Oh No!! Not More Romans!!!
Jul. 8th, 2011 06:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
endlessraritiesI just can't get away from them, can?
Today the grand Editing Extravaganza plodded on. We tackled the plethora of specialist reports (environmental data, radiocarbon dates, Roman pottery, Roman glass, medieval pottery, metalwork, metalworking debris) and oh boy, was it tough! Making sure all the context numbers and terminology were consistent, and that everything fitted together.
By 4 o'clock, my brain had gone into a complete tailspin, and I could do no more, even though The Boss was on a roll and was charging on regardless. What made it all the more frustrating was that there was only half a page left before we'd finished.
So here, in honour of our site, is an unappetising view of a similar site (a native British Iron Age souterrain - please note, I did not say Celtic! There ain't no La Tene art here):
Today the grand Editing Extravaganza plodded on. We tackled the plethora of specialist reports (environmental data, radiocarbon dates, Roman pottery, Roman glass, medieval pottery, metalwork, metalworking debris) and oh boy, was it tough! Making sure all the context numbers and terminology were consistent, and that everything fitted together.
By 4 o'clock, my brain had gone into a complete tailspin, and I could do no more, even though The Boss was on a roll and was charging on regardless. What made it all the more frustrating was that there was only half a page left before we'd finished.
So here, in honour of our site, is an unappetising view of a similar site (a native British Iron Age souterrain - please note, I did not say Celtic! There ain't no La Tene art here):
Mmm, lovely. These banana-shaped (aka curvilinear) stone-lined features are thought to be underground storage chambers. They're often found in association with timber roundhouses and are mainly found in and around the areas of Roman occupation in Scotland. Which leads to the suggestion that their occupants were involved in the stockpiling of grain for supply to the Roman army. Where this leaves this particular example, which was on the north coast of Skye, I don't know. Perhaps it was a hare-brained Romano-British investment scheme which went hideously wrong ('They'll be along to buy the grain next week, luv, I promise!!! ' 'Aye, right, Slobidubnus. That's just what you told me at Beltane...').
Or perhaps, just perhaps, the Roman fleet did carry out the odd transaction in this godsforsaken neck of the woods (in Roman terms at least). It's not as if Roman glass and pottery doesn't make an appearance in the brochs of the western seaboard.
Oh dear. Our indigenous architecture may be massive and monumental, but it's hardly elegant. And just to rub it cruelly home, I thought I'd post some more pretty pictures of Things Roman.
To public wells now, a type of monument which will always remind me of Robert Harris's book Pompeii, which follows the adventures of an awfully decent Roman engineer of aqueducts... I could have snapped these things for ever, as they bear an impressive variety of decorative themes. The basic form remains the same, but each individual well is embellished with a different motif. This probably assists Roman citizens who wish to carry out their trysts and assignations in the town. Instead of 'meet me at the fountain near the bordello', they can say, 'meet me at the fountain with the naked chick on it'.
Here's a shot of that very fountain (in Herculaneum) which featured a shapely floozy:-
Or perhaps, just perhaps, the Roman fleet did carry out the odd transaction in this godsforsaken neck of the woods (in Roman terms at least). It's not as if Roman glass and pottery doesn't make an appearance in the brochs of the western seaboard.
Oh dear. Our indigenous architecture may be massive and monumental, but it's hardly elegant. And just to rub it cruelly home, I thought I'd post some more pretty pictures of Things Roman.
To public wells now, a type of monument which will always remind me of Robert Harris's book Pompeii, which follows the adventures of an awfully decent Roman engineer of aqueducts... I could have snapped these things for ever, as they bear an impressive variety of decorative themes. The basic form remains the same, but each individual well is embellished with a different motif. This probably assists Roman citizens who wish to carry out their trysts and assignations in the town. Instead of 'meet me at the fountain near the bordello', they can say, 'meet me at the fountain with the naked chick on it'.
Here's a shot of that very fountain (in Herculaneum) which featured a shapely floozy:-
Here's another, again from Herculaneum, but shown in its wider context:
This one features a bearded gent, which makes me wonder if these particular examples feature gods or mythical beings. Could the floozy be Amphitrite or even Venus?
Some fountains feature animals, or even flowers, like this fountain at Pompeii (my personal favourite) which features a bull:-
Some fountains feature animals, or even flowers, like this fountain at Pompeii (my personal favourite) which features a bull:-
Fun little structures, and ones which are easily overlooked in the wider scheme of things.
And now it's Friday! It's the weekend, and I'm shattered!!
And now it's Friday! It's the weekend, and I'm shattered!!
