SILCHESTER 2002: An Archaeological Round-up

The Archaeology:

The end of the sixth season of excavation in Insula IX (season 2002) saw the completion of 36 weeks of excavation of Silchester insula IX. The excavation is now concerned with the early-to-mid Roman (AD50 – 250) archaeology of the block, where evidence is emerging of a very different town to that of the late Roman period.

The achievements of the project during the 2002 season were:

  • An emphasis on the early Roman (mid 1st century AD - early 3rd century AD) occupation of the site. Work along the north-south street frontage revealed two late 2nd century/early third century AD wells in the south-east corner, and excavation along the east-west street frontage at its west end revealed traces of a rectangular structure cut by an early 2nd century well. Additionally traces of early 2nd century/late 3rd century structures were also detected in the south-east quarter of the site.
  • The emergence of evidence for 1st/2nd century AD occupation beneath an extensive layer of silt located in the eastern half of the site. This included structural evidence for two more early Roman (non-street aligned) buildings.
  • A disentangling of the complicated history and early origins of House 1. The 2nd century 'work hall' was recorded and excavated, revealing the extent and layout of the two 1st century AD stone buildings which preceded it. These two stone buildings have provided evidence for two distinct and different house plans, one consisting of a possible 3-roomed house with a corridor and the other square in plan (believed to be a new early Roman house type for Britain). These stone buildings succeeded two timber-framed buildings of mid 1st century AD date whose layout and context will be explored in 2003.
  • The excavation of 6 slots into the north-south and east-west road surfaces and their make-up. The earliest layers of the street were revealed and provided pre-Flavian, Claudio-Neronian dating evidence (40-60 AD). The Silchester street grid has long been held to be Flavian in origin and so this early date is most exciting.
  • Work along the north-south street frontage has also produced evidence of complex development from the mid-late second century onwards and in association with three or four wells, on the site subsequently occupied by the late Roman Building 1.
  • This year we pioneered geochemical analyses looking for trace elements attributable to metal-working in the soil, with Dr. Sam Stephens of the University of Reading. A further project by Dr. Adam Wojcik of University College, London, is concerned with the extraction of microscopic metal residues from soil samples systematically collected along the north-south street frontage.


Archaeological Objectives for 2003:

It is intended that we will further clarify the 2nd century AD occupation of the site, as well as taking the opportunity of beginning to understand the layout of the 1st century early Roman town.

  • A continued emphasis on the early Roman (mid 1st century AD - early 3rd century AD) occupation of the site. The recording and removal of the extensive layer of silt in the south-east quarter of the excavation will reveal the remains of at least two 1st/2nd century AD structures on a similar alignment to House 1. Gradually the layout of the early Roman town of Silchester is emerging.

  • The excavation of two further 2nd century AD wells on the eastern half of the excavation.

  • The recording and examination of the two 1st century AD stone buildings on the site of House 1.

  • To clarify and reveal the 2nd century AD occupation along the east-west street frontage.
  • Continuation of the excavation of the street surfaces.

SILCHESTER 2002/3: Behind the scenes

Post excavation:

Work is proceeding towards the completion of the parallel electronic and printed publication (in monograph form) of the Late and Post-Roman occupation. Amanda Clarke is currently disentangling the stratigraphy of the site for the last 6 seasons, wrestling with the hundreds of context numbers and plans, and producing a sequence for the late Roman occupation of the site. Klare Tootell, Silchester's Project Assistant, has been entering all the context records, plans, ‘small finds’ and ‘bulk’ finds data on to the Integrated Archaeological Database. Draft specialist reports on the late Roman material have now for the most part been completed and the task of integrating the artefactual and biological data with the stratigraphic sequence will soon begin.

Dissemination:

Conferences:
Computer Applications in Archaeology: International Conference in Heraklion, Crete, 4-6th April 2002:
Clarke, M. Fulford, M.Rains, ‘Nothing to hide – online database publication and the Silchester Townlife project’.

University of Reading (one-day meeting 18th May): ‘Towards the early Roman city of Silchester: after 5 years of fieldwork’.

Publications:

A.Clarke and M. Fulford, ‘The Excavation of Insula IX, Silchester: the first five years of the ‘Town Life’ project, 1997-2001.’ Britannia 33 (2002), 129-66.
S. S. Frere and M. Fulford, ‘The collegium peregrinorum at Calleva (Silchester, Hampshire).’ Britannia 33 (2002), 167-75.
M. Fulford and A. Clarke, ‘Victorian Excavation Methodology: The Society of Antiquaries at Silchester in 1893’. Antiquaries Journal 82, (2002), 285-306.
a) Other:
A.Clarke, M. Fulford and M. Mathews, Silchester Insula IX: The Town Life Project: The first six years 1997-2002. Dept of Archaeology, University of Reading, 2002.
M. Fulford, A Guide to Silchester. The Roman Town of Calleva Atrebatum. Stroud, pp32.
M. Fulford and A. Clarke, ‘Silchester: a crowded late Roman city’, Current Archaeology 177 (2002), 364-9.

Awards:

British Archaeological Awards (November 2002): The Victorian web page (reported to AHRB in 2001) was awarded ‘Highly Commended’.

Objectives for 2003:

Completion of the publication of The Late Roman Occupation, both conventional and electronic.

Amanda Clarke and Michael Fulford, January 2003.

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