Overview

In the later Roman period the North Sea and Channel region was the scene of seaborne attacks, political crises, army reforms, Germanic invasions and changing imperial defence strategies. Literary evidence for this era is poor. On the other hand the Shore forts can yield highly significant information, but have been subject to little study in recent decades. At the Belgian coastal fort at Oudenburg large-scale excavations in the first decade of the 21st century revealed a strikingly well-preserved chronological, spatial and functional evolution of this military base, with five main fort periods running from the late 2nd until the early 5th century AD. For the first time within the context of the Shore forts securely datable structural evidence demonstrates the stages in progression of a mid- to late Roman fort where the horizons can be related to historically recorded processes and events in the region. Political, economic and social developments can be seen within this evidence, as a result of the assessment of the huge quantity of well-stratified finds types. Reports on the finds assemblage by specialist experts, using various analytical methods, represent ‘touchstones’ for regional military and later Roman studies in the North-West provinces.The study of Oudenburg, and in relationship to other Shore forts, enables exploration of ‘change and continuity’ and ‘identity’, in respect of the everyday lives of soldiers, and in their interaction with other forts and wider regional spheres. This is achieved by examining find contexts as reflections of the socio-cultural world. The study of ‘military identities’ is further emphasized through looking at the associated graveyards wherein the direct relationship with the successive fort periods is established. It is clear this fort was closely connected with the British forts and that there occurred an increasing Germanic influence as the fort transformed into a community of military families.This is volume one of three. This volume provides a detailed analysis of the Oudenburg site and the report of the research of its significance within the wider context of the Roman North Sea and Channel frontier zone, on a historic-military, a socio-cultural and a socio-economic level.

Full Product Details

Author:   Sofie Vanhoutte
Publisher:   Sidestone Press
Imprint:   Sidestone Press
ISBN:  

9789464260830

ISBN 10:   9464260831
Pages:   320
Publication Date:   31 January 2023
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

I. Introduction_x000D_ _x000D_ I.1. The Roman military along the Channel: research questions and how the Oudenburg research can contribute to our understanding_x000D_ _x000D_ I.2. Research methodology and selection of data_x000D_ _x000D_ I.3. State of the art of the Roman military in the Channel region: an overview of the wider military context of the Oudenburg fort_x000D_ _x000D_ I.4. Historiography of the fort site of Oudenburg_x000D_ _x000D_ I.5. The general chronological framework of the fort site as outlined by the former research_x000D_ _x000D_ ┬á_x000D_ _x000D_ II. New insights into the stratigraphy, morphology and site formation processes at the Oudenburg fort_x000D_ _x000D_ II.1. Introduction to the stratigraphy and morphology research of the site_x000D_ _x000D_ II.2. The stratigraphy of the site: the study of the trench profiles_x000D_ _x000D_ II.3. The evolution of the defence system_x000D_ _x000D_ II.4. The inner building: occupation levels and their relation to the defence system_x000D_ _x000D_ II.5. Site formation processes: the evidence from the spatial distribution of material, residuality and rubbish disposal, and the value of the find assemblages_x000D_ _x000D_ ┬á_x000D_ _x000D_ III. The successive forts at Oudenburg in a changing landscape_x000D_ _x000D_ III.1. Decisive factors for the fortÔÇÖs history: the marine influence and the pauvrity in hard natural rock_x000D_ _x000D_ III.2. The landscape at the time of the installation of the first fort_x000D_ _x000D_ III.3. The landscape in the 3rd century AD_x000D_ _x000D_ III.4. The landscape in the late Roman period i.e. the 4th century and later_x000D_ _x000D_ III.5. Conclusion: a changing landscape around the Oudenburg fort_x000D_ _x000D_ ┬á_x000D_ _x000D_ IV. The successive forts at Oudenburg and their related graveyards_x000D_ _x000D_ IV.1. Introduction_x000D_ _x000D_ IV.2. The mid-Roman graveyards_x000D_ _x000D_ IV.3. The late Roman graveyards_x000D_ _x000D_ IV.4. Conclusion: relationship between the successive forts and their graveyards_x000D_ _x000D_ ┬á_x000D_ _x000D_ V. Confronting stratigraphy and material culture to come to new insights into the fortÔÇÖs occupation and the wider context_x000D_ _x000D_ V.1. A refined fort chronology for the Oudenburg castellum, its significance for the historic setting of the fort and within the wider historic context of the Channel region_x000D_ _x000D_ V.2. Continuity and change in supply, trade and exchange networks towards the Oudenburg fort and in the Channel region_x000D_ _x000D_ V.3. Material culture and ÔÇÿmilitaryÔÇÖ identities_x000D_ _x000D_ ┬á_x000D_ _x000D_ VI. Conclusions. Change and continuity: the Oudenburg fort reflecting later Roman military development along the North Sea and Channel frontier zone_x000D_ _x000D_ VI.1. The Roman fort at Oudenburg as a key site for the Roman North Sea and Channel frontier zone_x000D_ _x000D_ VI.2. A contribution on a historic-military level_x000D_ _x000D_ VI.3. A contribution to the reconstruction of socio-cultural identities_x000D_ _x000D_ VI.4. A contribution on a socio-economic level_x000D_ _x000D_ VI.5. A contribution on a methodological level_x000D_ _x000D_ ┬á_x000D_ _x000D_ APPENDIX 1. Overview of the archaeological observations at Oudenburg yielding information on the Roman character of the sand ridge_x000D_ _x000D_ APPENDIX 2. Trenches of J. Mertens in the 1950s, 1960 and 1970s on the defence area of the Oudenburg fort. Summaries_x000D_ _x000D_ APPENDIX 3. Features identified in the 1957 trenches VIÔÇôVIaÔÇôVIb. Interpretation of the descriptions by J. Mertens_x000D_ _x000D_ APPENDIX 4. Analysis of trench profiles at the south-west corner site of the Oudenburg fort_x000D_ _x000D_ APPENDIX 5. The hearths of fort level 4 at the south-west corner site of the Oudenburg fort_x000D_ _x000D_ APPENDIX 6. Absolute chronological data available for the south-west corner site of the Oudenburg fort_x000D_ _x000D_ APPENDIX 7. Oudenburg Graveyard A. Overview of the burials, their characteristics and content_x000D_ _x000D_ APPENDIX 8. Oudenburg Graveyard C. Overview of the burials, their characteristics and content_x000D_ _x000D_ ┬á_x000D_ _x000D_ BIBLIOGRAPHY

Reviews

Author Information

Sofie Vanhoutte is Heritage Researcher Archaeology at the Flanders Heritage Agency (Belgium). Since 2019 she is also teaching assistant at Ghent University. This publication is a further enlargement of her doctoral research ‘Change and Continuity at the Roman Fort at Oudenburg from the late 2nd until the early 5th century AD, with a particular focus on the evidence of the material culture and its significance within the wider context of the Roman North Sea and Channel frontier zone’, a joint PhD at the Free University of Brussels (VUB) and the University of Kent (Canterbury, UK). She defended her PhD successfully in September 2018.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions