Council for British Archaeology/Oxbow (2016) h/b 530pp £40 (ISBN 9781902771984)
The modern visitor to Stanwick will find an earth rampart enclosing a vast area of farmland. In one or two areas the rampart has been built (or to be more precise, recently rebuilt) in stone, so that the visitor can stand by it and pose for photographs. This is all that remains of one of the largest prehistoric fortifications in Europe.
It has always been assumed that Stanwick was a major centre of the Brigantes. They were a loose confederation of tribes in northern Britain. After the invasion of AD 43, the Romans had more than enough on their hands in the south, so they treated Brigantia as an independent ‘client kingdom’. According to Tacitus, Cartimandua the Brigantian queen was loyal to Rome. Unfortunately, she fell out with her husband Venutius, who led an anti-Roman faction. Cartimandua sought the protection of the Roman authorities. This political upheaval led to Rome’s annexation of northern Britain.
Sir Mortimer Wheeler carried out the first serious excavation there in 1951-1952. He identified Stanwick as the stronghold of Venutius. This view held sway for some 25 years, but then a new generation of academics started to question the great man’s views. Modern archaeologists armed with the latest gadgetry carried out a thorough investigation of the site, starting in 1981.
Professor Colin Haselgrove, the editor and principal author of this book, played a major part in the recent investigation. The excavations and research continued from 1981 to 2011. This book sets out the findings and conclusions from that project.
Occupation of the site began in 80/70 BC and continued for 150 years. There were five distinct phases of which period 4 (c. 25 BC to AD 25) and period 5 (c. AD 25 to 75) are the most important. During period 4 an earth rampart was built around the central complex, now known as ‘the Tofts’. By then Stanwick had become the most important urban centre in northern Britain. It was comparable to the oppida in the south, such as Silchester and Colchester. There was metal working on site in copper-alloy, as well as a thriving pottery industry. Some of the vessels which the Iron Age potters produced would have had a ritual function. It is likely that Stanwick was also a ceremonial site, drawing in celebrants from a wide area. The presence of two Roman coins of the Augustan period and one Iron Age coin from the East Midlands suggests a trading link with the wider world.
Period 5 saw the construction of massive defences around the perimeter. These took the form of an earth rampart 6.8 kilometres long, with a ditch in front. The outer face was revetted in stone. The most formidable section of the rampart was along the north-west side. Here the rampart was 12 metres wide and 3.1 metres high with a ditch in front, some 4 metres deep: quite an obstacle for any unwelcome visitors. Other major structures appeared at the same time, including two large circular stone buildings inside the Tofts. Period 5 was the heyday of Stanwick. Luxury items arrived, including personal ornamentation and high quality glass tableware. The finest pieces of glass were probably diplomatic gifts.
The final chapter is the most interesting one. It pulls together the different strands of evidence and draws conclusions. H. maintains that Stanwick was the stronghold of Cartimandua, not Venutius. It was the administrative centre of Brigantia throughout the period that this territory was a client kingdom. Cartimandua and her predecessors held sway there with the support of the Roman authorities. This explains the prosperity of Stanwick, the arrival of diplomatic gifts and the massive scale of the building operations during period 5. After the fall of Cartimandua and the Flavian conquest of northern Britain, Stanwick no longer served any useful purpose. The site fell into disuse. When Brigantia was incorporated into the civitas system, its new capital was at Aldborough (Isurium Brigantum).
H.’s analysis is persuasive. It fits with the evidence which he has collected so meticulously and laid out so clearly. His suggestion on p. 484 that Cartimandua travelled to Rome in her youth and received the benefit of a Roman education is perhaps more far-fetched. But the image of Cartimandua as a glamorous teenage student, roaming the colleges of the imperial capital, certainly has its attractions.
This is a clear and well-illustrated book, packed with helpful diagrams and photographs. It is well structured, with separate chapters on the excavations and the different categories of artefacts recovered. Specialist contributors deal with coins, ceramics, glassware, personal ornaments, agricultural methods, animal husbandry and radiocarbon dating.
Any student of Roman Britain and any general reader, who has visited or intends to visit Stanwick, will find this work a welcome addition to their shelves.
Rupert Jackson