The Archaeology of Britain: An introduction from ... - waughfamily.ca

• 174 • Simon Esmonde Cleary
this was not inflicted by invading Anglo-Saxons, then
responsibility shifts back to the Romano-Britons,
within the context of the fall of the western Roman
Empire. What of the archaeological evidence that
Romano-British culture was already in marked decline
in the late fourth century? If study of the
archaeological record indicates the disappearance of
a Romanized elite culture in the early fifth century,
what follows is archaeologically near to invisible
(Figure 9.10). What happened to the elite, and who
or what succeeded it?
As well as chronology-based problems there are
many more thematic ones, often relating to particular
classes of site or material. The neglect of mortuary
archaeology for the Roman period has been remarked
on, though this is now changing for the better. Also
remarked on has been the relatively limited range of
approaches to the archaeology of religious sites and
Figure 9.10 The Late Roman timber churches in the material. The increasing interest in the role of
forum plaza at Lincoln.
symbolism must mean that new perspectives on
Source: Jones, M., 1995. (ed.) Pre-Viking Lindsey. Lincoln: sculptural and other representations and on the whole
Lincoln Archaeological Studies 1
field of ‘art’ need to be opened up, since this evidence
represents very directly concerns and choices of the people who commissioned or made it. Many
commonly occurring classes of artefact such as pottery or glass are now producing important
and fascinating information, but others such as brooches await elucidation. These are just a small
sample of classes of evidence that can still yield very valuable insights; it would be possible to
repeat this exercise across the spectrum of Romano-British archaeology. The important message,
though, is that a period that often seemed to have its evidence and its answers carved in stone was
in fact as shifting as any other.
THE WIDER SETTING
Roman Britain can be looked at in two ways. One is as a short period in the continuum of British
archaeology. This may be the right approach for projects at the micro-scale, such as field surveys
and many excavations, for instance at rural sites. Here the main problems lie in longer-term
developments and perspectives, and the Roman-period evidence really makes sense only in
that context. Alongside this tradition of insular archaeology is another approach which
recognizes the fact that for some 400 years Britain was a part of a continental-scale Empire. At
a very simple level, it is necessary to look at evidence from elsewhere in the Empire, in particular
the western provinces, for such things as comparanda and parallels. Understanding the wider
processes of change, development and decline can be possible only within the framework of
the wider Empire of which Britain was a part. In that way alone can archaeologists hope to
appreciate and understand the impact of Roman on British and British on Roman that makes
this period so distinctive.
Key texts
Esmonde Cleary, A.S., 1989. The ending of Roman Britain. London: Batsford.
Jones, G.D.B. and Mattingly, D.J., 1990. An atlas of Roman Britain. Oxford: Blackwell.