New discoveries in Roman London
I had a chat to Frances Grew of the Museum of London while filming a short film on Boudicca and he was able to give me better context about some recent discoveries.
Firstly, the St Martins in the Field burials (see earlier in the blog). The burials recently excavated are not new - it was known a cemetary was here, but previous finds were Saxon, and the Roman sacophagi found were thought to be reused. The recent discover of the burial from about 410AD shows that the cemetary probably goes back to the Roman period, and the discovery of finds dating to AD500 suggests there is no gap in the use of the cemetary (a 90 year gap in fact but this may just be because of lack of dateable objects).
We discussed the implications of this - it means the end of the model of Roman London whereby there is a clear break between Londinium and Lundenwic. Now it suggests the continuity is based around St Martins - there are early saxon finds dating to c 500 in St Martin's Lane, so it might seem that a Roman settlement near St Martins survived the end of the Roman period, and expanded into the area around Covent Garden perhaps when the trading shore at the Strand kicked in. The tile kiln of the same date is also surprising as very little building seems to be built so where are the tiles for?
Skulls in the Walbrook - Geffrey of Monmouth says these are from a late Roman massacre, then they were thought to be those killed by the Boudiccan revolt, then when modern analysis of the bone showed little evidence of violence they were suggested to be ritual deposits into the holy waters of the River Walbrook (Walbrook meaning Brook of the natives). Now, there has been an excavation in the Upper Walbrook in Finsbury Circus which shows a strange thin cemetary in this area stuffed full of burials. The cemetary is on the banks of the Walbrook and apparently scoured by the river so that erosion of the banks lead to the leeching into the stream of the skulls and bones from the cemetary. Apparently the archaeologist found about 30 or so skulls which had been caught up in a bend in the stream.
Water Supply.
The water wheel found in Gresham Street could raise 1 litre of water a second, could fill a bath in 3 minutes. Evidence suggests a human need 30 litres of water a day for drinking, washing and cooking, thus this one water wheel could raise enough water for 1 person in half a minute, 120 an hour, 1200 in a 10 hour working day. Thus the drinking water of the city could have been organised by a suite of some 20-30 water wheels.
St Pancras Church association with St Augustine in Canterbury may be some circumstantial evidence that St Pancras Church may be early.
Firstly, the St Martins in the Field burials (see earlier in the blog). The burials recently excavated are not new - it was known a cemetary was here, but previous finds were Saxon, and the Roman sacophagi found were thought to be reused. The recent discover of the burial from about 410AD shows that the cemetary probably goes back to the Roman period, and the discovery of finds dating to AD500 suggests there is no gap in the use of the cemetary (a 90 year gap in fact but this may just be because of lack of dateable objects).
We discussed the implications of this - it means the end of the model of Roman London whereby there is a clear break between Londinium and Lundenwic. Now it suggests the continuity is based around St Martins - there are early saxon finds dating to c 500 in St Martin's Lane, so it might seem that a Roman settlement near St Martins survived the end of the Roman period, and expanded into the area around Covent Garden perhaps when the trading shore at the Strand kicked in. The tile kiln of the same date is also surprising as very little building seems to be built so where are the tiles for?
Skulls in the Walbrook - Geffrey of Monmouth says these are from a late Roman massacre, then they were thought to be those killed by the Boudiccan revolt, then when modern analysis of the bone showed little evidence of violence they were suggested to be ritual deposits into the holy waters of the River Walbrook (Walbrook meaning Brook of the natives). Now, there has been an excavation in the Upper Walbrook in Finsbury Circus which shows a strange thin cemetary in this area stuffed full of burials. The cemetary is on the banks of the Walbrook and apparently scoured by the river so that erosion of the banks lead to the leeching into the stream of the skulls and bones from the cemetary. Apparently the archaeologist found about 30 or so skulls which had been caught up in a bend in the stream.
Water Supply.
The water wheel found in Gresham Street could raise 1 litre of water a second, could fill a bath in 3 minutes. Evidence suggests a human need 30 litres of water a day for drinking, washing and cooking, thus this one water wheel could raise enough water for 1 person in half a minute, 120 an hour, 1200 in a 10 hour working day. Thus the drinking water of the city could have been organised by a suite of some 20-30 water wheels.
St Pancras Church association with St Augustine in Canterbury may be some circumstantial evidence that St Pancras Church may be early.
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