Silchester Insula IX: The Claudio-Neronian Occupation of the Iron Age Oppidum

How did a major nucleated settlement respond to the Roman conquest? Occupation of Silchester (Calleva) after the Roman invasion of south-east Britain in A.D. 43 shows remarkable continuity from the pre-Roman Iron Age oppidum. Although the settlement was crossed by strategic Roman roads, the network of lanes and compounds, crowded with round and rectangular buildings, otherwise remained little changed until c. A.D. 85. The contents of rubbish pits and wells give remarkable insights into the diet, occupations, identity and ritualistic behavior of the inhabitants, while the richly varied provenances of the pottery and other finds reveal the local, regional and long-distance connections of the community. Although there is clear evidence of investment in the town in the reign of Nero, the pre-existing settlement was not swept away until the Roman street grid was established c. A.D. 85.

This volume follows on from the publication of Late Iron Age Calleva, Britannia Monograph 32 (2018).