Trevor Ashwin & Andrew Tester (ed,). A Roman-British settlement in the Waveney Valley: excavations at Scole 1993-4.
Smith, Alex
TREVOR ASHWIN & ANDREW TESTER (ed,). A Roman-British settlement
in the Waveney Valley: excavations at Scole 1993-4 (East Anglian
Archaeology 152). 2014. xvi+254 pages, multiple colour and b&w
illustrations. Dereham: Norfolk Historic Environment Service;
978-0-905594-53-8 paperback 25 [pounds sterling].
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
East Anglia is well noted for its proliferation of Roman
'small towns', which formed a regular network of nucleated
settlements located upon the main Roman road system. Yet relatively few
of these have been subject to any degree of large-scale archaeological
investigation, let alone dissemination, and so the publication of this
monograph is a very welcome event. The book is described as a
'synthetic report', presenting a stratigraphic account and
discussion of two major road-scheme fieldwork projects dating from the
early 1990s. There were five discrete excavation areas, covering more
than 2ha in total, all located on the peripheral areas of the Roman
roadside settlement, which straddled the River Waveney on the border of
Suffolk and Norfolk. These excavations have been combined with earlier
investigations at the site to produce a fairly comprehensive picture of
the development of the 'small town', which appears to have
originated in the later first century AD, with some slight evidence for
early military activity. Major changes occurred during the
early/mid-second century AD with some evidence for a degree of
centralised planning, although there were no further fundamental
developments for the next 300 years, after which the settlement went out
of use.
The monograph is broken down into an extensive introduction,
providing a solid background for the individual projects along with a
useful phasing concordance (vital, given the different schemes used),
and then three chapters of stratigraphic narrative, with excavation
areas quite sensibly grouped together on a geographical basis.
Phase-based discussions are incorporated within these chapters, while a
broader discussion is presented in the final chapter, all well
illustrated with a large number of detailed site plans, sections and
interpretative figures. There are brief specialist overviews in the
introduction, and the general narrative is usefully interlaced with
contextual accounts and illustrations (including distribution maps) of
relevant finds and environmental data, although the main specialist
reports are confined to a CD accompanying the volume. The reason for
this, as explained in the preface, is a pragmatic decision on the
grounds of cost, and, while this is totally understandable, the complete
relegation to CD of what are described as "specialist studies of
exceptional importance" (p. xiii) is somewhat regrettable. Ideally,
at least outline quantifications of such data would have been included
in the main volume to enable it to stand alone in the event of digital
theft or malfunction; an online resource would also have provided a
significantly increased audience for this work.
There is no doubt that much of the specialist information is of
great importance, and the reports on the CD are all comprehensive and
informative, if occasionally somewhat 'raw' with, for example,
the odd table missing. The waterlogged wooden materials in particular
are an exemplary feature, with well-preserved roof timbers,
well-linings, vehicle parts and furniture, including a remarkable maple
table leg. The account of this material, both in the specialist report
and in the main volume, is admirable, striking the right balance of
technical detail and wider contextual discussion, including the nature
and extent of woodworking and woodland management. The specialist data
are also used to highlight additional craftworking activities within the
'small town', such as tanning/leatherworking and metalworking
which, although not on an industrial scale, must have formed a
consistent part of the settlement's economy throughout most of its
existence.
Other economic concerns within the roadside settlement are
indicated by evidence for malting and milling, the latter suggested not
only by millstone fragments but also by possible remnants of the mill
structure itself. Dark earth deposits, characteristic of many
'urban' Roman settlements, have been comprehensively examined,
with the conclusion that they do not represent abandonment and decline
but surface composting--the accumulation of domestic and other waste for
agricultural use. Religious aspects are indicated by a small temple of
Romano-Celtic type and examples of potential 'placed' or
'structured' deposits, while a series of cremation and
inhumation burials provide some evidence for the resident population.
Overall, the impression is of an extensive and vibrant settlement with a
range of local artisan craftworking and agricultural functions, yet
without any evidence for higher-status occupation, at least in the areas
excavated, with almost all of the buildings being of timber and only the
temple having a tiled roof.
The extensive excavations at Scole are very important for our
understanding of Roman roadside settlements, not only in East Anglia but
also nationally. This monograph joins a small but growing number of
recent publications on these sites, with others such as Wixoe in Suffolk
soon to follow. Clearly, it has not been an easy road in bringing the
results of this work to final publication, which, we are told, occurred
16 years after an initial draft report was produced. Delays are always
unfortunate, especially given the accelerating pace of archaeological
work in the region, but the end results presented here are certainly
admirable in their scope and presentation.
Alex Smith
Department of Archaeology
University of Reading, UK
(Email:
[email protected])
