Community and the Creation of Provincial Identities: A Re-interpretation of the Romano-British Aisled Building at North Warnborough

Abstract

The aisled hall at North Warnborough has attracted attention as one of a handful of examples frequently included in surveys and analyses of this common architectural type as well as for arguments related to the gendered use of space. This article presents a new architectural analysis of this building and attempts to set it within its immediate and wider archaeological and geological landscape context. A theoretically informed interpretation of the social significance of this site is offered, which has broader implications for the studies of Romano-British architecture, rural settlement, and landscape.

Cultivating Villa Economies: Archaeobotanical and Isotopic Evidence for Iron Age to Roman Agricultural Practices on the Chalk Downlands of Southern Britain

“…Whilst only a small area of each settlement has been excavated, we can infer that a sizeable workforce was needed, given the numerous grain-drying ovens and elite buildings which would have needed maintaining. Moreover, the aisled barns—long seen as spaces for agricultural labours and activities (Wallace, 2018)—may have also acted as assembly places (Cunliffe, 2009: 195). Furthermore, villas are often characterized as estate centres, able to draw on a range of local labour (Gerrard, 2013: 93).…”