Life and Death in Roman Carlisle

Finds from a Roman cremation cemetery in Carlisle offer an important study of burials and identity in the region. Excavated graves, including rare richly furnished burials, reveal cultural ties to the Nervii of Gallia Belgica and suggest a Nervian presence in early Roman Carlisle linked to military recruitment and local pottery production.

Life and Death in Roman Carlisle makes an important contribution to the study of burials and identity in the region of Hadrian’s Wall. The book presents the results of excavations beneath Cumbria House, a new municipal building on Botchergate in the city centre. In Roman times this was the location of part of a roadside cremation cemetery associated with a fort established by the Roman army in AD 73. Those buried in this part of the cemetery died in the years just prior to and during the building of Hadrian’s Wall, when Luguvalium was emerging as the most important Roman military base and largest urban centre in northwest Britain. As a result of this swift rise in profile, the early settlement-edge funerary enclosures quickly went out of use, being swallowed up and overbuilt by the expanding extramural settlement. Early Roman Carlisle would have boasted a vibrant multicultural population, and this is reflected in its burial evidence. Among the remains of some twenty cremation burials excavated at Cumbria House are the two most richly furnished examples from northern Britain. While the large assemblages of ceramic grave goods are unlike those of any other burials in the military north, close parallels are known from the France/Belgium border, in the former territory of the Nervii. The Nervians were described by Julius Caesar as having the fiercest fighters of all the Gallic tribes and this area was a major source of recruitment for the Roman army. Most of the pottery vessels placed in the graves were produced locally, probably at kilns within Roman Carlisle, and thus must have been made to order by those familiar with both the burial rites and the ceramic repertoire of the Nervian region. The presence of a community of Nervians living in Luguvalium in the early second century is a new discovery but fits well with previous arguments made about the possible replacement of the Ala Gallorum Sebosiana with another unit from Gallia Belgica when the fort at Luguvalium was completely rebuilt around AD 105. Meticulously referencing the relevant literature from Roman Britain and the Continent, the authors explore the significance of the new data for our understanding of the make-up of Roman Carlisle’s population and the identity of its various garrisons.

List of Figures List of Tables Acknowledgements Chapter 1: Roman Carlisle and the Cumbria House Excavations Introduction The Roman conquest up to the building of Hadrian's Wall Carlisle's Roman forts Luguvalium in the Flavian period The extramural settlement in the 2nd century AD and beyond Funerary and settlement evidence previously excavated in the area of Botchergate Chapter 2: The Stratigraphic Sequence Introduction Phase 1 - Initial roadside plot division (late 1st - early 2nd century AD) Phase 2 - The creation of funerary enclosures and burial plots (early 2nd century AD) Phase 3 - The expansion of Luguvalium (early-mid 2nd century AD) Phase 4 - Continued occupation (mid-2nd century AD) Phase 5 - Reorganisation of space (second half of 2nd century AD) Phase 6 - Abandonment (late 2nd century AD) Phase 7 - Medieval Phases 8 & 9 - Post-medieval and Modern Discussion of Roman cemetery and settlement stratigraphy Chapter 3: The Burials Introduction Catalogue Inscribed Tombstone Fragment Gaming Board fragment Chapter 4: The Human Remains Introduction Types of deposits Bone fragmentation, preservation and identification Demography Pathology Aspects of Cremation and Funerary Practice Summary Chapter 5: The Roman Pottery Introduction Methodology The pattern of supply The Roman fabric groups Discussion of fabric groups Fine wares Coarse wares Comparison with other sites in Carlisle The composition of the cremation burial groups Chapter 6: Interpreting the Roman Cremation Cemetery Introduction The Cumbria House site in the context of Roman Carlisle Comparison with cemeteries in northern Britain Comparison with cemeteries in southeast Britain Comparison with cemeteries in Gallia Belgica Conclusions: a community of Nervians at Luguvalium? Appendix 1: Osteological Methods Appendix 2: Osteological Results Tables Appendix 3: The Animal Bone References,

List of Figures

List of Tables

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1: Roman Carlisle and the Cumbria House Excavations

Introduction

The Roman conquest up to the building of Hadrian’s Wall

Carlisle’s Roman forts

Luguvalium in the Flavian period

The extramural settlement in the 2nd century AD and beyond

Funerary and settlement evidence previously excavated in the area of Botchergate

Chapter 2: The Stratigraphic Sequence

Introduction

Phase 1 - Initial roadside plot division (late 1st – early 2nd century AD)

Phase 2 – The creation of funerary enclosures and burial plots (early 2nd century AD)

Phase 3 – The expansion of Luguvalium (early-mid 2nd century AD)

Phase 4 – Continued occupation (mid-2nd century AD)

Phase 5 – Reorganisation of space (second half of 2nd century AD)

Phase 6 - Abandonment (late 2nd century AD)

Phase 7 - Medieval

Phases 8 & 9 - Post-medieval and Modern

Discussion of Roman cemetery and settlement stratigraphy

Chapter 3: The Burials

Introduction

Catalogue

Inscribed Tombstone Fragment

Gaming Board fragment

Chapter 4: The Human Remains

Introduction

Types of deposits

Bone fragmentation, preservation and identification

Demography

Pathology

Aspects of Cremation and Funerary Practice

Summary

Chapter 5: The Roman Pottery

Introduction

Methodology

The pattern of supply

The Roman fabric groups

Discussion of fabric groups

Fine wares

Coarse wares

Comparison with other sites in Carlisle

The composition of the cremation burial groups

Chapter 6: Interpreting the Roman Cremation Cemetery

Introduction

The Cumbria House site in the context of Roman Carlisle

Comparison with cemeteries in northern Britain

Comparison with cemeteries in southeast Britain

Comparison with cemeteries in Gallia Belgica

Conclusions: a community of Nervians at Luguvalium?

Appendix 1: Osteological Methods

Appendix 2: Osteological Results Tables

Appendix 3: The Animal Bone

References

• By (author) Matthew S. Hobson