Report on the Excavation of a Romano-British Site in Wortley, South Gloucestershire 9781407312255, 9781407322728

Table of contents :
Front Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
INTRODUCTION
EXCAVATION
THE FINDS
SPECIALIST REPORTS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX

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BAR 591 2014 WILSON, BAGNALL & TAYLOR

Report on the Excavation of a Romano-British Site in Wortley, South Gloucestershire David Wilson Alan Bagnall Beryl Taylor

ROMANO-BRITISH SITE IN WORTLEY

B A R Wilson 591cover.indd 1

BAR British Series 591 2014 15/01/2014 10:43:31

Report on the Excavation of a Romano-British Site in Wortley, South Gloucestershire David Wilson Alan Bagnall Beryl Taylor with contributions from Michael J. Allen, Rosemary Braithwaite, Blue Circle Technical Centre, Tony Boxall, Janet Cooper, Hugh Corrie, Martin Henig, Mark Maltby, Fiona Roe, Erica Utsi, Bruce Waddell, Jenny Waring, John Peter Wild, David Williams and Kay Wood

BAR British Series 591 2014

ISBN 9781407312255 paperback ISBN 9781407322728 e-format DOI https://doi.org/10.30861/9781407312255 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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PUBLISHING

Contents Acknowledgements������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� iii Introduction�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 1 Excavation���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 5 Phase 1 (c.60 AD – c.150 AD) (Plan 1).........................................................................................................................5 Phase 2 (c.150 AD – c.250 AD) (Plan 2).....................................................................................................................21 Phase 3 (c.250 AD – c.340 AD) (Plan 3).....................................................................................................................29 Phase 4 (c.340 AD-c.360 AD) (Plan 4)........................................................................................................................33 Phase 5 (c.360 AD-c.410 AD) (Plan 5)........................................................................................................................39 Phase 6 (410+ AD) (Plan 6).........................................................................................................................................51 Phase 7 (Medieval) (Plan 7).........................................................................................................................................58 Endpiece........................................................................................................................................................................60 The Finds��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 63 Pottery...........................................................................................................................................................................63 Vessel Glass...................................................................................................................................................................97 Objects of Personal Adornment or Dress....................................................................................................................101 Early Christian Find....................................................................................................................................................101 Hobnails......................................................................................................................................................................108 Objects used in the Working of Textiles......................................................................................................................108 Household Objects and Furniture................................................................................................................................110 Objects used for Recreational Purposes......................................................................................................................112 Objects employed in Weighing and Measuring..........................................................................................................114 Objects associated with Written Communication.......................................................................................................115 Tools and Ancillary Equipment ..................................................................................................................................116 Fasteners and Fittings..................................................................................................................................................117 Roman Nails................................................................................................................................................................117 Objects Associated with Agriculture and Animal Husbandry.....................................................................................119 Medieval Items............................................................................................................................................................121 Architectural Fragments and Building Materials........................................................................................................122 Window Glass.............................................................................................................................................................122 Coins...........................................................................................................................................................................125 The Painted Wall-Plaster.............................................................................................................................................129 Wall-Plaster from the Cellar area................................................................................................................................129 Wall-Plaster from the Bathhouse.................................................................................................................................133 Tessellated Flooring....................................................................................................................................................147 Specialist Reports������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 150 Two Rings ..................................................................................................................................................................150 Whetstone ...................................................................................................................................................................150 Clay Tobacco Pipes.....................................................................................................................................................151 Flint.............................................................................................................................................................................152 Environmental Sampling.............................................................................................................................................155 The Carbonised Cereal Remains.................................................................................................................................156 The Oysters and Shellfish ...........................................................................................................................................159 Land Snails..................................................................................................................................................................160 Charcoal Identification................................................................................................................................................162 Mammal Bones...........................................................................................................................................................164 Analysis of Mortar and Wall Plaster...........................................................................................................................179 Examination of Roman Concretes from Wortley........................................................................................................180 Tile and Plaster Samples ............................................................................................................................................182 A Note on the Petrology of some Roman Clay Tiles..................................................................................................189 Impressions on Clat Tiles............................................................................................................................................189 Textile Impression on Fragment of Tegula..................................................................................................................189 Magnetic Susceptibility Survey..................................................................................................................................191 Ground Penetrating Radar Survey of part of the unexcavated area at Wortley..........................................................194 Bibliography�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 215 Index�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 219 i

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Firstly our thanks must go to Paul Cory and Carol, whose land we gradually demolished, and who were always cheerful, understanding, interested and helpful throughout the fourteen seasons of the work at Wortley. No excavation involved in both research and training can be satisfactorily carried out without the permanent on-site presence of specialists, both in various aspects of archaeology and in teaching, and these were Geoff Hoare, the late Graham Linley, Jenny Waring, Vicky Wilson, Cam Wood and Kay Wood. In addition, from time to time we were fortunate to have the services of Tony Gibson, Mike Goodall, David Simons and Erica and Vincent Utsi. We are also grateful for advice from Jane Timby. Maisie Hoare, Brian Johnson and Julian Penczek helped the site in many voluntary ways. Without these people, and others too numerous to mention, but much appreciated none the less, the excavation would never have happened. Financial funding for the work was provided by the University of Keele, Stroud District Council, Stroud Museum, Silvaflame Ltd., and Wellington Vowles. To all of these sources we extend our grateful thanks. Finally, we thank Margaret and Terry Bloodworth, who provided a large field in which we could park and also carry out geophysical surveys – not necessarily at the same time.

The finds from the excavation are housed in the Museum in the Park, Stroud.

iii

iv

INTRODUCTION ‘There are no known Roman remains [in Wortley]’ (Lindley, 1949, 47).

The hamlet of Wortley lies some one and a quarter miles to the south of the market town of Wotton-under-Edge (Fig. 1), and is at the mouth of a short valley of the Cotswold scarp.

The site which this report discusses was discovered accidentally in 1981 by the then landowner, Paul Cory, whilst digging a hole for a fence post and finding a piece of mosaic flooring and some painted wall plaster.

Fig. 1 Wortley Romano-British Site Location Maps 1

Wortley Romano-British Site

Fig. 2 Major Romano-British Sites in Mid & South Gloucestershire 2

Introduction Consequently, local enthusiasts opened a trench c.7m x 4m x 1m, exposing the badly-damaged pilae of the hypocaust system of parts of two rooms. The trench also produced considerable quantities of painted wall plaster, tesserae and tegulae, some pottery, small finds and bone.At the request of Mr Cory, the site was adopted by the University of Keele for long-term research excavation and for training, with the finds and archive to be housed in Stroud Museum. The excavation ran from 1983 to 1996, when, due to circumstances beyond the control of the excavators, the work had to be ended, apart from a few days between 1997 and 2007.Consequently, much of the site to the south of Buildings 1 and 2 was not examined, and other areas, such as Building 2 and the medieval area, were not fully excavated.

excavated (see Specialist Report). There is, however, no way of dating them, short of excavation. The Romano-British site at Wortley, which was in the tribal region of the Dobunni, is just one of many to be found in the area (Fig. 2), most of which are villas and were attracted to the area, like the present site, largely because of the high quality of the arable land. The place-names in the area indicate that in the postRoman period it was well wooded: for example Alderley, Hillesley and Wortley itself all contain the Old English element leah meaning ‘a clearing’, whilst Wotton means ‘farmstead in the wood’.However, two minor names might be significant in relation to the Wortley Romano-British site. Tiley Bottom is first mentioned in a charter of 940 in the form of tigel leage ‘clearing where tiles are made or quarried’, an occupation more likely to be associated with the Romano-British period than the Saxon, and so the name could be a ‘fossilised’ reference to activities at that time. The second minor name of even more significance is a field name Oldbury (Bacons) first recorded in 1441 meaning ‘old earthworks’, and is the name of a field adjacent to the excavation site, indicating that parts of the Romano-British structure must have been visible when the field name was coined.

The choice of the location by the Romans for this site in the first century AD is understandable: it is in a sheltered spot in good arable land with, doubtless, woodland on the hill slopes for fuel and building, and close to a spring, which would have had an aqueduct to bring its water to the site, although this was not traced in the excavation. It may be that the buildings excavated at Wortley were part of a larger complex, as magnetic susceptibility tests indicate the presence of buildings in the field to the west of the site, which were on the same alignment as those

3

Wortley Romano-British Site

4

EXCAVATION

Building 1

Apart from some randomly-distributed flints (see Flint Report), there was no evidence of any human activity on the site prior to the commencement of the construction of the buildings.

Apart from the bath-house, which would have been mainly constructed of stone, the major part of Building 1 is likely to have been of timber framing resting on the flat-topped dwarf stone walls which still survive. As Perring states, ‘Villas were more often built with timber-framed walls than is generally recognised…Many such timber-framed structures were set over stone footings. In most cases the ground beams rested on the smooth upper surface of the masonry’ (Perring, 2002, 91).

PHASE 1 (c.60 AD – c.150 AD) (PLAN 1) The evidence for this early date is provided by unabraded pottery finds of a Hofheim flagon rim dated between AD 60 and 67, sherds of a late first-century mica-dusted flagon and a large sherd from a rusticated jar dated between c.50 and 100 AD.The presence of sherds from these three early ‘legionary wares’ supports the view that the construction of Phase 1 buildings is of such quality that it must have been carried out by military builders (see Pottery Report). This ceramic evidence for an early date is supported by a Colchester bow brooch (see Small Finds Report) of a type dated by Hattatt to the early first century running into the third quarter of the century (Hattatt, 1982, 60-61).

Bath-house The bath-house was at the eastern end of Building 1 and is shown on Plan 1. As a result of the use of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) it was possible to estimate its total internal length of c.13.7m, and the praefurnium or stokehole was indicated at the north-eastern corner of the bath-house (see Plan 8).In the building of the bathhouse, instead of constructing the opus signinum sub-floor of the hypocaust rooms directly upon the clay, the latter was quarried away to a depth of c .2.3m, and the resulting void filled with large boulders between retaining walls and topped with smaller stones to level the surface (Plate 2). The opus signinum sub-floor was then built upon this stone core.The reasons for this were probably the instability of the clay under the conditions of alternating heating and cooling, and the allowance of airflow by the stone core beneath the floor. A similar removal of material, this time the natural chalk marl, was found beneath a hypocaust room in Cambridge, although it was removed to a much

The initial activity on the site was the levelling of the west-east slope of the area designated for building, using redeposited clay probably from the excavation for the cellar and the bath-house. The earliest recognisable feature was a rough stone-edged hearth/furnace (F578) (Plate 1), part of which was cut by the verandah wall F200, probably representing the activities of the original building workers.

Plate 1 Building workers’ hearth/furnace 5

Wortley Romano-British Site

Plate 2 Stone core below hypocaust sub-floor bathhouse comprised a caldarium probably with a hot bath (Room 1); a tepidarium or second caldarium (Room 2); a tepidarium (Room 3); and, unusually, a large natatarium (Room 6). A frigidarium with an apodyterium and cold plunge bath (Room 4) was constructed as a pentice to the main building, making use of the outer wall of the stone drain F131 as a base for its clay walling (perhaps with timber studding), the fugitive remains of which were exposed during excavation. A metalled surface formed the external approach to the entrance porch to the bath-house and its pentice latrine (Room 5). The porch was supported at one corner by a large timber post and excavation revealed that, later in the first phase, it had been found necessary to replace this support (see Plate 3). Internal access to the latrine and bath-house is also likely to have

shallower depth than at Wortley. The void created at the former was filled with limestone rubble and the floor built over it (Joyce Pullinger, pers.comm.). This technique contrasts with that at the villa at Frocester, Gloucestershire, where wooden piles were used to stabilise the clay beneath the bath-house sub-floors (Price, 2000, Vol 1, 104). Based on the evidence from the excavated demolition deposits it is clear that the Wortley bath-house was roofed with tegulae and imbrices and the walls and ceiling were decorated with painted plaster, of which a large quantity was found (see Painted Plaster Report), together with many fragments of window glass and their lead cames, indicating that the bath-house had glazed windows. Aided by the GPR (Plan 8) it was possible to see that the

Plate 3 Post-holes for replacement entrance-porch corner support F251 and temporary prop F250 6

Excavation

Plate 4 Natatarium showing Roman robbing and the stone base with cross-wall which supported the postulated lead tank. (The northern face is that of the unexcavated Roman backfill.) been available from the verandah down a few steps leading from plinth F201, running between walls F181 and F183 and over wall F89 to a passage between F88 and F139 into the bath-house facilities.Access was also available to the passage running south between F136 and F123 which in turn led to Room 13 (see below).

remained of its walls, again suggesting the use of lead to provide a ‘tank’. It is conjectured that a continuous flow of spring water entered the natatarium from the north and drained out at its southern end into drain F176 which was joined at this point by drain F173. From here the flow ran under Room 5 as latrine drain F87 which here takes the form of a settling tank, as evidenced by its mortared base.It then drained out through F162 and, by way of a right-angled turn, into F141, a channel running behind Room 4 to drain the water from the cold plunge bath. F141 continued into the area unavailable for excavation, and did not show up on the GPR scan, so its discharge point could not be determined. Consequently, this first phase series of linked drains, in addition to draining water from the natatarium and the cold plunge, also provided a continuous flush to the latrine. It has, however, not been possible to determine with any certainty the source of water for drain F173 although one possibility is suggested below (see Room 8).This capstoned drain (Plates 5 and 6) begins at wall F440 of Room 8, and thence runs eastwards through the yard to join drain F87.

Rooms 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 were all part of the first phase of the bath-house, whilst Room 3 as excavated was the result of later activity (see Phase 4). It was not possible to determine the form of the first-phase of Room 3.The dimensions of the bath-house rooms, partly determined by GPR, were: Room 1 c.3.2m x c.3.6m; Room 2 c.5.75m x c.3.6m; Room 3 c.3.3m x c.3.6m; Room 4 c.5m x c.3m, which includes the cold plunge bath c.2.2m x c.1.9m and the apodyterium c.3m x c.2m; and Room 5 c.3m long x c.2m wide. The most striking feature within the bath-house was the large natatarium (Room 6) which was to the west of Rooms 1, 2 and 3 and shared their western walls (Plate 4).As shown by excavation and GPR Room 6 measured c.13.7m long x c.2.25m wide internally. The base of the pool, divided in two by cross-wall F205, comprised a surface of pitched Cotswold stone laid on smaller stone in a matrix of mortar granules, some 1.6m below the postulated RomanoBritish ground level. There was no evidence of any nonporous lining either to this surface or to the walls of the natatarium. Consequently, it is considered that the pool took the form of a large lead tank sitting upon the pitched stone surface (probably with a layer of sand between them which has since washed away), the tank being removed at the end of the life of the natatarium. Damage to the inner faces of the two north-south walls suggests the vigorous removal of such a tank, and a small piece of lead found on the pitched stone surface provides some slender support for the lead tank hypothesis.The cold plunge bath showed a similar lack of non-porous lining to its floor and what

Yard This would seem to have been an open yard accessed from the verandah, presumably through a door in F181 and thence onto the plinth F201, which was rebated to take the wooden steps down into the yard. Room 8 Although Room 8 was the smallest of the non-bath-house rooms, its eastern and western walls, F440 and F485, were the widest internal walls on the site, and the only ones to 7

Wortley Romano-British Site

Plate 5 Drain F173 with capstone covering

Plate 6 Drain F173 with capstone covering removed

be keyed into external walls. In addition, by virtue of its smaller size, Room 8 would have required the shortest joist-span. All of this evidence points to the possibility of a second storey existing here in the first phase, with its roof supported on F440 and F485.Two opposing slots, one in the north wall (F295) and one in the south (F337), presumably allowed a water pipe or pipes to pass into and out of Room 8 (Plate 7) perhaps indicating the presence of a water-storage tank in the second storey above Room 8. Evidence for one of these pipes was found as an impression in mortar outside of the northern slot (see Verandah below). A discrete and substantial group of stones (Plate 7) below the later mortared floor of the

room, situated adjacent to the main drain F173, suggested the possibility of a stand for a water basin, the latter being fed from the water-storage tank and discharging, like the water tank, into F173. Rooms 9 and 10 The north-south walls of Rooms 9 and 10 joined the back wall (F318) of the verandah.When excavated Rooms 9 and 10 had later mortared stone floors beneath which were sherds of post-AD200 pottery in redeposited clay c.72cm in depth. This clay infill suggests that there must have been a void beneath an earlier, presumably wooden floor, 8

Excavation

Plate 7 Room 8 showing wall slots and stone group although there was no structural evidence remaining for such a floor.

were those of a small adult sheep, together with some very small fragments of immature (?foetus, neonate) bones of an unidentifiable animal. The bone was not efficiently cremated in that it was not fully oxidised. There was some slag with the cremation, which appeared to be associated with iron working, and some coal (Jackie McKinley, pers. comm.).

Room 11 Room 11 stands out as being the widest room on the site (c.5.5m) although, like the other rooms outside of the bath complex, its function is obscure. Its probably original wooden floor was laid upon loess, unlike the floors of the other rooms which were laid upon clay.

Room 13 The existence of Room 13 was evidenced during recent building work adjacent to the Thatched Cottage, when a mortared floor surface and a robbed-out wall were exposed in section (see Plate 9). It was thus shown that the passage between F123 and F136 (previously excavated) led to

A doorway in the west wall (F226) of this room was evidenced by its threshold (Plate 8) and outside of this wall and in front of the threshold was a cremation, F465, being a foundation offering (Plate 8).The cremated bones

Plate 8 Cremation foundation-offering, as excavated, outside probable doorway in west wall of Room 11 9

Wortley Romano-British Site

Plate 9 Mortared surface (a) and robber trench (b) showing in modern builders’ section WPlate 10 Impressions in mortar of pipe lines and possible pump E

framework under the verandah, associated with the slot in the north wall of

Room 8

Plate 10a Further view of features shown in Plate 10

Room 13, which, because of its separate nature, was likely to have been a bakehouse.

to a height of c.0.50m. As it turns north at its eastern end, its eastern internal wall (F157) is also the western wall of the natatarium, and as it turns north at its western end, its internal wall is also the eastern wall of the cellar. As was the case with the natatarium and the bath-house, the northern limits of the verandah and courtyard lay under unavailable land, but GPR results help to determine their limits (Plan 8).

Verandah The verandah ran to the north of the yard and Rooms 8, 9 and 10 and was fronted by a courtyard. Much of the dressed stone of its internal and external walling survived 10

Excavation

Fig. 3 Water pump impressions showing positions of profiles A-B and C-D across F614 and F613

Fig. 4 Profiles A-B and C-D of F614 and F613 11

Wortley Romano-British Site

Plate 11

Showing differences between the stonework of F199 and F200

To the north of Room 8, beneath what would probably have been the wooden floor of the verandah, was a shelving mortared surface, presumably acting as a reservoir and a number of related features, all set in mortar, some of which would appear to have originally held horizontal, presumably lead, pipes; others may be the impressions of the sturdy wooden framework of a pump (Plates 10 and 10a, and Figs. 3 and 4).The whole system is associated with the slot F295 in the north wall of Room 8 (see above) and presumably with the postulated water basin and storage tank within that room and would seem to indicate the channelling, storing and supplying of fresh water. No parallels for this apparatus have so far been noted from other sites.

external wall of the eastern end of the verandah (Plate 11), was joined later to the former. Cellar The stone-walled cellar at the western end of the verandah in its final form was c.2.3m deep, c.7.6m internally west to east including the later antechamber and stairwell with the concrete floor alone being c.4.8m west to east, and the south to north area available for excavation was c.3.1m. The method of construction of the cellar is illustrated in Fig. 5, where AA represents the foundations for the walls of the storey above the cellar and BB the inner walls which form the cellar and support the wooden floor of the upper storey. This double-skinned construction was probably intended to relieve the load on the cellar walls and to give greater support to the room above

.

From the evidence of different stonework and a deeper foundation trench for F200, it is clear that F199, the

Fig. 5 Double-skinned cellar construction (not to scale) 12

Excavation No evidence was forthcoming of the means of access to this First Phase cellar; it may have been under the area not available for excavation, or could have been by ladder which would have left no evidence. Such a ladder was suggested as a possible early means of access to the ‘deep room’ in the Lullingstone, Kent, villa, perhaps via a trapdoor in the floorboards of the room above (Meates, Vol. 1, 1979, 36).

in terms of a storage facility, but on occasions there is evidence for its use as a cult room, and certain criteria, taken together, have been suggested as indicating such a use (Perring, 1989, passim): splay windows, painted wall plaster, niches and water. The cellar at Wortley satisfies all these criteria. The excavated area of the cellar was lit by two symmetrically-disposed splay windows, the damaged remains of which are shown in Plates 12 and 13 and Fig. 6, although taken in isolation they would not be indicative of a cult activity, as several Romano-British sites in the country have cellars with splay windows, with no suggestion of a religious function, such as Piddington villa, Northants., and the townhouse in Southgate Street, Leicester.

According to Perring, cellars were relatively rare in Roman Britain, and their construction mainly restricted to the period AD 70-155, the concept of underground rooms being brought to Britain from Gaul by the military (Perring, 1989, 279-301), and their distribution limited to certain tribal areas, including ours, that of the Dobunni (Perring, 2002, 183-84).Often the cellar is seen merely

Plate 12

Damaged splay windows in the west wall of the cellar

Plate 13 Angle of splay window shown by mortar line 13

Wortley Romano-British Site

Fig. 6 Profile of splay window showing damage and mortar line The second criterion, given above, of a below-ground cult room is the presence of painted wall plaster. Surviving painted plaster found on the walls of the Wortley cellar below the level of the later Phase 2 floor clearly shows that from the beginning the cellar had a greater function than simply that of a storage room (see Plaster Report).

The most striking evidence for the cult nature of the cellar, and its association with water, lay beneath its concrete floor, where a cruciform channel-system (Fig. 7) ran from the central point of the floor to the west, east and south (F658, F659 and F660 respectively), with the beginning of a fourth channel (F665) running northwards under the half of the cellar not available for excavation.Each of the three complete channels was covered by a series of capstones mortared onto the stone edges of the channels (Plates 15 and 16), and each was stone-lined and had within it a layer of clay varying between 13 and 23cms thick. Rather than having been deliberately deposited, this clay had almost certainly been washed into the channels and been subject to later shrinkage into blocks (Plates 17 and 18). Beneath this clay the level base of each channel comprised roughly fist-sized Cotswold stones set in clay. The most unusual aspect of the channels, however, was the fact that all three ran beneath the walls of the cellar, under rough

The third criterion for a cult room was satisfied by the two niches, F478 and F479 (Plate 14), in the south wall of the cellar, which may have held cult images. The room next to the bathhouse at the villa at Great Witcombe, Glos., also had niches in one of its walls, but larger than those at Wortley and three as opposed to two at the latter site (Clifford, 1954, 16, and Plate 1). The recently-excavated cellar at Ditches villa in the Gloucestershire Cotswolds, had in its eastern wall probably three splay-sided niches (Trow, James and Moore, 2009, 60), but no other possible ritual-related features.

Plate 14 Niches in south wall of cellar 14

Excavation

Fig. 7 Channels beneath the cellar floor

Plate 15

Capstoned channels under floor of cellar

stone lintels (Plate 19), but ended at the outer limits of the walls. Consequently they were not part of any drainage system, and were associated solely with the cellar. The purpose of the channels is a matter for speculation, but two large pieces of lead found folded and deposited in the western channel (Plates 19 and 20) may originally have formed a lining for a font-like feature set within a hole in the centre of the concrete floor (see Plate 30) immediately above the junction of the channels.This ‘font’ probably contained water brought up to it by seepage from the clay via the channels, depending on the water table at the time, although it may have been used to receive libations which would then run into the channels

or abroad, although this may in part be due to the fact that excavation may not always have been carried out beneath solid cellar floors. There is, however, another example of a font-like feature in a Gloucestershire villa: a room next to the bath-house at Great Witcombe, frequently described as a ‘temple’, contained a stone-based cistern which water entered through a hole in its northern side, the level of the water being determined by a hole cut into the cistern’s western side, ten inches from the bottom, from which the water was carried away in a conduit to the latrine drain (Clifford, 1954, 16-17).From further afield the ‘deep room’ at the villa at Lullingstone, Kent, when converted from a store-room to a ‘religious’ room in the second century, had a small well cut into the concrete floor to the water table, near the middle of the room and in front of a newly-constructed niche which contained the

Whatever their function, the channels appear to be unique to Wortley, no parallels having been noted in either Britain 15

Wortley Romano-British Site

Plate 16

Capstones on southern channel under floor of cellar

Plate 18

Plate 17 Clay under the capstones in the southern channel under floor of cellar

Clay-filled channels under floor of cellar, and stone blocking (beneath the ranging rod in the foreground) of the eastern channel 16

Excavation

Plate 19

Stone lintel supporting western wall over

Plate 20 Two folded lead sheets from the western

channel in cellar with folded lead sheet in situ

channel beneath the cellar floor

Fig. 8 Postholes and eavesdrip alongside the southern wall of Building 1 Other features

painting of three water nymphs (Meates, 1979, Vol 1, 32). The difference between the cellar at Wortley and the ‘deep room’ at Lullingstone is that at the former the ‘religious’ nature seems to have been there from the start, whilst at Lullingstone there was a change from secular to ‘religious’.

Parallel and external to the main southern wall (F194) of Building 1 was a series of post-holes, probably indicating the use of scaffolding in the construction of the building. Also running parallel to F194, and c.1m from it was a shallow linear ditch, F553/F607, which was no doubt the eavesdrip for the roof (Plate 21, Plan 1 and Fig. 8).

The cellar at Wortley is the most westerly Romano-British cellar recorded in England. 17

Wortley Romano-British Site

Plate 21

Post-holes and eaves-drip alongside the southern wall of Building 1

18

Excavation

19

Wortley Romano-British Site

20

Excavation

Plate 22

Remains of demolished cold plunge with drain F141 shown at top left

PHASE 2 (c.150 AD – c.250 AD) (PLAN 2) The second phase was a period of considerable rebuilding and alteration at Wortley, possibly indicative of a change of ownership. Bath-house The first phase frigidarium (Room 4) was demolished and its cold plunge (Plate 22) filled in, the whole being resited to the natatarium (Room 6), where three low cross walls were inserted into its southern end as support for the wooden floor of the new frigidarium/apodyterium (Room 12), whilst the remainder of the pool would now have served as the cold plunge. These changes necessitated the demolition of the porch entrance to the bath-house and it is likely that an entrance into the new apodyterium was provided from the verandah (see Plan 2). As a consequence of these alterations drain F141 had become redundant and was backfilled up to its junction with F162; at the same time a ditch, F224, was dug (Plates 23 and 24), so that the waste water from drains F87 and F162 would now flow out straight through the ditch, which probably housed a lead pipe (see Phase 5) coming from the settling tank, and which was immediately backfilled to ground level since it showed no signs of weathering or silting.The water from the pipe would have discharged into what was then a watercourse at the eastern end of the site, which today is a deeply-incised part of the road from Wotton-under-Edge, running to the river at Alderley.

Plate 23

Redundant drain F141 (turning north at F224 in the foreground

ranging rod) replaced by ditch

been brought about by a desire to alter the access, but it is more likely that the lean-to structure containing the frigidarium suffered damage or decay, probably as a result of having only insubstantial walls of clay. Either of these would have resulted in the need for a change to the bath-house structure, and it is significant that it has been

As a possible rite of termination (see Merrifield, 1987, 48-50) for the now-redundant drain F141 a Gallo-Belgic pot (see Pottery Report) was deposited before backfilling. These quite radical changes to the bath-house may have

21

Wortley Romano-British Site

Plate 24

Ditch F224 looking east

Rooms 9, 10 and 11

estimated that a clay-lump wall would have had a life span of only some forty years (Perring, 2002, 102).

As wall F298 was the eastern wall of Room 9 as well as the western wall of Room 8, its construction reduced the width of Room 9 from c.4.6m to 3.6m.

Room 7 In Phase 2 a pentice building, Room 7, was constructed and roofed from F194 to F175, its eastern wall being supported upon the beam in slot 719, and its western wall being the eastern wall of the newly-extended Room 8 (see below). The roof, like that of the bath-house, comprised tegulae and imbrices, which during excavation were found in the area north of the drain, where they had fallen as a result of the later collapse of the pentice building.

Originally the N-S shared wall of Rooms 9 and 10 (F310) had extended northwards to the major E-W wall F318, but in the second phase it was shortened by the construction of walls F306 and F313, whilst the earlier N-S wall was reduced to ground level between the new walls and F318, thus creating a passage from Room 8 leading to the new stairwell of the cellar (q.v. below) (see Plan 2).

Room 8

F322, being the western wall of Room 10 and the eastern wall of Room 11, appeared to be keyed into F313, the new cross-wall in Room 10, although damage at the junction of these two walls prevented certainty on this point. In addition, wall F322 seems to have been constructed over the reduced first-phase wall, 1200, which originally ran from the southern wall F194 to the northern F318.

Room 8, originally 3.3m x 6.0m, was widened to 5.5m x 6.0m, now the same size as Room 11. Walls F485 and F440 were reduced to ground level and replaced by the narrower walls F298 and F232 which were not keyed into the main walls F194 and F294. As a consequence, Room 8 required re-roofing, with the load now borne by walls F194 and F294.The foundations of F232 incorporated the western end of drain F173. The complex water system under the Phase 1 verandah was removed, together with the water pipes and the possible water-storage tank and basin in Room 8, all indicating a change of use for the room.

As with Room 8, Rooms 9, 10 and 11 would have needed re-roofing as a consequence of the internal alterations. It would also appear that, at this time, all four rooms had wooden floors. Cellar (Plate 25) and its Stairwell and Antechamber During Phase 2 considerable work was carried out on the access to the cellar. A trench was dug at its eastern end and a new eastern wall, F484, was built, and this, together with wall F477, created the space for the stairwell and the antechamber (Plate 26), replacing the unlocated earlier access (see Phase 1 above). The new staircase would have

It is likely that the widening of Room 8 was associated with the remodelling of the verandah roof which probably produced a new, wider and perhaps more imposing pedimented entrance to the building. The evidence for this activity is suggested below in Phase 5.

22

Excavation

Plate 25

Plate 26

Cellar from the north-east

Cellar stairwell and antechamber Plate 18). A new concrete floor was laid within the cellar with a central hole positioned above the junction of the channels discussed above in Phase 1 (see Plate 30). This floor was carried over the reduced remains (F649) of the earlier eastern wall at the entrance to the cellar from the stairwell (Plate 29). All of these alterations necessitated the re-decoration of the cellar walls and those of the room above (see Painted Plaster Report), and the re-glazing of the windows of the upper room of the cellar, which appear to have been glass from the beginning (see Window Glass Report)

.

been of timber, and the beam slot with its associated postholes at the base of the stairwell (Plate 27, Fig. 9) indicate a framed entrance to the antechamber of the cellar (Plate 29). This entrance appears to be related to the recessing of the eastern wall of the antechamber (Plate 28).Part of the earlier eastern wall of the cellar was reduced in order to insert a framed entrance into the cellar from its antechamber, the evidence for which is provided by a beam slot (Fig. 9 and A in Plate 29) for a threshold timber and a vertical socket (B) within the stone reveal (Plate 29). An attempt was made to block the eastern channel, presumably to prevent the stairwell from flooding (see

23

Wortley Romano-British Site

Plate 27

Post-holes at the base of cellar stairwell

Fig. 9 Cellar stairwell and ante-chamber 24

Excavation

Plate 28

Beam slot and recess at the base of cellar stairwell

Plate 29

Framed entrance to the cellar

25

Wortley Romano-British Site

Plate 30 Central hole in floor of cellar (below left-hand ranging rod)

The stairwell was, as stated above, accessed by the new passage from Room 8.

The alterations to Rooms 8, 9, 10 and 11 necessitated new roofing, this time with Old Red Sandstone rather than the clay tegulae used earlier. Old Red Sandstone roofing tiles at the Frocester villa date from the latter part of the third century onwards (Price, 2000, Vol.1, 131). The nearest outcrops of Old Red Sandstone are at Iron Acton and Tortworth, and on the edge of the Forest of Dean coalfield.

Other Phase 2 changes A ‘basin’ (F417) collected water from an eavesdrip alongside the northern wall (F200) of the verandah, from whence it was channelled into a newly-constructed drain F234/F347, and thence into drain F173. The evidence for the later construction of F234/F347 lies in the fact that the Phase 1 drain wall (F175) was altered to receive F347, and the southern wall (F181) and northern wall (F200) of the verandah were cut by the new drain. The alignment of this drain suggests that its construction would have been approximately contemporary with the Phase 2 wall (F232) of Room 8, which it respected.

Early in Phase 2, a short length of wall F194 was removed, immediately to the east of Room 7, and an opus signinum channel (731) was laid through it to take the water from the eavesdrip running alongside F194 (see above). This length of wall was then rebuilt, probably incorporating a wooden lintel above the opus signinum channel.The water entering through this channel discharged into drain F173, the southern wall of which was reduced to accommodate it.

26

Excavation

27

Wortley Romano-British Site

28

Excavation PHASE 3 (c.250 AD – c.340 AD) (PLAN 3)

carried than with the eavesdrip, and the drain F234/F347 would be by-passed, perhaps because of its slump, but also because there was no way that rainwater could flow from the drain blocks into the drain. It was not possible to determine where the rainwater from the drain blocks discharged, as the latter ran into an area unavailable for excavation. Similar but rather smaller drain blocks were excavated at the Whittington Court Villa (O’Neill, 1952, Plate XIVb and p.42).

A number of activities were recognised during Phase 3: the construction of Building 2 being the most important; the disuse of drain F234/F347 and the replacement of the verandah eavesdrip in the courtyard by drain blocks F335; the resurfacing of the courtyard; and the insertion of a water tank at the eastern end of Building 1. Building 2

When drain F234/F347 was no longer serviceable, a Gallo-Belgic pot (see Pottery Report) dating from c.100 was deposited upright in it as a rite of termination, prior to its backfilling.

During this phase Building 2 was constructed with internal dimensions of c.10m by 3m.Prior to its construction, the eavesdrip to wall F194 and the row of scaffolding postholes were infilled, probably as part of a general levelling of this area of the site. A working area and the foundation trench for the north wall of Building 2 cut the infill between Buildings 1 and 2. The southern wall of Building 2 cut an earlier metalled surface 2075/2135 (Plate 31, and Plan 3).

A second rebuild of part of wall F194, which included waterproof mortar, blocked the Phase 2 opus signinum channel (731, Fig. 10), which was replaced by a water tank evidenced by its mortar base, perhaps to serve as a water point for the suggested bakehouse, Room 13.

As stated in the Introduction, it was not possible to complete the excavation of Building 2, but it seems that at some stage it may have had a mortared floor. The function of the building has not been determined, but it is interesting to note its symmetrical relationship to Building 1 and its courtyard.

Courtyard The courtyard (1804) to the north of the verandah was resurfaced with compressed stone and tile (see Plate 32), and overlay two earlier surfaces. The final surface was shown to be not earlier than the last quarter of the third century by a coin of Tetricus I, and this work was probably carried out at the same time as the insertion of the drain blocks.

Building 1 During this phase the eavesdrip fronting the verandah was replaced by substantial drain blocks (Plate 32). This work may have been occasioned by the severe slump to drain F234/F347 (Plate 33) which would have prevented it carrying water from the eavesdrip, or by an alteration to the pitch of the roof of the main building resulting in a greater rainwater supply to the eavesdrip. With the insertion of the drain blocks, more rainwater could be

Plate 31

The GPR (Plan 8) showed a feature (A) within the courtyard. Although it is not possible to deduce the nature of this feature, its individual elements are quite large and deep and appear to form a substantial, probably decorative feature in situ. Unfortunately the phase of its construction could not be determined.

Robbed southern wall of Building 2 cutting earlier metalled surface 29

Wortley Romano-British Site

Plate 32

Eavesdrip

drain blocks fronting the

verandah, with courtyard

(1804) to the north

Plate 33 Slumping of drain F234/F347 (eastern wall of drain removed)

Fig. 10

North facing F194

section of wall

showing second rebuild including waterproof mortar

(dotted)

30

Excavation

31

Wortley Romano-British Site

32

Excavation PHASE 4 (c.340 AD-c.360 AD) (PLAN 4)

F111 were widened, perhaps to accommodate a heavier, stone roof (Plate 35, Fig. 11). This refurbishing may have included the laying of the small mosaic floor for the apodyterium (see Tesselated Flooring Report).

Building 1 Bath-house

The digging of the working trench which cut the backfill of the Phase 1 tepidarium would have exposed the lead liner of the plunge which was no doubt salvaged at this stage, and part of the back wall of the plunge was demolished to facilitate the removal of the lead liner and its pipe to the drain. Prior to the backfilling of this area, a group of animal bones was deposited as a possible rite of termination (Plate 36).

Alterations to the tepidarium (Room 3) were evidenced by a slight change in the internal line of the western wall, a new, rather wider sub-floor with a shallow drop in this floor from Room 2 to Room 3, and a marked contrast in the construction of the hypocaust pilae between the two rooms, those in Room 2 being of conventional bricks, but those in Room 3 of tegulae filled with mortar and placed on top of each other (Plate 34). This latter construction is paralleled by two pilae from Room 2 of the Villa at Harnhill Estate, Driffield (Phillips, 1985, 33) although they had their flanges removed, unlike those at Wortley, which were intact. At sub-floor level Rooms 2 and 3 were separated by a wall in which there was a gap to allow the flow of hot air from the former to the latter.In addition, the eastern wall (F99) of the bath-house was rebuilt as evidenced by a working trench occupying part of the backfilled original frigidarium (Room 4). This wall was also extended southwards, thus becoming the eastern wall of the latrine, as shown by the robber trench F138 and the buttress F197. At this stage the foundations of wall

The multi-phase plan of the bath-house is shown in Fig. 12 and the south-north section A-B in Fig. 13. Other Phase 4 changes South of Room 5, wall F136 was reduced, a floor laid over it and the Phase 1 passage, and the whole area bounded by walls F123, F111 and robber trench F138, thus creating an enclosed yard which possibly became associated with the preparation of food as suggested by quantities of animal bone. Access to the new yard was from the entrance between the western end of F111 and F123.

Plate 34 Hypocaust pilae in Room 2 (bricks) and Room 3 (tegulae)

33

Wortley Romano-British Site

Plate 35 Widened foundations of wall F111

Plate 36 Animal bone deposit forming possible rite of termination in drain F141

34

Excavation

Fig. 11 Widened foundations of wall F111

Fig. 12

Multi-phase plan of bath-house

35

Wortley Romano-British Site

Fig. 13

South-north section of multi-phase bath-house

36

Excavation

37

Wortley Romano-British Site

38

Excavation PHASE 5 (c.360 AD-c.410 AD) (PLAN 5)

imbrex drain would appear to respect the northern wall of the presumably still-standing pentice building (see Phase 2) and where it enters drain F173 implies that there was a doorway in this position, which would have been opposite the stair from F201.

During this phase a number of major alterations were made to the site. Building 1

At a later stage the area surrounding the imbrex drain appears to have become waterlogged, and consequently a substantial layer of Cotswold stone was laid around and above the imbrices, leading again to F173, the rudimentary latrine. This became a well-worn path as evidenced by the smooth upper surfaces of the stones.

Bath-house and Verandah Late in Phase 5 the bath-house complex was demolished and its site backfilled and levelled.It was probably at this point that the ditch F224 was re-opened to salvage lead piping. The evidence for the existence of this lead piping was two-fold: first, there was no indication of a wooden or ceramic pipe having run through the ditch, and, second, there would have been no reason to re-open the ditch except to reclaim a valuable resource, such as lead pipe. As a consequence of the demolition of the bath-house the eastern end of the verandah was destroyed as far as the Phase 2 pedimented roof, and new posts, F270 and F271, were provided to support the latter.The former verandah was roughly resurfaced to create a trackway (see Phase 5 plan), which originally continued over the backfilled cellar (for which, see below), but was truncated by medieval activity.A major result of the demolishing of the bathhouse was that the drain-system no longer functioned, and a new, if short-lived, provision had to be found for the disposal of water from the pediment of the verandah, and it may be at this stage that part of the northern end of drain F234 was partially cleaned out to create a collection point for this water. A series of linked imbrices formed a rudimentary drain (F395) (Plates 37 and 38, and Fig. 14) to carry this water from the collection point, through a break in the wall of F234 and thence into what had been the main drain F173, which was now functioning as a cess pit. This

Plate 37

Cellar During this phase the cellar also went out of use and, as a rite of termination, a ritual deposit was placed upon its floor, comprising one complete large pot rim and shoulder (see Pottery Report), one set of animal jaw bones, two joining pieces of amphora (one pierced) and one fingernail (Plate 39). Following this deposition, the backfilling of the cellar was begun, comprising most notably layers containing pottery, cess and large quantities of animal bone, in addition to painted wall plaster and window glass probably from a room above the cellar, together with roofing material. This latter comprised large numbers of damaged Old Red Sandstone tiles, probably derived from the demolition of the roof of the building above the cellar.Also of particular interest was a large number of unfired tegulae (Plate 40), which had been thrown through the splay windows of the cellar and were presumably the result of an uncompleted building project. The large quantity of animal bone in the cellar was especially significant, in that analysis of

Imbrex drain F395 and main drain F173

39

Wortley Romano-British Site

Fig. 14

Plate 38

Plan of imbrex drain F395

Northern end of imbrex drain F395

40

Excavation

Plate 39

Ritual deposit on cellar floor forming rite of termination

Plate 40

Plate 41

Unfired tegulae in cellar backfill

South-facing section of the Roman backfill of the cellar and stairwell. The strings are at metre intervals

41

Wortley Romano-British Site

Fig. 15

South-facing section of the backfill of the cellar and stairwell

it indicated its use in the processing of marrow, which is discussed in the Specialist Report below, and in more detail by Termes, who notes, amongst other aspects, the range of usage of animal-bone marrow in Roman Britain, including medicines, cosmetics, lighting, insulation, lubrication, soap, glue, tanning and waterproofing, in addition to food production (Termes, 2011, passim). She further stresses that the processing of marrow at Wortley, ‘illustrates that a previously known urban centred process also occurred at a rural site’ (ibid, 40). The south-facing section of the unexcavated Roman backfill of the cellar is shown in Plate 41 and Fig. 15.

levelled internal walls had rounded surfaces indicative of animal/human passage.Alongside the southern wall of this barn was a possible raised storage platform c.2m high, evidenced by the beam slots Features 350/341 and 343/344 (Plate 42 and Fig. 16) and the lack of wear to the floor in the area between these features. A similar lack of wear was noticed where the eastern wall of Room 9 (F298) lay beneath the projected storage platform (Plate 43). This platform would have been accessed by a stair, indicated by F439 and F439a (Plan 5).It is likely that the produce to be stored upon the platform was lifted by a hoist (Fig. 17) pivoting on the bipedalis F338, the centre of which was shattered by the weight of its timber upright (see Fig. 16)

Other Phase 5 changes

.

It is likely that during this phase the internal walls of Rooms 9, 10 and 11 were reduced to ground level for the area to become used as a barn (see Plan 5); all of these

Plate 42

Beam slots for possible storage platform (centre, and right against wall)

42

Excavation

Fig. 16

Plate 43

Beam slots F341, F343, F344 and F350 in Rooms 9 and 10

Showing the difference between the protected and unprotected areas eastern wall of Room 9 (F298) beneath the ranging rod 43

of the

Wortley Romano-British Site

Fig. 17

Reconstruction of platform and hoist

Plate 44

Probable brazier stand in Room 11

44

Excavation In Room 11 there was a setting of Cotswold stones on edge in its later mortared stone floor, forming three sides of a square c.1m x 1m (F227) (Plate 44). It seems likely that this was the stand for a brazier, which may have had

Plate 45

an Old Red Sandstone base, but this would unfortunately have been obscured by similar material (Plate 45) which had fallen upon it from the roof of a late four-post structure (see Phase 6 and Plate 52 below).Immediately to the east

Part of collapsed roof of late four-post structure overlying the probable brazier stand

Plate 46

Phase 5 doorway inserted into south wall of Room 11, now used as a barn

Fig. 18

Profile of southern wall of Room 11, showing Phase 5 doorway 45

Wortley Romano-British Site

Plate 47

Smithing hearth F430

Fig. 19 Smithing hearth F430

46

Excavation of F227 was a shallow depression, F345, and an area of heat-reddened clay, both no doubt associated with the brazier.A similar feature to F227 was found in feature 101 Building IX, Room 12, at Kingscote, which was also interpreted as a brazier stand (Timby, 1998, 58), and a further example may be the feature 207 in Building 1, Site 2, also at Kingscote (ibid, 40).

In the stonework of the Phase 2 reduced northern end of wall F310, a hearth (F430) was constructed of Cotswold stone bonded with clay (Plate 47 and Fig. 19), both materials showing signs of considerable heat. There was some vitrification of the clay, indicating temperatures greater than 800 degrees centigrade but less than 1000 degrees centigrade; there was no melting of the quartz within the hearth, and the limestone was not converted to quicklime.These facts, together with the hammerscale found in association with the hearth indicate iron smithing rather than smelting

.

During this phase a doorway c.1.4m wide (Fig. 18 and Plate 46) was inserted in the southern wall, providing an entrance which avoided all internal features.

Plate 48

Plate 49

Badly damaged floor of Room 8

Mortared threshold (1992) to Building 2

47

Wortley Romano-British Site Building 2

It cannot be proved whether or not the smithing hearth and the possible storage platform were contemporary.

It was probably during this phase that alterations were made to Building 2.Its western wall F497 was reduced to ground level and a rough mortared surface (1992) provided a threshold for an entrance (Plate 49), whilst a similar reduction F598 to the eastern wall, F584, might indicate a second entrance (Plate 50). This would suggest an entrance and exit for a cart.

In this phase, Room 8 (Plate 48) seems to have served as stabling for animals as the badly-damaged floor surface indicated.It may be that the protected mortared surface (784) in its south-west corner marks the position of a feeding- or water-trough.

Plate 50

Reduced wall indicating second entrance to Building 2

48

Excavation

49

Wortley Romano-British Site

50

Excavation PHASE 6 (410+ AD) (PLAN 6)

It seems likely that in this phase an outbuilding was constructed against the western wall (F226) of Room 11, evidenced by post-holes F259, F253 and F256 (see Plan 6) although it was not possible to prove this as the area outside the western wall was not available for excavation. A similar structure appears to have been erected between the south wall of Building 1 (F194) and the north wall of Building 2 (F396), as evidenced by post-holes/sockets F675, F337, F436 and F604, with F397 and F412 indicating the presence of a doorway (Fig. 20). The actual function of the outbuilding is not apparent.

During this phase the roof of the barn fell into decay, necessitating the provision of a new under-cover storage facility, in the form of a four-post structure evidenced by post-holes F359, F372, F373 and F376 (Plate 51). It was roofed with Old Red Sandstone tiles and ceramic imbrices, probably reused, found as fallen during the excavation (Plate 52).Later in this phase this structure burnt down leaving a heat-reddened surface. A slump in the Phase 5 backfill of the cellar was levelled using layer 700 (Plate 53), which consisted largely of burnt weevil-infested grain (see Carbonised Cereal Remains Report). Finds within this layer date this event to c.AD410 or later.

Plate 51

Plate 52

Within the bounds of the earlier Room 7, and cutting the late Phase 5 mortared surface, were the remains of a malting-kiln, F245 (Plate 54), and a bread oven F262/ F263 (Plate 55 and Fig. 21). These were housed within a

Four-post structure on site of Room 10 of Building 1

Collapsed Old Red Sandstone roof over the four-post structure on site of Room 10 of Building 1 51

Wortley Romano-British Site

Plate 53

Fig. 20

Half-section of layer 700

Building 2 and Room 8 52

Excavation

Plate 54

Remains of malting kiln on site of Room 7, Building 1

Plate 55

Bread oven on site of Room 7, Building 1

53

Wortley Romano-British Site

Fig. 21

Plate 56

Malting Kiln and Bread Oven

Reduction in walls F194 and F232 at positions shown by arrows

54

Excavation

Plate 57

Hearth east of the site of Room 7

Fig. 22

Hearth area F167

55

Wortley Romano-British Site structure evidenced by post-holes and post-settings F238, F268, F266 to the north, and F281, F264, F275 to the south, together with the remains of a wattle and daub wall (336) and perhaps slot F168, to the east and a reduction in walls F194 and F232 (see arrows Plate 56). It may be that this structure was divided into two evidenced by postsetting F265. A thin layer of dark occupation soil (664),

associated with and to the north of F275 and overlying floor 660, turns at right angles towards F266, F268 and F238, indicating the north-eastern corner of this late structure.To the east of this latter lay a hearth area (F167) of flat Cotswold stone slabs, burnt clay and ash (Plate 57 and Fig. 22).

56

Excavation

57

Wortley Romano-British Site 1883, 33).This was licensed in 1334 (Montacute, 1334, 207) and subsequently mentioned several times in bishops’ registers. However, it seems likely that the building now called ‘The Thatched Cottage’ originated earlier than the chapel, since if it was later it might be expected to have followed the E-W orientation of the Chantry (Fig. 1).

PHASE 7 (MEDIEVAL) (PLAN 7) There is no evidence for the occupation of the site from the early post-Roman period, c.450, to the thirteenth century. The first medieval occupation of the site was probably by a branch of the Berkeley family, the de Combes, who exchanged half a virgate of land somewhere in Wotton for a virgate of land in ‘WURTHELEYE’ c.1220 (Smyth, 1883, 87). The earliest medieval building at Wortley which can be dated with confidence is the building now called ‘The Chantry’.In 1331 the then lord of Berkeley granted to Walter Combe land at Wortley to build a chapel (Smyth,

Plate 58

Fig. 23

Dating evidence for many of the medieval features was in the form of oxshoe nails (see Finds Report) and/or pottery. At the eastern end of the excavation site were the remains of a collapsed wall (F76) (Plate 58), on the same orientation

Remains of collapsed medieval wall

Part of suggested Medieval building 58

Excavation as the walls of the Thatched Cottage indicating a medieval date. The floor associated with this wall was of small Cotswold stones impressed into clay. At the northern end of the wall was what appeared to be a pivot stone for a door (not illustrated).

fronted by an eavesdrip (F637). All of these features had been covered with garden make-up, dating probably from the seventeenth century, and this, together with its nonRoman alignment, suggests a late medieval/early postmedieval date for these features (Fig. 23).

The three post-holes F36, F38 and F75 (see Plan 7) may remain from a building on the medieval alignment, and F75 and F38 are the same distance apart as F38 and F36. The relationship between the post-holes is suggested stratigraphically and the dating proved by finds evidence.

Two hearths (F285 and F290, Plate 59) appear to be related stratigraphically, but their functions remain undetermined. Within Building 2 is a medieval hearth (F511, Plate 60), whose presence suggests the existence of a roofed structure upon Roman foundations.

Another building was indicated by four post-holes (F629, F634, F626 and F585) edging a clay floor (F638), and

The plan of Phase 7 shows areas of considerable medieval robbing of the Roman walls, which involved the removal

Plate 59 Two hearths F285 and F290

Plate 60

Late hearth F511 in Building 2 59

Wortley Romano-British Site

Plate 61

Section across medieval robber trench

of both dressed stone and foundation rubble stone. The robber trenches were commonly c.2m deep (Plate 61). It is possible that the stone was taken for use in building work at Kingswood Abbey, or more likely, at the mill belonging to the Abbey, which later became known as Monks Mill. The site of the mill was about a mile away on the Little Avon at the river boundary of Wortley with Alderley.

On the other hand, there are features that differ from those conventionally found in a villa. The bathhouse at Wortley was particularly large and included an indoor swimming pool, of a size that seems unparalleled on non-military sites. Although cellars are not rare in villas, some aspects of that at Wortley mark it out as different from others: the painted walls, the central ‘font-like’ feature, the niches in the southern wall, and the cruciform channels beneath the concrete floor.

ENDPIECE No attempt has been made in this report to define the type of site found at Wortley, although it was called Wortley Villa during the excavation period. The ground plan of Building 1 is that commonly associated with courtyard villas, and the location of the site in terms of topography and quality of land would support this.In addition, there is a bathhouse and evidence for a tessellated floor and painted wall plaster – all of which are associated with villas. Amongst the finds from the site was a large millstone of lava, indicative of the growing and working of grain nearby, major activities of Romano-British villas.

Painted wall plaster was found only in the bathhouse and the cellar building and a small tessellated floor was laid in the later apodyterium.There was no evidence elsewhere on the site for either painted wall plaster or tessellation. It may be that the buildings in an adjacent field, indicated by the magnetic susceptibility test are, in fact, those of a major structure, with Building 1 its ‘religious’ adjunct, but for the moment opinions differ as to the nature of the latter building.

60

Excavation

61

Wortley Romano-British Site

62

THE FINDS

POTTERY

4 Bodysherd from bowl-form Dr. 37. The figure-stamp is an unusual one, but in spite of the irregular wings on the figure it has been identified by Oswald as a representation of the seated figure of Cupid. He notes that the stamp was mainly used by Doeccus, working at Lezoux between 160200 AD. (Oswald, 1936-7, Plate XXII no.445). (224)

The number shown in brackets after each item is the original drawing number as used in the Interim Reports and marked on the pottery itself. SAMIAN WARE

5 Bodysherd from bowl-form Dr. 37. It shows part of a decorative winding scroll containing large leaves and a distinctive, well-defined backward- looking bird. This feature, together with the small leaf-tip motif at the lower edge, are details which are paralleled on bowl sherds bearing the cursive signature of the potter Criciro, although several other potters at Lezoux also used the winding scroll/leaf decoration c. AD140-180. (Stanfield & Simpson, 1958, 210-1, Plate 118 no.14). (318)

Decorated Samian 1 Bodysherd from bowl-form Dr. 37. The central panel shows the figure of Pan, with a horned head and cloven feet, holding his pipes. On his left is part of a motif depicting two women gossiping, while on his right is part of a man holding either a pot or a bag behind his back. The figure stamp of Pan is identical with one used by Paternus, Iustus and other potters at Lezoux in Central Gaul c.AD 150190. The two other stamps were also in use at the same time (Oswald, 1936-7, Plate XLVII nos. 970 & 970A, and Stanfield & Simpson, 1958, 194, & Plate 104). (96)

6 Small bodysherd with part of a leaf decoration. It probably comes from a Lezoux vessel. (3) 7 Bodysherd from bowl-form Dr. 37. This shows the front half of a pantheress as though leaping from an acanthus leaf. It is in the style of Attianus, who was working at Lezoux between AD130-160 AD. (57)

2 Bodysherd from bowl-form Dr. 37.The headless figure is recognizable as one shown on a pottery stamp representing the goddess Minerva. When complete this figure has a helmeted head and carries a round shield in her left hand. Similar figure-stamps were used at Lezoux and also at Rheinzabern in Eastern Gaul. However, the Lezoux stamp has a rather rudimentary foot-shape, while the foot on the Rheinzabern stamp has quite well defined toes, as on this sherd. This fact, together with the orangecoloured fabric which, unlike the Lezoux fabric, has no visible mica, indicates that this bowl was made by the Rheinzabern potters, several of whom are known to have used such a stamp in the Antonine period c. AD 145-200 (Oswald, 1936-7, Plate VIII no.127). (123)

8 Bodysherd from bowl-form Dr. 37. It has a ‘trifid motif with scrollery’ decoration in sharp relief which is in the style of Sacer who was working at Lezoux between AD125-150. (58) 9 Bodysherd from bowl-form Dr. 30. The known design is in the style of Criciro and dated to c. AD136-165. (59) Our thanks are due to Joanna Bird for identifying Samian sherds nos. 7, 8 and 9. Samian Cups and Bowls

The above sherd was useful for indicating a terminus post quem for the backfill of drain F141 within which it was found.

10 Rimsherd from the cup-form Dr. 27. The delicate fabric and high-gloss finish are characteristic of the earlier examples of this cup-form. (23)

3 Bodysherd from bowl-form Dr. 30. The seahorse depicted here is accompanied by a motif which can be recognized as part of a figure stamp representing the merman demigod Triton (curiously with two tails as his lower limbs) as the outline sketch added to the drawing shows. The two motifs were used together on bowls by several Lezoux potters working in the later second century, but the detail on the Triton stamp, as well as the design style, perhaps reflect the work of Iustus who was active from AD 150180. (Oswald, 1936-7, Plate II nos. 33 & 37). Parts of two rivet holes, one on either side of the sherd, show that the life of the bowl had been extended by lead clamp repairs. (223)

11 Basesherd from a second Dr. 27 cup. It shows the same early characteristics as no. 10 above. In this case the initial letter of its central base-stamp has survived and, as this is a ligatured ‘PE’, it seems likely that this represents a potter called Peculiaris, whose name stamp with this ligature is found on cups of Dr. 27 form and other vessels on the Antonine Wall and elsewhere in that region dated to c. AD150-170 (Hartley, 1972, 51-2). They are also known at Cirencester (Dickinson, 1986, 157). (126)

63

Wortley Romano-British Site 12 Rim- and joining base-sherds from cup-form Dr. 33. This conical cup sherd retains the letter ‘O’ from its central base-stamp (the rest is missing) indicating that ‘OF’, short for officina or workshop, may have preceded the name on this stamp. A likely date for the cup is the second century at which time Dr. 33 cups were beginning to replace the earlier cup-form Dr. 27. (24)

the cups above, it is interesting to find that Peculiaris of Lezoux (see Dr. 27 above) is known to have produced this type of bowl. (Hartley, 1972, 51). (127) 16 Rimsherd from dish-form Dr. 18. It dates to the mid to late first century. (37) 17 Rim and basesherds from a plain bowl-form Dr. 31.The pronounced ‘kick’ in the centre is typical of this popular form but we can only guess at its function. Some indication of the long-lasting quality of Samian ware is apparent here since, while it was potted c.AD125+, the context in which it was found was the backfill of the cellar, a deposit of late fourth to early fifth century AD. (319)

13 Basesherd from cup-form Dr. 33.This one retains the ending of a name ‘ACUS’ on its central base- stamp. It is possibly part of the name Pottacus which has been noted on Dr.33 cups found at London, Cirencester, Leicester and elsewhere (Oswald, 1931, 245). (124) 14 Basesherd from a third Dr. 27 cup. However in this case the walls of the pot are thicker and the glaze duller than examples nos.10 and 11 above. These features may indicate that it was a later version of the Dr.27 cup. The inner base retains part of a name ‘ARIS’ within a circular stamp. This is an unusual name-ending and once again the most likely potter seems to be Lezoux’s Peculiaris, already evidenced at no.11 above. (125)

18 Basesherd from bowl-form Dr. 31/R, (R = rouletted). Again the pronounced ‘kick’ characteristic of this form is seen, with the addition of a rouletted circle decorating the inner floor of the bowl, another feature commonly found on this form. Date may be c. AD120. (21) 19 Rim and basesherd from mortarium form Drag 45. It has milky-white trituration grits added to its inner surface, but the appliqúe animal-mask spout, usually part of this mortarium form, is missing here. AD170+. (38)

15 Rimsherd of small bowl-form Dr. 80. This is a less well-known Samian form but, in view of the stamps on

64

The Finds

Fig. 1 Samian ware 65

Wortley Romano-British Site The fact that this rusticated sherd was probably made by army potters is a further sign pointing to legionaries at Wortley, and its restricted date-range of c. AD 50100 supports the postulated early date for the first occupation of the site.

EARLY FINEWARES 20 Hofheim-type flagon rim. The buff-coloured smooth fabric has a soapy feel and a reduced grey core. It contains sparse quartz sand with occasional calcareous and iron ore inclusions. Thus it appears to be identical with Kingsholm flagon fabric TF24, as listed in the Gloucester Museum Excavation Unit’s Type Fabric series. The Hofheim flagon form is so-called from the mid first-century kiln site in Holland which first produced it and is generally associated with the Roman army. A number of these flagons were found in first-century contexts when excavating the Second Legion’s early base at Kingsholm, the military site which preceded its fortress at Gloucester. They are thought to reflect the work of potters who arrived with the army and set up kilns there, since kiln wasters were found, one of which was a Hofheim flagon rim (Darling, 1985, 68, 78, 80, Fig. 24 nos. 1-7). Although a larger version is present in an early Roman ditch at Cirencester, the Hofheim flagon form has not been found at the main Gloucester fortress site, which was constructed c. AD 66/7, after which time the Kingsholm site was abandoned. (Hurst, 1985, 122-3). Elsewhere it has been noted that Hofheim flagons are wellknown from military sites c. AD43-70, but that they made no impact on civilian markets. (de la B́edoyère, 2000, 456) (317)

22 Mica-dusted flagon. The interesting flagon reconstructed here is obviously a pottery copy of a quite elaborate, first-century bronze flagon form of the type shown by the arrowed drawing next to it (after Wheeler, 1930, 116, Plate LIIB). Such flagons are known from as far afield as Pompeii (Tassinari, 1993, e.g. photographs CIX nos. 2 & 4 are two example from a number), while others have been found elsewhere on the continent. It can be seen that the ceramic body of the Wortley flagon has been carefully shaped to follow the bronze original, even to imitating the join where the slender neck was added to the bulbous body (despite the fact that the pottery copy itself would have been made in one piece) as well as the addition of the decorated handle-attachment. Clearly, the yellow mica slip-coating was intended to imitate the bronze metal surface of the prototype. Although the facemask (perhaps of a satyr) on the Wortley flagon was not produced from a mould but shaped by hand and so far no parallels to this feature have been found, the face-mask here is significant, as well as the deeply grooved base, since the latter is a feature which appears, not only on flagons from Pompeii but also on other first/early second-century bronze metalwork. Adding grooves to bases in this way, on bronze as well as on pottery vessels, would have required a separate lathe-turning operation. It has been shown that bronze flagons with this feature are restricted to the early years of the Empire (Brown, 1976, 35-6 & Fig. 9).

Our thanks are due to Paul Booth (Oxford Archaeological Unit) for help in identifying this rimsherd. Since the above Hofheim flagon rimsherd seems to be linked directly to legionary potters working at Kingsholm its appearance at Wortley must be seen as important evidence for some legionary presence here. Furthermore it implies that the first Roman builders were on site at Wortley before c. AD 66/7, since after this date the Kingsholm kilns ceased production as the fort was abandoned and the legionaries there moved away to their new site at Gloucester.

Mica-dusted pottery copies of this bronze flagon form were first made in the Rhineland and are particularly common on the continent in the late first and early second century. Examples from Mainz and Holduern have appliqués at the junction of the body and handle and a mould was found for their production at the latter site (Marsh, 1978, 139-40). Evidently the Wortley flagon was aiming to follow the bronze form even as far as the decorated handle-attachment, although in this case the face-mask was hand-shaped. In Britain, while moulds for pottery appliqués have been found at the legionary bases of Holt and Caerleon, they have not been found in London where, as noted below, the early second-century production of similar flagons do not have decorated handle-attachments. The London micadusted pottery flagons have been classified by Marsh into five flagon forms and the Wortley flagon is similar to Type 3 of Marsh’s classification. He notes that all five of his mica-dusted flagon type forms from London are significant in relation to religious practice (Marsh, 1978, 137) but that the London production does not seem to have had a widespread distribution outside the London area (Marsh, 1978, 122). In addition, it can be seen that the London pottery flagons have plain strap handles rather than decorated ones and lack the grooved bases found on the bronze prototypes. For these

21 Rusticated sherd. The rimsherd is part of a grey jar which was wheel-made in a fine sandy fabric and wheel-burnished over the rim and shoulder as far as the single scored line separating the burnished area from the rusticated surface below. Rustication is the name given to a surface finish popular with Roman army potters whereby a very thick slip was worked up to give a distinctive rough-textured finish. Most rusticated ware is found in military contexts (Thomson, 1958, 24-36) and its date range is restricted to c. AD 50-100 possibly due to the fact that the Roman military apparently took the decision, c.AD100-120, to close down army pottery production, and use, as a major supplier, a native Dorset industry which was already producing black-burnished ware locally. For this particular rimsherd there is further interest in the fact that, when it was found discarded in one of the cellar channels, its inner face still retained traces of two pigments, indicating that the jar, when complete, had probably been used in wall-painting. A fill of red pigment had left its mark on the inner surface, together with a green fill to a slightly lower level. (348) 66

The Finds reasons it seems unlikely that the Wortley flagon was made in London. Neither does it seem likely that it was made in Gloucester where two kilns, dated by Rawes to c. AD 80-110, did produce mica-dusted ware, but their output does not appear to have included flagons (Rawes, 1972, 18-59). In contrast, Kevin Greene has noted that unusual pottery has been found on several frontier fortresses occupied by Roman legions from Britain to the Danube, revealing an interesting episode in military pottery production between the years c. AD70 and 120 and giving rise to the term ‘legionary wares’. Such pottery is very impressive and includes finely made tableware frequently imitating the shapes of vessels normally made of glass or metal, with forms closely comparable to those made in Italy itself and perhaps produced to solve temporary difficulties in the supply of these items (Greene, 1992, 13). Wherever the flagon was made, it is plain that a good deal of trouble was taken in its making, and likely that this was because, alongside its bronze counterpart, it was intended for ritual use as a libation jug. Evidence that this was the case stems from the fact that flagon and patera sets were frequently carved onto the sides of sacrificial stone altars set up by the legions in Britain. Over eighty such carvings in various combinations together with axes, knives etc. have been recorded (Collingwood & Wright, 1995 passim). A local example of a stone altar with just such a carving, and probably associated with Legio II Augusta, was found at Sea Mills (Abonae) (Henig 1987, 65-6). Also excavated at Sea Mills was a copper alloy jug or flagon of exactly the same form as the one on which the Wortley pottery flagon is based. It must surely have been intended for use on the sacrificial altar at the former (Ellis, 1987, 55, Fig. 25). Because it is clear that the Wortley pottery flagon was a careful copy of a known first-century bronze form which would have required a high degree of skill to produce and as such falls into the category of ‘legionary ware’, it is again important evidence for a legionary link to Wortley. For the dating evidence provided by the three items, nos.20, 21 and 22 described above, see the introductory paragraph to Phase 1.

this drain was narrow and quite shallow, it would seem that this rather special item, which completely filled the channel, must have been deliberately placed there before backfilling. Perhaps at the same time (and as part of the ritual?) the beaker was broken also deliberately, since a joining rim fragment was found some distance away but within the same drain. It has been suggested that the vessel may have held a liquid libation and was placed there as a ‘rite of termination’ when it went out of use, see Phase 3, F347. (For similar rituals see Merrifield, 1987, 48-50) 25 Small necked bowl. The reduced fabric contains some fine sand and mica and the bowl has been wheel-made and wheel-burnished over a dark-grey slip-coating. There is a single incised line around its girth. The form derives from a Gallo-Belgic necked jar which, like no.24 above, probably belongs to the late first century, although, unlike the biconical beaker, this particular form remained popular throughout the Roman period (Young, 1977, 219-220, Type R38). It should be noted that a large part of the vessel survived in one piece and was found in the backfill of the much larger drain F141. (141) The possibility must remain that this bowl, just as the Gallo-Belgic biconical beaker no.24 above, was deliberately placed in the drain channel before it was backfilled, as part of a ‘rite of termination’ see Phase 2, F141. 26 Small necked bowl. The reduced fabric is very soft with a burnished dark-grey finish and a single girth-groove. It is of similar Gallo-Belgic form to the one above (Young, 1977, 219-220, Type R38). (226) 27 Wheel-made in a fine grey ware with a smooth greyblack outer surface, this item has been drawn as a pedestal base. Equally, however, it may be part of a lid and if this is the case then it could be suggested that it was used as a lid for a bowl similar to no.26 above. (233) 28 Rim from a ring-necked flagon. It is wheel-made in an orange quartz-free fabric with white colour-coat which is likely to be Gloucester TF7.This type of rim is commonly found on flagons there dating from the late first to second century. (344)

23 Rim and bodysherd from a small Jar in fine sandy fabric. The outer surface has a burnished glossy dark-grey finish and it may come from a similar Gallo-Belgic type beaker to the one below. (131)

29 A second ring-necked flagon rim. It is of the same type as no. 28 above. (64)

24 Biconical beaker is of Gallo-Belgic type. It has been wheel-made in a fine grey, reduced fabric and has a sharp carination at its girth. The polished grey/black outer surface has two rouletted bands on the shoulder. The type, dating to the first century, was discontinued by the first quarter of the second century (Pollard, 1988, 83). (196)

30 Single-handled ring-necked flagon. The hard orange fabric has a slip-coating which may once have been cream but is now dark-buff in colour. It may be Gloucester TF 15a, found at Kingscote (Timby, 1998, 252-3 ) in second and third century contexts. The source is suggested to be somewhere in the south-west region. It is also found at Uley, Frocester and Cirencester. (227)

The above beaker is of particular interest, not only because of its early date, but also because most of the beaker was found standing upright in one piece within Drain F347. It consisted of the complete base attached to a large part of the body and rim. Because

31 Neck from a flagon. It is wheel-made in orange sandy fabric with a white slip-coating and is probably again

67

Wortley Romano-British Site Gloucester TF 15a as no. 30 above. (26)

as it had arrived. Then, for some unknown reason it was abandoned unused. Its excavators gave a date range of AD180-220 for its deposition in London. (285)

32 Part of a single-handled flagon. The hard orange fabric has few inclusions and is reduced in the core. The external white slip-coating has been burnished vertically. Again this is probably Gloucester TF 15a. (324)

36 Pedestal base from a two-handled cup. The form is the same as no. 35 above, although apparently it is not part of the same vessel. AD180-220. (286)

33 Base from a flagon. The fabric is probably Gloucester TF 7 as no. 28 above. (65)

37 Large globular beaker. It is near-complete, and made in a fine red-grey fabric with a dark grey polished colour-coat with two rows of rouletted decoration. The term ‘Rhenish’ is a commonly used misnomer for this type of ware as the main source was not the Rhineland but Trier on the river Moselle. Trier products are usually dated AD180-250 when found in Britain. (288)

34 Flagon base in a hard orange fabric with a white colour-coat, this is likely to be Gloucester TF7 as no. 28 above. (131) 35 Rimsherd from a two-handled cup. It is decorated en barbotine with a standardized ‘ivy scroll’ pattern beneath a lustrous black colour-coat. Although the handles are now missing, the form is clearly recognizable as part of a twohandled cup which would have had a pedestal base like no.36 below. Such two-handled cups are of a type made at Lezoux in Central Gaul alongside Samian Wares and imported with them into Britain. They are fairly rare finds in this country but a number were found in excavations at New Fresh Wharf in London (Richardson, 1986, 115) when a large consignment of imported pottery, consisting of Samian and other fine ware, was found still stacked

38 Indented beaker. It has a fine red fabric with a grey core and a lustrous metallic grey colour-coat. There are three separate bands of rouletting around the body. This is another ‘Rhenish’ product from Trier. (222) 39 Small indented beaker. It is made in a fine grey fabric with a lustrous metallic grey colour-coat and rouletted decoration above and below the indents. Again this is a ‘Rhenish’ product from Trier. (287)

68

The Finds

Samian ware (cont.)

Fig. 2 Early fine wares 69

Wortley Romano-British Site

Fig. 3 Early fine wares (cont.) 70

The Finds MORTARIA

WHITE WARE AND WHITE COLOUR-COATED WARE

40 Large mortarium. The fabric is hard and pinkish-buff in colour with the occasional red or black inclusion. There are pink/black trituration grits. Its source is unknown. (230)

48 Flagon rimsherd. The sandy pinkish fabric is not recognized at Oxford and may perhaps have come from the Verulamium region but this is by no means certain. (343)

41 Spout and rim from a mortarium. As the flange is missing, the form is uncertain. The fabric is unusual, having cream surfaces and a pink core. It may possibly be Glos. TF9C having a source somewhere in south-east England or it may have arrived with the army from northern Gaul in the second half of the first century. (41).

50 Reconstructed jar. The fine hard orange fabric with few inclusions has some reduction in the core. The overall white/buff colour-coat has been burnished over the rim and neck, and there is a burnished diagonal-line decoration to the shoulder. This may be Glos.TF15a (south-west white slipware) dating to the late second/early third century. (325)

42 Rim fragment from large mortarium. The very hardfired, fine, buff-coloured fabric has a smooth fracture showing several voids which had originally held inclusions. There is some grey smoke-staining over the rim. The source is unknown. (347)

52 Reconstructed white ware flagon. It has a disc-rim and one handle. The form may be Oxford Young Type W18. AD240-300. (61)

43 Mortarium. The hard-fired sandy fabric has a grey core with orange margins and a buff colour-coated surface. The trituration grits are red and grey. This may be Oxford white colour-coated ware, Young Type WC7, c. AD 240-400+. (291)

53 White ware handle. It comes from a similar flagon to no. 52. AD240-300. (2) 54 Barrel-shaped vessel. Made in parchment-type ware, it has bands of red paint around the body. Found in two pieces, it has been drawn here as a small lidded box as a few of these are known at Oxford, although none seem to have had handles. On the other hand, its form may have been similar to one found at Caerleon where, although not made in the same fabric, the vessel is a complete, onepiece barrel shape having the top slightly countersunk and pierced by two holes, one on either side of a central looped handle, very much like the Wortley vessel. The Caerleon pot has been interpreted as a costrel, so perhaps the Wortley example, rather than a lidded box, was originally a traveller’s drinking bottle, meant to be slung from the waist. (220)

44 Mortarium. The hard cream/buff-coloured fabric is not recognized as an Oxford product but, as the fabric contains some oolitic limestone, it is likely to have been produced somewhere within the Cotswold area. (229) 45 Mortarium. The fabric is hard, white and sandy and there are translucent trituration grits. The form suggests it is an Oxford product, Young Type M17 AD 240-300. (346) 46 Small mortarium. The hard, white sandy fabric contains the occasional black or red inclusion. It is wheel made, but there is no sign that it was ever gritted internally. It is probably Oxford Young Type M20/22 dating to the third or fourth century. (1)

55 Parchment-ware bodysherd. It has a decoration of red barbotine dots on its light buff background. Source uncertain. (129)

47 Mortarium.The pink/buff fabric tempered with very fine sand is possibly Glos.TF9L whose source is unknown. The trituration grits here are made up of sparse quartz mixed with many red angular fragments which may be crushed tile. Although this is not an Oxford fabric, the fact that the form is similar to their Type M18 may indicate a date c. AD 240-300. (290)

71

Fig. 4 Mortaria

Wortley Romano-British Site

72

The Finds

Fig. 5 White ware and white colour-coated ware

73

Wortley Romano-British Site 59 Pentice-type beaker. It has a fine orange-red fabric and rouletted decoration with patches of a dark-grey colourcoat. Again this is likely to be a Nene Valley product as above. (164)

COLOUR-COATED WARES 49 Bodysherd from a poppy-head beaker. The fine grey fabric has a panel of barbotine dot decoration beneath a dark-grey colour-coat. Such beakers were following a Gallo-Belgic tradition which was current in southern England from c. AD80-100. (128)

60 Neck and shoulder of a pentice-type beaker as the one above. The fine orange-grey fabric and rouletted decoration have a dark-grey/black colour-coat with a slightly lustrous finish. (63)

51 Bodysherd from a beaker. It is wheel-made in a fine, buff-coloured fabric and has a dark slip-coating which has been wheel-burnished to a shiny black finish. There is a single rouletted band around the body. Perhaps a local copy of a Gallo-Belgic form. (142)

61 Base of a small-footed beaker. This is of similar form to the pentice beakers shown here. It has a red sandy fabric and a dark-grey worn colour-coat. (64) 62 Globular beaker. It is made in a hard orange fabric with a raised cordon around the shoulder under the darkbrown burnished colour-coat. Both fabric and colour-coat are similar to the pentice beakers shown here and it may have come from the same source (323)

Apart from no.63 which may be from Oxford, the colourcoated wares listed below may all have come from the Nene Valley kilns, which were active from AD300-400, see Howe, Perrin and Mackreth, 1980. 56 Pentice-type beaker. It has a near-vertical neck and globular body and is wheelmade in a hard orange fabric and finished with rouletted decoration beneath a darkbrown matt colour-coat. The beaker is similar in form to Oxford’s C23 but the fabric is not recognized there and this example is probably from the Nene Valley (see Types 55-57 with a fourth century date) classified at Gloucester as TF12B. (322)

63 Rim and flanged-neck sherd. The sherd is part of a one-handled flagon made in a hard red fabric with a brown colour-coat. This is likely to be part of an Oxford flagon, Young Type C8, the most common of their flagon forms and made throughout the period AD240-400+ (321) 64 Two sherds drawn here represent several which remain from a Nene Valley Hunt cup. The fabric is light buff with a dull dark-grey colour-coat covering the barbotine decoration. The smaller of the two sherds shows two of the stag’s legs while the larger one depicts part of its head. Such cups were mainly produced in the first half of the third century. (97)

57 Pentice-type beaker. It has a hard red fabric with grey core and rouletted decoration under a lustrous metallicgrey colour-coat. It is wheel made and belongs within the same range of forms as no.56 above. Probably again a Nene Valley product. (221) 58 Pentice-type beaker. It has a smooth orange fabric with some reduction in the core and the outer surface is burnished and decorated with rouletting. Although its form is similar to those listed for no.56 above, the beaker does not appear to have been colour-coated. (340)

65 Decorated bodysherd. It has a reddish-orange fabric with a slightly lustrous black colour coat over which there is a white, barbotine, slip-trailed scroll and solid-circle decoration. Typical of a globular beaker from the Nene Valley (see Types 48-49) with a suggested third century date. (60)

74

The Finds

Fig. 6 Colour-coated wares 75

Wortley Romano-British Site IMITATION SAMIAN WARE

colour-coat does not extend below the flange, where the outer surface remains untreated. Moreover, the impressed decoration on the outer edge of the flange is a feature which does not seem to be paralleled on any of the Oxford series of colour-coated wares and the source for this bowl may lie elsewhere, possibly at a Severn Valley kiln. (292)

It is likely that most of the imitation Samian ware came from the Oxford kilns, and Young’s classification and dating have been quoted for the examples below. (Young, 1977, 123-181) 66 Rimsherd from a shallow bowl. The hard, red fabric has a grey core and a smooth red colour-coat. The bowl with its bead rim is a copy of Samian form Drag. 31, Oxford Type C45, dating to AD 270-400+. (25)

71 Shallow bowl. It has a coarse, sandy oxidized fabric and the surfaces are smoothed rather than burnished. It is a copy of bowl form Drag. 31, Oxford Type C45 even as far as having the addition of a maker’s stamp on the centre internally. However, the stamp is illiterate, like the two others shown here and almost all the others found at Oxford, where the use of such stamps seems to be confined to the years AD270-300. (299)

67 Rim- and body-sherd from a flanged bowl. The fabric is similar to the bowl above, but the colour-coated surface is well-worn and now dull. The form is a copy of Samian form Drag.38, Oxford Type C51.6, dating to AD240-400+. (197)

72 Footring from a shallow bowl. It comes from a copy of bowl form Drag. 31, Oxford Type C45 with a central illiterate stamp which is complete. AD270-300. (218)

68 Rimsherd from a flanged bowl. Again this is a copy of bowl form Drag. 38, but here the flange has a distinctive white slip decoration. With this decoration the form is identical to Oxford Type C52.4. Young has noted that such bowls are rare before AD 350 but that they become increasingly common in the later fourth century with production possibly continuing into the fifth century (Young, 1977, 161). (198)

73 Footring from a shallow bowl. It is part of a bowl of form Drag. 31, Oxford Type C45 and retains the slight central ‘kick-up’ where part of an illiterate stamp remains. In this case the stamp appears to be identical with one at Oxford where two other examples have also been found. (Young 1977, 179-180 Fig. 69 no. 40). AD270-300. (342)

The presence of this flanged bowl in layer 700, which is a Phase 6 context dating to c. AD410+, may add some support to the case for the continuation into the fifth century of the Romano-British occupation at Wortley.

74 Rimsherd from a flanged bowl. It is a copy of form Drag.38, Oxford Type C51, dating to AD240-400+. (293) 75 Sherds from a flanged bowl. The bowl is similar to no.74 above, but in this case both the footring and flange appear to have been trimmed off for some secondary use. (320)

69 Rim and bodysherds from a shallow bowl. This is a copy of bowl form Drag. 31R, Oxford Type C45, but the rouletted line on the inner surface is only sketchily executed. (219)

76 Neck, shoulder and handle from a red colour-coated flagon. This may be an Oxford type C8 flagon with a date range of AD240-400+ (344)

70 Rim and bodysherd from a flanged bowl. Again this is a copy of form Drag. 38 but the burnished red/brown

76

The Finds

Fig. 7 Imitation Samian ware

77

Wortley Romano-British Site 80 Jar. The obtuse-angled lattice decoration indicates a date in the mid to late third century. (161)

BLACK-BURNISHED WARE FROM DORSET When the Romans arrived in Britain, the black-burnished pottery industry from the Poole harbour area of Dorset (now known as BB1) was an existing local industry using traditional methods. It produced handmade forms in a fabric tempered with medium-grained quartz sand which were hand-burnished before being fired in simple reducing bonfire-type kilns. By AD120 it is clear that this native industry was being exploited by the Roman army who expanded the industry and used its wares from this time onwards until their eventual departure some time after AD410.The fabric remained roughly the same throughout the period while the handmade forms and their decoration evolved slowly over time. Although this ware was made using simple techniques, it was clearly very hard-wearing and it soon reached the open market, remaining popular throughout the Roman era as well as giving rise to many imitations. The way the main Dorset BB1 forms evolved can be followed on examples from Wortley as listed below nos.77-86 with its suggested dating from Gillam, 976, 5780.

81 Bowl. The flat-topped rim and acute-angled lattice decoration suggest an early to mid second century date. (134) 82 Dog dish. Although archaeologists have named it thus, to the Romans themselves it was probably seen as an all-purpose vessel, including its use as a lid. This is one example of a large number found at Wortley. Typically it has an incised interlocking arc decoration around the outer wall and a scribbled line beneath the base; some have scribbled lines on both base surfaces. (295). 83 Shallow flanged dish. It is decorated with intersecting arcs on the outer wall and roughly-formed loops on the underside of the base. (349) 84 Handled oval ‘fish’ dish. The fabric is BB1 and the dish probably came from Ower in Dorset, one of the known BB1 kilns. The handmade form was current from the late third century till the industry closed down perhaps some time in the early fifth century. (Woodward, 1987, 89, no.146). See similar fish dishes nos. 100 & 133 below with the comment. (1674)

77 Jar rimsherd. The wavy-line running directly below the everted rim is found on the early form of these Dorset jars. Gillam has noted that this decoration is seldom found on imitations, while on BB1 jars themselves it becomes increasingly rare from the mid second century onwards, disappearing by the end of the century. Date range AD120160. (132)

85 Small BB1 jar. The shallow band of obtuse-angled lattice beneath a scored line is a late feature found on jars of the later third and into the fourth century. (1674) 86 Flanged bowl. The outer surface is decorated with an intersecting arc design. The flanged bowl-form only developed during the mid to late third century, but then slowly evolved with the flange travelling down the outer surface, so that the latest fourth century examples have the lowest flange. This one is early in the sequence, perhaps mid to late third century. (167) (Compare with nos. 96 and 99 below.)

78 Everted-rim jar. The acute-angled lattice decoration found here indicates a date c. AD120-160. (133) 79 Jar. The lattice decoration has evolved as far as being nearly right-angled at the intersections, indicating a date in the late second or early third century. (99)

78

The Finds

Fig. 8 Black-burnished ware from Dorset 79

Wortley Romano-British Site 90 Tankard sherd. As it had a handle (evidenced by a scar) the outer surface has been burnished vertically. (70)

MICACEOUS BLACK-BURNISHED WARE Like similar wares elsewhere, (e.g. BB2 in south-east Britain) this distinctive ware probably developed due to the success of the Dorset BB1 products described above. The BB1 forms were copied by potters using a reduced black or dark grey fabric with a burnished finish. However, although the form and finish of their pots was intended to mirror Dorset BB1, as the pots were wheel made rather than shaped by hand, a much finer fabric was needed. The fine sandy fabric used for this ware is distinctive because it contains a good deal of silvery mica, a visible feature from which it gained the name ‘Micaceous black-burnished ware’ at Wortley. Although the kiln source remains unknown, such wares have been found in some quantity throughout the south-western area, including the Roman sites at Gloucester and Kingscote, both listing it as TF5. Although at Wortley vessels in this ware outnumber those in BB1 by more than three to one and show a wider range of forms and decoration, apparently the basic products of both wares evolved in the same way down the centuries. The following items are representative of the large quantity of this ware which was found.

91 Tankard sherd. The fact that the outer surface is burnished vertically like no. 90 probably indicates that it had a handle. (71) 92 Small unguentarium or ointment jar. Although the same fabric and techniques were used as for the rest of these wares, the treatment here is a good deal finer, suggesting that it came from a workshop which had added some more delicate wares to their usual range of coarse ware products. (40) 93 Rimsherd from a small dish or lid. It is burnished on the outer surface below the rim but, as the inner surface is unburnished, it seems most likely that it is part of a small lid. (68) 94 Small flat-rimmed bowl. The fairly fine micaceous fabric is reduced through the core while the outer surface is partially oxidised revealing dark burnishing lines spaced well apart. In contrast, burnishing to the inner surface is near-complete. (166)

87 Dog dish. It has been incompletely burnished and remains undecorated. (10)

95 Tankard sherd. It is of similar form but slightly larger than nos. 90 and 91 above and again the outer surface is burnished vertically. These three sherds represent a number of tankard sherds found in this fabric but not in BB1. (139)

88 Dog dish. Both the grey inner surface and black outer surface have been smoothed but left unburnished and undecorated. (165)

96 Large flanged bowl. There is a roughly executed intersecting-arc design on the outer wall, but it is only burnished internally. The position of the flange suggests a date ranging from the early to mid 4th century. (170)

89 Flat-rimmed dish. It is grey in colour and burnishing has only been used for the top of the rim and for the carelessly executed cross-line decoration on the outer surface. It possibly dates to the second century. (135)

80

The Finds

Fig. 9 Micaceous black-burnished ware

81

Wortley Romano-British Site 97 Large jar. Rather than the usual lattice, the body has been decorated with an irregular wavy line - a rare feature on this type of jar, although it is found on many blackburnished dishes. (201)

101 Near-complete jar. It is one of a pair, wheel-made and wheel-burnished, but in all other respects they are direct copies of the traditional hand-formed Dorset BB1 jar. (297)

98 Large flanged bowl. It is completely burnished internally and on top of the rim, but the outer surface remains untreated except for the simple burnished parallel line-decoration and a roughly scribbled line under the base. (234)

102 Small jar. It is decorated externally with a single incised girth groove while the burnishing extends just over the rim to the inner surface. Perhaps this is an unguentarium or ointment jar. (296) 103 Handled tankard. The fabric is sandy, micaceous and buff-coloured with a black-burnished finish overall, and vertical burnishing to the outer surface. (351)

99 Small flanged bowl. While burnishing is complete internally and on top of the rim, the outer surface remains untreated except for the intersecting arc decoration. Like no.96 above, it probably dates to the early to mid fourth century. (350)

104 Bodysherd from a corrugated-walled vessel has some burnishing to its outer surface. (64) 105 Open dish/lid. This pot has been drawn as it must have often stood during its lifetime since the ‘footring’ shows clear evidence of wear around its outer edge. Nevertheless, since the grey upper surface (as it is drawn) remains unburnished, while the under surface, including the so-called ‘footring’, is black-burnished, it seems likely that this was a pot lid which was also used as an open dish. This seems to be implied by the shape of the handknob which readily serves as a stable footring. Moreover, a lid-form such as this is paralleled in a number of places elsewhere (Wallace & Webster 1989, 88-91). (162)

100 Handled oval fish dish. This is one of three fish dishes evidenced in this micaceous black-burnished fabric, which are direct copies of the BB1 oval fish dish from Dorset of which no. 84 above is an example. It is notable that a special effort would have been needed to produce these items by hand since the oval form could not be made on the wheel with the rest of the micaceous black-burnished ware. Another oval fish dish seems to be from the Alice Holt kilns, Farnham, Surrey, see no.133 and the comment below. (232)

82

The Finds

Fig. 10 Micaceous black-burnished ware (cont.)

83

Wortley Romano-British Site 109 Large jar. The shoulder is decorated with a single wavy line running around the jar between two wider bands of burnishing. (174)

RITUAL DEPOSIT POT 106 Rim and shoulder from a large micaceous blackburnished jar. There is a band of diagonal cross-line decoration around the shoulder. (328)

110 Large jar. A number of fragments, including a rimsherd, all found in the backfill of the cellar and one of its water channels, enabled the reconstruction of the upper half of a large and well-burnished jar, perhaps of third century date. Moreover, since all the sherds carry residues, among which is a red pigment and a substance which may well be the remains of wall-plaster, they show that it was put to use during wall-decoration. (355)

The deposition of this item has been interpreted as a ritual deposit (see Plate 39). It would seem that the complete rim and shoulder of this large jar, still in one piece, had been placed carefully on the floor of the cellar with other objects as a ‘rite of termination’ immediately before the cellar went out of use and was backfilled. The pressure of the load on top of it had then caused the jar’s shoulder sherds to fracture although the rim itself remained complete. While rites of termination, thought to be associated with water, seem to be evidenced at Wortley at the closure of drains in earlier times, (see no. 25 above, Phase 2, F141 and no.24 above, Phase 3, F347), it is surprising to find a similar ritual being practiced at this much later date. Perhaps it suggests that the importance of the cellar water channels was still in mind, despite the fact that they had been covered in concrete for more than 150 years.

111 Storage jar has a small rim which was, perhaps, intended to hold a lid. Incised lines below the carinated shoulder define a band which has been left unburnished and contains a single wavy line in decoration. (298) 112 Rimsherd from a small jar. It has been burnished over its everted rim and shoulder but otherwise the body has been left untreated. Residues on the inner surface may be the remains of plaster with some overlying red paint. They suggest that the jar was used in wall-painting like no. 110 above. (356) 113 Part of the shoulder of a large jar. The burnishing extends over the neck cordon as far as the decoration which takes the form of two parallel incised lines running around the pot, enclosing an incised, combed wavy-line. (173)

107 Large lid. It is so abraded that little or nothing of its original black-burnished surface treatment remains. (352) 108 Large storage jar. The upright rim may have been intended as a lid seating. The jar is well burnished around the rim and shoulder, and has a band of burnished-line lattice below, while the rest of the jar remains untreated. (138)

84

The Finds

Fig. 11 Micaceous black-burnished ware (cont.)

85

Wortley Romano-British Site 116 Flagon rimsherd. Not recognized at Oxford, the white/ cream fabric with a pinkish-core containing abundant quartz is unusual but may be Glos.TF209, a fabric from the Verulamium region described as a white-cream fabric with a pinkish core containing abundant quartz. Alternatively, as it has a similar fabric to mortarium no. 41 above, it may have a source in central Gaul. (326)

MISCELLANEOUS ROMAN WARES 114 Bodysherds from a jar. The fabric is soft, sandy and micaceous, with multiple incised-line decoration which is probably a rough attempt at lattice. Its patchy grey/black surface suggests it was used for cooking. (67) 115 Two sherds from a black-burnished jar which have been joined together by a lead clamp.Repairs to Samian wares are often found, but it is unusual to find one on a coarse-ware product. (231)

117 Indented beaker. It is made in a hard-fired reduced fabric which is purple-grey in colour and the indented surfaces remain unpolished. It can be identified as New Forest Type 33, having a date range spanning the fourth century, (Fulford, 1975, 52 & Fig.13). (289)

Fig. 12 Miscellaneous Roman wares

86

The Finds GREY WARES

micaceous, the inner surface is unburnished, while the burnishing lines on the outer surface fail to give overall coverage. (73)

Grey wares form the largest group of pottery found at Wortley.They probably come from several sources, mainly unknown at present. The wares are often made in a micaceous sandy fabric and many also have oolitic limestone inclusions, suggesting that they originate somewhere in the Cotswold region. Indeed, some may have come from the same kilns as the micaceous blackburnished ware, Glos. TF5, whose kiln site is unknown, while some were surely made at the local Severn Valleytype kiln at Alkington, active in the mid to late second century. Even so, it is clear that grey ware storage jars of similar forms were produced at a number of sites throughout the Roman period, thus making them unhelpful as a dating tool.

128 Part of a lid. The sandy fabric contains the occasional oolitic inclusion. Both upper and lower surfaces remain unburnished, each being decorated with a roughly scribbled line. (75) 129 Flanged bowl. It is made in a sandy micaceous fabric which is burnished internally and just over the flange externally. Below this there is a casual attempt at an intersecting-arc decoration. (168) 130 Jar base. The sandy micaceous fabric contains the occasional calcareous inclusion. Two small patches of iron-staining, which remain on the outer surface at approximately 120̊ apart, may indicate that the pot had been held in an iron tripod at some time and be connected to the piercing of a hole through the side of the pot, which ultimately led to its fracture. (29)

118 Rimsherd from a large, wide-mouthed, jar. The fabric is sandy with some mica and the occasional oolitic inclusion. The reduced grey core has orange margins but the outer surface is again grey. Possibly from the local Alkington kiln, active in the second century. (45)

131 Shallow dish. The thick, sandy, reduced fabric is nonmicaceous. The roughly-made pot has been left untrimmed although the rim has been shaped and smoothed on a turntable. (137)

119 Bodysherd from large wide-mouthed jar. It is wheel made in a sandy micaceous fabric and decorated with a single groove around the shoulder. (27)

132 Re-used pot base. The fabric contains some limestone and therefore may be a local product. In the first place this small vessel was wheel made and decorated with equallyspaced burnishing lines on its outer surface. At some later stage the pot has been cut down and the upper edge filed smooth so that it could function as a shallow dish or perhaps a lid. (169)

120 Large storage jar. Rim and bodysherds show that it had a neck cordon and a burnished wavy-line decoration around the shoulder. (100) 121 Bodysherd from a large storage jar. The hard, micaceous fabric is decorated with an irregular squiggle line, only lightly incised, above a faint band of burnishing. (102)

133 Handled oval fish dish. The hard sandy fabric is pale grey in section and has dark grey surfaces showing sparse silver mica. The dish, although unburnished, is otherwise a copy of the BB1 form as no. 84 above, and the fabric seems to be identical with fabric from the Alice Holt kilns at Farnham, apparently active into the early fifth century (Millett,1979, 133).

122 Rim and bodysherds from a large jar. The fabric is hard and micaceous and the shape of the rim has become distorted in firing. There is some burnishing on the rim and shoulder. This type of storage jar was produced at a number of centres throughout the Roman period. (160) 123 Small jar. It is wheel made in a hard, micaceous grey fabric. Although unburnished, it is a clear copy of the traditional BB1 form of the late second century. (175)

Handled oval fish dishes are confined to south-west Britain, though even here the form is relatively rare. The BB1 oval fish dish, as no. 84 above, must be the prototype on which those made at other kilns were based, since the oval form had to be handmade as was traditional at the BB1 kilns but unusual elsewhere, even when copying other BBl forms. The fact that these oval fish dishes were found in the cellar backfill but not elsewhere on site, allows that some of them were still being made as late as the early fifth century before work at the potteries eventually ended. It is suggested that Dorset BB1 industry lasted until c. AD420 (Bidwell and Holbrook, 1984, 113).There is a similar end date for the kilns at Farnham as noted for no. 133 above.

124 Bodysherds from a jar. The micaceous sandy fabric has oolitic inclusions.It is wheel made but unburnished and its dark grey exterior surface has been faintly scored with an acute-angled line decoration, thus suggesting a second century date. (7) 125 Very large wide-mouthed jar. It is wheel made in a sandy grey micaceous ware with burnishing to the rim, neck and shoulder. (171) 126 Knob from a lid. The micaceous sandy fabric has oolitic inclusions and the top of the knob is dished. (74) 127

134 Shallow bowl. The fabric is the same as no. 133 above and the flat-topped bowl is likely to be another product

Rimsherd from a lid. The fine sandy fabric is

87

Wortley Romano-British Site 138 Bead-rimmed jar. The fabric is soft, sandy and micaceous. The jar is burnished around the rim and base and the body surface in between is decorated with acuteangled lattice. (101)

from the Alice Holt kilns at Farnham. (72) 135 Rimsherd from a large Jar. It is wheel made in a hard sandy fabric containing oolitic limestone and sparse silvermica flakes and the inner rim is burnished. The jar form, with its three ridged carinations, is unusual and so far parallels for this form have not been found. (353)

139 Tankard base. The fabric is hard and sandy, with sparse oolite and mica. The wheel made vessel retains a handle scar but remains unburnished. (140)

136 Rimsherd from large jar. It is wheel made in the same fabric as no.135 and while the rim is smaller, its ridged carinations are similar, making it likely that it came from the same source.

140 Small Jar. The fabric is sandy with sparse mica and many oolitic inclusions, some of which have leached out. It probably came from the second century Alkington kiln site at Lower Wick. (103)

137 Flat-topped bowl. It has been wheel made in a fine sandy fabric containing some sparse silver mica and oolite. The faint acute-angled lattice decoration suggests a possible mid to late second century date. (44)

88

The Finds

Fig. 13 Grey wares

89

Wortley Romano-British Site

Fig. 14 Grey wares (cont.)

90

The Finds 147 Globular bowl. The sandy orange fabric is very micaceous and has a grey core. The outer surface has been burnished overall except for a small band around the girth which has been left plain, perhaps for decoration, although none is now apparent. (327)

SEVERN VALLEY WARE Severn Valley ware is the term used to cover RomanoBritish coarse pottery of a type found mostly in the southwest of England and thought to have been produced at a number of kilns, all using similar techniques and centred on Gloucester and the Severn valley areas, although few of these kiln sites have as yet been located. However, one known kiln site has been excavated. This is the secondcentury Alkington kiln site at Lower Wick, just a short distance away from Wortley, which has already been mentioned above for producing Grey wares. There must surely have been items from this kiln amongst the Severn Valley vessels listed below although it is difficult to distinguish one Severn Valley kiln product from another. Nevertheless, another kiln’s ware does appear to be evidenced in the fabric known at Gloucester as TF11D, a vesicular form of Severn Valley ware only found in early contexts but which seems to be apparent at Wortley in nos. 143, 146 and possibly 145 below.

The fact that Jars no.143, 146 and possibly 145 are made in the early vesicular Severn Valley kiln fabric Glos.TF 11D, which is mainly confined to military contexts at Usk and Kingsholm, Glos. may lend further support to the evidence already provided by the Hofheim flagon rim and other early pottery for the presence of legionaries at Wortley in the second half of the first century. 148 Small jar with reeded rim. The fabric contains some fine sand and the occasional oolitic inclusion. It has oxidised orange surfaces with a grey core. (5) 149 Bowl rimsherd. It is made in a fine smooth orange fabric with a reduced grey core. The white-painted decoration on the rim is similar to that shown at no. 68 from Oxford above, which is a late colour-coated copy of an earlier Samian form. There is no colour-coat here, but the Severn Valley potter was probably copying the same Samian Drag. 36 form. (98)

142 Rimsherd from a jar. The sandy fabric contains oolitic limestone and occasional mica. It has an oxidised orange surface and a reduced grey core. Possibly Glos.TF11B. (43) 143 Very large jar. The fairly hard oxidised orange fabric has a grey core. The outer surface shows some burnishing and there is a band of wavy-line decoration around the shoulder. The fabric has oolitic limestone inclusions, and perhaps some of charcoal, many of which have leached or burned out leaving vesicular surfaces, a feature noticed on some early examples of this ware found at Usk and Kingsholm (Webster, 1976, 18 and footnote).This seems to be the early Severn Valley fabric known as Glos.TF11D (Timby, 1990, 243-51). (144 & 105)

150 Tankard rimsherd. It is wheel made in a hard orange/red fabric with few inclusions. There is horizontal burnishing on the outer surface which is otherwise undecorated. (104) 151 Handled tankard. It is handmade in an orange/buff charcoal-tempered fabric, possibly Glos. TF17 described as a Severn Valley variant, and latticed in imitation of BB1. (145) 152 Rim and flanged neck from a small flagon. It is made in a fine fabric with the occasional oolitic inclusion and retains part of the attachment for a small handle. (200)

144 Very large jar. This unusual jar was reconstructed from sherds from several seasons’ work and several different layers. The hard oxidised fabric contains fine micaceous sand. The plain outer surface contrasts with the inner one, which is roughly scored with diagonal lines. The reason for this treatment is unknown. (228)

153 Rimsherd from a ring-necked two-handled flagon. The hard orange fabric is reduced to grey in the core and has the occasional oolitic inclusion. (345) 154 Tettina. Wheel made in a hard, smooth fabric which may be Severn valley ware, perhaps this is a child’s feeding bottle or an oil lamp filler. (39)

145 Large jar. The orange fabric with grey core contains frequent oolitic limestone inclusions along with other grits, iron and mica. It is slightly vesicular and may be a fine version of the early fabric TF11D.The form is typical of the Severn Valley ware storage jar, having a neck cordon and is decorated on the shoulder with a wavy line running between two grooves. (66)

155 Pot base. The fabric is orange/brown, hard and micaceous with a reduced grey core.(42) 156 Base of flagon or jar. The fabric is sandy and oxidized. This pot is interesting because it can be seen that its upper broken edge has been shaped and filed smooth to allow for its re-use as an open dish. (136)

146 Narrow-necked jar. The jar is finely potted in a hard dark orange fabric with reduced grey core. It has vesicular surfaces and around the shoulder there is a lightly scored decoration of alternating groups of diagonal lines confined within a band. This again is likely to be Glos. TF11D. A parallel form is shown by Darling, 1985, Fig.31 no.212, 83. (225)

157 Handled tankard. It is wheel made in a hard, orange/ red fabric with few inclusions. There is some horizontal burnishing between the rim and the two incised grooves, with lattice decoration below this produced by the same

91

Wortley Romano-British Site burnishing tool. It seems very likely that this tankard came from the local kiln at Alkington, noted by Webster to have been making tankards of this same form and decoration. (Webster, 1976, 50-1) (143)

the addition of such an inscription to the footring is very unusual. It may be one potter’s attempt to copy the namestamps found on some Samian ware. Perhaps it reads ...B FECI(T) where B is the last letter of the potter’s name with the Latin for ‘made it’. If this is the case the well-formed letters suggest that the potter was to some extent literate. This is surprising considering that it was clearly not the case with the Oxford potters whose attempts to copy the same stamps were illiterate (for example see no.71 above). It would seem likely that this was an individual Severn Valley potter’s one-off product. (294)

158 Pedestal footring. The fine, brick-red fabric is decorated around the top of the footring with an incised, continuous, zigzag line and scrolls. (A fragment of the rim with the same decoration is present but not illustrated). Underneath the base there is also an incised zigzag line. The form of the rest of the pot is unknown. It must be said that

92

The Finds

Fig. 15 Severn valley wares

93

Wortley Romano-British Site

Fig. 16 Severn valley wares (cont.)

94

Fig. 17 Amphorae

The Finds

95

Wortley Romano-British Site AMPHORAE

it was intended to read ER-IACIF, an inscription which possibly stands for the estate of an entrepreneur called Eros working at a place called Jaix. (46)

159 Amphora rim. It has a wide mouth and is similar to amphora form Cam 186 found at Camulodunum (Colchester). The form was used for importing fish sauce from southern Spain up until the early second century. (Tyers,1996, 98-9). (106)

SHELLY WARE The following three examples of shell-tempered ware are examples of Glos.TF 22, all being wheel made in the typical fairly hard, slightly soapy fabric which contains abundant crushed shell fragments and is known as South Midlands shell-tempered ware. It is found in the Gloucester/Severn valley area in contexts dating to the late fourth and into the fifth century.

160 Dressel 20 amphora. This was the most common of amphora forms to reach Britain from Spain. The majority of them carried olive oil and the incised marks on the body perhaps indicate the size of the amphora or its contents. Its rim form indicates a second century date (Tyers, 1996, 88). (146)

165 Rimsherds and basesherd from a jar. The brown surfaces do not completely cover the black core. (13)

161 Dressel 20 amphora handle. (pre-dig site find) 162 Dressel 20 amphora rim. As with no.160 above, a mid-second century date is suggested by its rim form. (329)

166 Rimsherd from a bowl. The orange-brown fabric has a partly-reduced grey core. There is horizontal rilling below the rim on the outer surface, a feature typical of this ware. (76)

163 Dressel 20 amphora. A further example of a second century amphora, but slightly smaller than no.160. The inner surface of the neck retains turning ridges, below which are the impressions made by the potter’s fingers when he was luting the body of the vessel onto the neck. Moreover, it would seem that the rim was deliberately removed when the original contents of the amphora, probably olive oil, were exhausted, since the upper edge of the neck has been rounded off for some secondary use. (330)

167 Rimsherd from a flanged bowl. The smooth lightbrown fabric has a dark-grey core. The two examples of Shelly ware nos. 165 and 166 above, together with a number of other small sherds in the same fabric, were all in medieval and later contexts and therefore residual. In contrast the rimsherd no. 167 was in layer 700 and it was clear this layer had been added to level-up the later slump of the cellar backfill. The fact that Shelly ware was not found in the cellar deposits, or in any other Roman layer, was useful as it allows layer 700 to be dated to some time post AD410+ (Phase 6). (163)

164 Handle with stamp. Most likely it was part of a Dressel type 20 amphora. It is suggested here that the tops of the first two letters of the stamp are missing and that

Fig. 18 Shelly ware

96

The Finds MEDIEVAL WARES

sandy fabric has buff-coloured surfaces and a dark grey core. The decoration is in the form of an applied, thumbed strip of clay, now damaged by wear, beneath an overall green glaze. This is likely to be a Ham Green, Bristol, product, (Barton, 1963). (16)

168 ‘West Country dish’. The fabric is hard with oolitic limestone inclusions, orange/buff surfaces and a grey core. The shallow dish is flat-bottomed with incurving walls and rim. Although more than a third of the dish is present, the single perforated hole in the side wall which is known to be a feature of such dishes has not survived here. The function of these vessels is unknown but they have been variously suggested as cheese-strainers or beehive dishes, while their distribution is restricted as they are only found in the west of England and south Wales in twelfth and thirteenth century contexts: McCarthy & Brooks, 1988, 110 and passim. [F11] (4002)

180 Jug rim. The fine, hard fabric contains some limestone and the occasional iron inclusion. The rim has been wheelfinished and there are signs of a pulled lip just before the break. There are some patches of thin, greenish-yellow glaze on the inner surface. (12) 181 Rimsherd from a jar. The hard grey/buff fabric has oolitic limestone inclusions and a dark grey core. An applied thumbed strip of clay has been added around the shoulder of the pot with some further decoration on the outer edge of the rim itself. Some very thin green glaze remains on the outer surface. (203)

169 Rimsherd from a jar. The brown/buff fabric contains oolitic limestone and has a grey core. (15) 170 Rimsherd from a jar. The fabric contains oolite, iron and fossil shell. It has a brown outer surface and is then reduced grey through the core and the inner surface. (78)

182 Rimsherd from a jar. The grey fabric has oolitic limstone inclusions and a dark grey core. Some of the inclusions have leached out from the inner surface leaving a vesiculated appearance while the outer surface has some thin green glaze. (300)

171 Cooking pot rim. The fabric has a grey core and the brown surfaces have a vesicular appearance due to the fact that much of the surface oolite has leached or burned out. There are two small splashes of thin glaze on the rim. (14)

183 Heavy ceramic rimsherd. It was handmade on a slow turntable in a very coarse sandy fabric. Then a strip of clay was applied to the outer surface below the rim and thumbed into place as decoration. It remains unglazed and may be part of a chimney pot or roof furniture. (357)

172Wide-mouthed jar rimsherd. The fabric is hard and contains oolitic limestone. (18) 173 Wide-mouthed jar rimsherd. The red, sandy fabric has some mica inclusions. The surface is brown and the outer rim has a thumbed ‘pie-crust’ edge. (77) 174 Jug rim with strap-handle. The hard orange/buff fabric contains much oolitic limestone and has a grey core. The strap-handle is knife-slashed down its length and has patches of thin green glaze. This may be a Ham Green, Bristol, product having a thirteenth-century date. (Barton, 1963). (30) 175 Jug rim with strap-handle. The red sandy fabric has been knife-slashed beneath the brown-green glaze. (301) 176 Jug strap-handle. The fabric contains oolitic limestone and fine sand. It has buff- coloured surfaces with a grey core and slight traces of glaze remain. The handle has been deeply slashed with a rounded blade. (31) 177 Strap-handle base-attachment from a jug. The buffcoloured fabric contains some sand and the occasional limestone inclusion. The strap-handle has been knifeslashed beneath an overall green glaze. Probably from Ham Green, Bristol, (Barton, 1963). (302) 178 Small bodysherd. The fabric is hard and contains oolitic limestone. It is clear that the vessel had some incised-line decoration although its form is unknown. (19) 179 Decorated bodysherd probably from a jug. The fine

97

Wortley Romano-British Site

Fig. 19 Medieval wares

98

The Finds

Fig. 20 Medieval wares (cont.)

99

Wortley Romano-British Site

Fig. 21 Vessel glass

VESSEL GLASS 458 fragments of Roman vessel glass were recorded in total. This figure includes 16 tiny fragments recovered from the wet-sieving of selected deposits, usually taken from the drains. Most of the other examples were too small to give any indication of form, the few exceptions being those drawn and listed below.

and into the second century AD, having a short neck and a wide rim pinched in to form a spout, (in fact, like spout no.187 above which may possibly be part of the same jug). A fine complete example, included in a burial at Colchester, shows similar parallel ribs decorating part of the jug’s mouth and handle (Allen, D, 1998, 36, Fig.20.5). (108)

186 Fragment from the body of a cloudy, thick-walled vessel which retains a single line of a trailed-slip decoration. (109)

190 Rim and neck of a glass bottle. Although this was a surface find, the blown greenish glass seems to indicate that this is part of a mould-blown Roman bottle. These were often square in shape. (47)

187 Rim fragment from a jug in blown clear-green glass. The rim has been rolled inwards and then pinched into the shape of a spout. (48)

191 Two rim fragments, probably from the same vessel. The blown glass has a faint greenish tinge and the delicate rim has been rolled outwards. (86)

188 Two joining fragments from a small, delicate vessel in fine milky-white glass with a simple incised-line decoration. (110)

192 Fragment of a ribbed strap handle in clear, bluishgreen glass which has been drawn up and folded. It probably came from a square bottle. (49)

189 Fragment of a clear green glass strip with pinched-up parallel ribs added as decoration to the rim of the vessel. This is recognizable as part of a small ornate jug, typical of those produced by Roman glassmakers in the late first

193 Beaker rim reconstructed from many small fragments of very fine glass, now milky in colour. There is a simple, incised line decoration. (107)

100

The Finds OTHER FINDS The number shown in brackets after each item is the original drawing number as used in the Interim Reports. An SF number refers to its number in the Small Finds Register. Occasionally a WV number has been given and this is a site layer number. OBJECTS OF PERSONAL ADORNMENT OR DRESS 194 Gold ring. It is less than 2 cm in diameter, but although on the small side, this does seem to be a finger-ring from the fact that its outer edges are worn smooth. Perhaps it was made for a child, or to be worn on the little finger. The ring was formed by gold-casting rather than by twisting strands of wire together. (180, SF756) It is interesting to note that this ring was found in association with the late malting-kiln; a context dating to later than c. 410+ (see Phase 6, F245). It may, therefore, be an item which reflects the fact that the post-Roman province called ‘Britannia Prima’ was continuing to thrive, as postulated for this area of Britain at this particular time (White, 2007, 31-48). 195 Silver ring. The plain silver band is probably part of a drop ear-ring. It holds a rotating cube decorated on each of its four faces with a different symbol. These are thought to represent a hare, a bird, a cantharus and a fish. Henig suggests the goddess Fortuna instead of the fish and gives a date range of AD250-350 for it (See Martin Henig’s Specialist Report). (181, SF803) EARLY CHRISTIAN FIND 196 Copper alloy buckle-plate fragment. The strip is 3.6 cm in overall length by 1.6 cm wide. Part of the fold which attached the plate to a buckle remains at one end of the strip while the other end is fractured at the rivet-hole which secured the doubled-over plate to a leather belt. The design, which includes a peacock, was created by incisedline hachuring together with a dot and crescent punch. This can be closely paralleled on several other buckle-plates, some attached to a horse-head buckle, of a type classified by Hawkes as Type IB (Hawkes & Dunning, 1961, 23-50, also Mawer, 1995, 124). An example shown in the British Museum has been given a 5th-century date. Comparison with these parallels makes it clear that, when complete, the Wortley buckle-plate would have shown a pair of facing peacocks confronting a tree of life and, in fact, part of a crest-feather belonging to a second peacock can be seen here. It is also clear that the plate would have been attached to a horse-head buckle of Hawkes Type IB just like other more complete examples as shown on Fig.23, nos. 2, 5 and 6 (20, SF201). The peacock with tree of life as a Christian symbol is well attested from late Roman times. In particular, it appears on the sarcophagus of the daughter of

Constantine, the first Christian Emperor, (Grabar, 1967, 168). The early Christian symbolism found here is very significant. This fragment is one of a very few such portable finds accepted by Mawer as convincing evidence for a Christian presence in late Roman Britain. His judgement was largely based on the find from Peny-corddyn (Clwyd) where a buckle together with its plate had survived in excellent condition, showing a pair of fish in addition to the peacock/tree of life decoration (Fig. 23 no. 5). Mawer considered this was unambiguous evidence to confirm that the symbolism found on the rest of this small group of belt fittings was indeed an intentional sign of Christianity, (Mawer, 1995, 59-125). Although not closely dated, in general the whole class of belt fittings has been given a fifth century date, while production seems to be centred on Cirencester (Swift, 2000, 52). In this regard it should be pointed out that the few Christian belt sets mentioned above were just a small part of a much larger group of horse-head buckle and belt fittings produced at the same workshops, the majority having purely decorative geometrical designs, of which the belt tag from Tortworth (Glos.) is shown here as an example (See Fig. 23 no. 9). A further point of interest is that the Wortley buckle fastened to the left, as do some of the others. This becomes clear by comparing the buckle-plates and tags on Fig. 23. It may indeed be an indication that an element of personal choice was available to the owner which surely must have applied to the design as well. This fact, together with their very small size, makes it seem unlikely that these belt sets were issued by the same state workshops as the military equipment, as has been widely accepted (Hawkes, 1974, 393 and also White, 2007, 70-72). More recently Hawkes came to the view that such belt sets were probably intended for civilian rather than military use and even that they could have been worn by females since they are found in Anglo-Saxon graves (Hawkes, 1986, 68). A similar view has also been taken by Henig (Henig, 2004, 21), although this change of view has not always been noticed. Unfortunately, the Christian fragment from Wortley was in a context which allows of no close date. It was in a trench which had clearly been dug to rob-out building stone from the Roman bathhouse and subsequently backfilled. This event was shown to be medieval by pottery of the eleventh or twelfth century in the fill and therefore the buckle-plate, along with the Roman pot also found in the layer, must be regarded as residual. 197 Two separate lengths of linked copper alloy chain. They are evidently part of the same item of jewellery, perhaps a necklace or bracelet. A green glass bead is still attached to the shorter of the two lengths of chain. (184, SF814 & 816) 198 Copper alloy bow brooch. It retains one of its two spring arms, the other is now missing together with the catchplate and its pin. Nevertheless it is clearly recognizable as a type of brooch now known as a Colchester-type brooch, noted to be popular during the early first century AD running into 101

Wortley Romano-British Site

Fig. 22 Objects of personal adornment or dress

102

The Finds

Fig. 23 Buckle-plate fragment from Wortley shown here with other examples from belt sets which display Christian symbolism

103

Wortley Romano-British Site the third quarter. However, as its one-piece construction required a high degree of skill to achieve, it was soon superseded by a simpler type of brooch made in two pieces (Hattatt,1982, 60-1 Fig.14). (205, 910) Because the Colchester-type had a short life span, this brooch may support the other evidence indicating a first-century date for the Wortley site. 199 Penannular Brooch.The copper alloy brooch is complete with terminals bent back and flattened at a central depression. Such brooches performed so well that the type had a long life, lasting from the Iron Age right through to Viking times. It is, therefore, difficult to date but possibly its form may be classified as a Romano-British brooch of Hattat type D5 (Hattatt, 1982, 132-3). (204, SF854) 200 Crossbow Brooch. It should be noted that, until recently it has been the convention, as its name suggests, to draw this brooch-type positioned as a cross with the catchplate for the pin pointing downwards. However, Ellen Swift has provided plentiful evidence, both from military graves as well as from contemporary illustrations, to show that these brooches were actually worn the other way up as positioned here (Swift, 2000, 31-4). In this case one arm of the crossbar is missing as well as its catchpin. Nevertheless, with its central knob to the crossbar and matching knobs at each end, it is easily recognizable as a type of brooch dating to the fourth century. The cross-ribbing on the arm containing the catchplate is also typical of the type (Hattatt, 1982, 1223 & Fig.53 no.102). (159, SF784) It may be significant that the Crossbow brooch was found in layer 700. This was the layer which levelled-up the slump caused by the settling of the cellar backfill. The deposit used for this levelling probably came from an existing rubbish heap since, as well as the broken brooch, it contained a good deal of burnt grain and many potsherds including shelly ware sherds. Since no shelly ware was found in the cellar backfill itself, and as such pottery is said to have been mass-produced after the 390s and well into the fifth century (Dark, 2000, 55), it seems likely that layer 700 was laid down some time in the first half of the fifth century. There is a good deal of evidence, both from contemporary illustrations as well as from excavated military graves that, in the fourth century, a crossbow brooch was worn on the right shoulder as a cloak fastening by those of rank in the army. It also appears that crossbow brooches were worn in the same way by high status town officials, probably as a badge of office (Swift, 2000, 43-4). The Wortley example then, may possibly indicate that its occupant in the fourth century was a Romano-British official of some kind, perhaps a tax-collector in a nearby town. It has been noted that such individuals often had a country retreat. 201 Finger ring with bezel. Several fragments of copper alloy reconstruct a large part of a finger ring with bezel, from which the stone is now missing. (311, SF1206)

202 Part of a copper alloy ring, possibly from a finger- or ear-ring. (358, SF1342) 203 Part of a copper alloy finger ring. It probably held a bezel with stone, both of which are now missing. (90, SF478) 204 Part of a bracelet. This short curved length of copper alloy is rectangular in section and decorated with chipcarving on its outer edge. A similar bracelet has been found at Colchester (Crummy, 1971-9, 41, no.1654). (252, SF1025) 205 Part of a bracelet or necklace. It is formed from three strands of copper alloy wire twisted together, to which part of the clasp-fastener is still attached. (182, SF806) 206 Part of a bracelet. This one is formed from four strands of copper alloy wire twisted together. (251, SF1056) 207 Short length may be part of a bracelet or necklace. Formed from three twisted strands of copper alloy wire, this item is much finer than the ones above. (183. SF811) 208 Part of a cast copper alloy bracelet. One of the terminals is present, the outer edge has a chip-carved zigzag line decoration and there are slight traces of gilding. (308, SF1089) 209 Part of a copper-alloy ring. Both ends are fractured but the fine metal band, oval in section, suggests that this is part of an ear-ring. (88, SF495) 210 Part of a shale armlet. It is two-thirds complete, the outer surface rounded with a slight groove on the edge, (Lawson, 1975, 248-50). (247, SF1000) 211 Small fragment from a shale armlet. One surface is rounded, the other is flat and there is a small groove on the outer edge. (331, SF1312) 212 Part of a shale armlet. The upper and lower surfaces are flat and two grooves flank a central beading on the outer edge. (248, SF1004) 213 Part of a shale armlet. The two joining fragments are plain except for a slight groove on the outer edge. (249, SF1045) 214 Small fragment of a shale armlet. It is carved in imitation of a twisted-strand copper alloy bracelet. (332, SF1312) 215 Small fragment of a shale armlet. It is similar to no.214 above and may, in fact, be part of the same armlet. (250, SF1027) 216 Blue faience bead. (185, SF780)

104

The Finds

Fig. 24 Objects of personal adornment or dress (cont.)

105

Wortley Romano-British Site 217 Red glass bead. The spiral formed in its manufacture is visible. (186, SF689) 218 Long blue bead. It is made of glass or faience and is hexagonal in section. It has parallels at Colchester and elsewhere. (87, SF492) 219 Black jet spacer bead. It is plano-convex in shape and has been pieced twice as shown. (246, SF1014) 220 Black jet bead. It is cylindrical in shape and decorated with transverse grooves. (310, SF1085) The bone pins listed below are classified according to Nina Crummy’s Type Series: Crummy, 1971-9, 19-25, & 1979, 157. Since most of the Wortley pins are complete and in good condition, this may be an indication that the pins were lost during use rather than discarded due to damage, although many of them came from the cellar deposits. 221 Bone pin. Compared to the rest of the bone pins listed below, this pin is crudely made. Its two transverse grooves may be an attempt at a Crummy Type 2 pin like the one shown next to it, in which case the given date range is c. AD50-200/250. (53, SF416) 222 Bone pin. It has a conical head beneath which are two transverse grooves while the unpolished shaft has a slight swelling (a feature more apparent on some of the other pins). The shaft is very short and may have been repointed after a break. Crummy Type 2 pin, c. AD50-200/250. (305. SF1140) 223 Complete bone pin. A good example of a Crummy Type 2 pin, c. AD50-200/250. (335, SF1308) 224 Complete bone pin. It has a lenticular head and its well-polished shaft has a slight swelling, a feature often found on later pins and probably introduced to help strengthen them. Crummy Type 3 pin, c. AD200-400+. (304, SF1092) 225 Complete bone pin. It has a disc-shaped head and a finely-polished shaft. Crummy Type 3 pin, c. AD200-400+. (244, SF1010) 226 Bone pin. It has a lenticular head and a slight swelling near the top of its well-polished shaft which has now lost its point. Crummy type 3 pin, c. AD250-400+. (239, SF944 ) 227 Complete bone pin. It has an elliptical head and a slight swelling to the smooth shaft. Crummy type 3 pin, c. AD200-400+. (236, SF1040) 228 Bone pin. It has a spherical head and the shaft has been roughly reshaped from a break. Crummy type 3 pin c. AD200-400+. (147, SF720)

229 Bone pin. It has a spherical head and there is some swelling to its polished shaft which may also have been repointed. Crummy type 3 pin c.AD200-400+. (306, SF1131) 230 Complete bone pin. It has a spherical head like the one above. Crummy type 3 pin, c.AD200-400+. (333, SF1245) 231 Complete bone pin. It has an oval-head and a polished shaft which swells slightly at the waist. Crummy type 3 pin. (238, SF1094) 232 Complete bone pin. It has a cuboid head which is faceted at each corner to give five lozenge-shaped and eight triangular facets. The shaft is polished. Crummy type 4 pin, c. AD250-400+. (243, SF1030) 233 Complete bone pin. The faceted cuboid head is very like no.232. The short length of the shaft may be intentional as shorter pins seem to have been used on later Roman hair styles. Crummy type 4 pin, c. AD250-400+. (242, SF1042) 234 Complete bone pin. The faceted cuboid head is finely made and there is a slight swelling to the waist of its polished shaft. Crummy type 4 pin c. AD250-400+. (240, SF1006) 235 Complete bone pin. The faceted cuboid head is similar to no. 234 but the waist swelling is much more pronounced. Crummy type 4 pin c. AD250-400+. (334, SF1285) 236 Complete bone pin. The faceted cuboid head and waist swelling are similar to no. 234 above. Crummy type 4 pin as above. (241, SF1037) 237 Complete bone pin. The conical head above a single reel is decorated with incised diagonal lines, perhaps imitating a torch. The shaft is thicker than the norm and only slightly tapered. Probably it should be classed as a Crummy Type 7 pin, described as ‘pins with individually styled heads’. (111, SF658) 238 Complete bone pin. Its large ovoid head is cut with eight reels and there is a slight swelling near the top of its polished shaft. Crummy Type 7 pin. (237, SF1020) 239 Bone pin. The head has a carved spiral beneath a flat reel surmounted by a small tip. As the unpolished shaft terminates at a fracture the original length of the shaft is unknown. Crummy Type 7 pin. (235, SF993) 240 Bone pin. It has reels above and below its ovoid head and the polished shaft terminates at a fracture. Probably a Crummy Type 5 pin. (33, SF1)

106

The Finds

Fig. 25 Objects of personal adornment or dress (cont.)

107

Wortley Romano-British Site HOBNAILS The following drawings represent the 27 individual hobnails found on site together with three groups of hobnails, each of which probably represents a discarded shoe sole. 241 Hobnail (Manning, 1985, 136 and Fig.32, Type 10). (148, SF749) 242 Hobnail (Manning, 1985, 136 and Fig.32, Type 10). (150, SF491) 243 A group of hobnails shown as they were found in the cellar deposits, still retaining the outline of the sole of a discarded Roman left boot or shoe although the leather itself had rotted away (see Manning, 1985, 136 no. R104 Roman shoe sole). (283) TOILET OR SURGICAL INSTRUMENT 244 Copper alloy ligula or scoop/probe. The complete instrument was 12.1cm long, although the shank is now fractured in two places. There is a probe at one end and a cup-shaped scoop at the other. Such instruments are found in both domestic and medical contexts (Jackson, 1986, 119-67). (309, SF1207) OBJECTS USED IN THE WORKING OF TEXTILES The bone needles listed below (like the bone hairpins above) have been classified according to Nina Crummy’s Type Series (Crummy, 1971-9, 65-7). 245 Bone needle. With a figure-of-eight eye and two joining lengths of shaft it is clear the needle was 104.5mm long. It can be classified as a Crummy Type lc needle. The shaft is 3mm at its widest point which then tapers to its point, which is fractured. The whole needle has been dyed green. This fact indicates a first- or second-century date as shown from the contexts of many similar green-dyed needles found at Colchester and elsewhere. (79, SF454) 246 Bone needle head. It has fractured across the eye but is probably part of a needle with a figure-of-eight eye, Crummy Type 1c. It remains undyed.(82, SF466)

247 Bone needle shaft fragment. Although there is a fracture across the figure-of-eight eye, this is clearly part of a Crummy Type 1c needle which has lost its point and is undyed. (83, SF503) 248 Complete bone needle. It has a flat spatulate head and a rectangular eye which was created by a revolving wheel applied in turn to each side of the shaft as shown in the diagram. This is a Crummy type 2 needle, finely polished and undyed. (80, SF506) 249 Complete bone needle. With flat spatulate head and rectangular eye this well-polished Crummy Type 2 needle is similar to no.248 but much finer. (303, SF1069) 250 Bone needle head. It is probably part of a fine, Crummy Type 1 needle. (81, SF447) 251 Spindle whorl. Made out of sandstone, the total diameter is 33mm and the perforation diameter is 7mm. (315, SF1143) 252 Spindle whorl. Made out of sandstone, the total diameter is 37mm, the perforation diameter is 8mm. Constant use may have caused the smooth surfaces evident here. (256, SF1036) 253 Spindle whorl. It was formed from a Roman grey ware potsherd and has survived as three joining fragments. Total diameter 36mm, the perforation 7mm. (84, SF520) 254 Part-roundel. Roughly-shaped from a potsherd of fine buff-coloured fabric with a dark colour- coat, this object seems to mirror a failed attempt to fashion a spindle whorl which ended when the fabric split as the central hole was being drilled. (85, SF523) 255 Hand-sized pebble with a very smooth upper surface, suggesting it may have been used as a linen smoother. (284, SF965) Note also the Specialist Report from Dr J.P.Wild on a textile impression found on a rooftile.

Fig. 26 Toilet or surgical instrument

108

The Finds

Fig. 27 Objects used in the working of textiles

109

Wortley Romano-British Site HOUSEHOLD OBJECTS AND FURNITURE 256 Silver ‘tear-drop’ mount. It may have been part of the decoration of a piece of leatherwork, a box or jewellery. (255, SF940) 257 Turned copper-alloy terminal to a square shaft. Possibly the head of a stylus as the terminal shows some similarity to that on a bronze stylus found complete at Ilchester, Somerset (Leach, 1982, 252 & Fig. 122 no. 136). (113, SF642) 258 Fragment of decorated copper alloy. It is broken at both ends and was, perhaps, part of the handle of a patera or skillet (Wheeler, 1930, Fig. 40 p.118). (115, SF648) 259 Small copper-alloy ring - possibly a furniture attachment. (89, SF494) 260 Copper-alloy pin. The head is rounded but only a small part of its rounded shaft remains. (114, SF613) 261 Small copper-alloy pin. Its rounded head tops a square shaft. (206, SF925) 262 Small copper-alloy pin. It is flat-headed. (312, SF1170) 263 Copper-alloy domed stud. This is the type of stud which was extensively used in upholstering furniture. (313, SF1168) 264 A second stud of the same type. (314, SF103) 265 Small copper-alloy suspension loop. (254, SF941) 266 Dome-shaped copper-alloy nail cover appears to be filled with lead which is now much corroded. Similar nailcovers have been found at Fishbourne (Cunliffe, 1971, 123, Fig.52, no. 164). (361, SF1346) 267 Copper-alloy stud with central dome which probably also functioned as a nail-cover since part of an iron nail is still attached. (360, SF1410)

268 Small copper-alloy knob handle. It is bowl-shaped with a truncated conical centre. The iron tang, by which it was attached, is corroded and bears traces of associated wood. (359, SF1359) 269 Copper-alloy knob handle. The face is sunk around a central core and at the opposite end the remains of an iron tang are still attached. (253, SF1032) 270 Bone strip fragment. The transverse incised grooves probably indicate that this was part of a decorative inlay for a box or item of furniture. Similar bone inlay strips were found at nearby Kingscote (Timby, 1998, 172-3). (307, SF1127) 271 Iron candle-holder. One arm is hollow to hold the candle or torch, the other arm terminates in a spike for driving into a wall. A similar candle-holder was found at Verulamium (Stead & Rigby, 1989, 36 no.210). (362, SF1423) 272 Quernstone fragment. This is part of an upper rotary quernstone, probably made from Devonian quartz conglomerate sourced from the Forest of Dean.(215) 273 Rotary hand-quern fragment. Part of the radial groove to hold a turning handle remains. It is made from Upper Old Red Sandstone quartz conglomerate which was widely used for this purpose in Gloucestershire. The source of the stone is thought to be either the Forest of Dean or the west bank of the river Wye. A number of similar examples have been found at the nearby Roman site at Kingscote (Roe 1998, 176, in Timby, 1998). (158) 274 Fragment of Pennant sandstone. It contains a number of grooves which indicate it may have been used for sharpening needles. (155) 275 Small whetstone. It is perforated at one end. (SF856) See Specialist Report by Fiona Roe. Our thanks are due to Fiona Roe for providing the Specialist Report and also for help with our other stone artifacts.

110

The Finds

Fig. 28 Household objects and furniture

111

Wortley Romano-British Site

Fig. 29 Household objects and furniture (cont.) OBJECTS USED FOR RECREATIONAL PURPOSES 276 Gaming counter. Made of opaque black glass, it has a domed head and a flat base. (178, SF786) 277 Gaming counter. Made of opaque black glass, the triangular shape has rounded corners and is slightly domed. It has a flat base. (179, SF792) 278 Bone gaming counter. It is 15mm in diameter x 4mm with flat surfaces. The upper surface retains its central lathe turning point and there is a roughly scratched cross on the reverse. (52, SF404) 279 Bone gaming counter. It is 30mm in diameter. The upper surface is slightly convex and retains its central lathe turning point. (51, SF405) 280 Bone gaming counter. It is 22mm in diameter. The upper surface is concave with a central lathe turning point, while the reverse side has three dots cut into it. (245, SF1002)

In all, 29 sandstone discs were found at Wortley, including one with a central perforation. All were made from the same Old Red Sandstone as the stone roofing tiles in use here. The discs range in size from 4-12.5 cm. in diameter and from 38-534 grammes in weight. At nearby Roman sites similar discs are known. For example seven were found at Kingscote (Timby, 1998, 176-7) and 29 at Frocester Court, including four with central perforations. (Price, 2000, vol.2, 169, 171). Nevertheless their function remains a matter for debate. Their use as weights, potlids or potstands have all been postulated as well as gaming counters which is perhaps the most likely. Four are illustrated here as examples: 281 Roughly shaped sandstone disc weighing 146g. (212, SF890) 282 Roughly shaped sandstone disc weighing 98g. (213, SF801) 283 Roughly shaped sandstone disc but incomplete. (214, SF924) 284 Sandstone disc with a central perforation.(316, SF1087)

112

The Finds

Fig. 30 Objects used for recreational purposes

113

Wortley Romano-British Site OBJECTS EMPLOYED MEASURING

IN

WEIGHING AND

For weighing goods the Romans used either the steelyard, as evidenced in no.285, or balance scales or perhaps a combination of the two, as illustrated alongside balance hook no 286. 285 Part of a copper-alloy steelyard arm used for weighing. The two opposing faces of the same arm are each marked with grooves and dots to a different scale as shown. On the right is a small diagram to show how a steelyard worked in practice. The complete arm would have been suspended either from hook A for use with one side of the scale, or inverted and hung from hook B for use with the other side, depending on the weight of the object to be weighed on hook C. The moveable weight at D is the counter- balance.

As the Roman pound consisted of twelve ounces, it can be suggested that each dot on the scale-side in the upper drawing marks two ounces with the grooves indicating the pound positions. Then the grooves on the scale-side below may again be indicating pound positions with dots marking the half-pounds, in which case this arm would have been used for the heavier objects (Wheeler, 1930, Fig.23, 86). (207, SF897) 286 Double iron balance hook. This hook was probably used for the suspension of a balance pan on a Roman scale-beam as shown in the drawing (after Fig.22, p.85 in Wheeler, 1930). (91, SF493) Not illustrated: Four similar balance hooks were found in the cellar deposits but all were fragmentary: (SF1072, SF1213, SF1224, SF1237)

Fig. 31 Objects used in weighing

114

The Finds OBJECTS ASSOCIATED COMMUNICATION

WITH

WRITTEN

287 Rooftile or tegula. The cursive Latin inscription is probably part of a tile-worker’s batchmark, inscribed to record its date of manufacture, since the first line here should probably be translated as follows: 4(days before) the kalends of Oct, (i.e. October 1st). (122) 288 Small fragment of tile. The stamped impression may be part of a maker’s mark. Although similar stamped tiles are known in the Cotswold area, attempts to find a parallel to this one have failed. (176, SF800)

289 Fragment of tegula. It has been suggested by Mark Hassall (personal communication) that the incised cursive Latin may be part of the name Decius with the number 92 below, although this is by no means certain. (177, SF826) 290 Fragment of tegula. By comparison with the tiles above, it is clear that ‘ka’, as inscribed here, represents ‘kalends’ and is part of a batchmark date like no.287 above. 291 Fragment of tegula. The incised lettering is, again, probably part of a batchmark. Our thanks are due to Mark Hassall for help with nos. 287, 289 and 290.

Fig. 32 Objects associated with written communication

115

Wortley Romano-British Site TOOLS AND ANCILLARY EQUIPMENT 292 Iron tang with part of a blade. This probably belonged to a mason’s trowel. Some fragments of grained wood are apparent in the corrosion of the tang, indicating that the trowel probably had a wooden handle (Bidwell, 1985, 140-1). (279, SF1055)

295 Iron crowbar. The bar, which curves slightly, is rounded in section for most of its length of 69cm while both ends have been flattened. Found in association with medieval hearth F285, it may have been used in its demolition. Nevertheless, it could be a re-used survival from the Roman era since it compares well with a Roman crowbar, now in the British Museum’s collection, which is 69.5cm long. (Manning, 1985, 32 no.C19). (216)



293 Iron knife blade complete with its tang. The tang line continues along the slightly curving back while the blade edge itself is straight. This is an example of the commonest form of Roman knife (Manning, 1984, 91 no.64). (280, SF1047)

294 Small iron knife blade. The tang is set on the midline of the blade. The back is very slightly arched and the cutting-edge almost straight, then both edges meet at the tip. It is an example of another common Roman knife form (Manning, 1984, 92 no.61). (282, SF954)

Fig. 33 Tools and ancillary equipment

116

The Finds FASTENERS AND FITTINGS

ROMAN NAILS

296 Iron key. The shank is round and the pin is hollow. The bit has two clefts indicating that the lock in which it fitted had circular wards at front and back. The large, roundlooped handle is set at right-angles to the bit (Manning, 1984, 96, no.91). (272, SF1046)

A considerable quantity of iron nails came from the excavations. Many of them were associated with the demolition of both ceramic and old red sandstone roofing tiles and several of these ORS tiles were found with nails still in situ in nail-holes. Later work on this mass of material revealed a good deal that was too fragmentary to be useful, consisting mainly of broken nail shanks, which were recorded and discarded. The remaining 2,105 nails were then compared with Manning’s British Museum Type Series, (Manning, 1985, 134-137), and the majority were clearly recognizable as Manning Type 1B nails, all having square-sectioned, tapering stems and most having flat, sub-rectangular or roughly-rounded heads. Despite some corrosion, 334 nails from this group appeared to have survived complete and these were measured in an attempt to establish a standard Roman product. However, as their sizes ranged in a continuous sequence from the largest in length at 12.5cm, to the smallest at 2.2cm, with heads varying roughly in proportion to their length, it was clear that there was no standard sizing here, as Manning has indicated was the case elsewhere. A further group of 63 nails were separated out from the group and listed as ‘Clenched Nails’ as their clenches remained undisturbed. Out of this number, 32 were judged to be complete, of which no.312 is a good example. As they were undamaged, it seems unlikely that these nails had been been purposely withdrawn from their original positions, but had survived because they had been part of discarded timber items, such as doors or shutters where the wood had eventually decayed, to leave complete nails remaining in the demolition deposits. Finally, there are two small groups of nails which do not appear to be paralleled in Manning’s Type Series or elsewhere. The first group consists of five pyramidal-headed nails, represented by drawing nos. 310 & 311, and the second of at least four block-headed nails as no.313 listed below.

297 Iron loop in the shape of a figure of eight. According to Manning such loops had many uses. (278, SF1058) 298 Iron loop or ring. This could be part of a buckle since there may have been a cross-pin as indicated. However, Manning notes that such rings are a very common find and reflect a variety of uses. (277, SF1057) 299 Iron fragment. It is probably a square-shaped, twohole bit from the end of a barrel-padlock key such as no. 301 below (Manning, 1984, 96, no 93.) (276, SF1009) 300 Tapered iron strap with a loop end. It could be the handle of a barrel- padlock key ( thus similar to no.301 below) which has now lost its bit (Manning, 1985, 90-7). (274, SF1048) 301 Iron key. With a loop end and rounded bit, it was probably made to fit a barrel-padlock of the barb-spring type (Manning, 1984, 96, no.93). (273, SF1052) 302 L-shaped drop-hinge staple. The shorter arm is round in section while the longer one is square. It would probably have been used with a drop-hinge such as no.304 below to hinge a door or gate (Manning, 1984, 98, nos.98& 99). (275, SF1053) 303 Part of a barrel-padlock, shown here with its body to illustrate its operation, although, since the body is now missing this has to be conjectural (Manning, 1984, 95, Fig.25 no.10). 304 Drop-hinge for a door or a gate, now without its staple although no.302 above is a staple of a type and size that would have been suitable (363, SF1393) 305 One arm of an iron cross. Although much corroded, it is clearly part of a type of cross which was fixed to form a ‘star’ at intersections of the iron bars of a window grille to add extra security (Manning, 1984, 96-7, no.96). (336, SF1254) 306 Small iron catch. Likely to have been used for a doorlatch or similar item. (WV788)

307 Manning Type 1B nail. One of the large complete examples in the range, the rounded head of this one measures 2.4cm in diameter, with a length of 12.5cm. (WV1559) 308 Manning Type1B nail. The second complete example is slightly smaller, the rounded head measuring 2.0cm in diameter and 9.5cm in length. (WV1930) 309 Manning Type 1B.This small nail has a rectangular head measuring 1.3x1.4cm and a shank length of 5.4cm. It is complete and has survived particularly well with only a little corrosion. (WV1771) 310 Pyramidal-headed nail. The pyramid is set upon a plinth 1.6cm square and 0.8cm deep, giving the head a total depth of 2.2cm. The tapering shank is 10cm in length. (WV1559)

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Fig. 34 Fasteners and fittings

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Fig. 35 Fasteners and fittings (cont.)

311 Pyramidal-headed nail. Here the plinth is 1.8cm square x 0.7cm deep, total height of nail-head 1.5cm. Only part of the shank remains, with a length of 5.8cm. (WV1085) 312 Manning Type 1B clenched nail. The sub-rounded head measures 1.8cm and the shank length is 6.0cm. It is a complete example of a clenched nail from the group noted above. (WV1671) 313 Block-headed nail. The head measures 0.95 by 1.1cm wide by 0.95cm deep. Only part of the shank remains, with a surviving length of 5.3cm. (WV1569) 314 Manning Type 4 nail. The L-shaped head at 1.1cm is no wider than the stem and the length is 4.2cm. It is a type of carpentry nail which could be driven into the wood so that the head is almost concealed. (WV1631) 315 Manning Type 3 nail. He describes the type as having a small T-shaped head, no wider than the stem, with stout arms which are too small to have functioned as T-clamps, although sometimes confused with them. Here the 2.7cm T-shaped head is only a little thicker than the 5.9cm long shank. (WV1172) Not illustrated: Two spikes are possible examples of Manning Type 5 ‘spike’ nails. Both lack heads. The first is 1.0cm square in section and 9.2cm long tapering down to a point. The second is 1.3cm square in section and 6.6cm long. (WV1570 & WV1559)

OBJECTS ASSOCIATED WITH AGRICULTURE AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY 316 Large millstone. Made of lavastone and with a diameter of c. 70cm, this is the lower millstone of a pair. Its central perforation may indicate that it was intended to take a shaft geared to a lower wheel, so that the mill could be driven from below, as from a water-wheel. The grooves on the outer edge are typically found on lava millstones as lava is easier to cut than the coarser stones found in Britain. They were intended to help push the milled grain to the outer edge of the stone so that it would fall into a collecting box below. The underside of this particular stone has been hollowed out, perhaps to make the stone lighter, stackable and easier to transport, considering that it was probably shipped into Britain from as far away as the Rhineland. (121) As lava millstones are known to have been imported by Legio II Augusta from the Rhineland in the first century AD, this millstone may be seen as further evidence to support Wortley’s link to this legion. It may be compared with the considerable number of fragments of lavastone, thought to have been used as hand querns, or possibly in donkey-mills, at the Usk fortress. Manning reported that he had little doubt that all these stones had been brought in by the legion between AD c.55 and 75 and that the sole source of their supply was the Rhineland (Manning, in Webster, Manning & Price, 1995, 214). Again at Usk, Welfare recorded that, of the 32 examples of lava millingstones where diameter could be ascertained, 27 fell within a 6cm range of 40-46cm, only one at 38cm fell slightly below, while four were above (Welfare, in Webster, Manning & Price, 1995, 214-5). With a 70cm diameter then, the Wortley millstone is a good deal larger than any lavastones at Usk and may reflect the intention to use it with a water-wheel in order to process a larger 119

Wortley Romano-British Site quantity of grain than would have been needed for a single household. It is perhaps a sign that agriculture at the site was being envisaged on a much increased scale. 317 One of the blades from a pair of iron shears. It measures 15.5cm from the blade tip as far as the break. A pair of blades of this kind can be classified as Manning Type 2

shears. They had several uses such as sheep-shearing or cutting cloth etc. (Manning, 1985, 34-5). (281, SF1054) 318 Two-link snaffle-bit. With a length of 14.5cm and as part of a horse’s harness, this form of snaffle-bit was most common in the Roman period (Manning, 1985, 67, H13). (50, SF427)

Fig. 36 Objects associated with agriculture and animal husbandry

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Plate 1 A small group of oxshoe nails, photographed to show that most have lost their end-points MEDIEVAL ITEMS 319 Medieval horseshoe nail. 1.4cm wide at its base, the head tapers up to 1.1cm across the top, total length of the nail, 3.0cm. (WV1539) 320 A second horseshoe nail, very like the one above. (WV787)Both horseshoe nails are of the type know as ‘eared’, i.e. they are nails where the rectangular expanding head had ‘ears’ so that they sat in a countersunk slot in the horseshoe with the head projecting to give grip (Clark, 1995, 87, figs. 66 & 67). At Winchester nails of this type were found in association with Type 3 horseshoes dating to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, after which time they were superseded (Goodall, 1990, 1056). 321 & 322 Two medieval oxshoe nails. These two examples represent a large quantity of small iron ‘nails’ with elongated heads which were separated out from the rest of the ironwork. They formed a distinct group of more than 563 items whose function remained a mystery for some time. Any suggestion that they might be horseshoe nails was ruled out immediately by anybody with experience of horses. After much research, a comparison with the finds of oxshoes and their nails at Sandal Castle made it clear that they were, in fact, medieval oxshoe nails (Goodall, 1983, 250-1, nos. 226-232). Further confirmation came from the Wharram Report (Goodall, 1979, in Hurst, 1979, 123 no.113). From such sources we learned that, as oxen are clovenhoofed, the medieval farrier fitted each foot with a pair of crescent-shaped shoes, using four nails to fix each shoe in place. Thus, if all four feet were shod, thirtytwo nails would have been required for each animal. Characteristically, oxshoe nails were made with

L-shaped elongated heads so that they could be set into closely- spaced holes at the outer edge of the oxshoe and driven into the hoof so that their end-points could be clenched back into the wall of the hoof. As with horseshoes, it would have been necessary to remove oxshoes regularly so that the growing hoof could be pared down. To help the easy removal of the oxshoes at this time the clenches were snapped off and thus, while the shoes themselves could be refitted if not too worn, a new set of nails would have been required each time as the old nails would have lost their end-points. With this in mind, it is clear that the oxshoe nails found at Wortley in such quantity reflect the event of at least one medieval farrier’s visit to the site to re-shoe oxen, evidenced particularly by the fact that most of the oxshoe nails in the group had lost their end-points and thus been discarded. Manorial Accounts from Cuxham show that, throughout the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, regular payments were being made to the farrier for shoeing the team of oxen at that manor (e.g. Harvey, 1976, 172, 533). Oxen are apparent at Wortley at least by 1343, when it is recorded that four oxen were included in the founder’s generous grant for the upkeep of the perpetual chantry in the chapel of St John the Baptist at that place (Haines, 1966, 113). However, they were probably additional to a team already belonging to the manor. Since some of these nails were found in the backfill of the robber trenches, this archaeological evidence indicates that oxen were being re-shod at Wortley during the medieval robbingout of stone from the Roman wall-footings. Ox-carts were probably being used to cart this stone to a new building site. Once they had been recognized, medieval oxshoe nails became useful as dating tools by helping to distinguish medieval features from earlier Roman ones. 121

Wortley Romano-British Site ARCHITECTURAL FRAGMENTS AND BUILDING MATERIALS 323 Stone fragment. The upper surface has been smoothed and contains a semi-circular depression which could be part of a stone basin, the rest of which has broken away. Because it was found in the cellar backfill, it has been suggested that this could be part of an altar-stone or perhaps a font. (364) 324 Right-angled stone fragment, perhaps part of a kerbstone surround for a feature. (371) 325 Fragment of worked stone from a column base. The curvature of this fragment indicates it came from a base having a diameter of 74cm. From this it has been estimated that the column shaft which it supported had a diameter of 64cm and a height ranging from 4½m to 6 ½m depending on the unknown order of the column. (156) 326 Fragment of worked stone which is part of the rectangular plinth of a column base. (157) 327 Folded lead strip. It was found together with a fragment of window glass, making it likely that this can be identified as a small length of window came. (149, SF751) 328 Sheet of lead weighing 20Kg. Chisel marks are apparent on the surface of the lead sheet, which had been folded and carefully placed (perhaps hidden) beneath the cellar floor within one of the stone-lined channels. (368) 329 Sheet of lead weighing 16.5Kg. A second similar sheet of lead, folded in the same way, was found underneath the

sheet above. It is probable that the two were originally one large lead sheet, which was cut into two at the time of disposal, since each sheet has one roughly cut edge. (369) WINDOW GLASS (not illustrated) The Romans introduced window glass into Britain, production being widespread as early as the first century AD. At Wortley a total of 125 fragments of window glass were found, including one fragment which was excavated together with a lead window-came (drawing no. 327). The greater number of the fragments found, at least 72, were of the early type of cast greenish glass, having one matt surface, the other glossy. It is clear that this glass came from the windows of the bathhouse following its demolition since they were found in that context. It is also reasonable to assume that the windows had been glazed from the beginning since this was normal practice in bathhouses in order to retain heat. Of the remainder, around 30 fragments were found within the cellar layers and this was a little more unexpected. While four fragments were of the same early type of cast glass as those used for the bathhouse, the remainder were of the later type of blown, clearer, bluish glass which was probably introduced during the third century. Of these fragments many were found in the cellar backfill, particularly within layers containing demolished painted wall-plaster, thought to have come from the room above the cellar. For this reason it is assumed that this brightly decorated room above the cellar was also fitted with glazed windows. The fact that the cellar window glass is of a later type than that of the bathhouse is probably due to the considerable alterations (almost a rebuilding in parts?) which took place in the cellar area c. AD150-250 (see Phase 2).

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Fig. 37 Architectural fragments and building materials

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Fig. 38 Architectural fragments and building materials (cont.)

124

The Finds COINS The SFC number added to each coin listed below is its number in the Coin Record contained within the Wortley Small Finds Register. A total of 57 coins came from the site, of which 51 are Roman. While there is other evidence to suggest Roman occupation at Wortley from c. AD60 onwards, the earliest coins found are those of Gallienus dating to AD260-68. It is notable that, of the 51 Roman coins, 34 are ‘radiates’ dating to the period AD260-273. However, the increased number of coin finds of this date is a common feature at most Roman sites. It is thought to be due to the collapse of the Roman imperial currency system during those particular years, along with a shortage of coinage. The shortage was remedied in Britain by the widespread production of radiate coin-copies, those of Tetricus predominating. (Casey,1980, 38). The result at the time was that a single coin became so devalued that it was not worth the bother of retrieving when dropped or lost. The radiate coins most often copied were those of Claudius II, Tetricus I and Tetricus II, and this fact is also apparent in the Wortley record. Of the 34 radiates found, four are of Claudius II while fifteen are either Tetricus I or II. A number of these may well be coin-copies. The illustrated coins below are arranged in date order to reflect Roman occupation at Wortley spanning the years from c. AD260 until c.AD402-8. A second list of coins, which are not illustrated, has been added to complete the record for the site. The main sources used in identifying the coins were Casey, 1980, Reece & James, 1986, and Sear, 1974. ILLUSTRATED COINS (Plates 2 and 3) 330 Radiate head of Gallienus. A small part of the legend is visible on the obverse: (IMP GALLIE)NUS A(UG). The reverse has DIANAE(CONS AUG) and shows a stag. The coins of Gallienus are notable for the range of animals used on the reverse to symbolize Diana as the goddess of the chase. (AD260-68). SFC34 331 Radiate head of Gallienus with (IMPGALLI) ENUS(AUG) on the obverse. The reverse has (FOR) TUNA RED(UX) and shows Fortuna holding a cornucopia and rudder (AD260-68). WVC41 332 Radiate head of Postumus, retaining most of its legend: IMP(C) POSTUMUSPFAUG. The reverse has HERC PACIFICO, and shows Hercules with an olive branch, a club and a lion’s skin (AD259-268). (SFC47)333 Radiate head of Claudius II with (IMPCCLAUDIU)SAUG. The reverse may be Salus holding a sceptre and feeding a serpent (AD26870). (SFC7) 334 Radiate head of Claudius II with (DI)VO CLAUD(IO) is a commemorative coin struck after his death to represent Claudius deified. The reverse has the legend CONSECRATIO and shows an eagle signifying his ascent to join the gods. (AD268-70). (SFC14) 335 Radiate head of Tetricus I. He is bearded and his name clear: IMPCTETRICUSPFAUG. The reverse is P(A)X AUG showing Pax with branch and sceptre. (AD270-3). (SFC26)

336 Radiate head of Tetricus II looking youthful with a small part of the legend C PIUS ESUVIUS TETRICUS visible on the obverse. The reverse is unclear. (AD270-3). (SFC15) 337 Radiate head of Victorinus with (I)MPCVICTOR(INU) SPFAUG. The reverse legend was probably (VIRTUSAUG) as it shows Mars, helmeted, cloaked and holding a spear, his left hand on a shield (AD268-70). (SFC35) 338 Radiate head of Probus, (IMPC)P(RO)BUSPFAUG. The reverse has FIDE(SMILI)T with Fides holding two standards. It can be seen that a hole has been pierced through the coin to enable suspension (AD276-82). (SFC38) 339 Radiate head of Carausius, (IMP)CARAUSIUSPFAUG. The reverse has Felicity with caduceus and cornucopia, but the only letters apparent appear to be MAR, and not the abbreviated form of TEMPORUM FELICITAS, usually found, suggesting that this may be a coin-copy (?AD286293). (SFC49) 340 Radiate head of Allectus. The condition is very good with clear legends. The obverse has IMPCALLECTUSPFAUG and the reverse is VIRTUSAUG showing a galley. The mintmark is either C or G, possibly for Colchester or Southampton (Clausentium) but perhaps more likely to be for Gloucester (Glevum). (AD293-6). (SFC40) 341 Radiate head of Allectus. Again the condition is very good with clear legends and IMPCALLECTUSPFAUG on the obverse. The reverse has PROVIDENTIAAUG with Providence holding a baton and cornucopia. The mintmark is ML for London (293-6). (SFC43) 342 Laureate head of Licinius, IMPLICINIUSPFAUG, has SOLIN(VIC)TOCOMITI on the reverse with Sol holding a globe. The mintmark is MSL for London (308-324). (SFC5) 343 Laureate head of Constantine II, with CON(STAN) TINUS IUN NOBC. The reverse has CAESARUM NOSTRORUM and shows a laurel wreath around VOT X, indicating that the coin was struck to commemorate the tenth anniversary of this Emperor’s reign, possibly the year AD327. The mintmark is STR for Trier’s second workshop. (SFC13) 344 Laureate head of Constantine II, CONSTAN(T) INUSNC. The reverse has PROVIDENTIA AUGG (the two Gs present here signifying that he was a junior emperor at the time). It shows a camp gate with two turrets and a star between them. The mintmark is the same as the coin above, STR for Trier’s second workshop (317-348). (SFC23) 345 Diademed head of Valentinian with VALENTINIANUSPFAUG. The reverse has part of the legend GLORIA ROMANORUM and shows the emperor dragging a captive. The mintmark CONST is for Arles, known by the alternative name ‘Constantia’ after the birth of Constantine there. Also present are OF 1 (to indicate the no.1 workshop at Arles, AD364-75). (SFC20) 346 Laureate head of Valens with part of the legend (DNVALEN)S PFAUG. The reverse legend may have been (GLORIA ROMANORUM) since it shows Valens dragging

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Plate 2 Coins

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Plate 3 Coins (cont.)

127

Wortley Romano-British Site a kneeling captive by the hair. Valens was the brother of Valentinianus (see 345 above) and ruled from AD364-378. (SFC9) 347 The very small flan size of 12mm and the diademed head serve to identify this as a coin of Honorius, the younger of two sons of Theodosius, both of whom he raised to Augustus during his own lifetime. It is just possible to read part of the legend DN HON(ORIUSPFAUG) on the obverse. The reverse is probably Victory dragging a captive and carrying a trophy although the legend is unreadable (AD402-8). (SFC52) This coin of AD402-8 belongs to the latest Roman coin issue known to have reached Britain. In Rome it was superseded by a new issue c. AD403 which is not found in Britain, a fact which has generally been interpreted as showing that officials’ salaries and other state payments ceased in Britain at this time, causing a rapid collapse of the coin-dependent cash economy and coinciding with the withdrawal of Roman officials from these shores. TWO POST-MEDIEVAL COINS 348 Jetton. Originally produced for use as counters on reckoning-boards, jettons came to be tendered as small change when bronze coinage was in short supply and flooded into Britain in the first half of the sixteenth century. They were largely produced by a few families in Nuremberg at this time. (SFC16) 349 Silver threepenny piece of Elizabeth I. The legend is mostly clear: ELIZA(BETH) D.G.ANG.(FR) ET HIB(REGINA). Before the initial ‘E’ the pheon (a barbed arrowhead) is present and this was used as a mintmark between 1561-1565, thus dating the coin. Behind the queen’s head a rose is just visible to mark the coin as a threepenny-bit of Elizabeth’s re-organized coinage at this particular time. (SFC53) COINS NOT ILLUSTRATED SFC46 Radiate head is not identifiable, but it could be a coin of Gallienus since his coinage depicted a series of animals on the reverse and there is a four-legged animal here. SFC55 Radiate head of Postumus. The reverse is Pax standing left. (259-268) SFC56 Radiate head is possibly Postumus but the coin is very worn with nothing identifiable on the reverse. (AD259-268) SFC11 Radiate head is possibly Victorinus. The reverse is Salus Aug, with Salus holding a sceptre in left hand and, in the right, a patera to feed a serpent arising from an altar. SFC2Radiate head may be Quintillus with the reverse of Apollo, (AD270) SFC22 Radiate head of Victorinus the name is clear. The reverse is possibly Aequitas or Pax. (AD268-70). SFC36 Radiate head of Victorinus. The name is clear, but there is only the faint impression of a standing figure on the reverse. (AD268-70)

SFC48 Radiate head of Victorinus with part of the name visible. The reverse shows nothing which can be identified (AD268-70).SFC57 Radiate head of Claudius II, deified, indicated by the legend ‘Consecratio’ shown in part on the reverse around an eagle (AD268-70).SFC30 Radiate head of Claudius II. Again he is deified with an eagle on the reverse as above (AD268-70).SFC18 Radiate head of a youthful Tetricus II. The reverse shows him as the ‘Leader of Youth’ with part of the legend visible (AD270-3). SFC19 Radiate head of either Tetricus I or II, the obverse is well-worn. The reverse has Spes holding the hem of her dress and with a flower in her right-hand (AD270-3). SFC21 Radiate head of Tetricus I. Reverse is probably Pax with branch and sceptre (AD270-3).SFC25 Radiate head of Tetricus I. Reverse is possibly Pax Aug (AD2703). SFC28 Radiate head of Tetricus I. Reverse is probably Pax Aug (AD270-3). SFC29 Radiate head of Tetricus I. Reverse may be Fides Militum (AD270-3).SFC31 Radiate head of Tetricus I. Reverse may be Hilaritas with long palm and cornucopia (AD270-3). SFC32 Radiate head of Tetricus I. Reverse may be Laetitia with wreath and anchor (AD270-3).SFC33 Radiate head of Tetricus I. Reverse may be Laetitia with wreath and anchor (AD270-3). SFC39 Radiate head of Tetricus II. Reverse is probably Pietas Augustor(rum) showing a collection of priestly implements (AD270-3).SFC45 Radiate head of Tetricus II. Reverse is probably Spes Publica as WVC19 above (AD270-3). SFC50 Radiate head is possibly Tetricus? but coin is very worn with little to identify it. SFC54 Radiate head. From the little of the legend visible, possibly Postumus (259-68). SFC6Radiate head of Carausius. The reverse is possibly Pax holding a transverse sceptre, apparently without a mintmark (AD286-93). SFC24 Radiate head of Carausius. The reverse may be Pax or Salus holding a sceptre. The letter P remains as part of a mintmark (AD286-93). SFC12 Radiate head is unidentifiable as the coin is well worn. On the reverse only a gowned figure is clear. SFC27 Radiate head is very worn but may be Tetricus I since the reverse is probably Victory with wreath and palm (AD270-3). SFC37 Fragmented coin shows a radiate head, but the small size of the head indicates that the coin itself was very small and together with the abstract nature of the reverse design marks this out as a coin-copy from an unofficial mint. SFC44 Radiate head, is again very small in size, with no legend apparent on either obverse or reverse. It may be suggested as another coin-copy. SFC3 Radiate head on the obverse and a simple figure on the reverse. The fact that the execution is crude, with no attempt at a legend, signals a third coin-copy.SFC4 Laureate head. The obverse is very worn with the legend missing. The reverse has been overstruck with a version of the ‘falling horseman’ - which is a copy of a coin issue of c. AD348, well known from its reverse legend FEL TEMP REPARATIO (the restoration of happy times) although the copies do not reproduce this. However, the letters CONS are visible here and may have survived as the coin’s original mintmark (i.e. Arles as no.345 above) before the overstrike. It is noted that old coinage was re-used in this way between the years 128

The Finds AD354 and 364. (Casey, 1980, 44). SFC51 Roman coin but otherwise unidentified. SFC1 English penny, is possibly William and Mary. SFC8 English threepenny bit (AD1941). SFC10 A group of French and English modern coins. SFC17 Unidentified coin. It should be recorded that while the Roman coinage indicates Romano-British occupation at Wortley from c. AD260 onwards, unfortunately no coin was found in a position which could help towards a more precise dating of the features or layers. THE PAINTED WALL-PLASTER Most of the painted wall-plaster from the site came from two separate Romano-British rubbish deposits, one of which was confined to the backfill of the cellar area and the other to the backfill layers of the bathhouse. These two deposits were part of an extensive demolition and levelling operation which took place late in Phase 5. The painted designs found on the wall-plaster from each area are completely different and the two deposits will be dealt with separately. WALL-PLASTER FROM THE CELLAR AREA The cellar room Firstly, it should be noted that, although there is some evidence to show that the cellar-room itself was decorated with painted wall-plaster from the start, the wall-plaster scheme we have attempted to reconstruct here was that which was in place at the time of its demolition late in Phase 5 as mentioned above. There is reason to think that the room immediately above the cellar had a timber floor and, since we have not recognized any ceiling plaster in the cellar deposits, it seems likely that its timber construction also served as a wood-beamed ceiling for the cellar room beneath. In contrast, it is clear that all four stone walls of the cellar had been decorated with painted wall-plaster since each wall retained some traces of plaster, although only a little of its paint had survived. The best evidence towards the recovery of the design features in the cellar room came from its south wall. Here a length of wall-plaster had remained upstanding despite medieval stone-robbing from the wall behind it. Although its stone backing had long gone, the wall-plaster still held the shape of two niches which had originally been present in this wall. Running horizontally below the niches, and 1.8m above floor level, was a ridge in the plaster, suggesting that there may have been a timber shelf in this position. Near the south-east corner of the same wall some surviving plaster still retained vestiges of red, green and black painted stripes as shown in close-up on Plate 4. Beneath this, at floor level, two further surviving wall-plaster fragments remained on the wall, one of them continuing around the south-east corner. They were

Plate 4 Surviving paint on the south cellar wall

decorated with random splashes of red and black paint on a light background, indicating that there had been a dado in this position - a common feature of many Roman decorative schemes. Furthermore there were signs that one of the niches had been outlined with a black stripe and painted white internally. All these small bits of evidence can be seen on the upper of the two views of the south wall, Plate 5(a). Using this same evidence, the view below it shows the same wall as it may have appeared in the later Roman period, Plate 5(b). There was further evidence to endorse the decorative scheme for the cellar from a particular group of fragments of painted wall-plaster found together in the demolition backfill. These were near the ante-chamber and had probably fallen from the cellar’s east wall as they were very similar to two or three fragments of plaster still attached to that wall. Re-assembled, this fallen plaster covered an area approximately 1.1m by 0.7m in size and its design shows panels outlined in stripes of red and green. In one place it is joined by a wide yellow-ochre stripe. The outer edge of this plaster was chamfered and therefore the yellow stripe may have been edging an entrance reveal. Within the panelling and painted on a light background are some rough trefoil shapes, possibly intended to be floral, as they are in colours of yellow-ochre, blue, green and red. Also just visible in one place is a pattern of fine lines, see Plate

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Plate 5 (a) View of the south wall showing where paint remained on the plaster (It should be noted that the dark staining on the lower part of this south wall is due to the settlement of the cess in the backfill)

(b) View of the south wall’s basic design scheme suggested by the available evidence

6. One or two trefoil shapes were recognizable on the few fragments of painted plaster which still remained on the east wall, while the stripes of the panelling match the red and green stripes already seen on the south wall. Therefore this reassembled plaster adds considerable support to the reconstruction, compare Plate 5 with Plate 6. Simple panel schemes such as this are by far the commonest type of Roman wall decoration and were used throughout the Roman period (Davey and Ling, 1982, 31). Plate 7 is a photograph of the reverse side of this same reassembled group of plaster fragments. It appears to retain an impression of a rough framework of laths on clay, which raises an interesting point. Bearing in mind that the cellar room is built of stone it seems odd that after knocking through a stone wall to create a new entranceway into the cellar, rather than re-using the stone in the re-building work, the builders apparently replaced part of the wall with a lath and clay infill, then plastered and decorated it along with the rest of the cellar walls. However, it must be said that it was probably because this piece of walling remained less stable than the stone wall alongside it which caused its collapse during demolition, thus allowing its plaster to survive in reasonable condition, whereas most of the rest was left on the stone walls and rotted away.

The room above the cellar By far the greatest quantity of painted wall-plaster came from the backfill layers of the stairwell, with just a small number of matching fragments from the deposits in the cellar. All clearly belonged to a single design scheme completely different from that of the cellar room, and it would seem most likely that this wall-plaster came from the room immediately above. This plaster, although a little faded, had survived in unusually good condition, possibly because it had been chipped away from its backing before deposition so that any good building stone or timber could be reused. Unfortunately, due to the large quantity of fragments and the fact that they had become thoroughly disturbed during demolition, our attempts to reassemble them were, for the most part, unsuccessful. Nonetheless, with so much material to hand, enough evidence was available to attempt a reconstruction which may be not too far from the original. In the initial sorting of the mass of related plaster, several distinct groups were apparent. It was obvious that the largest group belonged to the main design and it eventually became clear that the scheme was based on a framework of interlocking octagons, overpainted in dark red on a

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Plate 6 Computer reconstruction of a group of excavated plaster fragments which probably fell from the cellar’s east wall

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Plate 7 Reverse view of plaster shown on Plate 6 showing the

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impressions of a framework of laths

The Finds green background, Plate 8. While the green background colour of the plaster has for the most part faded, its original bright green colour can still be seen in a few places where overpainted lines have flaked off. It is, therefore, this brighter green colour that has been used for the suggested reconstruction, with all the evidence brought together in Plate 9. Four diagnostic fragments have been reproduced at the top of this Plate, 9(a) shows part of the red framework, now outlined with white lines, 9(b) shows one of the white/ brown floral motifs which were then scattered within the framework. These were painted freehand with varying degrees of care, or perhaps their differing form reflects the work of different hands. Clearly related to the above scheme were a number of much thicker, more substantial fragments of red-painted wall-plaster. Again few joins could be found but a number of the pieces retained a flat base consistent with having rested on a flat surface, probably the timber floor of the room. It seems reasonable to assume that such fragments came from the foot of the plastered walls and were part of a plain red dado supporting the main scheme. The fragment shown at 9(c) represents this group, chosen in particular because it has a thin white line separating the red colour of the dado from the green background of the wall above - a feature which proves its relationship to the main scheme. Moreover, this relationship was confirmed by the underpainted, diagonal dark red line which is just discernible on the same fragment and is likely to be part of the underlying octagonal framework. A number of the string-marks which the craftsmen had used to set out this framework have survived on the plaster and one is shown on Plate 14(c), while a roughly incised cross shown at Plate 14(a) may also have been used in this way. It should be noted here that, when found in a Roman context, plaster painted with an octagonal design is often interpreted as ceiling plaster. In this case it is clear that we are looking at wall-plaster in a large enough quantity to suggest it may have covered the major part of a room. Of great interest are two further groups of plaster, each of which evidence a single, unique design feature, although it is likely that they both belong somewhere within the same decorative scheme.The first of these was actually overpainted within the outline of one octagon and was the first clue which led to the octagonal framework becoming recognized as the base upon which the main overall scheme was constructed, Plate 10. The design of the feature itself is centred on a compass-generated geometrical pattern contained within a circle.This is surrounded by a band, for which the reconstruction is largely conjectural since sparse evidence remains, but which seems to have included differently shaped and coloured triangles. Perhaps here the intended design was based on two squares, one rotated at 45° to the other. The whole was set within a circular wreath having ribbon bindings, Plates 11and 12. Incised lines and prickmarks used in setting out this pattern are visible on the selected plaster fragments (b) and (d), on Plate 14.

Even more striking is the second unique feature. It appears to take the shape of a large triangle and, since some of the red-painted outer edges of this plaster are chamfered, it has been interpreted as the painted decoration for a pediment. The central panel resembles carefully pleated material set fan-like within a circle and surrounded by a floral wreath, the whole being supported within the triangle upon three bands decorated with leaves or petals, Plate 13. Although in this case there is no evidence to link the scheme to the octagonal design of the upper room, it is likely that the pediment was in this same room, because its pattern was set out using the same kind of incised lines and prickmarks as the rest of that plaster, a method which does not seem to have been used in the room below. Moreover, since the triangle of the above feature measures more than a metre in height it would seem to be too large to have headed a doorway. Perhaps it should be associated with the red/ white wavy border already shown, which also had some chamfered edges, Plate 9 and 9(d). Together they may have surrounded a niche in the wall. Is it possible that we are looking at the decoration of a household shrine - a facility that would have been present in most Roman houses? A conjectural reconstruction of just such a feature is shown, where the white wavy borders represent helical columns supporting a large decorated pediment which is set above a niche whose intended purpose was to hold images of the household gods or lares, Plate 13. Thus it would have been similar in appearance to shrines as they are depicted on Roman artifacts. If this is indeed the case, then this shrine with its large and impressive triangular pediment must have dominated the room above the cellar. For a detailed description of the use of a computer to help the above reconstructions see Bagnall & Taylor, 2011, 4152. WALL-PLASTER FROM THE BATHHOUSE The fragments of painted wall-plaster excavated from the backfill of the bathhouse, although plentiful in number, were mostly small in size and well scattered in position. It was difficult to relate them to particular rooms of the bathhouse although several different schemes are apparent as detailed below. Dadoes Initial sorting indicated five particular groups of fragments, each of which is likely to have come from a different dado. The first group is painted a plain dark grey, while the other four are based on the colour red. One is a plain dark red, the second is dark red with darker spots, the third is plain pink. Three examples of fragments from the fourth group can be seen on Plate 15. They are pink with red and white splashes and it is notable that this description is exactly the same as that given for a continuous dado uncovered in situ during excavations at Caerwent in 1901 and said to date from the mid to third quarter of the fourth century (Davey and Ling, 1982, 211).

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Plate 8 Diagnostic fragments, some superimposed upon the framework of the overlapping octagonal design scheme of the upper room

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Plate 9 Reconstruction of the upper room’s wall decoration. Above this are a few of the diagnostic fragments 9(a), 9(b), 9(c) and 9(d) which helped the reconstruction

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Plate 10 Compass-generated geometrical pattern with the evidence for its relationship to the octagonal framework

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Plate 11 Suggested appearance of the first unique feature based on the evidence of the superimposed plaster fragments

Plate 12 The first unique feature as it may have appeared within the design of the upper room

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Plate 13 Conjectural reconstruction of the second unique feature as a household shrine and above it are the diagnostic fragments for the pediment

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Plate 14 Fragments of plaster with marking-out features

Plate 15 Examples of fragments which are likely to have come from a dado

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Wortley Romano-British Site The main decorative schemes The majority of the plaster fragments were deemed to have come from walls above a dado. In this position simple panel-schemes were by far the most common form of wall decoration and occur throughout the Roman period (Davey and Ling, 1982, 31). This certainly seems to be the case at Wortley as already shown for the cellar-room. Plate 16 brings together a number of fragments of stripes on wall-plaster which may have been part of panel borders in the rooms of the bathhouse. As a considerable quantity of small, plain white or light-coloured plaster fragments were also found, it has been assumed that they formed the interiors of such panels which may either have been left plain or finished with a simple decoration. Some individual painted motifs which could have been used in this way are shown on Plate 17. Three further groups of plaster may reflect a slightly more elaborate decoration. It is suggested here that a number of fragments showing foliage and blossom may, perhaps, have been painted as a swag across the top of a panel, as shown on Plate 18. More certain are the fragments showing part of a fence on a blue background, which could have been part of a landscape scene, see Plate 19. There are several close parallels to the form of this fence. It is similar to one painted on a wall frieze at Verulamium but even closer to a fence on wall-plaster at Rudston (Yorks.) including the fact that the latter is part of a landscape (Davey and Ling, 182, Fig. 45 and 151, Fig. 33). Plate 20 is more of a puzzle. Although it shows several panel-border fragments brought together with patterned ones which, on the evidence of the green line edging the red border, are clearly related to them, the design theme remains obscure. The last related group of fragments was the largest found for the bathhouse and eventually proved to be the most interesting because it provided enough evidence to allow a reconstruction of a wall scheme in the caldarium. It was based on a monochrome framework of octagons, squares and triangles fitted within bordered panels above a dark grey dado. Unusually, the light grey/brown stripe of the framework has darker spots superimposed upon it and there is a parallel line of smaller dots, as shown by the actual fragments reproduced on Plate 21(a). One example also shows part of a green stripe, thus linking it to a number of other green striped fragments, including some which

retain the shape of a chamfer in the plaster, both surfaces being painted green. These have been interpreted as the edging of either a door or window reveal in the bathhouse which probably also served as a panel border. In the same way plaster fragments having a chamfer and painted dark grey are thought to be the edging of a door reveal and significantly, since their colour matches the dark grey of one of the groups of dado fragments already listed with the Dadoes above, it was possible to link those fragments to this particular decorative scheme. Although disturbed by medieval digging, it is clear that the majority of these distinctive plaster fragments originated from that part of the bathhouse which would have contained the caldarium. The indication of a door or window reveal in the plaster, as mentioned, suggests that this monochrome octagonal scheme was used for a wall, rather than for a ceiling. Supporting evidence for this fact comes from the plaster itself, since the combed impressions of box flue tiles have been found on the reverse of some fragments, thus proving that they had been fixed to a heated wall surface - two examples are shown on Plate 21(b). Plate 22 brings together all the above points to give the suggested wall-decoration for the caldarium area. Many of the original fragments are superimposed upon the octagonal framework to indicate the evidence upon which it is based. The illustration is divided in half diagonally. The upper half shows the top left-hand corner of one green-bordered, octagonally-patterned panel. The other half contains the lower right-hand corner of a second panel, to show the dark-grey border of the door reveal meeting the dado. This scheme is unusual and, in their study of Roman wall painting, Davey and Ling have noted that a frame which incorporates a light-coloured stripe with dark spots superimposed upon it is a rare decorative feature which is confined to painted plaster from sites spaced, broadly speaking, along the Severn valley, only four being known at the time of writing: Wroxeter (Shrops.), Droitwich (Worcs.), Caerwent (Mon.) and Frocester Court (Glos.) (Davey and Ling, 1982, 50-1). The wall-plaster from Wortley bathhouse is clearly another example of this same rare feature to add to the list. Its site fits well, being within the Severn valley and only a few miles from Frocester Court.

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Plate 16 Fragments of wall-plaster which probably come from different panel schemes

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Plate 17 Individual fragments which may have come from decorations within the panels

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The Finds

Plate 18 Fragments of foliage with blossom which may have formed part of a swag

Plate 19 Fragments, including a fence, which suggest a landscape scene

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Plate 20 Several related fragments brought together but the resulting decoration is difficult to visualise

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The Finds

Plate 21(a) Fragments showing the distinctive feature of dark spots superimposed on a lighter-coloured line

Plate 21(b) Reverse view of two plaster fragments showing impressions of combing from box flue tiles

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Plate 22 Original fragments of wall-plaster superimposed on an octagonal framework to show the evidence for the reconstruction. Above is shown the top left-hand corner of a green-bordered panel and below is the lower righthand corner of a second panel where the dark-grey border of the door reveal meets the dado

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The Finds TESSELLATED FLOORING While the large numbers of individual tesserae which surfaced among the excavated finds indicate that there was some tessellated flooring at Wortley, those fragments in which a number of tesserae remain set together in their original mortar provide more specific evidence. Such flooring fragments were mostly found in the area of the bathhouse as follows: Plate 23(a) shows three tesserae groupings (one showing the underside) which have clearly come from the same paved area. The red ceramic tesserae are roughly 2cm square and set into lime mortar on a bedding layer of opus signinum. On each fragment the surface-grouting is missing while the opus signinum bedding has a smooth flat base which seems to imply that it was laid on a flat surface, perhaps of tile, stone, or timber. David Neal quotes the instructions given by Vitruvius for the preparation of a proper foundation for a pavement: Having constructed a firm base, either of broken stones or, for an upper floor, of timber, lay a layer of stones no smaller than will fill a hand; over this lay a 9-in layer of broken stones mixed with mortar, and over this a 6-in layer of crushed tile and mortar, only then can the pavement be laid on top. The essence of these instructions is that the floor must be solid and it is for this reason that each layer had to be beaten down thoroughly before the next one could be laid on top of it. In practice the best mosaics were laid on top of several layers of rubble and mortar as described (Neal, 1976, 243). Plate 23(b) shows examples from a second group, in all about fifteen flooring fragments, some joining. Here the tesserae are a little smaller and vary in size from 1.5cm down to 0.9cm square. They are made from buff-coloured oolitic limestone which could have been sourced on site. Although the bedding layer is now missing, the tesserae are grouted with a finer grade of opus signinum, a skim of which still remains on the surface. This indicates that they lay on part of the floor which escaped the final surface clean and polish, probably due to the fact that they were positioned at the edge of a floor and beneath an item of furniture such as a side bench. Plate 23(c) shows a third group, consisting of seven fragments of well-worn and unpolished buff-coloured tesserae also now without the bedding layer. They are made of the same oolitic limestone as those above, only differing in the fact that they are much larger at roughly 2.5cm square. Plate 23(d) shows one example to represent c. 180 separate fragments of fine mosaic which are present and indicate a patterned floor. Small tesserae, no larger than 1cm square, have been used here, in four colours: red (ceramic tile), buff (oolitic limestone), blue and white (both of lias limestone which must have been imported to the site). Plate 23(e) shows similar, but larger, blue tesserae c. 2.5cm square,

presumably part of the border. These were all set into lime mortar on top of a thick bedding layer of coarse opus signinum and then grouted with fine opus signinum before polishing. Plate 23(f) is an enlarged photograph to show the composition of this grouting material which seems to be unusual. Judging from the base of all these fragments, it would seem that the whole pavement was laid on an uneven surface, perhaps a layer of small stone and gravel since a little of this material appears to have become incorporated into the base of the opus signinum, see Plate 23(g). Since the mortar of the first three groups of plain tessellated flooring, shown on Plates 23(a) – (c), is so similar to that of the patterned mosaic, Plate 23(d), it is likely that these groups were part of the edging material surrounding the main mosaic floor and perhaps those with a smooth flat base had come from doorway areas which crossed the flat surface of stone wall-foundations. With regard to the very large number of loose tesserae which came to light from the upper layers of the excavation, it should be noted that the size and quality of these tesserae were the same as those used in the patterned mosaic described above. It seems likely that they all belonged to the one mosaic floor. The few exceptions to this fact were some larger tesserae mainly found in two discrete groups, with only the occasional example occurring elsewhere. They were more than 2cm square and made of red ceramic which may have been re-cycled tile. Only roughly shaped, they were probably unfinished and remained unused. The mosaic floor probably came from one of the postulated Corinian schools of mosaicists operating in the 4th century. At this time such floors were designed with panels containing decorative motifs which usually had borders of linearpattern guilloche, one example being the ‘Venus’ mosaic at nearby Kingscote, Glos. (Timby, 1998, 80, Fig.50). Plate 24 is a composite of three features used in this period taken from three different mosaics, with the Wortley mosaic material superimposed upon it. At the top is the ‘pelta’ theme found on a Lydney mosaic (Wheeler & Wheeler, 1932, Plate 1), followed by a guilloche border from a Cirencester mosaic and then an ivy-leaf scroll panel from a Verulamium mosaic (both taken from Neal, 1981, Mosaics 34 and 73 respectively). It can be seen that some of the Wortley tesserae groupings fit very comfortably within the Lydney ‘pelta’ design while others sit happily on top of a simple four-strand guilloche border as produced at Cirencester. Finally, a few groupings seem to be at home on the ivy-leaf scroll of the Verulamium mosaic. While guilloche borders and the ivy leaf motif are fairly typical of 4th century mosaicists, the pelta or ‘Amazon shield’ design is less common. Nevertheless, it is found on several mosaics which have been attributed either to the postulated Corinian Saltire or Durno-Corinian Schools of the mid to later 4th century. For instance, the pelta motif appears on a Cirencester mosaic which is thought to be a product of the Corinian Saltire School - perhaps active in the second quarter of the 4th century. (Smith, 1986, Mosaic 147

Wortley Romano-British Site

23(b) Groups of unpolished tesserae

23(a) Three groups of tessellated flooring, one showing the underside

23(c)

23(e)

Large unpolished tesserae

23(d)

Patterned, fine mosaic

Border tesserae of blue lias limestone

23(f)

Photograph enlarged to show opus signinum grouting

Plate 23 Tesserae

23(g) Showing sand and gravel incorporated into the opus signinum bedding

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The Finds 1, 209-218, figs. 130-35). At nearby Frocester a mosaic includes a ‘rare tilted pelta about a knot’. This is dated on external grounds to post AD340, and is also thought to have come from the Corinian Saltire School (Price, 2000, Vol. 1, 156-7). The Lydney mosaic, from which part of the pelta theme has been reproduced on Plate 24, is said to be no earlier than AD367. Another local example of the pelta design mosaic was found in the18th century at Box villa, near Bath. It was thought to have been added to room 1 of the villa during fourth-century building work (Corney, 2012, 58 and Fig.28).

Although the workmanship of the Wortley mosaic flooring is of good quality, there is nothing to suggest that any larger, figured subject was present. While it is possible that the better part of this mosaic was lifted for use elsewhere, it is more likely that we are looking at the remains of a single mosaic floor with a geometrical pattern that was typical of the Corinian mosaicists who were active in the second half of the 4th century. Because most of the assembled flooring fragments were found in the bathhouse area it is probable that this pavement was added to that building at around this time, possibly to the apodyterium which is likely to have had a timber floor.

Plate 24 Suggested designs for the mosaic; the background is comprised of three different patterns from other sites as described in the text, with Wortley fragments superimposed 149

SPECIALIST REPORTS

TWO RINGS Martin Henig Silver Ring (see Finds Drawing Fig. 22, no. 195) This is an ear-ring, and is clearly paralleled by one from Corbridge, illustrated in Lindsay Allason-Jones’ EarRings in Roman Britain, (Allason-Jones, 1989, 63, no. 85, pl. 29), although the cube in that case has far more schematic decoration... “one resembles Prince of Wales feathers, one consists of two circles set obliquely, one has two horizontal lines whilst the fourth is incised with the motif ”. A loop, now missing, would have been needed for attachment.I don’t know that I would be inclined to date the type too late; perhaps third century like the Kingscote cube probably is. The devices on the Wortley cube – the Goddess Fortuna*, Cantharus (reference to Bacchus), ?Parrot (again Bacchic) and a hare (cf the Cirencester mosaic) are all thoroughly Roman and of course symbols of prosperity and fecundity. Although the devices are in intaglio they were surely not used for sealing.If I have to stick my neck out can I suggest AD 250-350 as the likely date. Gold Ring (see Finds Drawing Fig. 22, no. 194) For a parallel to this beaded gold ring one could point to Marshall, Catalogue of Finger Rings in the British Museum (1907, no. 981), which is 2cm in diameter and is a ribbed ring with plain gold wire on either side (p.157, pl.xxv), placed in the late Roman period. *An alternative interpretation of this is a fish, or possibly a dolphin (see Finds Report). WHETSTONE Fiona Roe A small whetstone, perforated at one end , came from a Medieval robber trench F385.It has been worn down to a triangular sliver with the tip broken away (see Finds Report, Fig. 29 no 275), and so only measures 33 x 13 x 9 mm, with a weight of just 6 grams. A cylindrical hole 5 mm in diameter has been carefully bored at the wider end and the sides of the whetstone are worn smooth. This is what remains of a once larger tool that has been worn down by repeated use. Examination with a x10 hand lens

shows that it is made from a very fine-grained, slightly micaceous grey sandstone which is not a local material, since the most likely source for it seems to be in the Coal Measures sandstones of the Pennine area. Medieval whetstones were frequently made from a Norwegian schist, known both as Norwegian Rag and Eidsborg schist (Moore, 1978, 65). Various sandstones of Coal Measures type were also utilised, though to a lesser extent (Moore, 1978, 68) and these include the Upper Coal Measures Pennant sandstone, with source areas around Bristol and in the Forest of Dean. It was Pennant sandstone rather than stone from the Pennines that seems to have been preferred in southern England during the medieval period, the best published evidence coming from Winchester (Ellis & Moore, 1990, 280), while it was also employed in medieval Bristol (Good, 1998, 164). Pennant sandstone had been widely utilised for whetstones since at least the Iron Age and as this versatile stone was available only some 6 miles (9.6 km) to the south west of Wortley, its use here might have been expected. By contrast, whetstones made of Coal Measures sandstone from the Pennines have been recorded from local Roman sites, as for example Kingscote (Gutierrez & Roe, 1998, 176), while similar ones were found at West Hill, Uley (Roe, 1993, 197). The presence of Pennine sandstone so far from the source area can be explained by the fact that rotary querns and millstones of Millstone Grit were also being brought this far southward during the Roman period and are in fact surprisingly common. It would have been a simple matter to combine the available transport for both whetstones and the larger items and subsequently to gain some additional profit from sale of the whetstones. Thus it can be suggested that the whetstone found at Wortley is a re-used Roman one. It was not the custom to drill holes through Roman whetstones, though it is not an unusual feature of Medieval ones, and is seen particularly on worn down pieces of valuable Norwegian Rag, as for example at Deansway, Worcester, where the schist whetstones include a very worn down perforated piece with a final form comparable to that of the Wortley whetstone (Roe, 2004, Fig 258, No 16). Therefore the hole through the find from Wortley is likely to have been put in later and this would then have made it possible to wear the whetstone suspended from a belt or else to hang it up for safekeeping. The high degree of wear indicates that this was a tool valued for its grinding quality, while boring a hole for suspension would have helped to prevent loss.

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Specialist Reports CLAY TOBACCO PIPES Bruce Waddell It is difficult to write in depth on material of this nature as it is predominantly unmarked and so the makers are unknown. However, I have briefly described the material illustrated and provided an approximate date of manufacture to the best of my ability. The clay pipe bowls illustrated in Fig. 1 are:

.

1 Unmarked bowl with milling around rim and very thick walls. Probably a product of Bristol or Gloucester c.1640-60.

2 Unmarked bowl c.1720-40. 3 Very badly damaged bowl. Unmarked c.1710-40. 4 Damaged bowl. Unmarked c.1810-40. 5 Unmarked bowl c.1810-40. 6 Unmarked bowl c.1810-40. 7 Unmarked bowl with thin stem and narrow stem bore diameter c.1850-80. 8 ‘Dublin’- style bowl c.1870-1900. 9 ‘Claw’ bowl. Many similar pipes of this style were produced in the late 19th Century. It is therefore very difficult to attribute to any one maker despite the elaborate design. Possibly a product of Bristol or perhaps H. Dewy & Co., of Gloucester working predominantly c.1879-1889. 10 Another common 19th Century design of a ship on one side of the bowl and an anchor on the other

Fig. 1 Clay Pipe Bowls 151

Wortley Romano-British Site FLINT David Wilson A total of one hundred and seventy-three flints was recovered during the excavation, virtually all of those which were diagnostic were of either the Mesolithic (evidenced, for example, by the microliths) or the Neolithic period (evidenced, for example, by the two leafshaped arrowheads).There was little evidence of Bronze Age activity on the site. The flints can be grouped as follows: a) Unclassified = 96This was by far the largest group and includes a range of flints from small waste flakes to larger pieces which could have been utilised but show no signs of retouch or wear. b)Blades = 18 c)Bladelets = 15 d)Knives = 9 e)Microliths = 6 f)Scrapers = 5 g) Cores = 4 h)Retouched flakes = 4 i) Points = 3 j) Fabricators = 2 k)Saws = 2 l) Micro-burins = 2 m) Leaf-shaped arrowheads = 2 (both broken) n)Large utilised flakes = 1 o)Plano-convex knives = 1 p)Burins = 1 q)Notched flakes = 1 r )Calcined = 1

Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate a selection of the flint artefacts from the site. ILLUSTRATED FLINT ARTEFACTS 1 Microlith with fine unifacial retouch on one edge. 2 Microlith with fine unifacial retouch on one edge. 3 Microlith with fine unifacial retouch on one edge. 4 Microburin. 5 Microburin (tip broken). 6 Notched bladelet. 7 Plano-convex knife with all-over retouch. 8 Blade with fine unifacial retouch on one edge. 9 Blade with fine unifacial retouch on one edge. 10 Blade with serrated edge. 11 Backed blade/knife with cortex remnant. 12 Flat-backed knife. 13 Knife with cortex remnant. 14 End-and-side scraper with unifacial retouch. 15 End-and-side scraper with steep retouch and with cortex remnant. 16 Saw with fine serrated edge. 17 Knife with cortex remnant. 18 Burin with unifacial serration on both edges. 19 Blade. 20 Point. 21 Point. 22 Knife with unifacial retouch on edges and with cortex remnant. 23 Broken leaf-shaped arrowhead, snapped at base and point. 24 Notched flake.

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Fig. 1 Selected Flint Artefacts

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Fig. 2 Selected Flint Artefacts

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Specialist Reports ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLING

below this size. The finds were then extracted as follows:

Jenny Waring

Bone:all bone, except for very small fragments of large bones, was collected, and sorted wherever possible into human, mammal, small mammal, bird and fish bones and recorded on a sample sheet.

The recovery of floral and faunal remains from archaeological deposits can enable reconstruction of both the economic status of the site and the local environment. Various types of remains which can be useful include animal, bird and fish bones, seeds, chaff and pollen, snails, marine molluscs and insects. It is such assemblages which should be examined for environmental interpretation, hence the need for a large soil sample (40 litres of soil is considered a representative sample), giving a better idea of the range of plants and animals exploited than those recovered merely by hand. In 1988 a programme of environmental sampling was begun. Small test samples (5 litres) were taken from closed Roman contexts and wet-sieved. This initial sampling proved to be very productive, and on the basis of this result, bulk soil samples were collected from all closed Roman deposits, processed by wet sieving and froth flotation, and the floral and faunal remains extracted. Methodology The two methods of extraction used were: i) wet sieving, and ii) froth flotation. i) Wet sieving was used for the processing of bulk soil samples and, by using water, the organic content was separated from the mineral faction. Ten litres of soil were processed at any one time in the bulk sieving tank.The ‘flot’ (material which floats to the surface) was skimmed off manually using a 300mm sieve. The ‘residue’, which was the heavier mineralogical component, was collected on 0.5mm residue mesh. The flot and residue were dried in trays and then sorted. ii) Froth flotation was used particularly in the extraction of molluscs and plant material, as the method described above can be destructive.Approximately 50ml (30%/100 volume) of hydrogen peroxide (H202) per 3 litres of sample were placed in a bucket of water and left to stand for a short period of time. The hydrogen peroxide reacted with the water and produced gas, which filled the mollusc shells and seed pods bringing them to the surface. The resulting froth was skimmed off manually with a 300mm sieve and washed, and the collected flot was then transferred to trays for drying. Once the flot had been removed, the sample was transferred to the bulk sieving tank and processed in the normal way. Sorting of Environmental Samples When completely dry all flots were sorted under a low power microscope, and all finds, i.e. bone, slag, seeds, shell, snails, insects etc., were removed. The residue from sieved samples, when dry, was split using a 2mm sieve, as certain finds were not required to be sorted if they were

Plant remains: a low-power microscope was used to remove carbonised and mineralised seeds. These were distinguished wherever possible between cereal and ‘other’ seeds; charcoal remains larger than 2mm were sorted and bagged with the flot remains. Molluscs (marine): only complete, or near complete, shells were collected (preferably prior to wet sieving). These were not cleaned, due to their fragile nature, especially oysters. The occurrence of tops and bottoms, and the number of species were recorded (see Oyster and Shellfish report). Molluscs (land): whole individuals as well as fragments and slug plets were collected. Insects: all pupae and adult insect fragments etc., were collected. Cess and Coprolites: any coprolites, and fragments of cess over 5mm were sorted. If all the cess fragments were small (under 5mm) a sample was selected and the approximate numbers recorded. If all cess was under 2mm, its presence was simply noted. Results The wet sieving and froth flotation proved to be very productive, particularly in the 1988 and 1989 seasons due to the discovery of several drains containing environmentally-rich deposits.F87, the latrine drain, containing faecal matter in the deposits, produced evidence of plant and animal remains. A total of 121 litres of soil was processed from this feature, and produced the following:the animal and bird bone extracted tended to occur fragmented, some showing signs of partial digestion as a result of having passed through the body. Many of the animal bones represented were fragments of larger bones and therefore difficult to identify. Small mammal bones recovered were from mice, voles and shrews, which were probably resident in the drain, or may have burrowed into the archaeological layers in which they were found. So there is no way of telling whether they were used as food or were wild animals that had strayed into the drain from outside. Snail shells were recovered, and though low in number have been identified as from a burrowing species which is intrusive and not introduced until the medieval period (see Land Snails Report). Also Arion granules were present giving evidence for the presence of slugs. The only evidence for marine molluscs was oysters, which are almost ubiquitous on Roman sites. Egg shell was also

155

Wortley Romano-British Site present in the drain deposits in some abundance.

Site Procedure

The floral remains occurred only as carbonised examples and mostly consisted of cereal grains and mineralised plant stalks with a small component of seeds and pips.

The flotation equipment used at Wortley was very simple, and involved mixing the samples of soil with water delivered via a hosepipe, in a plastic dustbin and suspending material through a 0.5mm plastic mesh. The flot was manually skimmed-off with a 250 micron sieve. Once the carbonised material was recovered, it was air dried and then stored in paper bags prior to sorting.

Fish remains occurred in all three layers of F87 and some of the fish vertebrae recovered showed signs of having been eaten and subsequently passed through the body. The fish bone has been identified and includes pike, trout, salmon, eel, herring, mackerel and a species of flat fish, possibly sole. The fish evidence indicates that both riverine and marine species were being exploited by the inhabitants of the site. Bones from amphibians were also recovered, belonging to the frog/toad family.It is unclear whether these got into the deposits as food or whether they were living in the drain. Layer 203, a dark greyish brown silty clay containing cess, was put through the wet sieving tank in its entirety (10 litres). This deposit produced mostly faecal material and fish remains. The fish bones were identified as belonging to eel and pike.A number of fly pupae were recovered, which more than likely were layed into the faeces. F502 a drain with a fill (383) of dark grey silt containing building debris and burnt material, unlike the other drain deposits contained no cess. Forty-nine litres of this deposit were processed, and the much-fragmented bone produced evidence for small mammals and amphibians (frog), and fish including trout, eel and pike. There were also oysters, snails and egg shell. The plant material was carbonised and consisted of cereal grains and seeds. THE CARBONISED CEREAL REMAINS Jenny Waring As a result of environmental sampling, a variety of plant remains was recovered comprising charred plant material, including a large number of carbonised cereal remains, and weed seeds. The remains of crop plants revealed some detailed information on cereals in use on the site. Introduction It was apparent that the carbonised remains of cereal grain, weeds and chaff were occurring in most of the environmental samples. From the archaeological literature it would appear that, in general, grain deposits occur somewhat infrequently. This, however, may be illusory: charred seeds are not discernible in the soil by the naked eye, and therefore are almost certainly frequently missed. On this site, if the technique for water-flotation had not been in use, it is likely that most of the carbonised plant remains would not have been recovered.

The main advantage of this method is the ease with which the equipment may be thoroughly cleaned between samples, which is important, as soil residues are never completely free of carbonised material. It is difficult to assess the efficiency of this method as compared to others, in terms of how much of the total carbonised material in the soil is successfully extracted, since there are so many variables, such as texture and dampness of the soil and the nature of the carbonised material itself.From examination of the soil residues it would appear to be a fairly efficient method. The Cereal Remains Fig. 1 shows the quantity of carbonised plant material recovered from some of the features and layers sampled. In 1991 the most notable sample was from F303, a circular feature measuring 4m x 3.7m, at the top of the cellar backfill, and containing layer 700, which was a large deposit of burnt grain 30cm thick. This appeared as a friable black humic layer (see Plate 53 under EXCAVATION), and was found to consist almost entirely of carbonised cereal grain, chaff and weed seeds. It also contained some animal bone and mollusc. Sixty-eight litres of soil were subsequently sampled from this layer, which is the equivalent of six buckets (samples are taken by volume rather than weight). Only those grains which were fairly intact and showed no visible signs of distortion, such as blistering or bursting, were assigned to species and this was done on the basis of grain shape. The grain deposit was of mixed grain, dominated by wheat, principally the relatively flat caryopses (grains) characteristic of spelt (Triticum spelta).The spelt remains consisted of the caryopses themselves, awn fragments, spikelets and glume bases (with prominent venation associated with spelt). (see Figs. 2, 3) The width of the glume fragments ranges from 0.75mm to 1.25mm, and according to figures by Helbaek (1952) these ranges correspond to spelt wheat, and incidentally are rather smaller than its modern counterparts, even allowing for shrinkage during the carbonisation process, which is about 10%. Oats (Avena sp.) occurred in some number, long and thin in shape, some with clearly hairy surfaces. It is difficult at this point to determine whether the oats were cultivated or wild. Fragments of twisted oat awns were also recovered. (see Figs. 2, 3).

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Specialist Reports The deposit contained some barley (Hordeum), the grains themselves, possible fragments of palea and lemma and two awn fragments which have two prominent marginal rows of large single barbs characteristic of barley. It was impossible to distinguish whether the barley was of 2-row or 6-row type, as the grains were in a poor state of preservation. We may have some insight as to the reason for this charred grain deposit. It seems that it was not an accidental happening and that it was intentionally burnt. The grain deposit had been partially cleaned (in other words threshed, winnowed and probably sieved), the freed grain partially cleaned and put into bulk storage. It was at this stage that the stored grain became infected by insects, probably the grain weevil, a pest of stored cereals. This is evidenced by the fact that a large number of cereal grains had holes bored through them (G, H and I Fig. 2). To get rid of this infestation, and to prevent further contamination, the grain was burnt but not in situ;it was done elsewhere and then placed into the top of F303, as the layer beneath 700

consisted of stone rubble, which showed no signs of heat, the stones showing only staining by the carbon. Summary Throughout the Roman period in Britain wheat is the most common cereal encountered.Triticum diccoccum (emmer) and Triticum aestivum (bread/club wheat) occur the most frequently in the first and second centuries AD. In the third and fourth centuries AD Triticum spelta (spelt) occurs in larger numbers than before, which correlates with the late dating evidence from layer 700.Hordeum (barley) and Avena sp. (oats) also occur but proportionately a minor component in the cereal economy. The cereal remains from Wortley indicate a picture of arable farming based on spelt production in fields adjacent to the site, and of the processing of the crop, and the utilisation of the by-products closer to the main areas of occupation.

Fig. 1 Quantity of Carbonised Plant Material recovered from samples

157

Wortley Romano-British Site

Fig. 2 Cereal Remains Types

158

Specialist Reports

Fig. 3 Cereal Types

THE OYSTERS AND SHELLFISH Jenny Waring The oyster and marine shellfish remains were examined to determine whether the shells and their distribution could provide evidence for the eating habits of the inhabitants of the site, and the way in which the shells were deposited. Methods The oyster shell and shellfish were counted from each context. The oysters were separated into Right Valves (upper flat shell) and Left Valves (lower cupped shell). Shells without the hinge (embonal) were not counted. Shells that were badly broken or fragmented were deemed unmeasurable; though counted they could not be categorised into right or left valves. All oysters were measured by placing them against a ruler and recording to the nearest millimetre. The maximum width is measured from the hinge to the shell margin

opposite. The maximum length was measured across the shell from margin to margin at right angles to the maximum width. The Right Valves were also examined to determine the age of the oyster, by counting the growth rings on the shell surface. Evidence for the presence of infesting or encrusting organisms was also recorded. This evidence can show the habitat characteristics of the location of the area where the oysters may have been harvested. Other species of shellfish were recorded and counted. Results A minimum of 660 oyster shells were recovered from 283 contexts. 254 Left Valves, 213 Right Valves and 193 unmeasured. Large and heavy oyster shells were common amongst the assemblage. The sizes ranged from 6cms to 11.9cms, the average size being 7-8cms.

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Wortley Romano-British Site The shape of the oyster shell may be an indication of whether the oyster came from a cultivated population or a natural one. The general impression gained is that they came from a natural population.The other indicator is the age of the oyster shell when harvested. Oysters that have been cultivated tend to be removed at four years. The oysters were examined for age by growth ring analysis. The growth rings are clearer on the Right Valve (flat shell). There is a wide range of ages represented from 3 to 11 years. The average age range of the oysters from Wortley is between 5 and 7 years. There were three types of infestation evidence recorded. These were the tiny burrows of the marine worm Polydora Ciliata usually found on the outer layer of the shell. The large u-shaped burrows of Polydura Hoplura were found on the inside edges of the shell. Finally there was evidence of the sponge species Cliona Calata which leaves a honeycomb effect on the shell. About 20% of the shells examined were affected. The marine worm evidence indicates the oysters probably came from the South and South West of England. In addition to the oyster shells, several other species of marine shellfish were present, although in small numbers. These were:the edible mussel (mytlius edulis), the common cockle (cerastoderma edule), the dog whelk (nassarius reticulatus), clams (nucula nucleus), and scallop (pecten maximus). Conclusion Relatively few oysters and other shellfish were found at Wortley, the remains being well distributed through the site.Many shellfish may have been eaten by the occupants of the site, but only the heavier shells survived. It may be that only a few oysters and other shells remained on site by chance whilst the majority were disposed of elsewhere. Oyster shells are known to have been used for such purposes as road surfaces, soil fertilisation and lime, and they would have to be brought in from some considerable distance. In conclusion it would not be seen as unreasonable that the oysters and other shellfish probably formed a small part of the diet of the inhabitants of Wortley, shellfish being obtained on a casual basis from a natural population. LAND SNAILS Michael J. Allen Four tubes of extracted Mullusca were submitted for analysis. These were obtained from soil samples which were processed on site and the Mollusca extracted. Bulk soil samples (c.80 litres) were processed using standard flotation techniques with a flot mesh of c.600 microns and a residue mesh of c.1 mm.The shells were extracted by eye using a hand lens (Waring, pers. comm.). This sieving

method is not wholly compatible with that described by Evans (1972, 44-45) and generally employed for mollusc analysis. The shortfalls are twofold. Firstly, that none of the extracted molluscs was smaller than 750 microns and few small ‘apices-only’ were recovered. This is probably a result of the sieving methods employed. Secondly, some of the smaller species were not well represented. This may be due to a combination of sieving and extraction methodologies adopted and the mesh size used, but also may reflect their real absence in the palaeo-fauna. Nevertheless the evidence was sufficient to make definite statements of the palaeo-environments and provide interpretative comments upon both environmental and archaeological fronts. The results are provided in Fig. 1 and mollusc nomenclature follows Walden (1976). The ecological groups used are those defined by Evans (1972, 194-203). The Samples Three samples come from drain deposits. The aim of analysis was specifically to ascertain the nature of the drains and determine to what extent deposits represent flowing water and thus indicate the method and mode of deposition. Mollusc analysis will also enable the determination of the immediate environs. Results In general shell preservation was good but the assemblages were depauperate and few smaller apical fragments were present. Snail numbers were low and were biased towards complete and larger specimens (see discussion above). The sample belonged to four contexts:111 and 240 from the latrine drain F87, 233(a Phase 4 backfill layer of the cold plunge) and a single sample from context 203, a Roman backfill layer of drain F162. These are discussed below. Context 203: this only contained specimens of the burrowing, and thus palaeo-ecologically insignificant species, Cecilioides acicula.This species is undoubtedly intrusive here and is a medieval introduction to the British Isles (Kerney, 1966). Latrine Drain F87: two contexts were examined (240 and 111) from the enclosed latrine drain and in both cases recovered mollusc numbers were low (74 and 54 respectively), especially in view of the large quantities of soil processed. The lower sample (from context 240) was predominantly shade-loving (81%) and was dominated by Discus rotundatus and Aegopinella nitidula.These are both general woodland species that frequent a wide variety of shady environs. The other shade-loving species is Vitrea contracta which prefers drier eutrophic habitats and occurs in limestone scree. All of these species may well have been resident within the closed latrine drain. The open country component of the assemblage comprised Pupilla muscorum, Vertigo pygmaea, Vallonia costata and

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Specialist Reports Vallonia excentrica representing a total of 92%. These are indicative of open dry conditions and are often associated with dry downland. The upper context (111) produced an assemblage with similar characteristics, though the open country component was almost absent. A large number of arion granules were present in both samples. No aquatic, fresh or brackish-water species were recovered, nor did any of the terrestrial elements belong to slum or even marshy ecological groups; the excavated deposits undoubtedly post-date its use as a latrine drain. The mollusc assemblages indicate moist shady habitats provided by the structure itself with open country species, possibly of limestone rubble contexts, falling in from above. The deposits are therefore probably postoccupation and related to the disuse, abandonment or destruction of the feature.

The sample from context 233 was dominated by the shade-loving species Discus rotundatus. However the assemblage overall looks decidedly mixed.Although Discus rotundatus is accompanied by Oxychilus cellarius, the open country assemblage includes Vallonia excentrica and Vallonia costata.Trichia hispida is also present and is a catholic species. This assemblage is difficult to interpret but probably indicates localised shade and possibly limestone walls or rubble. Again there is no evidence of running water or even moist habitats. Summary On balance all three assemblages reflect post-occupation debris and are indicative of very localised microenvironments of the coursed drain, or anthropogenic contexts.

Fig. 1 Results of the Land Snail Analysis

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Wortley Romano-British Site CHARCOAL IDENTIFICATION Janet Cooper and David Wilson Charcoal identification was undertaken for the years 1988 and 1989 by Janet Cooper, and the table below is derived from the results of her work. Identified Charcoal Scientific Name Acer campestre Betula Castanea vesca Fagus sylvatica Ilex Quercus Sorbus

Common Name field maple birch sweet chestnut beech holly oak rowan

CONTEXT 111

DESCRIPTION drain F87

CHARCOAL IDENTIFICATION Quercus 14 Betula 1 Castanea vesca 1 Quercus 16 Betula 6 Acer campestre 1 Quercus 5 Fagus sylvatica 1 Quercus 1 Quercus 2 Betula 1 Betula 1 Quercus 1 Quercus 2 Quercus 2 Betula 1 Ilex 1 Quercus 7 Betula 1 ?Acer campestre 1 Betula 1 Quercus 2 Betula 1 Quercus 2 Betula 2

170

frigidarium

185

frigidarium

253 258

foundation of widened wall F111 drain F162

259 275 288 301

drain F162 drain F162 drain F176 hearth F167

302

drain F162

312 319

drain F162 drain F162

324

destruction layer

325

destruction layer

Betula 5

328

hearth F167

Quercus 13

334

frigidarium

337

drain F162

Quercus 15 Betula 2 Quercus12

343

drain F173

344

drain F176

354

metalled pathway to porch

359

porch post F172

Quercus 2 Betula 1 Betula 2 Quercus 1 Quercus 10 Betula 2 Quercus 10

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Specialist Reports CONTEXT 362

DESCRIPTION drain F176

364

drain F176

366

destruction layer

Quercus 2

368

drain F173

Betula 6

383

natatarium

Quercus 4

390

destruction layer

398

frigidarium

Betula 7 Quercus 2 Quercus 10

415

frigidarium

Quercus 1

427

frigidarium

446

destruction layer

Quercus 5 Fagus sylvatica 2 Betula 9

458

hearth F167

466

ditch F224

467

natatarium

472 486 488

hearth F167 apodyteriumRoom 12 destruction layer

495 536 555 556 561 566 568 569

post-hole F210 destruction layer corridor eavesdrip drain F234 malting kiln destruction layer destruction layer drain F162

579

malting kiln

585 590 591

malting kiln bread oven destruction layer

613 686 706 717

bread oven destruction layer destruction layer destruction layer

From a total of 351 identified samples of charcoal, 254 were Quercus (72.3%); 78 (22.2%) were Betula; 9 (2.5%) were Sorbus; 5 (1.4%) were Fagus sylvatica.All other tree charcoals were less than one percent of the total. It is not surprising that oak is the most common woodland wood at Wortley as it reflects the overall national picture. Oak was also the predominant species identified at the nearby Romano-British estate centre of Kingscote, but it was followed by hazel and ash (Timby, 1998, 271), neither of which was identified at Wortley. At the Romano-British

CHARCOAL IDENTIFICATION Quercus 13 Betula 5 Sorbus 8 Quercus 6

Quercus 2 Betula 2 Quercus 5 Betula 2 Quercus 2 Quercus 1 Betula 2 Quercus 15 Betula 4 Quercus 1 Quercus 12 Quercus 6 Quercus 3 Quercus 2 Quercus 2 Betula 2 Quercus 29 Betula 4 Quercus 4 Sorbus 1 Quercus 4 Quercus 1 Fagus sylvatica 2 Betula 1 Betula 5 Betula 2 Quercus 5 Quercus 1 villa site at Witcombe in the Gloucestershire Cotswolds, the charcoal evidence (Clifford, 1954, 66 and 68) was that hazel was predominant (25.7%), followed by cherry (22.8%), ash (20%), none of which was recorded at Wortley, oak (11.4%), hawthorn (7.1%) and alder (5.7%). Interestingly at both Witcombe and Wortley, a single piece of charcoal from Castanea vesca (sweet chestnut) was identified. It is believed that this sweet edible chestnut was introduced by the Romans and was not, as previously thought, a native tree (Clifford, 1954, 66).

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Wortley Romano-British Site It is impossible to say whether the charcoal samples obtained from Wortley derive from domestic use, such as fuel for a cooking fire, or the manufacture of wooden items for the house, or whether they are from the timber used in constructional work. Five large pieces of oak charcoal from Wortley show possible signs of working, but unfortunately they were found in the medieval robber trench of a Romano-British wall, so proving impossible to be dated. MAMMAL BONES Mark Maltby Introduction Animal bones have been studied from a selection of features from the excavations. This includes a substantial sample from the large dumps of bones found in the cellar and material from a random range of other contexts. Apart from the material from the cellar, no analysis of intra-site variations has been carried out as yet. This report is also restricted to the analysis of mammal and amphibian bones. Most of the recording of the animal bones took place in 2009 using the reference material in the School of Applied Sciences at Bournemouth University. Most of the recording was carried out by Keith White and Laurie Walker under the supervision of the author and Doctor Ellen Hambleton. All the bones and teeth from the selected contexts were recorded individually onto a relational database (Microsoft Access). In the main table, where appropriate, the following information was recorded for each specimen: context; species; anatomical element; zone(s) of bone present; approximate percentage of bone present; observations of preservation (e.g. gnawing damage; erosion; weathering; burning); fusion data; associated bone group number; any pathology and other comments. Separate tables linked to the main table by an individual identification number were created for metrical, butchery and tooth ageing data. Only jaws and skulls of small mammals were identified to species. Species identification of amphibians was made on bones of the hind limbs only. Unidentified mammal fragments were counted but not subdivided into size categories. Three methods of species quantification were employed. The first involved counting the number of individual specimens (NISP). The second involved estimating the minimum number of each element represented (MNE). These were based on the most common zone present. Counts took into account how many bones of each element were represented in the skeleton. The norm is two (one left and one right). In the case of cattle and sheep first, second and third phalanges, where there are eight in each skeleton, the raw counts were divided by four. In the case of the atlas and axis, the raw counts were multiplied by two and so on. The minimum number of individuals (MNI) of each species represented was derived from the highest of these counts. The third quantification method involved the estimation of whole bone equivalents (WBE). This analysis was restricted to

counts of the mandible, scapula, pelvis and major limb bones. Each specimen of these elements was assigned to one of five categories based on the proportion of the complete bone present (1.0; 0.75; 0.50; 0.25; 0.10). Counts of these proportions were summated for each bone. Tooth eruption and wear descriptions for cattle, sheep/goat and pig followed Grant (1982, 91-108). Most measurements were amongst those recommended by von den Driesch (1976). Butchery categorizations followed those devised by Maltby (2010) for other Romano-British sites. The total assemblage examined consisted of over 16,000 fragments. However, over 10,000 of these were fragments of unidentified mammal. At least 21 mammal species have been identified along with a few amphibian bones (Table 1). Sheep/Goat It was possible to differentiate between some of the sheep and goat bones. Only 11 were specifically identified as goat, whereas 128 (92%) were positively identified as sheep. The predominance of sheep is typical of RomanoBritish assemblages (Maltby, 2010). One local exception is the assemblage from Uley, which was dominated by goat bones selected for sacrifice at the temple (Levitan ,1993, 257-301). Only two small associated bone groups (ABG) of sheep/ goat were recorded. The first (ABG10) consisted of six hind foot bones of a lamb (astragalus; calcaneus; metatarsal; two first phalanges; second phalanx). Cut marks on the astragalus indicated that this foot had been disarticulated from the upper limbs during the early stages of carcass processing. The second group (ABG17) also belonged to an immature animal. The group consists of twelve bones from the shoulders and trunk. Knife cuts on one of the four thoracic vertebrae indicated that this group was also from a butchered carcass. Sheep/goat fragments were the most commonly identified providing 37% of the mammal NISP counts. For reasons explained below, they were less well represented in the cellar (33%) than elsewhere (39%). Restricting counts to domestic mammals only, sheep/goat provided 39% of the assemblage, again being better represented in noncellar contexts (Table 1). Including elements of the main food species only, sheep/goat provided 43% of the total compared with 36% cattle and 22% pig. Excluding the unusual assemblage from the cellar, sheep/goat provided 46% of the NISP counts of these species, followed by cattle (29%) and pig (25%). Sheep/goat tend to be better represented on rural RomanoBritish settlements than in towns (King 1984, 187-217; 1999, 168-202). On many Iron Age sites in southern Britain, sheep/goat are also the most common species (Albarella et al. 2008, 1828-1848), although cattle and occasionally pig are the most common species on some sites (Hambleton ,1999; 2009). Explanations of why sheep 164

Specialist Reports tend to be more common on rural sites include continuity in husbandry practices and the traditional dietary preferences of the native population (King, 1984, 187-217) contrasted with the need to provide towns with sufficient meat to cater for urban population, which therefore was more focused on the supply of beef (Maltby, 2010). However, the relative abundance of different species was also probably related to local environments. In sites in the vicinity of Bedford, for example, cattle have usually been better represented than sheep on sites located near to where lowland meadows dominated the farming landscape (Maltby, 2011, 123-128). On several major and other large settlement complexes in Gloucestershire, sheep/goat have been found in greater numbers than cattle (Maltby, 1998a, 352-370; 1998b, 421-428). At Frocester Court villa, sheep/ goat outnumbered cattle in early Roman deposits but cattle became increasingly dominant in later phases (Noddle, 1979, 51-60). NISP counts tend to be biased towards cattle because of higher fragmentation of their carcasses during butchery. Counts derived from estimating the minimum number of individuals represented (MNI) produced higher percentages of sheep/goat. At least 96 different sheep/goat mandibles were recovered representing a minimum of 48 animals. This represents 44% of the identified mammals (excluding small mammals), 49% of the domestic mammals and 56% of the total of cattle, sheep/goat and pig. Whole bone equivalent (WBE) counts produced even higher percentages of sheep/goat, largely because their larger bones tended to survive in a more complete state than cattle. Sheep/goat WBEs provided 47% of the identified mammals, 51% of the domestic mammals and 60% of the total of cattle, sheep/goat and pig. This suggests that sheep were the species most commonly consumed at Wortley, although this does not necessarily mean that they provided the most meat, as their carcasses were smaller than pigs and cattle. Comparisons of the counts of different elements of sheep/ goat represented by the various quantification methods reveal biases in the representation of different body parts. Loose teeth provided 20% of the sheep/goat NISP counts. This indicates that a substantial number of jaws have been destroyed whereas more of the robust teeth have survived. Teeth were less common in the cellar assemblage (15%) compared to other contexts (23%), indicating slightly better preservation. The best represented sheep/goat bones were the mandible (11%), tibia (10%), radius (7%), metacarpal and metatarsal (both 6%). The bias towards these bones is typical of most sheep/goat assemblages. There was relatively little difference in percentages between cellar and other contexts. One reason for differential survival was the effect of scavenging by dogs. Excluding loose teeth, at least 26% of the sheep/goat assemblage was damaged by gnawing. Often the ends of the limb bones had been removed. Many more bones would have been completely destroyed. More fragile bones such as the scapula, femur and vertebrae are likely to have suffered greater attrition

than the more robust elements listed above. In the cellar assemblage, 30% of the sheep/goat bones showed gnawing damage indicating that they were accessible to dogs prior to final deposition. Despite careful hand-excavation, it is also likely that many of the small bones of the sheep/goat skeleton were overlooked. Very small bones such as the carpals and smaller tarsals were almost absent. Other foot bones, particularly the small second and third phalanges were also poorly represented. The bias was also reflected in the MNE counts, which were based on the best surviving part of the bones (always the most robust part of the shaft in the case of limb bones). The best represented bone was the mandible (96) followed by the tibia (68) and radius (49). The humerus was better represented (48) using MNE counts and the femur (38) and ulna (34) were as well represented as the metatarsals (38) and metacarpals (33). This fairly even representation of high and low quality meat bones suggests that most of the sheep/goat were animals that were slaughtered and butchered at the settlement. The smallest bones were still under-represented, however, because of retrieval bias. WBE counts again produced higher numbers of mandibles (54.20) than other bones, although they were not as dominant because they were more fragmented than many of the other bones. Conversely, metapodials, particularly metatarsals (41.65), were better represented because they tended to survive in a more complete state than the upper limb bones. They have little meat value and are not butchered and broken to the same degree as the better meat bones. Tooth ageing evidence was obtained from 104 sheep/ goat mandibles, which were divided into seven age stages (Table 2). Jaws from sheep that were culled as sub-adults and young adults dominated the assemblage. Stage 5 mandibles provided 31% of the assemblage. Most of these probably belonged to sheep aged 2-4 years old. Closer inspection of the third molars showed that most of them were at Grant (1982, 91-108) wear stage c, which would suggest they belonged to sheep mainly culled in their third year (Jones, 2006, 155-178). In addition, 26% of the mandibles were at Stage 4 and belonged mainly to animals culled in their second year. Older animals represented by Stages 6-7 mandibles only formed 15% of the sample. These no doubt included animals kept for breeding and wool production but it is clear that there was a focus of slaughter of sheep at a prime age for meat. There is also a significant number of young lambs (and two kids) that died under three months of age (Stage 2). These may have been natural deaths but it is more likely that these were animals deliberately killed to obtain meat. Epiphyseal fusion evidence also indicated that the majority of sheep/goat were immature.Although restricted by the relatively poor preservation of late-fusing specimens, only a third of these epiphyses were fused, indicating that most 165

Wortley Romano-British Site sheep were killed before four years old. Half the distal metapodials and tibiae were also unfused, indicating that many sheep failed to survive into their third year. Within that fusion group, significantly more distal metapodials were unfused than distal tibiae, suggesting they fused later. This supported the mandible evidence that many of the sheep were slaughtered in their second year. Only 22% of the earliest-fusing epiphyses were unfused. Most of these were probably from the young animals represented by the Stage 2 mandibles. Butchery marks were observed on 85 sheep/goat bones (Table 3). They were most commonly observed on tibiae. Most consisted of chop marks on the shaft including eight cases where the shaft was completely chopped through in the preparation of leg joints. Four radii shafts were chopped through in a similar manner. With the exception of the atlas, most butchery marks on vertebrae were also made with a cleaver. These included seven cases where the vertebrae were chopped through transversely during segmentation and ten cases where they had been chopped through along their lengths when the carcass was divided into two halves. Three atlases bore transverse knife cuts inflicted when the head was removed from the spine. Knife cuts on astragali and calcanea were made during the separation of the feet and skins from the rest of the carcass. Both chop marks and knife cuts were found on upper limb bones, scapulae and pelves. Heavy blade marks associated with filleting were observed on four bones including two mandibles but such marks were much less frequent than on cattle bones (Table 4). Pathological or genetic abnormalities were observed on 19 sheep/goat elements. The most commonly recorded pathological condition involved overcrowding and malocclusion of mandibular teeth. This was observed on 11 mandibles, usually in the area around the fourth premolar. Sometimes this also involved ante-mortem tooth loss and resorption of the alveolus. These changes were probably all associated with periodontal disease, a condition commonly found in both ancient and modern flocks. Animals observed with this disease were more likely to have been selected for culling. Most of the sheep with this condition at Wortley were adult animals. In addition to four horn cores of sheep, five frontal fragments had evidence that the skulls were horned. There were, however, also two hornless specimens. Hornless sheep were probably introduced into Britain during the Roman period (Maltby, 2010). The most common measurements taken on sheep bones are listed in Table 5. Withers height estimates based on limb bone lengths (Teichert, 1975, 51-69) indicated that the average size was 58.9cm, identical to a small sample from Cirencester, with a similar range in size. Average breadth measurements of distal tibiae and proximal metatarsals were also similar to those from Cirencester but slightly smaller than specimens in small samples from Kingscote and Gloucester (Maltby, 1998b,421-428, 2010, 294-5).

Cattle The cattle assemblage included ABGs. The largest of these (ABG12) was found in the Phase 2 backfill (314) of drain F141.It consisted of 23 bones including bones of both upper forelimbs plus four of the carpals, the right metacarpal, one of the first phalanges, a scapula, both halves of the pelvis, the left femur, the sacrum and three of the lumbar vertebrae. Parts of both mandibles and substantial parts of the skull were also recovered. Despite many of the bones being complete, butchery marks were observed on six of these bones. Five bones (scapula; humerus; both radii; ulna) bore distinctive blade filleting marks. Knife cuts on one of the carpals indicated where the upper forelimb was separated from the feet. However after initial skinning, disarticulation and filleting, this carcass seems to have been buried without the bones being processed for marrow. Tooth ageing evidence indicated that the skeleton was from a mature animal (Grant, 1982, mandible wear stage = 47). It was a large animal with an estimated withers height of 130cm. The breadth of the distal metacarpal (65.9mm) suggests that it was male. It is likely that this was an ox (Grigson, 1982). The other three cattle ABGs were small. ABG14 consisted of four phalanges of an adult animal. Knife cuts on both first phalanges showed that the carcass had been skinned and gnawing marks on the second and third phalanges indicated the discarded foot had been accessible to dogs. ABG15 comprised the distal end of a tibia and three of the ankle bones. A knife cut on the calcaneus indicated that this group had been disarticulated from the feet. The calcaneus had also been damaged by gnawing, again indicating that the group was not buried immediately after processing. The distal breadth of the tibia (56.0mm) was one of the largest of the measured tibiae in the assemblage (Table 4), probably indicating that this also belonged to a male. There was slight eburnation on the adjoining joint surfaces of the distal astragalus and calcaneus, perhaps related to an arthritic condition. The final group of cattle bones (ABG1) consisted of two ribs, two thoracic vertebrae, an ulna and a femur. All the bones were very porous and could have belonged to a foetal calf. Cattle fragments provided 31% of the mammal NISP counts (Table 1). They were much more abundant in the cellar (42%) than elsewhere (24%). Cattle provided 33% of the domestic mammal assemblage, again being better represented in the cellar (42%). They provided 36% of the total cattle, sheep/goat and pig fragments overall and 46% of these species in the cellar. At least 48 different cattle humeri were recovered from a minimum of 24 animals, representing 22% of the identified mammals (excluding small mammals), 25% of the domestic mammals and 28% of the total of cattle, sheep/goat and pig.The highest cattle WBE was also obtained from the humerus. WBE counts generally 166

Specialist Reports produced lower percentages of cattle because of their greater fragmentation. Cattle WBEs provided 19% of the identified mammals, 21% of the domestic mammals and 24% of the total of cattle, sheep/goat and pig. Cattle therefore were less well represented than sheep/goat in terms of overall animals. However, the cellar produced evidence for specialist processing of large numbers of their carcasses. There were significant biases in the relative number of different cattle elements represented. Loose teeth provided only 10% of their NISP counts. This suggests that cattle bones were better preserved than sheep/goat. The dominance of upper limb bone fragments in cellar contexts is clearly shown in the NISP counts. Fragments of tibia provided 16% of the assemblage, followed by femur (14%), humerus (12%) and radius (10%). Including ulna fragments, upper limbs provided 59% of the cattle cellar assemblage, whereas they provided only 23% of the cattle NISP counts in other contexts. In contrast, mandibles provided only 5% of the cellar NISP counts, and metatarsals (2%) and metacarpals (1%) were even rarer. Overall MNE counts confirmed the dominance of cattle upper limbs with all types well represented. Scapulae, pelves and metapodials were poorly represented, although mandibles MNE counts were only slightly lower than most of the upper limb bones. However, most of these were from non-cellar contexts. Cattle MNE counts from the cellar highlight the dominance of upper limb bones. At least 35 different humeri and 30 femora were present. Tibiae, ulnae and radii were also well represented. By contrast only 15 mandibles, seven metatarsals and five metacarpals were recorded. Cattle upper limb bones were generally very fragmented across the site but particularly so in the cellar assemblage (Table 5). This was not due to poorer preservation as relatively fewer loose teeth (6%) were found in the cellar than elsewhere (14%) and the percentage of bones damaged by gnawing (12%) was much lower than in other contexts (29%). Other bones such as the mandible, scapulae and metapodials tended to survive as larger fragments in the cellar contexts (Table 5). The percentage of heavily fragmented upper limb bones would have been substantially higher had unidentified large mammal bones been included in the calculations. Butchery marks on the upper limb bones in the cellar, and to a lesser extent elsewhere, were very distinctive. Filletting marks made with a heavy blade were found in abundance, particularly on the upper limb bones from the cellar (Table 6). The meat had been quickly stripped removing small slivers of bone along with the meat. This distinctive method of butchery has not been found on Iron Age sites but has commonly been encountered on large urban and military Roman sites in Britain (Maltby, 2007). Urban examples include Cirencester where large amounts of cattle butchery waste were dumped in an insula in the late Roman period

(Maltby, 1998a). Such butchery was, on the other hand, absent from assemblages at Wycomb (Maltby, 1998b). At Wortley 28% of the humeri, radii, tibiae and femora bore blade marks. This is as high a figure as encountered on any urban site where similar calculations have been made (Maltby, 2010, 284). The evidence suggests that specialist butchers were at times either operating at Wortley itself or were providing the large numbers of upper limb bones that were eventually deposited in the cellar. The butchery marks on ABG12 also attested to the presence of a butcher trained in Roman butchery methods. The other distinctive feature of the cattle upper limb bones from Wortley was that at least 24% had been split axially (Table 7). This is a very conservative figure as only those fragments with evidence of tool marks were recorded as split. In fact most longbone fragments in the cellar were broken in a manner that strongly suggests axial splitting. Splitting would have provided access to the marrow, which seems to have been the product of primary interest. Split upper limb bones have also been found on many Romano-British urban sites, whereas their presence on rural settlements has been much rarer. Indeed many rural sites have shown no evidence of such processing (Maltby, 2007, 59-76). There have been several towns where assemblages have been dominated by split upper limb bones. A discrete group was found, for example, in three adjacent pits in Gloucester (Levine,1986, 81-84). It seems that on occasions, upper limb bones processed by specialist butchers were gathered together for bulk processing for marrow. It is feasible that the split bones were boiled in the production of large quantities of broth or stock, although this would not necessarily have required the bones to be split axially. The marrow could conceivably have been separated for other purposes, perhaps in the supply of oil for lamps. Whatever the purpose of the final commodity, there is evidence that bulk processing for marrow took place at Wortley in the later Roman period. The current sample includes only about a third of the contexts from the cellar and much more of this assemblage remains to be studied. Other types of processing marks on cattle bones in the Wortley assemblage also provide evidence for specialist butchery. Blade marks similar to those found on upper limb bones were commonly found on scapulae (Table 7). Many of these were located on the edge of the spine that rises from the neck of the glenoid. These may have been associated with the separation of the scapula from the humerus but many were also made during the filleting of meat from the shoulder blade. Such marks have again been found commonly on Roman urban sites but seem to have a broader distribution than the filleted upper limb bones, as they have been found quite commonly on rural sites (Maltby, 2007, 59-76). Two examples from Wortley have convincing evidence of perforations through the blade made when the shoulder had been hung during preserving the meat probably through a combination of salting and drying. Similar specimens have been found on a number of urban and military sites (Dobney et al., 1996; Maltby, 2010, 284). Blade marks associated with filleting were also found occasionally on other bones (Table 7). 167

Wortley Romano-British Site At least ten femur heads had been chopped through during separation from the pelvis. This method of dismemberment has again mainly been encountered on urban sites including Gloucester (Maltby, 2010, 284). Corresponding chops were found on several pelvis fragments (Table 6). Cleavers were also commonly used to separate humeri from scapulae (7 examples) and the radius/ulna (18 examples). Chop marks were also encountered relatively frequently on the distal end of the radius and tibia where they had been separated from the carpals and tarsals respectively. Corresponding chop marks were found on some of the astragali and calcanea. Very few metapodials were axially split and these bones were not selected for the specialist processing associated with the cellar assemblage. Few metapodials were complete, however (Table 6), and many had been broken transversely across the shaft. Most did not have evidence of tool marks, although a few bore preparatory incisions or superficial chops near the breaks. Several vertebrae had been chopped through either transversely or cranio-caudally to separate the spine into sections. Most of the butchery marks on mandibles also consisted of cleaver marks. Knife cuts were encountered less frequently than chop marks (Table 7). They were found most commonly on first phalanges. Most of these were made during the initial stage of skinning. Cuts on limb bones were mainly found on the shafts and were associated with filleting, although a few were located near articular surfaces where dismemberment had been facilitated. Only 16 cattle mandibles provided ageing evidence. Seven of these were from neonatal calves whose deciduous teeth were not fully erupted (Table 2). In addition, 16 loose deciduous premolars were also unworn. Most of these would have been no older than a few weeks old. This may indicate that cattle were being bred at Wortley. It may also represent a predilection for veal by the inhabitants. Veal calves can also be a by-product of intensive dairy production. Very porous bones from very young calves, however, only provided 4% of the overall cattle sample. Most of these belonged to the mandibles, skull and metapodials. Very few unfused specimens were represented amongst the early-fusing group.This may have been a factor of differential preservation but it is also feasible that the assemblage included bones associated with the importation of calf skins that were being processed at the site. Eight cattle mandibles had fully erupted tooth rows including four with heavy wear on the molars (Stage 7). In addition, 11 out of 13 loose third molars and seven out of eight loose fourth permanent premolars were worn and from adults. Only 13% of the distal metapodials and tibiae were unfused and some of these were from young calves. Therefore, apart from calves culled at a young age, the cattle represented in the assemblage were from animals over three years old. The late-fusing epiphyses, however, did include 65% unfused specimens, indicating that many cattle were under four years old and that a

significant proportion of the cattle were slaughtered for meat between three and five years old and raised for meat rather than being kept for dairying or working. There was no significant difference between the ages of cattle represented in the cellar and elsewhere.The percentage of unfused specimens in the latest-fusing group (65%) was significantly higher than in the assemblage from Chester Street, Cirencester (30% - Maltby, 1998a, 352-370). Sexing data from cattle metacarpals were quite limited. Five of the six complete specimens had distal breadth to length ratios of 0.29 or less, which makes them more likely to have been from females, as metacarpals of cows are more slender than bulls and oxen (Grigson, 1982, 2536; Svensson et al., 2008, 942-946). Including broken specimens, seven of the nine measured distal metacarpals were more likely to have been from females (Table 5). These fused specimens would have belonged to cattle over 2-3 years of age. Females were less likely to have been slaughtered young because of their value as breeding stock and possibly dairy producers. Other measurements also tended to be skewed towards smaller specimens, which were more likely to have been cows. A similar bias towards females was found in Cirencester (Maltby, 1998a, 352-370). The overall size of cattle was similar to that found on some other Roman settlements from Gloucestershire. Most of the nine complete bones from which withers heights could be estimated were in the 110cm-120cm range. The mean (117.4cm) was very similar to a small sample from Cirencester (116.0cm) and a little larger than that from the estate centre at Kingscote (113.9cm). The three largest specimens from Wortley are all likely to have been from oxen. Pathological or genetic abnormalies were observed on 67 cattle bones and teeth. These were noted most commonly on phalanges, 40 of which were recorded as abnormal. These mostly consisted of minor lipping on the lateral aspects of the proximal articular surfaces. These may be mainly age-related deterioration of the joints, although it is possible that some of this deformation was exacerbated by the use of cattle as working animals (Bartosiewicz et al., 1997). Two specimens had developed quite severe arthritic conditions. Pig The pig assemblage included eight bones from ABG19 in one of the cellar contexts (1750). The group consisted of the right maxilla, mandible, humerus, radius and ulna, most of the rest of the skull, one of the ribs and a thoracic vertebra. The bones belonged to a juvenile. All the bones were porous and all the surviving epiphyses were unfused. The deciduous premolars were in an early stage of wear but the first molar was not erupted (Stage 2). The piglet was therefore probably between 1-3 months old. There was no evidence of butchery on any of the bones. It is probable that not all bones of its skeleton were recovered 168

Specialist Reports and it may be that the animal involved was bred at Wortley but for some reason its carcass was not consumed. Pig provided 19% of identified NISP counts and 20% of the domestic mammal fragments (Table 1). As in the case of sheep/goat, pig elements were better represented in noncellar contexts (21% of the identified mammals) than in the cellar (15%), where cattle were more dominant. In terms of minimum numbers, pig provided 14% of the mammals and 16% of the domestic mammals.Similar percentages were obtained from the WBE counts. The relative abundance of pig and sheep/goat counts can be compared with other sites. At Wortley, pig provided 34% of the total sheep/goat and pig NISP counts. Pigs have tended to be better represented on Romano-British high status sites, particularly large towns and military sites. They have also tended to be relatively more abundant on villa than on other types of rural settlement (King, 1984, 187-217). The percentage of pig at Wortley is quite high, closely comparable with several urban assemblages from Cirencester and Gloucester (Maltby, 2010, 264-5). It is higher than in samples from the estate at Kingscote (28%) and the sum of assorted samples from the small town at Wycomb (27%), although some assemblages from the latter did produce higher percentages of pig (Maltby, 1998b, 421-428). The equivalent figure from Frocester Court villa was 30% (Noddle, 1979, 51-60). Loose teeth provided 23% of the pig NISP counts. Higher percentages of teeth were found in non-cellar contexts (25%) than in the cellar (18%), again indicating better preservation of bones in the latter. Mandibles (9%) and other cranial elements (10%) were also well represented. Pig jaw and cranial elements are usually well represented in Romano-British assemblages. Upper limb bones, particularly the humerus (6%) were also quite abundant. Metapodials provided 10% of the assemblage, indicating that the feet were also well represented and the fairly high frequency of peripheral metapodials, fibulae and phalanges testifies that recovery standards were good. MNE counts showed that the mandible and humerus were the best represented elements followed by the femur and scapula. Bones from the lower limbs, although present in substantial numbers were less abundant, which may imply that some joints of pork were imported. Butchery marks were recorded on 70 pig bones (Table 3). They were observed most frequently on mandibles. These include six diastemae, which had been split in half. One of these was found on a very large mandible, which probably belonged to a wild boar. Cleaved pig vertebrae showed that the trunk had been butchered in similar ways to the carcasses of sheep/goat and cattle. Blade marks were found on only three pig bones. The shafts of a femur and radius had been chopped through transversely but the practice of jointing the limbs in this manner appears to have been less common than on sheep carcasses (Table 8).

As to be expected for a species husbanded solely for meat, few bones belonged to adult pigs. At least 71% of the 38 ageable mandibles did not have the third molar in wear (