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The Impact of Roman Rule on Native Society in the Territory of the Parisi

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2011

John S. Dent
John S. Dent
Affiliation:
Humberside Archaeological Unit, Hull
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Abstract

The extent to which the conquest of British tribes by Roman forces affected the native population may be properly assessed only when an accurate picture has been obtained of both the pre- and post-conquest periods. Too often this is not the case because the evidence for the earlier period tends to be scanty in comparison with the later, much of which is the result of a gradual increase in the output of durable artifacts which have stood the test of time: coins, pottery, metalwork, buildings. In recent years the evidence for rapid population growth and accompanying social changes has drawn greater attention to the existence of protourban societies in southern and eastern England. The present paper is a brief attempt to restate the case for Eastern Yorkshire, generally accepted as the home of the Parisi, and to examine the extent to which Iron Age society there was affected by incorporation into the Roman province.

Type
Articles
Information
Britannia , Volume 14 , November 1983 , pp. 35 - 44
Copyright
Copyright © John S. Dent 1983. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

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References

1 For the most recent discussion of the tribe and its territory see: Ramm, H. G., The Parisi (1978).Google Scholar

2 Manby, T. G., in Barrett, J. and Bradley, R. (eds.), The British Later Bronze Age, BAR British Ser. 83 (1980), 327–8.Google Scholar

3 This is the mean of a series of radiocarbon dates; see, P.P.S. xxxi (1965), 15.Google Scholar

4 Yorks. Arch. Journ. liii (1981), 138Google Scholar; ibid., liv (1982), 170–1.

5 For example those plotted in Dent, J. S., P.P.S. xlviii (1982), figs. 12 and 13; also inGoogle ScholarSpratt, D. A., Yorks Arch. Journ. liv (1982), fig. 1.Google Scholar

6 I. M. Stead, The Arras Culture (1979).

7 Extensive excavations by the writer have been continuing at the important site of Wetwang Slack since 1975. Immediately to the east of them lies the area of valley known as Garton Slack (see T. C. M. Brewster, The excavation of Garton and Wetwang Slacks, N.M.R. microfiche (1981)). At the time of writing a fuller account of Early Iron Age settlement is in press (see note 5) and a synthesis of work done at Wetwang and Garton, ‘A summary of the excavations carried out in Garton Slack and Wetwang Slack 1964–1980’ will form part of the text of East Riding Archaeologist vii.

8 I. M. Stead, op. cit. (note 6), 78–81, 86–8; Dent, op. cit. (note 5), 446.

9 I. M. Stead, The La Téne cultures of Eastern Yorkshire, (1965), 82.

10 J. S. Dent, op. cit. (note 5), fig. 7.

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12 J. S. Dent, op. cit. (note 5), fig. 4.

13 The burials which Mortimer encountered at Blealands Nook were accepted by Stead as pre-Roman (Stead, op. cit. (note 6), 98) and the original account suggests that there had been ditches around them (J. R. Mortimer, Forty Years' researches in British and Saxon burial mounds of East Yorkshire (1905), 197). The graves were deep and lay close together which is a characteristic of later Arras Culture burials; see J. S. Dent, op. cit. (note 5), 446–7.

14 J. S. Dent, op. cit. (note 5), fig. 4; 452. A burial examined by the writer at Acklam in 1980 had contained a bent iron sword and a male skeleton with multiple injuries to the skull.

15 Stead, op. cit. (note 6), 14.

16 For example in the Driffield area: Dent, op. cit. (note 7), fig. 5.

17 Mortimer, op. cit. (note 13), 197–8, figs. 489, 492.

18 Trial excavations were carried out by Humberside Archaeological Unit in 1981–1982; Colchester, Hod Hill and Nauheim-derived brooches were found in this field by J. Chapman and H. Emms.

19 Dent, op. cit. (note 7), fig. 6; I. M. Stead, Rudston Roman Villa (1980), fig. 59; T. G. M. Brewster, Yorks. Arch. Journ. xxxix (1957), fig. 13, no. 6;Google ScholarAntiq. Journ. lxi (1981), 346–9.Google Scholar

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21 Mortimer, op. cit. (note 13), fig. 492; Dent, op. cit. (note 7), fig. 6; P. Corder, 1940. ‘Excavations at Elms-well, East Yorkshire, 1938’, Hull Museums Publications 207, fig. 12, no. 2; Stead, op. cit. (note 19), fig. 77; Ramm, op. cit. (note 1), 99.

22 Whitwell, J. B., The Coritani: some aspects of the Iron Age tribe and the Roman Civitas, BAR British series 99 (1982).Google Scholar

23 The evidence for a pre-Roman urban settlement at Stanwick is impressive; see Spratling, M. G., Yorks. Arch. Journ. liii (1981), 13–16; for a note on the most recent excavations:Google ScholarYorks. Arch. Journ. liv (1982), 174.Google Scholar

24 Corder, P. and Pryce, T. D., Antiq. Journ. xviii (1938), 262–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

25 Information about recent finds is sketchy and often of dubious value, but it is clear that Late Iron Age material has been found there in recent years.

26 J. S. Wacher, Excavations at Brough on Humber 1958–1961, (1969), 5; Johnson, op. cit. (note 20), 70–2; L. P. Wenham, Derventio (Malton): Roman fort and civilian settlement (1974), 6–7.

27 At Slingsby, and Rillington, : Yorks. Arch. Journ. xlvi (1974), 156, fig. 2; Dent, op. cit. (note 5), pl. 33.Google Scholar

28 Ramm, op. cit. (note 1), 68.

29 Ibid.

30 J. R. Earnshaw and J. G. Watkins, report forthcoming.

31 Yorks. Arch. Journ. liii (1981), 137;Google ScholarPhillips, J. T.. Yorks. Arch. Journ. xl (1960), 183–91;Google ScholarCurrent Archaeology li (1975), 114.Google Scholar

32 Ramm, op. cit. (note 1), 69–78.

33 J. G. Rutter and G. Duke. Excavations at Crossgates near Scarborough. 1947–56 (1958), 10, pl. ii, c; Stead, op. cit. (note 19), fig. 66, nos. 48 and 49.

34 Ramm, op. cit. (note 1), 100.

35 Ibid., chapter 4.

36 Ibid., fig. 29; Stead, op. cit. (note 19), fig. 17.

37 Corder, op. cit. (note 21); Rutter and Duke, op. cit. (note 33); Corder and Kirk, op. cit. (note 20); Stead, op. cit. (note 19); T. Sheppard, ‘Roman villa at Harpham’, H.M.P. xxiii (1905).Google Scholar

38 Current Arch, lxxx (1981), 281.Google Scholar

39 For a synthesis of socio-economic developments during this period see: Collis, J. R., Current Arch, lxi (1978), 51–4.Google Scholar

40 I am indebted to my colleagues in Humberside Archaeological Unit for their continued help and encouragement, and to Dr J. R. Collis for his comments on the manuscript. I value greatly also the advice of Mr H. G. Ramm and Dr I. M. Stead who will find little similarity between this and drafts which they have patiently received and read through in the past few years. The excavations at Wetwang Slack between April 1975 and March 1980 were carried out on behalf of Humberside Joint Archaeological Committee. From April 1980 the work has been the responsibility of Humberside Archaeological Unit, Department of Leisure Services, Humberside County Council.