Category Archives: Roman

VM_365 Day 139 Roman lock fastener from Minster

Archaeology, In the Store, Minster, Roman, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project

VM 139-1Day 139’s VM_365 image shows a Roman lock fastener from the villa at Minster.

This lock fastener is made of copper alloy, cast around an iron shank and was used to hold the lock plate to the front of a chest or door. A number of these decorative lock fasteners would have been used around the edges of the lock plate to hold it to the wood.

The cast bronze knob was visible on the front of the lock and was probably highly polished, while the iron shank passed through the lock plate and the wooden casket or door and was held in place at the rear by a pin inserted through the hole in the shank at the end.  In our example the shank has broken across the hole that the pin would have passed through.

Our example was probably used to hold the lockplate to a chest as the measurement between the knob and the hole in the shank suggests a total depth of lockplate and wood to be 15mm, too shallow for a door.

 

VM_365 Day 138 Roman Window Glass from Minster

Archaeology, In the Store, Minster, Roman, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project

VM 138

Today’s Day 138 VM 365 image shows our largest fragment of Roman window glass from the villa at Minster dating to around the 1st to 2nd century.

This fragment of clear glass is a pale olive brown, growing pinkish in colour toward the broken edge. You can see many tiny air bubbles throughout the fragment. The glass appears to have been poured as a single sheet into a mould, onto a flat, slightly rough surface, possibly compacted sand, as the underside is also slightly rough in texture. The upper side is shiny and wavy rather like the surface of poured toffee and is thicker along the rounded edge which would have been formed against the edge of the mould.

VM_365 Day 132 Roman glass from Minster Villa

Archaeology, In the Store, Roman, Thanet archaeology, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project
Roman window and vessel glass
Roman window and vessel glass

The image for day 132 of VM_365 is a selection of the fine glass fragments that were found in the excavations at the Roman Villa at Minster in Thanet.

No complete vessels were recovered from the site, but the fragments of sheet glass and the small pieces of vessel glass, including body sherds bases and rims, tell us that glass was as common on this site as it was on any other Roman building, where glass is sometimes better represented more completely in the archaeological record.

The glass sherds are in a range of colours, most commonly blues, greens and clear. One rare sherd is made from canes of glass in different colours welded into a muti-coloured pattern on the body of a vessel.

Typically for glass of this period the sherds are hard and clear, demonstrating the Roman’s mastery of glass making and the frequency with which glassware was used on the table and windows were used in their buildings.

Large sheets of glass were difficult to make and the windows in a building like the Minster Villa would have been composite structures with the glass held in place with a metal framework, like the one from the Tivoli Villa which was shown in VM_365 Day 78.

The small sample of glass vessel sherds shown here represent one of the most important pieces of evidence of the Roman way of life in Thanet from the 1st to the 3rd century AD.

VM_365 Day 131 Roman water Pipe

Archaeology, In the Store, Roman, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project
Second century AD Roman water pipe
Second century AD Roman water pipe

The  image for Day 131 of VM_365  is of a Roman ceramic water pipe dating to the second century. Like the perforated lead drain cover that was shown in Day 130, the pipe was excavated  from the area near a bath house at the Roman Villa at Minster.

Ceramic pipes like this one were manufactured to have an extended collar formed at one end, which would fit into the opening of another pipe, forming an interlocking series that could be made as long as was needed. The joints may have been mortared to prevent leaking. Water would flow through the pipes under gravity. Similar systems of pipes were even used by the Romans to lift water across valleys and even to raise water from one level to a higher elevation.

The pipe at Abbey Farm was found on its own, used in part of the drain leading from the lowest of a series of rooms of the bath house (Room 41 of Building 6A), which conducted the water that was discharged from the bath house into a drainage ditch.

Room 41 had originally been a cold plunge bath (room 41a) but it  was later adapted to become a hot plunge bath through the construction of a hypocaust  below the floor. A new tile lined drain measuring 2.65 metres long was assembled to discharge the  water into the  ditch. It was  later extended using more tiles and this ceramic pipe which may previously have been  used in another part of the site.

The ceramic water pipe is one example of the distinctive,  mass produced and specialised building materials that the Romans introduced to Britain.

 

VM_365 Day 130 Roman perforated Lead drain cover from Villa at Minster, Thanet

Archaeology, In the Store, Roman, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project
Perforated lead drain cover from Roman villa at Minster
Perforated lead drain cover from Roman villa at Minster

The image for VM_365  Day 130 is of an unusual  perforated lead drain cover dating to the 2nd century AD, which was found at the Abbey Farm Roman Villa site at Minster in 2004.

The object was made by bending a thick lead sheet  over the end of a pipe which is no longer present, forming the strange folded look of the outer flange. Using a square object, the pattern of small holes were punched into the surface of the lead that would have covered the opening of the drain pipe. It appears that the lead covering was intended to create a vent to distribute the flow of water, or perhaps a filter to prevent larger material from passing through the drain. Ceramic drain pipes were found on the site and the cover may have been fitted to one of these.

The lead cover was found in a ditch at the Villa  adjacent to a detached Bath House located by the south west corner of the boundary wall of the main villa complex (Building 6A).  The ditch was located outside a small sunken room at the south western corner of the bath house (Room 42), which was later used as a stoking chamber for the hypocaust systems under the floors of two adjacent rooms.

Before it was converted into a stoking chamber this room  may have been a sunken bath,  with the external ditch acting as a drain. The lead cover was found at the base of the ditch and although it was not found in place it seems likely to have been part of the system of drainage  for the sunken bath in this room.

References

Parfitt, K. 2007. The Roman Villa at Minster-in-Thanet. Part 4. the South West buildings, 6A and 6B. Archaeologia Cantiana Volume 127, 261-296.

 

 

 

VM_365 Day 129 Roman disc brooch from Villa at Minster

Archaeology, Roman, Thanet archaeology, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project
Roman disc brooch from Minster in Thanet
Roman disc brooch from Minster in Thanet

The small disc brooch shown here for Day 129 of the VM_365 project was recovered from the plough soil above the site of the Roman Villa at Minster in Thanet in the 1996 excavation season.

The circular brooch has ten small lugs radiating from the outer circumference and has a raised circular bead surrounding an indented central area.

The raised bead creates two fields which were probably originally filled with coloured enamel, although the decoration seems to have worn off over time in the soil conditions.

At the back of the brooch the shaft of the pin in the sprung clasp mechanism which held the brooch on has broken off , but the raised clip that retained the pin and the two lugs to hold the spring mechanism are still attached to the flat back.

VM_355 Day 112. Roman Brooch from Minster.

Archaeology, Ramsgate, Roman, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project

VM 112

Today’s image is another brooch found at the Roman villa site at Abbey Farm, Minster.

This lozenge shaped plate broochwith an intact pin, although bent, is made of copper alloy.  It measures 33mm long and 18mm wide and has a circular hollow back. There is a central raised projection that was filled with enamel that is now coloured yellow and dates to the 2nd to 3rd centuries.

Other Roman brooches from the site have been posted on Day 88, Day 89, Day 90 and Day 96.

VM_365 Day 109. Roman Kitchen Round up

Archaeology, Broadstairs, Roman, Thanet archaeology, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project

VM 109

For Day 109 of VM_365 our image shows a line-up of the images of the reconstructible vessels that were present in the dump of pottery from the Roman Building at Fort House, Broadstairs. Each of the pots, a samian cup, a poppy head Beaker, a flagon, dish, mortarium and two storage jars, one small and one very large , has been shown in earlier posts which have told the story of the Roman site in Broadstairs where they were found and how the vessels were excavated and reconstructed.

The images have been scaled to show the range of sizes in the deposit and you might be able to pick out  some of the individual  vessels that are illustrated in the lower part of the image which shows a photograph of the deposit at the time of the excavation. The pottery assemblage from this deposit (context 1022) was the largest from the excavation site at Fort House, with 841 sherds weighing in at 29.815 kg.

Analysis of the forms and fabrics indicated that at least 25 vessels are represented, these include one flagon, six jars, three bowls, two dishes, four beakers and two storage jars. At least two cups were present and one mortaria. There were three other vessels that could not be identified. One of the finest pots present is a complete cup in Central Gaulish samian fabric (Dr. 33 type).

The fabric of the vessels can tell us something about their manufacturers and the markets that supplied the pottery used on the site. Nearly half of the pottery was made in hand-made ‘Native Coarse Ware’ fabric, fired in high temperature kilns to a hard finish. A quarter of the material was supplied by Roman pottery kilns located along the Thames, which produced vessels in Black Burnished 2 fabric, North Kent Fineware and other greywares. Three of the pots may have been manufactured locally and the samian cup would have been imported.

The flagon and the mortarium that have been reconstructed were products of Roman pottery kilns located in Canterbury. The Mortarium probably came from a kiln that is known to have been close to Dane John mount in Canterbury, or it may be the product of a closely related manufacturer. As one sherd from a jar made in a Canterbury Greyware fabric is the only example of  the products of the kilns of the Canterbury Greyware industry, the range of fabrics represented indicates that the date of the whole group of vessels is later than 175 AD.

The freshly broken condition of most of the vessels that were represented in this assemblage suggests that they were dumped, in one action, immediately after breakage around AD 200, or soon afterwards. The characteristics of the breaks in the pots, which often emanate from a single point where a piece is missing, suggest they might have been deliberately smashed, perhaps with a sharp object.

These vessels can reveal a fascinating snapshot of a moment in time when Broadstairs was part of the Roman world, but we will never really know the full story of what happened to create the pottery dump which has generated such a valuable trail of evidence.

 

 

 

 

VM_365 Day 108. Roman Native Coarse Ware jar from Broadstairs

Archaeology, Broadstairs, Roman, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project

VM 108Today’s VM_365 image is the vessel we featured being reconstructed yesterday from the Roman Kitchen at Fort House, Broadstairs. This everted rim storage jar is made in a black ‘Native Coarse Ware’ fabric similar to the dish shown on Day 104. It is one of six storage jars of a similar size and fabric and dates between 170-250 AD.

VM_365 Day 107 Where have all the fragments gone?

Archaeology, In the Store, Roman, Thanet archaeology, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project, What's going on?
Large Roman jar undergoing reconstruction.
From the ground to gluing tray, large Roman jar undergoing reconstruction.

In the image for VM_365 Day 107, we have one of the last of the vessels from the Roman kitchen at Broadstairs that can be reconstructed. The large jar is shown in the ground during excavation and on the right in the sand tray we use to hold the sherds in place while they are glued together. All of the vessels from the same site shown in the previous VM_365 posts over the last few days have been through this method of reconstruction.

First each sherd must be recovered, located and fitted together in a dry run, to see what order they need to be glued in. The process of sticking the sherds together must be carried out very precisely and in small stages as otherwise the pieces of the vessel may not meet in the middle when the last piece is added.  When the glue is applied the sherds must be held in exact position until the bond is made. Any errors will mean that the next pieces can’t be properly fitted.

The large jar was one of the most obvious near complete vessels within the thick deposit of sherds, however once it was lifted it was clear that it had been broken before it was thrown in and the jar came apart into a number of large pieces. Some of the sherds from one side of the vessel had been spread elsewhere in the deposit and had to be picked out from the spare pieces left over after we had matched as many as possible. We may still be missing a few in the end!

We’ll post more on this vessel once the glue has dried and we can take a proper photograph of the result.