luteme )anuaryJ$S.inFace A
j't t/'*rriJ!8,-tr a-:r.f"I ,. 7.4,n|'"..1J 6J L, id.l J il-: d; L; | | .i.a id J ,/i* L.'q: rtiit.A few unusual timber-framed buildingshad sleeper-beams laid directly on theground, and some had joists rest!-g +-stones to lift the wooden supersfudureabove the ground. These buildings lay closeto a stream and their designs may have beenattempts to raise the floors above dampground or flood-water level.The report on the structures by period isbrief, and the bulk of the votume consists offinds reporis. The various sections of thepoftery report take up about 130 pages, withuseful illustrations of the forms/fabrics foundin the individual period phases. There aret77 brooches, but this number includesmany pins and pin fragments. Almost all areillustrated, including the latter, though thepoint of illustrating a fragment of a pinlacking each end eludes me. Most of thebrooches date to the 1$ and 2nd centuries, asis expected for southern British assemblages,but most were residual in late contexts orunstratified. This must sound a warning forthe rest of the assemblage, and a similarpattern of dislocated deposition is apparentin the bone pins.The coin graph has a strong finish in the late4th century, and there are several pieces oflate metalwork to go wlth this peak, such asbuckles and strap-ends.As is often the case with excavations spreadover many years and producing large findsassemblages, some of the finds reports weresubmitted t7 years before the date ofpublication. In a few the subject matter isdiscussed in some detail and related to thecontext dates, others consist almost whollyof catalogue entries. It seems likely (andindeed typical) that the context details maynot have been available to those whofinished their reports early. This may accountfor the inclusion of an unstratified medievalthimble.As well as brooches, the copper-alloyassemblage includes a fine array of toiletinstruments, there is a neat little pewterhoard, and the iron objects include a widerange of metal- and woodworking tools, and,most unusually, 35 styli, of which only fourare illustrated. An eraser end with bronzedecoration is catalogued but not illustrated.This is proof positive of Hilary Majo/scomments on p 2 of this issue of thetreatment of styli in finds reports, and is inodd contrast to the illustration of the ?broochpin fragments mentioned above.There is therefore some imbalance inpresentation in this volume, but all in all thiswitl be a useful source to be mined forparallels, some of which may be stratified.The real potential of the Wanborough reportmay not be realised until research is doneinto finds assembiages from small towns ingeneral. As with Wilcote and Elms Farm, theWanborough excavations were rich in metalfinds, and it would be interesting to see ifthis is a real richness per cubic metre of soilshifted Cornpared to an urban site. Given thenumber of l$-century brooches and thecomparative lack of contemporary contexts,it should be real. If so, does the reason lie ina lack of disturbance of the archaeologicallevels over the centuries, or was there acontemporary reason? As so many of thebrooches were unstratified or residual, lackof disturbance is unlikely to be the answer(though it may be the nature of thedisturbance). HOwev€I, recent exCavations atSilchester (urban but not reoccupied in themedieval period, and so perhaps a goodtouchstone for Cornparison with unreoccupiedsmall towns) have turned uP manyunstratified and residual ltt-centurybrooches, but in nowhere near the numbersfrom Wanborough. A contemporary answer isperhaps then the rnost likely.Nina CrummyQuestionnaireEllen Swift would be very interested to hearyour views on careers in finds studies andperceptions of finds research in thearchaeological community and would be verygrateful if you would spare the time to fill inand return the questionnaire enclosed withthis issue. Please pass it on to other findsspecialists who might be interested.16
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