The Isola Sacra occupies the land between Ostia and Portus at the mouth of the Tiber, and thus lies at the centre of the massive port complex that served Imperial Rome. The area has been the focus of archaeological research since the 16th century, but has never before been the subject of an integrated survey. This volume focuses on the results of a survey completed between 2002 and 2012 as part of the Portus Project. It complements our previous survey of Portus (2005) and the forthcoming publication of the German Archaeological Institute's survey of Ostia. It included a fluxgate gradiometer survey of all the available open ground on the island (c 98 ha), as well as selective Ground-Penetrating Radar survey and an analysis of satellite and aerial photographic images. A presentation of these results is set against an analysis of the geomorphology of the delta, and integrated with information from past excavations in the area. It is complemented by a programme of geoarchaeological coring and a short account of the ships excavated on the Isola Sacra in 2011. These results are key for understanding the development of Portus-Ostia complex, and hence the economy of the City of Rome itself.

Collection of research papers concerning ceramic and ceramic analysis for archaeologists.

Collection of research papers concerning ceramic and ceramic analysis for archaeologists.

The Romanization of Britain is an innovative study of cultural change and interaction. While there are many narrative histories of Roman Britain, this synthesis of the latest archaeological work presents the evidence in a new and provocative way. Dr Millett examines the romanization of Britain as a social process, and from a local perspective, by looking in detail at patterns of interaction between Roman imperialism and the native Roman population. Wide-ranging and extensive data from archaeology, historical sources and inscriptions are interpreted through anthropological and socio-economic models. The focus is, however, always on the excavated material, providing a clear explanation for it without overemphasis on the literary sources. All the distinctive aspects of Romano-British life are covered, including pottery production and trade, civic organization and building, and the military presence and its integration. The experience of Roman Britain is also used for more general conclusions about the nature of romanization throughout the Roman Empire.

Modern-day Aldborough, in North Yorkshire, lies on the site of Isurium Brigantum, the former administrative capital of the Brigantes, one of the largest indigenous tribes of Roman Britain. Strategically located on Dere Street, by the second century AD it had become a key Roman town engaged with the supply of the northern frontier, with buildings and mosaics that reveal a thriving economy through to the fourth century. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the site of Isurium Brigantum was the subject of important antiquarian investigations. However, unlike some southern counterparts - for example, Calleva Atrebatum or Verulamium - in the twentieth century it attracted less archaeological attention. Then, in 2009 a team of archaeologists led by Dr Rose Ferraby and Professor Martin Millett began a major re-examination of the site. This included large-scale geophysical surveys using both gradiometry and high-resolution ground-penetrating radar. Most of the town and its surroundings were revealed, allowing its development from the second century AD to the medieval period to be mapped with great accuracy. Brought together in this volume for the first time are the results of those surveys, together with a re-evaluation of the earlier antiquarian work and more recent archaeological fieldwork and excavations - some never before published. The resulting volume provides historians and archaeologists with exciting new information about the topography and development of the Roman town and later landscape, together with a thorough review of the town in the broader context of Roman Britain and the western Empire. The volume is complemented by an interactive digital archive, which is free to access.

In AD 42, the Emperor Claudius initiated work on the construction of a new artificial harbour a short distance to the north of the mouth of the Tiber. The harbour facilities were enlarged at the instigation of the Emperor Trajan at the beginning of the second century AD, and Portus remained the principal port for the City of Rome into the Byzantine period. The surviving archaeological remains and comments by ancient sources make it clear that Portus lay at the heart of Rome's maritime fagade. As well as being a key Mediterranean centre for passengers and for the loading, unloading, transshipment and storage of products from across the Empire, it was also designed to make an ideological statement about the supremacy of Rome in the world. Portus is, thus, of key importance to understanding Rome and her relationship to the Empire. The project that forms the subject of this book was designed to use non-destructive techniques of topographic and geophysical survey in combination with systematic surface collection to provide a new understanding of the plan of Portus. The work was undertaken between 1997 and 2002 as a collaboration between the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici di Ostia, the British School at Rome, and the Universities of Southampton, Durham and Cambridge. This volume presents the full results of the survey and uses them as the basis for a re-evaluation of the whole port complex. The geophysical survey results are interpreted in the context of earlier work at the site in order to offer new perspectives on the character and development of the site.

The remarkable extent, state of preservation and monuments of Ocriculum make this one of the most important archaeological sites in ancient Italy. Located close to the river Tiber, north of Rome on the Via Flaminia, many travellers were drawn to Otricoli and its landscape, lured by its beauty. Significant monumental remains of the Roman town are still visible: the amphitheatre, the theatre, the forum area, basilica, baths and nymphaeum. Academic studies devoted to this important town are many, and this volume represents a further contribution to our understanding of the ancient town. Here are published the results of the urban survey in 2002-5. Field survey was coupled with a geophysical survey that has identified new features. This work adds greatly to our understanding of the ancient town and tells a different story to that usually told of Roman towns in terms of scale, layout and organization, as well as architectural and sculptural finds; and thus contributes significantly to debate on Roman urbanism. With contributions by Luana Cenciaioli, Sophy Downes, Rose Ferraby, Enrico Floridi, Shawn Graham, Salvatore Piro, Tim Sly, Lacey M. Wallace, Andrew Wallace-Hadrill and Sabrina Zampini

This book provides a twenty-first century perspective on Roman Britain, combining current approaches with the wealth of archaeological material from the province. This volume introduces the history of research into the province and the cultural changes at the beginning and end of the Roman period. The majority of the chapters are thematic, dealing with issues relating to the people of the province, their identities and ways of life. Further chapters consider the characteristics of the province they lived in, such as the economy, and settlement patterns. This Handbook reflects the new approaches being developed in Roman archaeology, and demonstrates why the study of Roman Britain has become one of the most dynamic areas of archaeology. The book will be useful for academics and students interested in Roman Britain.

First published in 1985, this collection of essays has proved popular for those teaching archaeological field methods. It deals with methodological problems in a general way, but also illustrated by some case studies from both Britain and the continent, from regional strategies to the intensive study of a specific site.

Digital reprint of this important collection of papers which form the companion to ' Early Roman Empire in the East' (Oxbow 1997) . Fourteen contributions examine the interaction of Roman and native peoples in the formative years of the Roman provinces in Italy, Gaul, Spain and Portugal, Germany and Britain. Contents: Introduction ( Thomas Blagg and Martin Millett ); The creation of provincial landscape: the Roman impact on Cisalpine Gaul ( Nicholas Purcell ); Romanization: a point of view ( Richard Reece ); Romanization: historical issues and archaeological interpretation ( Martin Millett ); The romanization of Belgic Gaul ( Colin Haselgrove ); Lower Germany: proto-urban settlement developments and the integration of native society ( J. H. F. Bloemers ); Relations between Roman occupation and the Limesvorland in the province of Germania Inferior ( Jurgen Kunow ); Early Roman military installations and Ubian settlements in the Lower Rhine ( Michael Gechter ); Some observations on acculturation process at the edge of the Roman world ( S. D. Trow ); Processes in the development of the coastal communities of Hispania Citerior in the Republican period ( Simon Keay ); Romanization and urban development in Lusitania ( Jonathan Edmondson ); Urban munificence and the growth of urban consciousness in Roman Spain ( Nicola Mackie ); First-century Roman houses in Gaul and Britain ( T. F. C. Blagg ); Towards an assessment of the economic and social consequences of the Roman conquest of Gaul ( J. F. Drinkwater ); The emergence of Romano-Celtic religion ( Anthony King ).

In the past 30 years archaeological field survey has become central to the practice of Classical Archaeology. During this time, approaches have developed from the systematic collection of artefacts to include the routine deployment of various geophysical and remote sensing techniques. The ability of archaeologists to reveal the topography of buried urban sites without excavation has now been demonstrated through a wide range of projects across the ancient world. Archaeological Survey and the City reviews the results of such projects and in particular discusses the ways in which the subject might develop in the future, with an emphasis on the integration of different strands of evidence and issues of archaeological interpretation rather than on the technicalities of particular methodologies. Several themes emerge from the fourteen papers. The first is the increasing number of large-area surveys providing data at a sufficient scale to make a significant contribution to our understanding of classical cities both in the Mediterranean and beyond (eg Baelo Claudia, Caistor-by-Norwich, Xanten, Ammaia). The second theme is the generation of new types of data through the application of specific techniques to address particular questions pertaining to urban life, for instance in identifying particular industrial processes such as metal-working (eg Munigua, Wroxeter) or the increasing success in isolating cemeteries (eg Silchester). The techniques involved in identifying these phenomena complement the use of geochemical survey to characterise particular soil properties related to animal husbandry, cultivation or the creation of domestic waste deposits (eg Faleri Veteres), an area which has considerable future potential. A third theme lies in the application and integration of multiple techniques to provide new dimensions to the information available. The data from a number of survey projects have demonstrated that a single survey technique will rarely, if ever, reveal all of the potential information so there is a significant benefit to be derived from applying multiple survey-strategies to the questions being asked of a site. These themes emphasise the dynamism of research in this area, which continues to revolutionise the study of ancient cities.

Although a large number of cemeteries have been explored in Roman Britain they have never been seen as central to the study of the province. A narrowly defined historical tradition of studying the Roman provinces had an almost exclusive hold on British academia until the 1980s. Gradually this situation changed. Major cemetery excavations were increasingly undertaken within the Rescue Archaeology boom and a minority of those working on these sites began to ask what information cemeteries could contribute to our wider understanding. Developing contacts on the continent resulted in the growth of a small, informal network of scholars across Europe, who got together for several conferences.

This book provides a twenty-first century perspective on Roman Britain, combining current approaches with the wealth of archaeological material from the province. This volume introduces the history of research into the province and the cultural changes at the beginning and end of the Roman period. The majority of the chapters are thematic, dealing with issues relating to the people of the province, their identities and ways of life. Further chapters consider the characteristics of the province they lived in, such as the economy, and settlement patterns. This handbook reflects the new approaches being developed in Roman archaeology, and demonstrates why the study of Roman Britain has become one of the most dynamic areas of archaeology.The book will be useful for academics and students interested in Roman Britain.