At the frontiers of the Roman Empire, military settlements had a profound influence on local crafting traditions. Legions were not just fighting units - they contained a large number of craftsmen, and the fortress would have been a centre of manufacturing activity. A timber legionary fortress, for example, required vast numbers of nails, many of which would have been made by legionary smiths on site, and an army of thousands would require many more pots, shoes and tents than could be produced by local domestic potters and leather workers. But can all developments in local craft and industry be seen as a result of the appearance of the Roman army? The ten papers in this volume focus on craft production in Roman Yorkshire, and the evidence for the role of the army in local manufacturing activities. Several papers examine broad questions surrounding the organisation and scale of production in urban and rural areas. Others consider the local evidence for individual materials and production processes, including those associated with pottery, glass, copper alloys, non-ferrous metals, leather, jet, and building stone.
About the AuthorJennifer Price is Emeritus Professor of Roman Provincial Archaeology at Durham University, UK. Her PhD in Archaeology from Cardiff University, UK was on Roman glass in Spain and she has longstanding research interests in Roman and early Medieval glass from archaeological sites in western Europe and the Mediterranean region.
Reviews...a valuable contribution to the history of Roman Britain and to technological history in general. * Northern History *
Overall, this is a very valuable regional study which on some instances provides important information for Roman Britain as a whole. * Lucerna, 26 *
For everybody interested in the archaeology of the north of Roman Britain this is an invaluable source of information. * Yorkshire Archaeological Journal *
Book InformationISBN 9781842170786
Author Pete WilsonFormat Paperback
Page Count 160
Imprint Oxbow BooksPublisher Oxbow Books