Roman Guernsey: Excavations, Fieldwork and Maritime Archaeology 1980–2015 (Guernsey Museum Monographs)

Before the 1970s, discoveries of Roman material in Guernsey consisted of a few chance finds of coins, plus a handful of sherds of samian pottery from the harbor and from prehistoric megaliths. Since the 1980s, however, two large-scale excavations in the town of St Peter Port, plus accumulated evidence from rescue excavations elsewhere in the island and from underwater discoveries, has demonstrated that there was significant Roman occupation which lasted for several centuries. This volume presents reports of the excavations carried out at La Plaiderie (1983–85) and the Bonded Store (1996–2005) in St Peter Port, together with a gazetteer of all Roman finds recorded from almost one hundred other sites in Guernsey and Herm. It includes a detailed study of the pottery recovered from the two town sites, which demonstrates that Guernsey was a significant port-of-call on the Atlantic trade route and along the length of the Channel. Finds included pottery, including samian, glass, intaglios, metalworking debris, a range of small finds, and environmental data. The volume concludes with a gazetteer of Roman sites and finds on Guernsey and Herm. Before the 1970s, discoveries of Roman material in Guernsey consisted of a few chance finds of coins, plus a handful of sherds of samian pottery from the harbor and from prehistoric megaliths. Since the 1980s, however, two large-scale excavations in the town of St Peter Port, plus accumulated evidence from rescue excavations elsewhere in the island and from underwater discoveries, has demonstrated that there was significant Roman occupation which lasted for several centuries. This volume presents reports of the excavations carried out at La Plaiderie (1983–85) and the Bonded Store (1996–2005) in St Peter Port, together with a gazetteer of all Roman finds recorded from almost one hundred other sites in Guernsey and Herm. It includes a detailed study of the pottery recovered from the two town sites, which demonstrates that Guernsey was a significant port-of-call on the Atlantic trade route and along the length of the Channel. Finds included pottery, including samian, glass, intaglios, metalworking debris, a range of small finds, and environmental data. The volume concludes with a gazetteer of Roman sites and finds on Guernsey and Herm. Title 3 Copyright 4 Contents 5 List of figures 7 List of tables 10 Acknowledgements 11 I. The excavations 12 1. Introduction: the archaeological evidence for the Romans in Guernsey and the other Channel Islands 13 New evidence from excavations since 1980 15 2. Excavations at La Plaiderie, 1983–1985: by Philip de Jersey 18 Introduction 18 Background to the excavation 18 The excavated area 19 Phasing and key features 21 Summary 45 3. Excavations at the Bonded Store, 1996–2005: by Heather Sebire 51 Background to the excavation 51 The excavations 55 Summary of Bonded Store phasing and discussion 107 Conclusions: the nature of the Roman settlement 114 II. The finds 116 4. The Roman pottery: by Mark Wood and Jason Monaghan 117 Introduction 117 Previous work 118 The Bonded Store and La Plaiderie assemblages 118 The late Iron Age and late Iron Age/Roman transition 119 The early Roman period 122 High Empire 124 Late Roman (after AD 270) 126 Late/post-Roman period 129 La Plaiderie and the Bonded Store: comparisons 130 Conclusions 137 Catalogue of illustrated coarse pottery by Mark Wood and Jason Monaghan 138 The samian ware by B. R. Hartley and Brenda Dickinson 149 Samian from other sites in Guernsey and Herm by Brenda Dickinson 169 Roman pottery from other sites in Guernsey and Herm by Jason Monaghan 173 Graffiti by R. S. O. Tomlin 174 5. Other finds: Roman brick and tile by Jason Monaghan 178 Briquetage by Jason Monaghan 186 Roman coins and coin moulds from La Plaiderie by Cathy King and George Boon 189 Metal small-finds from La Plaiderie and the Bonded Store by Heather Sebire and Philip de Jersey 190 Miscellaneous small-finds from the Bonded Store and La Plaiderie by Heather Sebire 193 The Bonded Store glass by Vivien Ferneyhough 198 La Plaiderie glass by Vivien Ferneyhough 202 Intaglios by Tristan Arnison 204 Metal-working debris from the Bonded Store by Chris Salter 205 Animal bone from the Bonded Store by Jonathan D. Le Huray 207 Environmental finds from the Bonded Store by James Rackham 212 6. Gazetteer of Roman sites and finds on Guernsey and Herm: by Tanya Walls, Philip de Jersey and Jason Monaghan 218 A. Roman finds from excavated sites on Guernsey and Herm 218 B. Roman finds from non-excavated sites (land and inter-tidal) 225 C. Roman finds from non-excavated sites (underwater) 229 Bibliography 233 Appendix: pottery codes 237 HISTORY,/,Europe,/,Great,Britain,/,General HISTORY / Europe / Great Britain / General Presents reports of major excavations in St Peter Port, with a gazetteer of Roman finds from almost 100 sites in Guernsey and Herm.