Early Roman Mosaic Materials in Southern Britain, with Particular Reference to Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum): A Regional Geological Perspective

Allen, J. R. L.; Fulford, Michael

doi:10.2307/4128620

Cited by 19 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…phase (Allen and Fulford ry87, z8z;Fulford et al 1994, r94;Allen ;99B;zoq). Just one small port has been identified in the larer Roman period around the estuary -at Crandon Bridge on the river Parrett ( Figure 6) -and this appears to have functioned as a transhipment port on the Roman military authorities' supply route from Poole Harbour in south-east Dorset to south-east \fales via llchester (Allen and Fulford D96;zoo4;Rippon 1997, ,4). Vhile it could be argued that other sites lay unidentified, or have been lost to erosion, the artefactual evidence simply does noi suggest a large volume of cross-channel trade.…”

Section: T/te T/tamesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Focus or Frontier? The Significance of Estuaries in the Landscape of Southern Britain

Rippon¹

2007

Landscapes

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As major physical features of our landscape, and the location of some of our major pofts and cities, it is easy to assume that estuaries have always been of great significance to our island nation. The examination of case studies in the east and west of Britain suggests, however, that estuaries were only important in certain socio-economic and political spheres, and that, particularly for the lower levels of socieqi, they often presented a barrier to contact. The significance of estuaries also changed over time as the nature of economic interaction and political structurbs evolved.

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Section: T/te T/tamesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Focus or Frontier? The Significance of Estuaries in the Landscape of Southern Britain

Rippon¹

2007

Landscapes

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“…The samples did not yield useful organic-walled microfossils. In contrast, tesserae sourced from clay-rich rock sequences (Allen & Fulford 2004) are known to yield useful palynological data.…”

Section: Methods For Recovering Microfossilsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although other sources of chalk in southern England were clearly being exploited by the Romans, the addition of chalk to the range of stone types exploited in the Isle of Purbeck and then distributed considerable distances for employment elsewhere, gives further weight to the importance of that area and its associated manufacturing sites, like Norden, for the provision of materials for making mosaics and other decorative building materials from the later first century AD onwards (cf. Allen & Fulford 2004;Allen et al 2007). …”

Section: Geographical Provenance Of the Chalk Tesserae At Silchestermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The majority of rooms had plain floors of mortar, opus signinum, gravel or timber, but those in the principal rooms were generally tiled or tessellated, frequently incorporating patterned mosaics. The rocks used appear to have been sourced mainly from southern England and the white background to the mosaics was made from a hard chalk (Allen & Fulford 2004;Boon 1974). Though chalk was used in mosaics throughout the Roman period in Britain, it is a distinctive feature of the earliest pavements at Silchester, and also, for example, of the celebrated black and white, geometric pavements from the late first century AD palace at Fishbourne (West Sussex; see Cunliffe 1971).…”

Section: Mosaics At Calleva Atrebatummentioning

confidence: 99%

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The application of microfossils in assessing the provenance of chalk used in the manufacture of Roman mosaics at Silchester

Wilkinson

Williams

Young

et al. 2008

Journal of Archaeological Science

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Microfossils recovered from chalk tesserae in mosaics from the Roman town Calleva Atrebatum, modern Silchester, southern England, are used to suggest a provenance for the source-rock. The microfossils include foraminifera characteristic of late Cretaceous (Campanian) foraminiferal biozone BGS20 (quadrata macrofaunal biozone) and subzone BGS21i (basal mucronata macrofaunal biozone). Calcareous nannofossil assemblages from the same tesserae are poorly preserved, preventing precise age determination, but confirm an age of Santonian to Campanian. As indurated chalk beds of this age are not present in the chalks of southern England, it is probable that calcretized chalk, formed by secondary calcification beneath Palaeogene rock cover, was used to manufacture the tesserae. This suggestion is supported by a comparative analysis of chalk tesserae from the Norden Roman site in Dorset.Although the provenance of the chalk in some of the Silchester tesserae can be placed only within a broad geographical area of downland in southern England, others apparently originated in the Dorchester-Swanage-Portsdown area, some 100 km to the

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“…Founded in the late first century BC, the Romano‐British town of Silchester ( Calleva Atrebatum ) was an active participant in these developments. An extensive and ongoing area excavation at Insula IX within the walls has revealed that a range of Kimmeridgian rock‐types from Dorset were used for mosaics in the early Roman settlement (Allen and Fulford 2004). An especially distinctive component is a richly fossiliferous shale burnt to a dark red colour.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Burnt Kimmeridgian Shale at Early Roman Silchester, South‐east England, and the Roman Poole–purbeck Complex‐agglomerated Geomaterials Industry

Allen¹,

Fulford²,

Todd³

2007

Oxford J Archaeology

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A wide range of geomaterials were worked at industrial settlements scattered over an area of c.225 km 2 in the Poole Harbour-Isle of Purbeck district of modern Dorset. These materials, more than one handled at some There was also a salt industry, which could have used pottery for packaging. The industrial products are conterminously distributed in southern and central Britain and, in the case of pottery and shale items, reached as far as the northern frontiers. Raw material of red burnt shale was exported to Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum), where it was made into mosaic tesserae. Of proven Kimmeridgian age on the evidence of fossils, the mudstone used to make it had been collected and quarried on the coast of the Isle of Purbeck before being burnt. The decline in the demand for stone products, excepting shale, in the second century AD saw an expansion of the potting industry, which persisted into the fifth century. The term complex-agglomerative is introduced to describe this diverse and dispersed enterprise at this highest hierarchical level, examples of which occur elsewhere in the Roman world.introduction Rome introduced to Britain a refined tradition of building and decorating with stone. Within a decade or so of the Claudian invasion, the 'native' geomaterials industry centred on the Poole Harbour-Isle of Purbeck district of south-east Dorset, producing items from Kimmeridge shale ('coal') (Kennett 1977; Cunliffe 1982;2005), had been widened in range, broadened to include products from other local rock-types and formations, and expanded to embrace markets throughout southern and central Britain. By the early second century AD the native pottery industry of Poole-Purbeck had similarly grown, becoming a major supplier of coarseware in western Britain throughout Roman times (South-east Dorset Black-burnished Pottery Category 167 1), with representation as far flung as the northern frontiers, Brittany, the Channel Islands, Normandy, and the Low Countries (Allen and Fulford 1996).Founded in the late first century BC, the Romano-British town of Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum) was an active participant in these developments. An extensive and ongoing area excavation at Insula IX within the walls has revealed that a range of Kimmeridgian rock-types from Dorset were used for mosaics in the early Roman settlement (Allen and Fulford 2004). An especially distinctive component is a richly fossiliferous shale burnt to a dark red colour. Moreover, petrological and mineralogical analysis has demonstrated the presence of Kimmeridgian materials in early mosaics at other sites, ranging from Exeter and Caerleon in the west to London and Eccles (Maidstone) in the east. New finds of burnt shale from Silchester provide us with valuable insights into how this particular element of the Poole-Purbeck rockbased industry may have been conducted. The fact that Silchester also yields black-burnished pottery (Fulford and Timby 2000), items of Purbeck marble (Fulford and Timby 2000), and a rich array of Kimmeridge shale ('coal') products (Law...

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Early Roman Mosaic Materials in Southern Britain, with Particular Reference to Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum): A Regional Geological Perspective

Cited by 19 publications

References 21 publications

Focus or Frontier? The Significance of Estuaries in the Landscape of Southern Britain

Focus or Frontier? The Significance of Estuaries in the Landscape of Southern Britain

The application of microfossils in assessing the provenance of chalk used in the manufacture of Roman mosaics at Silchester

Burnt Kimmeridgian Shale at Early Roman Silchester, South‐east England, and the Roman Poole–purbeck Complex‐agglomerated Geomaterials Industry

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