I've just been reading the very interesting news that a new Roman shrine site has been discovered at Rutland Water, just to the south of Lincolnshire and so very close to my own patch. Having an interest in local Romano-British religious practices, its great news to hear that a new site has been unearthed that will help us to better understand the nature of Romano-British belief in the region.
The site was uncovered by Northamptonshire Archaeology and consists of a circular stone building, 10.5m wide, related to an Iron Age farmstead. The suggestion is that the shrine dates to between around AD100 and AD300, though the exact relationship between the farmstead and the shrine isn't clear from the reports I've seen so far. I look forward to reading the full report to see what overlap and connection there might be between the two, and with other Roman activity in the area.
The format of the shrine building is also unclear. A typical Romano-British temple site might be expected to have a central building - a cella - with a covered walkway around it. This would then have a further surrounding courtyard - a temenos - all enclosed by a boundary wall or ditch. Worshipers would make their offerings within the temenos, but would not be allowed to enter the cella, where the presiding deity's cult statue would reside. At present, it is not clear what features, if any, surrounded this simple stone building, and where the finds were located in relation to it and other landscape features such as ditches or pits.
Finds from the site have included red and white painted plaster from the building's walls, more than 200 Roman coins, pottery jars, part of a small bronze figurine and deposits of lamb and cattle bones. These finds are all representative of the types of objects and remains associated with temple sites and the ritual offering of animals. It will be interesting to see if the statue fragment can be associated with any specific deity, as it may be the only clue to determining which divinity, classical Roman or local British / Celtic, was being honoured.
Perhaps the single most unusual aspect of the site was the discovery of the skeleton of a male of about 30 years of age, positioned in the centre of the shrine. The reports I've seen lead to the assumption that the burial is contemporary with the life of the shrine. Analysis of the skeleton, though it looks from the photographs to be in fairly poor condition, will be fascinating to see if a cause of death can be determined, or if any injuries are present. The use of human sacrifice (willing or otherwise) is a distinctly Celtic practice rather than a Roman one, so if this burial relates to the 2nd or 3rd Centuries AD it could be a very interesting discovery indeed.
The finds from the excavation and a reconstruction of the building are currently on display at the Rutland Water Visitor Centre. No prizes for guessing where I'm going this weekend!
I have been reading with great interest about the new discoveries in London - the 'Pompeii of the North' as some newspapers would have it. You can see the major news coverage from the BBC and Guardian through these links, but basically, excavations on the site of what will be Bloomberg's new HQ have been producing some rather amazing finds.
Because the excavation is on the site of the River Walbrook (now no longer in existence), the deposits are waterlogged, providing an amazing level of preservation of organic material such as fences, shoes and over 100 fragments of writing tablets. There has even been the discovery of a wooden door.
The site looks as if will prove to be of immense interest to those of us with an interest in Romano-British religious belief and cult practices. The name 'Walbrook' is already well known as the site of the London Mithraeum (an underground 'temple' used by members of the cult to the Persian deity Mithras). The original site was discovered in 1954 during post war building work, and these new excavations have uncovered a new section of the structure. Hopefully, the finds will shed even more light on this already fascinating and important site.
Also of interest is the fact that the site has uncovered the largest collection to date of a type of pendants known as 'penis and fist pendants'. These pendants are known mainly in bone, but are also occasionally found in bronze, and have a penis at one end and a hand at the other, making a gesture known as 'mano fico', or 'fig hand'. This is when the thumb is pushed between the index and middle fingers, and also has rather sexual connotations. Rather than being sexual in nature, however, both of these symbols were used as good luck symbols in the Roman period, and the pendants were believed to have been worn to ward off bad fortune (or the 'evil eye'). These particular pendants are associated with the Roman military, so it will be very interesting to see exactly what context this large collection comes from. The picture below shows one of these pendants, found in Lincoln.
The plan is apparently to display the finds in the new complex when it opens in 2016, and I for one can't wait to see them. In the meantime, I wish the Museum of London archaeologists the best of luck with the mammoth post-excavation process they now have to go through. I'm sure the quality of the finds will make it a fascinating one, and I'm equally sure there will be many more revelations as the finds and environmental data are studied in more detail - particularly as the writing tables are deciphered.
