Archaeology in British Towns : From the Emperor Claudius to the Black Death

Over the last twenty-five years archaeology has revolutionised our knowledge of the early history of British towns. Based on his day-to-day involvement in urban archaeology, Patrick Ottaway reviews the important discoveries and research themes of this period, and considers how long-term urban research projects have revealed new information about towns and the lives of their inhabitants. The work of the urban archaeologist is examined in close detail, and attention is given to the critical problems of preserving our urban past, especially when the interests of archaeology and property development clash. Humanities BOOK COVER 1 HALF-TITLE 2 TITLE 3 COPYRIGHT 4 DEDICATION 5 CONTENTS 6 ILLUSTRATIONS 7 PREFACE 10 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 12 ABBREVIATIONS AND DATES 14 1 ARCHAEOLOGY IN TOWNS 16 Urban history from archaeology—genesis and growth 23 2 URBAN ARCHAEOLOGISTS AT WORK 30 Site evaluation—why dig here? 30 Strategy and method 38 Recording—the unrepeatable experiment 40 Chronology and dating 42 Finds—‘anything interesting?’ 47 Organic finds—from beetles to bodies 50 Reconstructing the urban past 55 3 EARLY ROMAN TOWNS 59 The colony at Colchester—‘the citadel of their servitude’ 59 Early Roman London—‘a centre for businessmen and merchandise’ 68 Provincial capitals—‘the amenities of a classical city’ 83 4 LATE ROMAN TOWNS 93 York—the last colonia 93 Town defences—a province under threat? 106 Later Roman London—within these walls 111 Later Roman towns—the coloniae and civitas capitals 113 The end of the Roman town—not a bang but a whimper? 119 5 ANGLO-SAXON TOWNS 129 The middle-Saxon wics—towns or trading centres? 129 Later Anglo-Saxon towns 141 ‘Felix Urbs Winthonia’38 141 London—‘richer in treasure’ 150 Towns in the Danelaw 154 York, ‘crammed with merchandise’ 154 Lincoln and Norwich 162 6 MEDIEVAL TOWNS 169 Cathedrals, castles and defences 171 Urban colonisation—streets, tenements and rigs 178 Urban dwellings—a jumble of styles 186 The urban economy—of sheep and ships 194 The estate of the holy church 204 Medieval townsfolk—a skeleton crew 209 Medieval towns—dirty, diseased and dynamic? 212 7 POSTSCRIPT—PRESENTING THE PAST TO THE PUBLIC 215 NOTES 219 BIBLIOGRAPHY 232 Primary sources in translation 232 Secondary sources 232 INDEX 253 From the Emperor Claudius to the Black Death Over the last twenty-five years, archaeology has revolutionised our knowledge of the early history of towns in Britain. Patrick Ottaway examines the crucial work of the urban archaeologist during this period and considers a variety of long-term research programmes which have brought to light new information about towns and the lives of their inhabitants. Beginning with the story of Britain's first town, the Roman colony at Colchester, Ottaway examines the course of urban. Development in the Roman, Anglo-Saxon and medieval periods. He draws on research conducted at great historic centres, such as London and York, and at less prominent places, such as Hull, Perth and Aberdeen. As a background to the discoveries themselves, the book looks at the increasingly sophisticated archaeological techniques involved. Archaeology in British Towns also looks at some of the problems of preserving the urban past, and includes two case studies in which the. Interest of archaeology and property development have clashed. Well illustrated and highly readable, this volume offers a series of engaging and evocative case studies whilst highlighting the work of the urban archaeologist, and the problems inherent in preserving our past