The Colchester Archaeologist 1996-7

24 Pages·2008·3.48 MB·English

Your move Doctor! 1
the gaming board and other discoveries from Stanway
Longinus 10
the discovery of the missing face
Everyday life and death at Gosbecks 14
excavations near the Gosbecks Archaeological Park
Around the county 16
news from around the county
Church detectives 18
archaeology for young people
The Friends of the Colchester Archaeological Trust 20
recent and forthcoming activities and events
In brief 21
notes and news
City of Victory 22
new book on the history and archaeology of Colchester
THE FRIENDS
OF THE
Cover: Lisa Hopi excavating the gaming board COLCHESTER ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST
at Stanway.
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Issue Number 10 (1996-7)
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ISSN 0952-0988
The story was covered (in all cases with
Your move, at least one picture or graphic) in most
of the national newspapers, and there
were ten or so radio interviews on var-
ious local and national channels includ-
ing Radios Four, Five Live, and
Doctor! Scotland. The story made Ceefax, the
BBC national news, French TV, New
Zealand TV, and even CNN and (we
believe) ABC News in the USA. Other
foreign coverage (that we happen to
have heard about) includes radio broad-
casts or newspaper articles in Australia,
Germany, Slovakia, New Zealand,
Italy, and Ireland, as well as TV cover-
age by British Satellite Broadcasting
The latest excavations at Stanway which transmits around the world.
And that is not the end of it. More will
emerge: for example, National
produced dramatic results which cre- Geographic Magazine is to have an arti-
cle (admittedly brief) on the discovery
in the spring of 1997, and the British
ated world-wide interest. Even so, Museum Company is exploring the fea-
sibility of producing a marketable
replica of the game.
there is still much to understand
The game itself is of course of con-
siderable interest as we shall see, but
about the site and the the good thing about the publicity is
the fact that it drew attention to a site
which is proving important for other
extraordinary finds.
reasons. And the more publicity it gets,
the easier it will be to raise money to
fund future work there. Firstly the site
is helping us to identify a hitherto un-
recognised form of high-status burial
practice in Britain two thousand years
ago. This may not sound particularly
earth-shattering but it is a fairly
rare event in archaeological terms.
Secondly, the game seems to have
belonged to a doctor whose surgical kit
had been placed on the board. This is
an extraordinary discovery since it is
the first time in Britain that a surgical
kit has been found, Roman or British,
and it raises all sorts of interesting ques-
tions about medical practice in Britain
two thousand years ago. Thirdly the
site covers the critical period when the
Romans arrived in Britain, and it is
providing new evidence about the rela-
tionship between the native inhabitants
and their new Roman masters. More of
all this later.
The Stanway site was discovered by
aerial photography in 1932. The pho-
tographs show five ditched enclosures
The discovery of the gaming board at the Stanway site created public interest with three being laid out in a line.
on a level far beyond anything we have experienced before. They say that to However, the true nature of the site
make the headlines, any story has to involve the first of something, or the could not be understood until the exca-
biggest, or the oldest, or whatever claim singles it out as being unique. The vations many years later. The site
discovery of the game certainly qualified: it was the first recorded time any- became a gravel pit in the 1960s when
where that pieces had been found in position on a Roman game. And it had planning consent was given for mineral
the added attraction that, being a board game, it was an archaeological find extraction, and excavation began in a
which everybody could easily relate to and understand. small way in 1986 as the quarry face
1
approached the first of the enclosures. lead animals from the enclosure to pas- with all this in earlier issues of The
Since then, archaeological excavation tures a short distance away. The enclo- Colchester Archaeologist (nos 5 and 6) so
has been intermittent and targeted only sure seems to contain lots of pits which we will not repeat it all here. But
on the areas imminently threatened by presumably result from domestic occu- readers of those issues may recall
the slowly advancing quarry face. pation within it. the remarkable 'warrior' grave in
Enclosure 1 was the next to be laid Enclosure 3, with its extraordinarily
out. This was the first of the funerary rich collection of grave goods. These
Burials and enclosures
enclosures. Near the centre were the include over fourteen pottery vessels,
Work on the site up to last summer remains of a small timber chamber con- two copper-alloy vessels, a fine glass
involved the examination of at least taining a few pieces of broken pottery bowl, two other glass vessels, and
parts of four of the enclosures. This has and some scraps of burnt human bone. brooches. The objects allow it to be
enabled us to understand the nature of The chamber had been made of dated to the AD 50s. Of particular
the site and construct a chronological wooden planks nailed together in the note - especially in the light of the
sequence for its development which we shape of a rectangular box. Like all the more recent discovery in Enclosure 5 -
can summarise as follows. other funerary enclosures, it was is the collection of 20 glass counters
The smallest of the enclosures almost entirely empty inside. We only and the remains of a folding wooden
(Enclosure 2) was the earliest and this discovered one burial in the enclosure, gaming board. The counters had not
was probably the core of a farmstead and that took the form of a single pot been placed on the board but they had
dating from the 3rd or 2nd century BC. containing cremated bone. either been put in a pile or in a bag
close by it. However, of all the finds,
The ditched area would have contained The remaining three enclosures then
the most significant were the remains
round-houses and it would have pro- followed. All were all funerary in pur-
of a spear and what may have been a
vided an enclosure containing animals pose; Enclosures 3 and 5 seem to have
shield. At this time (AD 50s), Britons
as well as houses. There are indications been first, with Enclosure 4 being more
would not have been allowed to carry
of a nearby ditched droveway which as infill between the two. Enclosure 3
arms. We are specifically told by the
would presumably have been used to provided the first big find. We dealt
historian Dio Cassius that Claudius dis- likely to be relevant here because
armed the defeated tribes at of cultural and ethnic links
Camulodunum, so the presence of between the two groups of peoples
these items suggests that the dead and the conservative nature of prehis-
person must have enjoyed special privi- toric cultures.
leges. Near the 'warrior' grave was Armour bearers could move in high
another burial which, although not circles. The Roman historian Tacitus
nearly so well endowed, is of equal tells us how Cartimandua, the contem-
interest. This one contained two pots, porary queen of the Brigantes (a tribe
two brooches, and an inkpot. The last inhabiting what is now the northern
item is very significant because it part of England), replaced her husband
suggests that the dead person had been Venutius with his armour bearer
literate. Vellocatus.
Normally we might have guessed Of course it could be that the person
that the dead people sharing the enclo- represented in our warrior burial was
sure had been close relatives of the not an armour bearer, but instead had
person in the chamber. However the simply been a member of the nobility
presence of the spear and inkpot in the buried with his arms. The upper class
two graves suggest that, rather than rel- was made up of land-owners for whom,
atives, these were the burial places of as we can see in the quotation from
high-ranking aides. The inkpot suggests Posidonius, being a warrior was an out-
the presence of a clerk, and the spear ward sign of their status. However,
and possible shield the presence of an arms are not common in graves of this Stephen Benfield - an archaeologist with job
armour bearer. Armour bearers did period which is why we can consider satisfaction.
exist and the Greek writer Posidonius less obvious explanations for their pres-
gave an interesting description of a ence here. some extra help from the Essex County
Celtic feast which features some. Council. Despite all the generous finan-
When many people dine together they sit cial support, funds were still severely
in a circle, with the most important man The great summer of 1996 stretched, so that this year the work
in the central place, like the leader in a By 1996, it had become clear that the was arranged around the summer holi-
chorus; this is someone who excels the site was of great interest but the days to maximise student and other
others by virtue of his martial skill, birth summer of that year was to provide voluntary help. A campsite was pro-
or wealth. Next to him sits the host, and even more spectacular results. The site vided next to the excavation and a
then alternatively on either side come all is large (about 300 m square) so the work force of up to 30 people at any
the others, in order of rank. Their shield- archaeological excavations are costly. one time was assembled. The work was
bearers stand behind them and the spears- Most of the work has been funded by hard and the site was hot and dusty but
men sit in front in a circle like their lords, English Heritage with additional sup- the team performed well and with great
and feast in common in the same way. port from the Essex County Council, effect.
It needs to be noted that Posidonius the Essex History Fair, the Essex The chamber in Enclosure 5 proved
was describing Celts in Gaul rather Heritage Trust, and Colchester to be little different to the chambers
than Britain and he was writing more Borough Council. The work of 1996 examined in the other enclosures,
than a century before our warrior was funded almost entirely by the site although it has helped us to review our
burial. Nevertheless his account is still owner, Tarmac Southern Ltd, with interpretation of what happened to
them. In fact, there were fewer finds in
the backfill of this one than elsewhere,
and these were broken into smaller
fragments than we had found before
because the mourners seem to have
made a better job of smashing them at
the time of the burial ceremony. There
were the usual nails around the sides of
the pit and in its backfill, and there
were traces on some of the edges of the
pit of the planks which formed the ver-
tical sides of the chamber. The nails
around parts of the sides clearly were
close to their original positions: the
wood had rotted but they had stayed in
place, thus showing us that the cham-
ber had been made of wooden planks
held together with nails. The chamber
Excavation in progress of the grave with the
gaming hoard.
3
in Enclosure 3 led us to believe that it marked out by a shallow ditch. Two two pots, and another contained three
had been burnt at the time of the cre- have been found so far, one in pots, a small glass pot, a glass bead, and
mation ceremony, but the evidence in Enclosure 4 (excavated in 1992) and six brooches. The glass-ware is a beauti-
the chamber in Enclosure 5 seems to another in Enclosure 5. The one in ful blue-and-white pot - the sort of
point to a different story. Rather than Enclosure 4 was the larger of the two thing that might have been used to con-
being broken up and burnt, this cham- and had a burnt patch in the middle as tain cosmetics or ointment. The
ber appears to have been left intact, if it had been the site of a funeral pyre. number of brooches was exceptional.
buried under a mound of soil which Although no such scorched area was Brooches are often found in Iron Age
eventually collapsed into the void in found inside the sub-enclosure in or early Roman burials, but not often
the chamber once the roof-timbers had Enclosure 5, none of the original in such numbers. The best-known
rotted. In the light of this, we think ground surface survived so we cannot cemetery of this period in the country
that that is really what happened to the tell if it too had contained similar tell- is at the King Harry Lane site in St
other chambers too. The problem is tale signs. Clearly these were features Albans. Of 475 burials from that site,
that where the ground is very rich in which were visible inside the enclo- the largest number of brooches from
iron (as at Stanway), there can some- sures, either as simple square plots of any burial was five, and that was only a
times be chemical reactions which land surrounded by a small bank and single example. In the absence of but-
affect decaying timber to leave it look- ditch or maybe as square burial tons and zips, brooches were used as
ing as if it has been charred. After exca- mounds. If the latter, there does not clothes' fasteners. The presence of a
vating the previous chambers, we seem to have been any burial in them, brooch in a grave thus tells us nothing
wondered at the time if this was the unless of course they had been placed about the sex of the deceased, since
explanation here too, but specialist in the body of the earth mound (which men as well as women used them.
advice on the supposed charred timbers would be unusual). However, the small glass pot seems to
from these chambers favours the idea suggest that the dead person was
In terms of finds, the real excitement
that the timbers had been burnt. All female. Analysis of the cremated bone
was to come from the secondary
this will now need to be reviewed. may tell us if this is true.
burials. Like Enclosure 3, this latest
In the very centre of the enclosure, enclosure was not entirely empty apart The third grave proved to be quite
there was another one of these enig- from the chamber and the sub-enclo- extraordinary. People occasionally ask
matic 'sub-enclosures'. This is simply a sure. It also contained at least three me what is the best thing we have
square area on the ground which is extra burials. One contained at least found since I started in Colchester (in
1970). Usually I have to think hard and,
depending on how I feel at the time, I
E ^
might offer something like the mosaic
at Middleborough or the couch at Lion
Walk. No more hesitation! The discov-
ery of the game was quite amazing, and
it is easily the most exciting thing we
have ever found. And if that was not
enough, it turns out that the game had
belonged to a British doctor whose sur-
gical equipment had been placed on the
gaming board with his remains.
Delicate excavation gradually uncov-
ered the fragile remains of the game
board with the. pieces still more or less
as they had been left 2,000 years ago.
The wooden board had rotted away
almost entirely, except for its corners
where close contact with its L-shaped
metal corner pieces resulted in the
survival of some wood. The gaming
counters must have dropped by around
15 mm (the thickness of the board) as
the wood decayed, and there seems to
have been some slight sideways move-
ment of the pieces, presumably because
the board was jolted at some point in
the burial process. But by and large,
there had been surprisingly little move-
ment of the pieces, and this has allowed
The grave with gaming board.
The board is at the top of the picture and the
rods are to its right, in the very corner of the
grave.
4
us to guess at how the board was laid tery dishes and cups was carefully laid
out. out to cover about a quarter of the
What seems to have happened is this. floor of the pit. Food was presumably
A roughly square pit was dug for the placed in and around the dinner ser-
grave. The bottom was ledged so that vice. A flagon (again presumably full of
one end was slightly deeper than the drink) was placed against a side of the
rest of it. A long wooden box (or at pit. Something like a shelf, a tray or
least some sort of wooden partitioning) maybe a low table - we cannot tell
was then placed in the deepest part of what - was placed over the flagon and
the grave so that it was a tight fit across then on top of that were placed three
one end of it. The gaming board was special vessels. One was a glossy red
opened up and placed slightly askew on decorated samian dish from South
the bottom of the box. The pieces were Gaul. (This is one of the closely datable
set out in their starting positions, and a items from the grave.) Another was a
few pieces were moved as if a game had large copper-alloy pan. The third item
started (we will come to this in more was a copper-alloy strainer bowl. This
detail later). The cremated remains of was rather like an ancient form of tea-
the dead person were placed on the pot. It was a spouted vessel, with a per-
board, either as a pile or in a bag - we forated plate soldered on the inside just
cannot tell which. The medical instru- behind the spout to strain the liquid.
ments were then laid either directly on Attached to the rim, opposite the
the board or on a shelf in the box. spout, was a D-shaped drop handle.
Various other items were placed in the Thus two hands would have been
box. This included a collection of needed to use the bowl - one to hold
strange rods and what appears to have the handle and the other to support the
been their container (again we will dis- vessel under the spout as it was tipped
cuss all these later). These items were over. Again all three vessels were stand-
placed hard up against one end of the ing upright as if containing food and
box. Also to go in the box were two drink.
brooches, a bead, and presumably some
Somebody would have had to be
clothing or maybe blankets. Other
standing in the grave to load it with the
objects were placed elsewhere in the
various objects just described. Once
grave. A dinner service of eleven pot-
this was done, the lid of the wooden
5
box would have been closed and the attendants. may have been a form of double sharp
person would have had to climb out of The instruments need to be X-rayed, hook. The hooks would have been for
the grave. It is likely that further other cleaned, and conserved before we can moving or restraining soft tissue such
items of clothing were then dropped be really certain about their identifica- as veins and flesh in an open incision.
into the space where the person had tion - and indeed there are many other Blunt hooks would have been used for
been standing so that the floor of the objects from the grave which need to hooking tissue where it was important
grave was covered with offerings and be similarly treated, and some of these not to damage it.
the personal possessions of the dead may prove to have a significant impact What was the nationality of the
person. on the interpretation of the instru- doctor? Was he British, or could he
ments themselves. However, they have have been a Roman or a Greek? In the
been provisionally identified as medical Roman world, many doctors were
British doctor
by Ralph Jackson from the British Greek because Greek medicine was
There are various exciting features Museum who specialises in items of rather more scientifically-based than
about the grave. One is the evidence this kind. Ralph Jackson believes that the Roman and thus more successful,
that we have yet again for one of the the Stanway instruments comprise the whereas Roman medicine depended
dead having specialist skills. In this elements required for a basic surgical rather more on magical and religious
case, the medical instruments show kit. At present, we have identified at practices. The medical instruments are
that the person was a medic - a least ten medical instruments and these informative in this respect since they
doctor/surgeon - who presumably pro- including: two iron scalpels, a pair of seem to be nearly all of Celtic rather
vided care for the person whose iron tweezers, a pair of smooth-jawed than standard Roman types. This then
remains subsequently ended up in the fixation forceps, a copper-alloy scooped is not the equipment of a Roman
backfilled chamber-pit near the middle probe, a copper-alloy blunt hook, and a doctor but of a Briton. The metal
of the enclosure. This discovery sup- rather enigmatic instrument which strainer seems to support this view.
ports the earlier view that at least some
of the people buried in the enclosures Instruments from the doctor's grave. They have not all as yet been identified as being medical.
were not relatives of the person repre- The five on the right are iron, the rest copper alloy. The two iron scalpels are shown fourth and
sented by the primary burial but pro- fifth in from the right. Their blades are at the bottom with the cutting edges facing downwards
fessional assistants and personal to the right.
6
Vessels of this type are hardly known soldiers who had served their time in poets) and Vates (diviners or seers) who
outside Britain and it seems likely the army. However, the Stanway interpreted sacrifices and natural phe-
therefore that the bowl from Stanway doctor could not have been a retired nomena. It is hard to tell to what extent
was made in this country. Its presence army surgeon, because all the instru- these various functions overlapped
in the grave is thus significant because ments would have been of standard between the different groupings, and it
it appears to confirm that this was the Roman type which they are not. may be that the medical man at
burial place of a Briton rather than a Healers in the Celtic world were Stanway was in fact a druid. A decree
Roman. highly regarded and of high status. issued by the Roman emperor Tiberius
Our knowledge of medical practice They belonged to a priesthood of against the Gaulish druids lumped
among the Britons before the arrival of learned men (and women) on a par them in with 'all that kind of diviners
the Romans is extremely limited, so we socially with or just below that of the and healers' showing how, even if tech-
need to look to the Roman world for noble cum warrior class. These learned nically they were not all the same, they
clues about how it might have worked. people included druids, bards, diviners were still perceived by some Romans at
Most, if not all, Roman gods and god- (or seers), and physicians. Druids were least as having much in common. The
desses were thought to have some heal- the most senior and they were con- training to become a druid reputedly
ing powers so their help was sought by cerned with natural phenomena and took up to 20 years and was modular in
prayer and by making offerings. Lucky philosophy. They were teachers, the sense that the druids had to learn all
charms and magical incantations were philosophers, and natural scientists that the bards would have had to learn.
often used in the hope of warding off who could make legal and other adjudi- In the case of Irish bards some centuries
disease or curing illnesses. On a more cations, even between rival tribes. later, it is known that they had to study
practical level, Roman doctors could Hence they were more than priests such subjects as verse form, grammar,
treat sores and wounds with ointments since they controlled the nobles and composition and recitation of tales,
and poultices and would prepare vari- thus through them the whole of Celtic philosopy and law and that this took
ous medicines from herbs and spices. society. They were also credited with seven years. Hence it is said that all
They could also perform substantial powers of magic and divination. druids were bards but not all bards
operations although, in the absence of Druidism was a cult which was based were druids. The same presumably
effective anaesthetics, many people on the idea that the soul survives after applied to physicians.
died from shock and pain as a result. death by passing to another living crea-
The Romans were keen to stamp out
And for those that did survive, the inef- ture. This made its followers fearless in
the druids. They claimed that they did
fectiveness of the antiseptics of the time battle and is why the druids sanctioned
not like their practice of human sacri-
meant that sometimes post-operative human sacrifice. The two other main
fice, although their objections had
infections and gangrene would follow categories of learned
more to do with the political power of
which, in some cases, could lead to people were bards
the druids rather than any gory cult rit-
amputation or worse. In those days, (singers and
uals. In AD 54, Claudius issued a decree
successful operations depended on the
against the druids in Gaul, and we learn
surgeon being accurate, strong, and
that in AD 60 the Roman army was
above all fast. A full medical kit could
involved in a big offensive against some
run to many dozens of different
druids in Britain who were holding out
items including scalpels, probes,
in a sanctuary in Anglesey. Our possi-
spatulas, spoons, saws, tweezers,
ble druid at Stanway died in the AD
hooks, and forceps. There are many
50s, when the persecution was at its
instances abroad (but never in Britain
height. Thus the dating just allows for
until now) of where medical equip-
him to be a druid or at least some
ment has been found in Roman graves.
kind of 'diviner or healer' that the
In some cases, only a token sample of
Romans might regard as a druid,
the kit was placed in the grave.
although it should be noted that there
is no clear proof that the Romans did
As far as is known, the only hospitals
manage to eradicate the druids in any
in the Roman world were built by the
case.
army in military bases in the frontier
zones. Army surgeons thus played an The rods buried near the gaming
important role in spreading Roman board are very mysterious. Each rod is
medicine throughout the Roman cylindrical in section. One end is flat
world. They were able to develop their and the other resembles a triangular
skills in the field treating injured and blade although it is not sharp. There
sick soldiers and they benefited from are eight rods in all and they come in
coming into contact with new treat- two slightly different sizes. Four of the
ments and drugs as more and more peo- rods are iron and four are copper alloy
ples and cultures were absorbed into so that there are two small rods and
the empire. The grave of the doctor at two large rods in both iron and copper
Stanway dates to the AD 50s when the alloy. The rods lay so closely together
Roman settlement of Britain was just in the ground that it seems unlikely
beginning. In AD 49, the Romans that they had wooden handles or other
founded the Roman town of degradable fittings which no longer sur-
Colchester and they populated it with vive. The rods were clearly associated
hundreds, if not thousands, of former Nineteenth-century representation of a druid. with an adjacent wooden container of
7
some sort which incorporated eight full surgical intervention. Divination possibility. Such a use does at least
copper-alloy rings. The rings lay in a could be carried out by observing nat- allow for the rods occurring in two dif-
row suggesting that the container was ural events such as the flight of birds, ferent materials when there is no obvi-
in the form of a wide, narrow box with shooting stars or, as mentioned above, ous practical reason why this should be
an open top where the rings were fixed the physical characteristics of entrails. so.
along its length. Each ring was attached Sortilege is divination by the casting or
to a cloth or leather covering over the drawing of lots. Various techniques
The game
wooden container by a narrow loop of have been used around the world
cloth or thread. and involve such things as bird The counters were made of glass in
We are as yet at a loss to explain the bones, knuckle bones, peb- the shape of thick chocolate drops
function of the rods or the rings, but bles, and arrows. This last where one side is flat and the other
there may be a clue in how the rods lay method involved drawing spe- curved. There were two colours,
in the grave. Five of the rods had been cially marked arrows from a white and blue, and there were thir-
placed in a neat pile at one end of the container or casting them down on teen of each. All the counters were
box, with the other three at an angle so the ground and interpreting the resul- broadly the same size except for one
as to rest on the gaming board. This tant pattern. It is interesting to note white counter which was about half the
careful arrangement suggests that, like that the Stanway rods are rather like diameter of the others.
the gaming board, the rods were laid stylised arrows. It may be that each The board was made of wood which
out as if in use. One explanation for the ring held a single rod upright and these preliminary investigations suggest is
rods is that they were used for divina- were then drawn from the container as maple. It was about 55 cm long and 40
tion. This is not so much a way of part of the divination process. cm wide. It was hinged at both ends so
trying to tell the future but of trying to Ralph Jackson confidently discounts that it folded longways. Each corner
find out if the time is right for what- any medical or veterinary function for was strengthened with a right-angled
ever course of action is being contem- the rods, but there are of course other metal bracket. The proportions of the
plated. The idea then was to see if the possible explanations for them. They board suggest that it was laid out as a
gods were well disposed towards what- might have been parts of another game, grid of twelve by eight squares. The
ever action was being proposed. A well- or they might have been used in con- blue pieces were placed along one side
known example of this practice was to junction with the gaming board, per- of the board lengthways and the white
be found at Roman weddings where haps to push the pieces around rather were placed down the other side so that
the entrails (particularly the liver) of a like the way a croupier collects coun- all twelve squares were filled on each
sacrificed animal were examined to see ters on a gaming table. The rods look side. The small white counter (the thir-
if it was the right time for such an event like very large versions of Roman teenth one) was placed near the centre
and if the couple were well suited. In implements called styli which were of the board. The thirteenth blue, dis-
the case of the rods from Stanway, used for writing on wax tablets, so tinguished from the others by being
would-be patients might wish to see if maybe they were for writing or inscrib- upside down, was placed in one corner,
the time was right to submit them- ing letters or symbols on the ground or near blue's base line. Presumably the
selves to the surgeon's knife. Our some similar soft surface. However upside counter was the blue equivalent
physician, if that what he was, could none of these ideas seems particularly of the small white one. Perhaps origi-
thus provide the complete service — plausible, which is why something like nally there had been a small blue
consultation with the gods and then divination begins to look like a serious counter too but it was lost.
8