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| Fresh insights from the UK's oldest museum of Roman remains | Fresh insights from the UK's oldest museum of Roman remains |
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| The remarkable collection of Roman remains in Maryport, started 442 years ago by the local lord of the manor, John Senhouse, has yet again played a revealing part in unravelling the UK's history. | The remarkable collection of Roman remains in Maryport, started 442 years ago by the local lord of the manor, John Senhouse, has yet again played a revealing part in unravelling the UK's history. |
| An eight-week season of excavations has closed with the announcement of further substantial finds which are helping to alter the long-held image of the Romans marching home in the early 5th century AD, leaving chaos not far behind. | An eight-week season of excavations has closed with the announcement of further substantial finds which are helping to alter the long-held image of the Romans marching home in the early 5th century AD, leaving chaos not far behind. |
| Chief among them is a large and beautifully engraved alter stone inscribed with the name of T.Attius Tutor, commander of the Maryport garrison in the 2nd century AD and a military man of some consequence; other relics with his name on have been discovered previously in Austria, Hungary and Romania. It joins a cache of 17 altar stones found in the 1870s by Captain Humphrey Senhouse, whose family had maintained (and still maintains today) its enthusiasm for discovering and preserving the Cumbrian town's past. | Chief among them is a large and beautifully engraved alter stone inscribed with the name of T.Attius Tutor, commander of the Maryport garrison in the 2nd century AD and a military man of some consequence; other relics with his name on have been discovered previously in Austria, Hungary and Romania. It joins a cache of 17 altar stones found in the 1870s by Captain Humphrey Senhouse, whose family had maintained (and still maintains today) its enthusiasm for discovering and preserving the Cumbrian town's past. |
| Thanks to them, today's flourishing Senhouse Museum in Maryport's old naval gun battery is easily the oldest-established collection of Roman artefacts in the country. | Thanks to them, today's flourishing Senhouse Museum in Maryport's old naval gun battery is easily the oldest-established collection of Roman artefacts in the country. |
| For many years, these were thought to have been buried together in some sort of ritual, but this year's discovery supports excavation findings in 2011 which established that the huge stones were used by post-Roman occupation locals as the foundations of new developments in Maryport. Other finds this year, including caps of tooth enamel, a glass bead necklace, a scrap of ancient textile and bone chips, also fit into the growing jigsaw of life in the 'new Britain'. | For many years, these were thought to have been buried together in some sort of ritual, but this year's discovery supports excavation findings in 2011 which established that the huge stones were used by post-Roman occupation locals as the foundations of new developments in Maryport. Other finds this year, including caps of tooth enamel, a glass bead necklace, a scrap of ancient textile and bone chips, also fit into the growing jigsaw of life in the 'new Britain'. |
| Prof Ian Haynes, who led a team of Newcastle University archaeologists and 42 volunteers with site director Tony Wilmott, says: | Prof Ian Haynes, who led a team of Newcastle University archaeologists and 42 volunteers with site director Tony Wilmott, says: |
| This has been a tremendously fruitful season the highlights of which will keep archaeologists talking for many a year. The altar found this year had also been used as ballast to support the walls of a huge timber building in use in the decades following Roman rule in Britain. | This has been a tremendously fruitful season the highlights of which will keep archaeologists talking for many a year. The altar found this year had also been used as ballast to support the walls of a huge timber building in use in the decades following Roman rule in Britain. |
| We have recovered the plans of the buildings on the site and they show at least two phases of construction. The local cemetery appears to have been in use at the same time as other famous early Christian sites at Whithorn and at Hoddom in nearby Dumfriesshire, and would probably have been used between the fifth and seventh centuries AD. We await the results of radiocarbon dating – expected early next year - eagerly in the hope of getting a more precise fix on the period of use. | We have recovered the plans of the buildings on the site and they show at least two phases of construction. The local cemetery appears to have been in use at the same time as other famous early Christian sites at Whithorn and at Hoddom in nearby Dumfriesshire, and would probably have been used between the fifth and seventh centuries AD. We await the results of radiocarbon dating – expected early next year - eagerly in the hope of getting a more precise fix on the period of use. |
Three more summer seasons of excavation are planned in the current programme, helped by a range of supporters including the Hadrian's Wall Trust whose director of world heritage and access, Nigel Mills, says: | Three more summer seasons of excavation are planned in the current programme, helped by a range of supporters including the Hadrian's Wall Trust whose director of world heritage and access, Nigel Mills, says: |
| This year's finds at Maryport contribute to the growing body of evidence from across Hadrian's Wall, including sites such as Birdoswald and Vindolanda, that occupation continued through the fifth and sixth centuries. | This year's finds at Maryport contribute to the growing body of evidence from across Hadrian's Wall, including sites such as Birdoswald and Vindolanda, that occupation continued through the fifth and sixth centuries. |
| The end of Roman imperial administration did not mean that everything came to a stop and the country descended into chaos. Administration became more localised and people had to fend for themselves but the natural tendency would have been to keep things going as best they could. | The end of Roman imperial administration did not mean that everything came to a stop and the country descended into chaos. Administration became more localised and people had to fend for themselves but the natural tendency would have been to keep things going as best they could. |
| Christian religion may have been an important element helping to bind society together in troubled times. The garrisons of the former Roman forts are also likely to have stayed put for several generations. Tthey had been locally recruited and would have been firmly rooted to their local areas. They probably provided the nucleus of the warrior bands that supported local leaders who filled the power vacuum following the end of Roman rule. | Christian religion may have been an important element helping to bind society together in troubled times. The garrisons of the former Roman forts are also likely to have stayed put for several generations. Tthey had been locally recruited and would have been firmly rooted to their local areas. They probably provided the nucleus of the warrior bands that supported local leaders who filled the power vacuum following the end of Roman rule. |
| The finds give new insights into our understanding of the period following the end of Roman rule that laid the foundations for the eventual emergence of the Britain we know today. | The finds give new insights into our understanding of the period following the end of Roman rule that laid the foundations for the eventual emergence of the Britain we know today. |
| Other work in nort Cumbria has shown DNA links between today's population and Roman soldiers from north Africa who formed the garrison along the Solway end of the Wall. If you are there and reading this, think on. T.Attius Tutor may have been your great,great,great...etc. | Other work in nort Cumbria has shown DNA links between today's population and Roman soldiers from north Africa who formed the garrison along the Solway end of the Wall. If you are there and reading this, think on. T.Attius Tutor may have been your great,great,great...etc. |
| The Senhouse Roman Museum has arranged two excavation round-up lectures at the Museum - tomorrow, Thursday 16 August, by Tony Wilmott, and on Friday 17 August by Prof Haynes. Both start at 7.30pm. Tickets are available from the museum - adults £3, children £1 - and are selling fast. | The Senhouse Roman Museum has arranged two excavation round-up lectures at the Museum - tomorrow, Thursday 16 August, by Tony Wilmott, and on Friday 17 August by Prof Haynes. Both start at 7.30pm. Tickets are available from the museum - adults £3, children £1 - and are selling fast. |
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