Late Iron Age and Roman Silchester: excavations on the site of the Forum-Basilica 1977, 1980-86.

Late Iron Age and Roman Silchester: excavations on the site of the Forum-Basilica 1977, 1980-86. MICHAEL FULFORD Michael Fulford is a Professor of Archaeology and Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Reading. He specialises in the archaeology of the Roman world with interests in its economy, urbanism and technology. & JANE TIMBY. Late Iron Age and RomanSilchester: excavations on the site of the Forum-Basilica 1977, 1980-86(Britannia Monograph 15). xxvi+613 pages, 242 figures, 113 tables. 2000.London: Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies (The Roman Society) was founded in 1910 as the sister society to the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies.The Society is the leading organisation in the United Kingdom for those interested in the study of Rome and the ; 0-90776424-Xhardback 52 [pounds sterling] & $104 & 104 [European Dollar]. This book is an extremely thorough report on the 1980-86 researchexcavations on the site of the Silchester Basilica. With over 600 pagesit is, on any estimate, a substantial work. It analyses the evidence forthe development of the site from the late 1st century BC to the finaldemolition of the Basilica probably in the later 8th century AD. Inspite of extensive earlier excavations in the 18th and 19th centuries,the recent work has not only significantly extended our understanding ofthe Basilica in the later Roman period but has also produced evidence oftwo earlier phases of Roman timber buildings together with evidence ofthree phases of late Iron Age occupation. For many readers, it is thislate Iron Age settlement that will be of paramount interest. Theearliest (period 1), with traces of probable round-houses, is dated toc. 25-15 BC. Shortly afterwards, two streets were laid out at rightangles so as to form a right angle or right angles, as when one line crosses another perpendicularly.See also: Right to each other, with rectilinear rec��ti��lin��e��ar?adj.Moving in, consisting of, bounded by, or characterized by a straight line or lines: following a rectilinear path; rectilinear patterns in wallpaper. plots aligned on them. The plots,later defined by ditches and palisades Palisades,cliffs along the west bank of the Hudson River, NE N.J. and SE N.Y., extending from N of Jersey City, N.J., to the vicinity of Piermont, N.Y., with a general altitude of from 350 ft to 550 ft (107–168 m). , were associated with at leasttwo rectangular buildings. Equally important are the two phases of Romantimber structures. The earliest comprised two ranges of rooms which theauthors dated to the Claudian period and interpreted as part of aForum-Basilica. This was replaced, again in timber, by a FlavianBasilica and it was not until the Hadrianic period that the masonryBasilica, familiar from the 19th-century excavations, was built. Theabsence of proper floors or wall plaster suggests that this was eitherunfinished, or that the floors were later removed; by the end of the 3rdcentury it was evidently being used by metalworkers. There is evidencefor timber structures erected within the Basilica, and in the 4thcentury the main hall may have become an imperial fabrica producingmilitary equipment. It is argued from the differential robbing depths ofthe footings and the presence of early Anglo-Saxon glass Anglo-Saxon glass has been found across England during archaeological excavations of both settlement and cemetery sites. Glass in the Anglo-Saxon period was used in the manufacture of a range of objects including vessels, beads, windows and was even used in jewellery. fragments thatthe western range of the Basilica continued to stand after the rest hadcollapsed or had been demolished. It may not have been until the late7th or 8th century that the last remaining portion was demolished. The structural evidence is set out clearly, and is followed byspecialist analyses of the different categories of evidence. These makeup the bulk of the book, and they are one of the many strengths of thereport. Not only are they extremely detailed and carefullycross-referenced within the main report, but wherever feasible thematerial is usefully viewed against contemporary assemblages elsewhere.In this way Timby's analyses of briquetage and pottery have led tothe identification of the arrival of a late Iron Age group with locallydistinctive pottery and links with Kent, the Thames valley This article is about the Thames Valley in southern England. For New Zealand's Thames Valley region, see Thames Valley, New Zealand, or for the ITV region in the United Kingdom, see ITV Thames Valley. and the areato the north (pp. 307-8, 549). This is complemented by analyses of thefaunal and environmental evidence, which suggest a pre-Roman communityreliant to a significant extent on imported foodstuffs foodstuffsnpl → comestibles mplfoodstuffsnpl → denr��es fpl alimentairesfoodstuffsfood npl → drawn either fromits hinterland or from further afield. In Fulford's concludingsynthesis, these strands, together with changes in building traditionand the results of other specialist analyses (quernstones, environmentaldata, coins, etc.) are drawn together to argue for the appearance in c.20 BC of a large, immigrant community, who established a plannedsettlement in a previously unoccupied or lightly settled area. Turning to the Basilica, the recognition of two timber phasespoints up the fact that such great public buildings may have had afairly complex history in the period between Nero and Hadrian. No lessimportant is the history of the building in the 3rd century with theprolonged use of this imposing, central structure by metalworkers andthe continued existence of part of it in the early Anglo-Saxon period. One of the striking features of this report is the way in which itdemonstrates the potential of targeted excavation on a site supposedlyalready gutted by earlier excavators, particularly if, as in this case,the project is within an integrated and carefully thought out researchprogramme. With so many current excavations driven by development ratherthan research considerations, this is a timely reminder of the enormousvalue of such an approach. The report will be indispensable to anyserious study of the late Iron Age/ Early Roman period in southernEngland. ROSALIND NIBLETT St Albans