of diaspora theory, and in particular the concept of imperial and colonial diasporas, to illustrate the complexities of identities in later Roman Britain.

Objects without a Past

Objects, like people, have social histories. In early Anglo-Saxon graves, there is evidence of the occasional re-use of Roman objects, which were probably discovered on nearby abandoned Roman settlements, while disturbing old graves or when uncovering hoards. To date, studies of this re-use have emphasised either its practical aspects or its magical significance. This paper develops on these interpretations, stressing the importance of old objects used for their practical and magical values in strategies of mortuary remembrance for early Anglo-Saxon communities. In particular it is argued that the very lack of a known history or biography may have contributed to the meaning these Roman objects held in early medieval societies.

Regional Identities and Technologies of the Self: Nail-Cleaners in Roman Britain

The material culture of the Roman empire is characterized by a contrast between uniformity in certain artefacts and diversity in others, often expressed in the style of the artefacts or the context of their use. In the past, with ‘Romanization’ acting as the main theoretical framework, attention has focused on the observed similarities in Roman material culture. Much less work has been done on the ways in which material culture and social practice varied across the empire and on the possible reasons for this process. This paper sets out to explore regionality in Roman Britain, using nail-cleaners, small objects associated with grooming and self-representation as a case-study.

Victorian excavation methodology: The society of antiquaries at Silchester in 1893

The excavations of the Roman town of Silchester, Hampshire, undertaken under the auspices of the Society of Antiquaries between 1890 and 1909, are reconsidered in the light of renewed excavation on the site of insula IX, first explored in 1893. The excavation methodology of trial-trenching followed by area excavation of masonry buildings thus located is reviewed alongside the evidence of policy for the recovery and retention of finds. It is estimated that about 95 per cent of the archaeological resource survives for future research.

The Late Roman Field Army in Northern Britain? Mobility, Material Culture and Multi-Isotope Analysis at Scorton (N Yorks.)

At Hollow Banks Quarry, Scorton, located just north of Catterick (N Yorks.), a highly unusual group of 15 late Roman burials was excavated between 1998 and 2000. The small cemetery consists of almost exclusively male burials, dated to the fourth century. An unusually large proportion of these individuals was buried with crossbow brooches and belt fittings, suggesting that they may have been serving in the late Roman army or administration and may have come to Scorton from the Continent. Multi-isotope analyses (carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and strontium) of nine sufficiently well-preserved individuals indicate that seven males, all equipped with crossbow brooches and/or belt fittings, were not local to the Catterick area and that at least six of them probably came from the European mainland. Dietary (carbon and nitrogen isotope) analysis only of a tenth individual also suggests a non-local origin. At Scorton it appears that the presence of crossbow brooches and belts in the grave was more important for suggesting non-British origins than whether or not they were worn. This paper argues that cultural and social factors played a crucial part in the creation of funerary identities and highlights the need for both multi-proxy analyses and the careful contextual study of artefacts.

The Colchester 'Child's Grave'

The so-called ‘Childs Grave’ from Colchester is a unique assemblage and particularly famous for a large and diverse group of rare Central Gaulish pipeclay figurines (PL. X). The burial also contained a wide range of other Roman objects, namely ten unguent flasks, twelve pottery vessels, a clay picture lamp, two glass vessels, a bronze vessel, numerous bone and iron fragments derived from a funerary couch, and thirty-four coins.

Roman Barrows and their Landscape Context: a GIS Case Study at Bartlow, Cambridgeshire

This paper examines the landscape context of the Bartlow Hills, a group of large Romano-British barrows that were excavated in the 1840s but have been largely neglected since. GIS is employed to test whether it was possible to view the mounds from nearby roads, barrows, and villas. Existing research on provincial barrows, and especially their landscape context, and some recent relevant applications of GIS are reviewed. We argue that barrows are active and symbolically charged statements about power and identity. The most striking pattern to emerge from the GIS analysis is a focus on display to a local rather than a transient audience.

Writing and Power in the Roman World: Literacies and Material Culture

At the heart of this book lies the nature of the relationship between the material culture of writing and socio-cultural identities in the Roman period. Literacy was an important skill in the ancient world, and power could be exercised over and through texts. Writing equipment was displayed on monuments and placed into burials to display status as well as age and gender. This book offers a new angle on Roman literacies by examining a previously neglected object, metal inkwells. It explores their forms, chronology and distribution across the Roman Empire and analyses social and economic meanings through the funerary data. Men, women, adults and children were buried with writing equipment but practices varied over time and in different parts of the Empire. The book reviews recent work on ancient literacies and adds a distinctive material turn to our understanding of this crucial skill and the embodied practices of its use.