Archaeologists Excavate Massive Timber Structure at Site of Ancient Roman Fort

Excavation near Britain's ancient Maryport Roman fortress has revealed a large timber structure. Archaeologists return to seek answers. 

A team of archaeologists, students and volunteers led by Newcastle University's Professor Ian Haynes and Tony Wilmott has returned to continue excavations at the site of a massive ancient timber complex associated with the 2nd century Roman military fort complex in Maryport near the coast of northwestern Britain.
Part of the groundplan of the timber structure (or structures) was unearthed in 2011, raising questions and providing new clues related to the discovery of Roman altar stones uncovered there over 140 years ago.
Said Haynes: "Until last year's excavation it was accepted by Roman scholars worldwide that the 17 Maryport altar stones excavated in 1870 at the site - Britain's largest cache of Roman altars - had been buried as part of a religious ceremony. It turns out they were re-used in the foundations of a large Roman timber building or buildings."
The altar stones represent Britain's largest cache of Roman altars. As a popular tourist attraction, they have been exhibited in the Senhouse Roman Museum at Maryport since 1990. The town of Maryport was first established as the Roman fort Alauna in about 122 AD. It was a command and supply base for the Roman coastal defencework of Hadrian's Wall at its western end. Last in a series of forts that stretched south from Hadrian's Wall on the coast, its remains are substantial. Recent surveys have shown a large Roman settlement likely associated with the fort, and excavations have revealed evidence of a second, earlier and larger fort next to and partially under the current remains.
"This year we're excavating over a larger area than last year - about 400 square metres - and for twice as long, which means we can involve more local volunteers, and learn more about the number of timber structures, their size and date", added Haynes. "We need to find out what the buildings were used for and whether they and the curved ditch we discovered in 2011 have any relation to each other."
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Excavations at the site. Photo courtesy Hadrian's Wall Trust.

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The objective of the 2012 excavation will be to shed more light on the circumstances of the burial of the group of altars, answer questions about the re-use of the altars as part of the timber foundations, and learn more about the timber structure or structures which the altar stones apparently supported.
The excavation is expected to run 10 weeks, closing on August 14. But the excavation is only part of a larger research effort related to developing greater understanding of ancient Roman/British settlements in the region.
Said Nigel Mills, director of world heritage and access for the Hadrian's Wall Trust (the funding organization): "More research is needed on Romano-British civilian settlements, and the geophysical surveys for Maryport commissioned by the Senhouse Museum Trust show that the settlement outside the Maryport fort was extremely complex, of considerable size and is well preserved."
Research at multiple sites thus far suggests that there were multicultural settlements consisting of people from across the Roman Empire who made their living by managing supplies and services for the Roman army and acting as "middlemen" in trading activities throughout the Roman Empire.
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The project leaders: L-R Nigel Mills of the Hadrian's Wall Trust, Jane Laskey of the Senhouse Roman Museum, Tony Wilmott and Professor Ian Haynes

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The Hadrian's Wall Trust is responsible for the care, protection, communications and management of the 150 mile Hadrian's Wall World Heritage Site from the western Roman coastal defences at Ravenglass, Whitehaven, Workington and Maryport to Bowness-on-Solway, along Hadrian's Wall through Carlisle and Hexham to Newcastle, Wallsend and South Shields.

There were over 30 forts on the Roman frontier across the north of England, including 16 along the line of the 73 mile Wall itself plus coastal, outpost and supply forts. Along the Wall there were around 80 milecastles and 160 turrets, a ditch to the north and the great defensive vallum earthwork to the south.

Hadrian's Wall is also part of the first transnational World Heritage Site – Frontiers of the Roman Empire - which includes the Antonine Wall in Scotland and the German Limes. This represents the border line of the Roman Empire at its furthest extent in the 2nd century AD. It stretched from the west coast of northern Britain, through Europe to the Black Sea, and from there to the Red Sea and across North Africa to the Atlantic coast.
More information can be obtained at www.hadrians-wall.org. Information about the Senhouse Museum can be obtained at
www.senhousemuseum.co.uk


 http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/june-2012/article/archaeologists-excavate-massive-timber-structure-at-site-of-ancient-roman-fort