Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T16:18:51.349Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A Geological Link between the Facilis Monument at Colchester and First-century Army Tombstones from the Rhineland Frontier

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2010

K.M.J. Hayward
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Reading, lap01kmh@rdg.ac.uk

Abstract

For the first time petrological and geochemical analysis of the Marcus Favonius Facilis legionary tombstone at Colchester (RIB 200) was undertaken to determine its geological source. The results show the material to be identical with samples obtained from the Middle Jurassic quarries at Norroy-lès-Pont-à-Mousson of Eastern France. Rather than quarrying what became the more accessible native freestone outcrop between Humberside and Dorset, stone-masons based at Claudian Colchester were instead relying upon established continental materials from the Rhineland provinces. In this short article, petrological analysis has also been used to establish a geological link between this tombstone and the material used for funerary monuments at the pre-invasion legionary base of Facilis (and of legio XX) at Neuss.

Type
Notes
Copyright
Copyright © K.M.J. Hayward 2006. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bauchhenß, G. 1979: Zivile Grabdenkmäler. Bonn und Umgebung, CSIR Deutsch Bd III 2, Germania Inferior, BonnGoogle Scholar
Bedon, R. 1984: Les carriéres et les carriers de la Gaule romaine, ParisGoogle Scholar
Blagg, T.F.C. 1990: ‘Building stone in Roman Britain’, in Parsons, D. (ed.), Stone. Quarrying and Building in England AD 43–1525, Chichester, 3350Google Scholar
Carroll, M. 2002: Romans, Celts & Germans. The German Provinces of Rome, StroudGoogle Scholar
Drury, P.J. 1984: ‘The temple of Claudius at Colchester reconsidered’, Britannia 15, 750CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frere, S.S. 1987: Britannia: a History of Roman Britain, LondonGoogle Scholar
Noelke, P. 1977: ‘Grabsteine aus dem römischen Neuss’, Neusser Jb. 5–21Google Scholar
Panhuysen, T.A.S.M. 2002: ‘De Romeinse godenpijler van Nijmegen-Kelfkensbos: de navel van Nijmegen?’, Museumstukken 8, 147Google Scholar
Phillips, E.J. 1975: ‘The gravestone of M.Favonius Facilis at Colchester’, Britannia 6, 102–5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Röder, J. 1960: ‘Sägespuren an römischen Kalksteindenkmälern’, Kõlner Jb. 5, 3850Google Scholar
Selzer, W. 1988: Römische Steindenkmäler. Mainz in Römischer Zeit, MainzGoogle Scholar
Stribrny, C. 1987: Die Herkunft der römischen Werksteine aus Mainz und Umgebung. Vergleichende petrographische und geochemische Untersuchungen an skulptierten Kalksteinen, CSIR Deutschl. Bd.II 8, Germania Superior, MainzGoogle Scholar
Stuart, P., and Bogaers, J.E. 2001: Nehalennia. Römische Steindenkmäler aus der Oosterschelde bei Colijnsplaat 1.Textband, LeidenGoogle Scholar