Roman Britain

Before and after Hadrian’s Wall: Living on the Roman frontier east of the Pennines

How did the construction of Hadrian’s Wall affect the communities living in its shadow? In CA 277, we reported on the apparent depopulation of Iron Age settlements in lowland Northumberland and Tyne & Wear after the Roman frontier was fortified c.AD 122. Now, Philippa Hunter, Rupert Lotherington, Clive Waddington, and Nick Hodgson describe how recent research and two developer-funded excavations in County Durham and Northumberland add to our understanding of the Wall’s social and economic impact.

Drawing Dinas Dinlle: Caernarfon, Gwynedd

Based on three years of excavations at Dinas Dinlle – carried out by archaeologists from Gwynedd Archaeological Trust, CHERISH, the National Trust, and Cadw (see CA 356 and 394) – new reconstruction drawings by Wessex Archaeology are bringing the site…

Excavating the CA archive

Joe Flatman explores over half a century of reports from the past.

First finds from Milecastle 46

Last month we reported on the launch of the first modern excavations at Magna Roman fort and the nearby Milecastle 46 on Hadrian’s Wall, and finds from this period have already started to appear. One of the most exciting artefacts…

The Road: a story of Romans and ways to the past

REVIEW BY ANDREW TIBBS The Road is a personal journey by the author to experience Roman roads and how they impacted the lives of those around them, and the surrounding landscape, not just 2,000 years ago, but in more recent…

Another Antonine Wall fortlet found

In the wake of the discovery of the Antonine Wall fortlet found at Carleith Farm in West Dunbartonshire (see CA 400), another one has been revealed, this time at Bonnyside, near Falkirk, on the more eastern side of the wall.…

Beyond Birdoswald: Exploring the extra-mural settlement of a Hadrian’s Wall fort

For the last three years, excavations outside the walls of Birdoswald Roman fort have been helping to characterise the community who lived in its shadow. Carly Hilts visited the site and spoke to Ian Haynes to learn more.

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Magnifying Milecastle 46: First modern excavations of the Hadrian’s Wall site begin

A new five-year project by the Vindolanda Trust is shedding unprecedented light on Magna Roman fort and nearby Milecastle 46, as well as providing invaluable data about how the local environment – and the underlying archaeology – is being affected by climate change. Carly Hilts visited Rachel Frame and Franki Gillis on site to hear the story so far.

Gladiators: A day at the Roman games

Colchester was the first capital of Roman Britain, and excavations within the town frequently uncover evidence of this chapter of its past. Colchester Castle, built over the ancient temple of Claudius, is currently home to an exhibition exploring one aspect of Roman life (and, for many unlucky participants, death): the gladiatorial games. Glynn Davis is our guide.

Wroxeter Roman City

A new site museum tells the story of what was the fourth-largest town in Roman Britain. Carly Hilts visited to find out more.

Villas, Sanctuaries, and Settlement in the Romano-British Countryside

REVIEW BY NEIL HOLBROOK Did all the buildings in the Roman countryside that we call ‘villas’ perform the same function? Were they mostly nicely appointed homes of people who had done well at farming, or country residences of the well-to-do…

The Eagle and the Bear: a new history of Roman Scotland

REVIEW BY MATTHEW SYMONDS Roman Scotland has long been a battleground. The remarkable remains of military works testify to the manpower that Rome committed to northern Britain, while the ancient literature reports fighting of varying intensity. An absence of any…

Roman Frontier Archaeology in Britain and Beyond: Papers in honour of Paul Bidwell presented on the occasion of the 30th annual conference of the Arbeia Society

REVIEW BY ANDREW TIBBS The study of Roman frontiers goes from strength to strength, as demonstrated in this volume, which marked the 30th annual conference of the Arbeia Society, the organisation that manages the Roman fort and recreated buildings at…

Fortress Londinium: Tracing London’s Roman defences

This summer, a museum displaying a portion of the wall that once encircled Roman London has opened, and three sections of the settlement’s riverside defences have been granted scheduled status. Carly Hilts visited the museum and spoke to Jane Sidell to learn more about Londonium’s fortifications.

Museum news and exhibitions

The latest on exhibitions, acquisitions, and key decisions.

A Roman transport canal into Leicester?

After years of research, Steve Mitchell and John Poulter hypothesise that the Raw Dykes – a double-banked ditch located 2km south of Leicester’s Roman public baths – is a remnant of a navigable Roman canal. Their full results were recently…

Uncovering the origins of Exeter Cathedral

Recent excavations within the cloister of Exeter Cathedral have unearthed significant structures and artefacts spanning the Roman, medieval, and post-medieval periods, including traces of a legionary fortress. The project has been carried out by AC Archaeology, led by Simon Hughes…

The Past

Hadrian’s Wall Quiz

Hadrian’s Wall stretches for 80 Roman miles from coast to coast. How many modern miles does this equate to?

The Past

This week: Hadrian’s Wall

This week on The Past, we are delighted to celebrate a very special milestone: the 400th issue of our sister publication Current Archaeology – the ground-breaking specialist magazine, first published in March 1967, that is now firmly established as Britain’s…

Two hoards from Monmouthshire declared treasure

Also recently declared as treasure in Wales was a hoard of Roman coins, found between 2014 and 2022

Surprises from the Roman frontier: excavating Hadrian’s Wall in urban Tyneside

As Hadrian’s Wall is a protected World Heritage Site, opportunities to excavate across the line of the Roman fortifications are rare. In the summer of 2021, however, planned development works in the Ouseburn area of Newcastle upon Tyne offered the possibility to do just that – and Pre-Construct Archaeology’s investigations revealed not only the first turret to be uncovered along the Wall in over 40 years, but the largest example identified to date, together with other defensive features. Project Officer Scott Vance discusses the background to the discovery and its implications for the study of Hadrian’s Wall within urban Tyneside.

Frontier fortlet found

Of the 41 Roman fortlets that are believed to have been built along the Antonine Wall, the remains of only nine had previously been located – until a recent geophysical survey carried out by Historic Environment Scotland (HES) added a…

Image: Colchester and Ipswich Museum Service image: Colchester and Ipswich Museum Service

Finds tray – Roman finger ring

This Roman finger ring with an engraved intaglio was discovered by a metal-detectorist near Chelmsford in Essex and was recently declared treasure. This style of intaglio is known as a Henig Type II and dates to c.AD 125-175. The band…

The Hinterland of Hadrian’s Wall and Derbyshire

REVIEW BY MARTIN HENIG The Hinterland of Hadrian’s Wall and Derbyshire is the last of 11 ‘fascicules’ produced under the auspices of the British Academy’s Corpus Signorum Imperii Romani, which aims to catalogue all the sculptures of Roman Britain. This…

UK news in brief: a Roman wall and a virtual roundhouse

A round-up of some of the latest archaeology news from across the UK

Right Surveying work being carried out at the site of Carleith Farm, where the remains of the Roman fortlet were recently found.

Roman fortlet rediscovered on Scotland’s Antonine Wall

The discovery is only the tenth known fortlet to have been found along the wall.

Opposite Looking across the remains of Richbrough Roman fort, towards the reconstructed gateway that was recently built on the site. above The on site museum’s displays have been completely transformed to offer a more representative selection of the tens of thousands of finds that have been excavated at Richborough.

Gateway to Britannia: reimagining Richborough Roman fort

Richborough in Kent was one of the key locations in the early stages of the Roman invasion of Britain, later flourishing into a wealthy port town and then a significant military site. Over the last century, excavations have provided an extraordinary array of insights into the experiences of people who lived and worked within its walls – now, following a transformation of the on-site museum and the presentation of the outdoor archaeology, what new stories are there to tell? Carly Hilts visited to find out more.

Opposite A reconstruction by Alan Duncan of a late Roman hunting party returning to Whitley Grange villa with their quarry. right The remarkably clear results of a geophysical survey of the St Laurence School villa, Bradford on Avon.

Rural Romanitas: rethinking the role of villas

It has been an undergraduate essay topic for the last 50 years and is a question that continues to challenge archaeologists studying the history of Roman Britain: what exactly is a villa, and is there even a simple definition that fits them all? The Association for Roman Archaeology recently brought together 20 experts to consider new discoveries, new interpretations, and the role of the villa in Romano-British culture, religion, and landscape. Their conclusions have just been published, as Chris Catling reports.

Roman mosaic uncovered in Buckinghamshire

The mosaic will now be carefully preserved in situ with the whole excavated surface re-covered using materials that will protect the tiles from any wear or damage in the future.

Multi-period cemetery discovered in West Yorkshire

One of the interments contained a lead coffin with a female occupant; such coffins are relatively uncommon in Britain, and would probably have been expensive.

Above The Roman altar stone discovered in a sunken room in the gardens of Leicester Cathedral. below A sherd of pottery found at the Leicester site. The letters IIVST identify a potter called Justus who worked at La Graufesenque in the late 1st century AD.

Beneath the cathedrals: discoveries at Notre-Dame and Leicester Cathedral

At another English cathedral, that of Exeter, excavations have revealed Roman remains

Unusual artefact from Vindolanda re-investigated

Researchers suggest that this could have been some kind of sexual implement, something that is rarely considered among archaeological artefacts

The Emperor Nero’s Pottery and Tilery at Little London, Pamber, by Silchester, Hampshire: the excavations of 2017

Review by James Gerrard This is a handsomely produced and richly illustrated volume detailing the results of the University of Reading’s research excavations at Little London, just to the south-west of the Roman town of Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester; see CA…