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Fords and the frontier: waging counter-mobility on Hadrian's Wall

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2020

Matthew Symonds
Matthew Symonds*
Affiliation:
Current World Archaeology, Thames Works, London, UK (Email: matt@archaeology.co.uk)
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Abstract

Mobility on the Tyne–Solway isthmus constitutes a gap in our understanding of the planning and functioning of the Roman frontier of northern Britain. Although the inflexible design of Hadrian's Wall appears insensitive to variations in local environment, identification of potential Roman-period fords suggests that securing river crossings was an important influence on military plans. The Roman army exploited established routeways to impose increasingly sophisticated systems to structure movement, initially via a system of forts, fortlets and towers—the Stanegate—and subsequently using a continuous barrier: Hadrian's Wall. As these measures evolved, so local communities experienced greater levels of military control and inequality.

Keywords

Roman BritainHadrian's WallStanegatehuman mobilityfordsRoman military
Type
Research Article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 94 , Issue 373 , February 2020 , pp. 92 - 109
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2020

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