Kate Steane with Margaret J. Darling, Jenny Mann, Alan Vince & Jane Young. The archaeology of Wigford and the Brayford Pool (Lincoln Archaeological Studies 2).

Kate Steane with Margaret J. Darling, Jenny Mann, Alan Vince & Jane Young. The archaeology of Wigford and the Brayford Pool (Lincoln Archaeological Studies 2). viii+360 pages, 286 figures, 26 tables. 2001. Oxford: Oxbow;1-84217-021-X hardback 35 [pounds sterling]. It has long seemed that of the great historic cities of Englandthat witnessed major activity in the great boom of `rescuearchaeology', Lincoln has been least served by publications. Whilstwe have become used to the publication of volumes, fascicules andsyntheses from excavations in the likes of York, London, Canterbury andColchester, output for Lincoln has seemed small in comparison. Theevidence of this series is that such a viewpoint will soon requireadjustment. Appearing in handsome, hardback A4 format, with waxed pagesand well-reproduced figures and photographs, production values Production values is a media term for "production cost." It refers to the professional look, or "polish," of a production. Factors that affect perceived production value may include video and audio quality, lighting, number of errors, and amount and quality of special effects. arereassuringly high. This volume of excavation reports from the period 1972 to 1987 setsout its stall in a very direct manner, providing a good deal ofbackground to not only the origin and context behind each excavation,but also the very particular process by which post-excavation procedureswere designed to harmonize primary records of varying type and origininto inter-comparable databases. The fullest description of theseprocedural points is found in Appendix I. To a small readership, this isimportant in terms of the lessons its teaches us for post-excavation.Subject matter such as this in `real' publications outside the`grey literature' of the likes of English Heritage English Heritage is a non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom government (Department for Culture, Media and Sport) with a broad remit of managing the historic environment of England. It was set up under the terms of the National Heritage Act 1983. , consultativebodies and specialist interest groups, is rare indeed. The body of the report derives from a wide variety of excavationsby teams of varying origin, and involving professionals, amateurs andthe Manpower Services Commission Manpower Services Commission, (MSC) n (BRIT) → comisi��n para el aprovechamiento de los recursos humanosManpower Services Commissionmanpower (Brit) n → schemes of the 1980s that are sofundamental to the experience of a whole generation of urbanarchaeologists in this country. There is no doubt that the efforts ofthe authors and editors in generating a common scheme of dataassimilation Recursive Bayesian estimation is known in geosciences applications as data assimilation, perhaps most importantly in weather forecasting and hydrology. Data assimilation proceeds by analysis cycles. and presentation for disparate primary archives has paidoff. This volume is a description of a number of excavations from onepart of the town. The reports for the most part read similarly and, oncean appreciation of the format and artifices (including LUBs or Land UseBlocks) is gained, it is all surprisingly easy to follow. Specialist contributions are restricted for the most part to thosethat are an essential component of the structural sequence. For somesites there are summary sections of key groups of environmental andartefactual adj. 1. of or pertaining to an artefact.2. made by human actions.Adj. 1. artefactual - of or relating to artifactsartifactual data, but only those groups and findings that facilitatefunctional interpretation of phases and structures within the sequence.It is to be assumed that the major contributions for the majority ofsub-disciplines are detailed and synthesized in companion specialistvolumes, but this is not made clear. The primary wider contribution of this volume in academic terms isin the field of suburban studies of both the Romano-British and medievalperiods. Locally significant information is primarily in respect of thedevelopment of the settlement of Wigford/Lincoln itself and itsrelationship with the natural landscape as evidenced by the BrayfordPool and the Witham Gap in particular. The final chapter of the maintext provides a synthetic discussion of Wigford and the Brayford Poolfrom prehistoric times, through substantially detailed accounts ofphases in the Roman, Anglo-Scandinavian and medieval periods. Excavation records and borehole bore��hole?n.A hole that is drilled into the earth, as in exploratory well drilling or in building construction. logs provide a model for thepre-Roman landscape and suggest the extent of wetland prior to thedevelopment of extramural extramural/ex��tra��mu��ral/ (-mur��il) situated or occurring outside the wall of an organ or structure. extramuralsituated or occurring outside the wall of an organ or structure. cemeteries and occupation here, along the lineon Ermine Street Ermine Street,Saxon name for the Roman road in Britain that ran from London to Lincoln and York. It was one of the four main highways of Saxon England. The name is derived from the Earningas, a group of people who inhabited an area in Cambridgeshire through which and the Fosse Way Fosse Way(fŏs), Roman road in England. It apparently ran from Exeter (Isca Dumnoniorum) NE past Bath (Aquae Sulis), Cirencester (Corinium Dobunnorum), and Leicester (Ratae Coritanorum) to Lincoln (Lindum). It intersected Watling Street. . Intensification of occupation isapparent in the late 2nd to 3rd centuries. This demonstrates fairlystandard form for the period with the primary routes being lined first,and classic urban strip buildings being evident. Changes to thelandscape are also evident, in particular as the waterfront steadilyadvanced through reclamation. Occupation continued into the late 4thcentury, with active use of three buildings, robbing of two more anddumping and the creation of new surfaces elsewhere. Dark earthdeposition is critically assessed and deemed to be of late 4th-centurydate and later, and to be primarily derived from middens associated withthe latest use of the buildings. In the early and middle Saxon periods, Wigford appears to be mostlyunoccupied, unlike the good evidence for continuity and/or re-occupationin the city itself. The loss of Ermine Street as a recognizable route isevidence of the disappearance of even key elements in the urbanlandscape. Re-occupation takes place in the early-mid 10th century, thefirst phases being dumping from as yet unlocated occupation, but this isquickly joined by more direct evidence of activity on almost all of theexcavation sites. The Fosse Way survives, but had either narrowed orshifted slightly westwards. There is a lot of waterside activity, andbuildings are primarily located along the High Street and thewaterfront. The 11th century sees the first stone church at StMark's St Mark's may refer to: St Mark's Basilica St. Mark's College (University of Adelaide) St Mark's Day St. Mark's School of Texas St. Mark's School St Mark's Square and, from the 12th to 13th centuries onwards, the types offeatures and structures, plus evidence for new roads start to providethe sort of dense urban landscape information that we might expect fromthe results of many years' work in a tight location. Highlightsinclude part of the city defences on the north side of the BrayfordPool, a high-status town house possibly built for Henry II, more phasesof St Mark's church, part of the Carmelite Friary and evidence fromthe Sincil Dyke, the City ditch and, elsewhere, for the boundaries andconfines of the suburb. Despite all that is good here, why is it that this reviewer feelsthat what we have is somehow not enough? It may be the absence of detailin some of the lesser site reports. It is certainly in part the lack ofsubstantial information about environment, economy and the details ofcraft processing; all of those elements that make urban archaeology Urban archaeology is a sub discipline of archaeology specialising in the material past of towns and cities where long-term human habitation has often left a rich record of the past.Humans produce waste. Large concentrations of humans produce large concentrations of waste. sucha particular subject and that convey the activity, the bustle andvibrancy of our historic towns. Somehow that is not here. It isclinical, effective and worthy, but a little dull. The greatest concern is, perhaps, as to who will buy this volume.As a moderately lavish hardback that contains an evocation EVOCATION, French law. The act by which a judge is deprived of the cognizance of a suit over which he had jurisdiction, for the purpose of conferring on other judges the power of deciding it. This is done with us by writ of certiorari. of structuralsequences over 300 pages, plus a very useful 19 pages of synthesis andsummary, it probably will not have many takers. This is unfair on allthose involved, but does raise again the question of just what we shouldbe publishing in which format. The current vogue for partial electronicpublication doubtless offers some solutions, even though many of us arestill happiest with the timeless satisfaction and ease afforded by papervolumes. If the Lincoln post-excavation backlog were 10 years later inits resolution, I suspect the publication programme would rely less onpaper for this kind of detail, and focus more on getting out in printthose specialist contributions that lend themselves best to this medium,and particularly the city-wide syntheses that most readers and buyerswill want. This volume provides good evidence from the outer part of a majortown in the Roman and medieval periods. Much of the key data from herecan be absorbed into period and `site type' syntheses and the bestexamples (the St Mark's church sequence) and good data fromcontentious periods (final phase Roman and dark earth) may surface inteaching notes and undergraduate essays. Those actively researching andexcavating Lincoln will find this invaluable, whilst those of usresearching urban forms and functions will welcome, note, absorb andoccasionally utilize. That which is important and good here deserves awider audience, but it may only receive one through secondary usage.PAUL SPOERRYArchaeological Field UnitCambridgeshire County Councilpaul.spoerry@cambridgeshire.gov.uk