Category: Archaeology

Searching for a Lost Roman Fort in Scotland

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

From the Courier, which seems to have the fullest quotations:

Many people wrongly believe the Romans never ventured further north than the Antonine Wall or even Hadrian’s Wall, according to archaeologists.

However, evidence shows that they marched as far north as Elgin and a network of forts between Stirling and Stracathro, near Brechin, suggests they were based in Scotland for some time.

The forts form part of Rome’s oldest land frontier known as the Gask Ridge, but archaeologists believe one of the forts is “missing”.

The elusive fort is believed to be located somewhere in the Angus and Aberdeenshire countryside, and work will begin this week to try to find it.

Birgitta Hoffmann, co-director of the Roman Gask Project, based at the University of Liverpool, will lead a team of volunteers hunting for what would be the first major find north of the Antonine Wall in around 30 years.

Dr Hoffmann said: “We came last year to investigate Scotland’s most northerly Roman fort, but now we’re back looking for the lost fort.

“We’re not sure what exactly we’ll find, but we’re hoping to find something, and if it is a Roman fort, it will help to complete our understanding of the Romans in Scotland.

“We know they built forts as far north as Brechin, and we even have evidence that they marched as far as Elgin, but that’s it, but we think there’s much more than that.

“The problem is that they weren’t around long enough to build buildings out of stone – instead they used timber and turf which tends to disappear over time – so instead of just looking for lumps and bumps in the ground, we have to look at the local geography, old settlements, and a host of other evidence which will help us to pinpoint likely sites.

“People are always surprised when I tell them about the Roman occupation of the area. They think the Romans never got any further than the Antonine Wall or even Hadrian’s Wall which simply isn’t true. The truth is, we don’t know how far north they got, but we’re hoping that the work of the Roman Gask Project will change that this year.”

The Roman Gask Project has an interesting series of background papers, among other info …

Evidence for the Siege of Jerusalem

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

Another one from the IAA, somewhat excerpted:

[…] Recently a small cistern belonging to a building was exposed in an archaeological excavation the Israel Antiquities Authority is conducting near the Western Wall, in the vicinity of Robinson’s Arch in the Jerusalem Archaeological Park. Inside the cistern were three intact cooking pots and a small ceramic oil lamp that date to the time of the Great Revolt.

The vessels were discovered inside the drainage channel that was exposed in its entirety from the Shiloah Pool in the City of David to the beginning of Robinson’s Arch.

According to Eli Shukron, excavation director on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, “This is the first time we are able to connect archaeological finds with the famine that occurred during the siege of Jerusalem at the time of the Great Revolt. The complete cooking pots and ceramic oil lamp indicate that the people went down into the cistern where they secretly ate the food that was contained in the pots, without anyone seeing them, and this is consistent with the account provided by Josephus”.

In his book The Jewish War Josephus describes the Roman siege of Jerusalem and in its wake the dire hunger that prevailed in the blockaded city.

In his dramatic description of the famine in Jerusalem he tells about the Jewish rebels who sought food in the homes of their fellow Jews in the city. These, Josephus said, concealed the food they possessed for fear it would be stolen by the rebels and they ate it in hidden places in their homes.

“As the famine grew worse, the frenzy of the partisans increased with it….For as nowhere was there corn to be seen, men broke into the houses and ransacked them. If they found some they maltreated the occupants for saying there was none; if they did not, they suspected them of having hidden it more carefully and tortured them.”
“Many secretly exchanged their possessions for one measure of corn-wheat if they happened to be rich, barley if they were poor. They shut themselves up in the darkest corners of the their houses, where some through extreme hunger ate their grain as it was, others made bread, necessity and fear being their only guides. Nowhere was a table laid…” (Josephus The Jewish War. Translated by G.A. Williamson 1959. P. 290). […]

via: Two Thousand Year Old Evidence of the Siege in Jerusalem (IAA)

Again, Discovery has a video …

Roman Road in Jerusalem

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

From the IAA press release (which seems to be rewritten to a greater or lesser degree in all of the other press coverage):

An ancient road leading from Yafo to Jerusalem, which dates to the Roman period (second–fourth centuries CE), was exposed this past fortnight in the Beit Hanina neighborhood in northern Jerusalem. The road remains were revealed in an archaeological excavation the IAA conducted in Beit Hanina prior to the installation of a drainage pipe by the Moriah Company.

The wide road (c. 8 m) was bounded on both sides by curbstones. The road itself was built of large flat stones fitted to each other so as to create a comfortable surface for walking. Some of the pavers were very badly worn, indicating the extensive use that was made of the road, and over the years the road also underwent a series of repairs.

According to David Yeger, excavation director on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, “Several segments of the road were previously excavated by research expeditions of the IAA, but such a finely preserved section of the road has not been discovered in the city of Jerusalem until now”.
“The Romans attached great importance to the roads in the empire. They invested large sums of money and utilized the most advanced technological aids of the period in order to crisscross the empire with roads. These served the government, military, economy and public by providing an efficient and safe means of passage. Way stations and roadside inns were built along the roads, as well fortresses in order to protect the travelers. The construction and maintenance of the roads was assigned to military units, but civilians also participated in the work as part of the compulsory labor imposed on them by the authorities.”

The road section discovered in the IAA excavations in Beit Hanina is part of the imperial network of roads that led to Jerusalem from the coastal plain. We know about these roads from both historical sources and archaeological excavations. Two main arteries led from Yafo to Jerusalem during the Roman period. One is the road that passes through Bet Horon and the other runs via Shaar HaGai. This particular segment belongs to the Bet Horon road. The road began in Yafo and passed through Lod where it split it two different directions: one to Shaar HaGai and the other by way of Modiin along the route of what is today Highway 443 to Bet Horon. From there the road continued eastward as far as Bir Nabala and turned south to Kefar Shmuel where it merged with the highlands road that led to the Old City of Jerusalem.

In some places we can see that the modern Bir Nabala road was paved just a few centimeters above the route of the ancient road, which indicates that until a few decades ago the ancient road in this region was visible and was used.

The Huffington Post coverage includes some decent photos … Discovery has a video report …

Roman “Shrine” in Rutland Nature Reserve

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

All the coverage I’ve found on this seems to derive from this BBC piece:

Archaeologists have uncovered a Roman shrine at Rutland Water nature reserve.

The team from Northamptonshire Archaeology investigated the site ahead of a 240-acre extension to the reserve by Anglian Water.

They found the remains of an Iron Age farmstead, and a shrine dating from about AD100.

Jo Everitt, Anglian Water’s environment and heritage assessor, said: “Finding Roman shrines is not the norm, so we were delighted.”

Ritual sacrifice

Roman sites had been found in the area at Collyweston Great Woods, 14km (eight miles) to the south-east of Rutland, and another to the north-west of Rutland Water, near Oakham.

However, nothing had previously been discovered near the lagoons along the western edge of the reservoir.

The team discovered a circular stone building, about 10.5m (34ft) wide, with decorated red and white painted walls.

They also found more than 200 Roman coins, pottery jars, part of a small bronze figurine and deposits of animal bone, probably from the ritual sacrifice of lambs and cattle.

A skeleton of a man, aged about 30, was buried in a grave in the centre of the shrine.

The archaeologists believe the shrine fell out of use in AD300.

Ms Everitt added: “We’ve recreated part of the foundation and wall of the shrine from the original stone on an area outside of the lagoons so visitors to Rutland can see what it looked like.”

The findings from the dig are currently being displayed at the Rutland Water visitor centre.

The BBC coverage includes a little slideshow of the “shrine”, the pottery and the burial. Other than the Roman coins, I’m not really sure what makes this Roman or a “shrine”. No enlightenment from the Northamptonshire Archaeology website.

Possible Sunken Ships Near Tieion/Tios

~ David Meadows ~ rogueclassicist ~ Leave a comment

From Hurriyet comes a piece exhibiting their frequent problems with B.C./A.D. and its variations:

Two sunken ships have been seen by fishermen off the ancient city of Tieion in Çaycuma’s Filyos district in the Black Sea province of Zonguldak.

With notice that two sunken ships have been seen off the ancient city of Tieion in Çaycuma’s Filyos district in the Black Sea province of Zonguldak, officials have applied to the Culture and Tourism Ministry for diving permission and funding.

The head of the Karabük University Archaeology Department and archaeological excavations, Professor Sümer Atasoy said that they had previously known about the sunken ships in the port of the ancient city but could not have determined their place.

Atasoy said they estimated that the ships had sunk after hitting the rocks, and continued: “We are waiting for permission and funding from the relevant ministry. Two ancient ships are in question. It is told that the ships have pots, columns and stones. We don’t know how deep they are. When we get the fund and permission, divers will dive to take photos and we will have an idea about their location and depth.”

Second AD and 13th BC

Atasoy said after the first examinations, archaeologist divers would continue working, adding, “Underwater archaeology necessitates a different technique. We need to hurry to preserve the sunken ships, which may be from the Roman, Byzantium or Genoese periods between second A.D. and 13th centuries B.C.

We first heard about the plans to dig at Teion back in 2007 (Digging Teion) and the digging seems to have commenced a year later (Digging Teion Redux). More recently, we’ve heard about plans for the theatre they’ve been excavating (Cashing in on Tios’ Theatre?).