Newsletter Issue 22 - Association for Roman Archaeology

G0071,ARA Newsletter22 01/11/2009 18:43 Page 12Isle of Wight, Hertfordshire, Kent,London, Surrey and Sussex. It ispublished in two parts, and has 606pages with 530 figures, many incolour. The mosaics are put into theirarchitectural context and the volumealso includes numerous buildingplans of villas and townhouses.South-East England was veryimportant in the history of RomanBritain, not least because most of themajor cities lie in that re g i o n :London, Colchester, Ve ru l a m i u m,Winchester, Silchester, Chichester andCanterbury. It is also where most ofthe mosaics dated to the first andsecond century are found, notsurprising given its proximity to Gaul.The fine series of black-and-whitemosaics from Fishbourne RomanPalace are well-known, and closeparallels for them occur in what isnow France; but several other sites inKent, Sussex and Essex have similarmosaics, although often, sadly,fragmentary. The majority of secondcenturymosaics are found in thisregion, mostly from townhouses.The study also has significance for thehistory of late Roman Britain. Manyvillas and towns of South-East Britainwere in decline during the fourthcentury, and the few mosaics thatwere commissioned appear to be bycraftsmen from the West Country.This is particularly evident by theenormous mosaic from Old BroadStreet, London, which is very similarto some around Ilchester in Somersetand datable to after AD 350. It is ashame that nothing more is knownof this building, perhaps theresidence of an important lateRoman official. On the other hand, ahouse from Verulamium (Insula XXVI,Building 2), much quoted as havingevidence for the continuation of thetown well into the fifth century, withmosaics laid at the end of the fourthcentury, has been shown to be muchearlier. Nevertheless, the fine fourthce n t u ry mosaics from villas atLullingstone (Kent), Bignor (Sussex)and Brading (Isle of Wight) areincluded, accompanied by lavish fullpagecoloured illustrations in thismagnificent volume.For further details and ordering, visitthe Oxbow website:www.oxbowbooks.comA Guide to theMosaics in theCorinium MuseumCorinium Museum publicationISBN 978-0-904925-24-124 page booklet, printed in colourthroughout.£2.50 plus postage.Review by Gavin SiddollThis handy booklet is very useful inillustrating the majority of themosaics on display in the CoriniumMusuem, Cirencester. It would beadvantageous for any visitorp roposing to visit the museumspecifically to view the mosaics toobtain a copy beforehand, so thatthey might appreciate the finerpoints of the mosaics on display.The Foreword, by Dr. John Paddock(Curator of Museums), sets out apotted history of the discovery of themosaics from the Cirencester area,from the earliest, recorded in thesixteenth century, up to the presentday. The text has been conciselywritten by Dr. Patricia Witts, a notedspecialist in Romano-British figuredmosaics. The description gives detailsof where found, the circumstancesleading up to the discovery and a fullinterpretation of the iconographydepicted on the mosaic.There are 14 pages set out as ’A Tourof the Mosaics in the CoriniumMuseum’, and this is followed bysections on lifting and preservingmosaics with half a page on thehistory of the actual Museum andhow it was established.The last few pages contain a shortresource and reading list, a plan ofthe main mosaic discoveries inC i rencester and a map of theCotswolds showing sites of Romaninterest.Altogether a well designed andthought out booklet, which couldp e rhaps have benefited fro mprinting on a higher grade matt artpaper to give greater ‘lift’ to theillustrations.SARCOPHAGI FOUND INNEWCASTLE CITY CENTRETwo substantial high qualitysandstone sarcophagi have beenuncovered by a team from DurhamUniversity in Forth Street, Newcastle.The uninscribed sarcophagi arecarved from single blocks of stoneand fitted with gabled lids. Theywere found just outside the westgate of the fort of Pons Aelius. Theywould have originally stood by theroadside, closely side by side, andpossibly in a funerary garden. Thereare indi-cations that a third oncecompleted what was probably afamily group, but that it wasremoved in the Middle Ages. Thesarcophagi would not have beenburied but appeared rather in themanner of eighteenth century tabletombs by the side of the road.It is thought that the road surfaceu n c o v e red may be Roman DereStreet which entered the fort here.The lids were found intact but theskeletons had decayed. One held theremains of a six year old child and anadult’s remains had been added at alater date; the child’s skull wasmissing. The second held the remainsof another adult and was still sealedwith iron pegs and lead; bothsarcophagi were full of water. Theeast – west alignment and lack ofgrave goods suggest Christian burials.The site also yielded militarycremation urns and foundations ofshops and houses.Times – 15.08.200812