This review is written from the perspective of a continental archaeologist for whom Stanwick, North Yorkshire, was no more than a dot on the distribution map of the oppida of the ‘Celtic’ world. It has therefore been hugely satisfying to discover the details of Stanwick's archaeological record, a site famous for a first-century AD metalwork hoard discovered nearby in 1843 (now in the British Museum) and for the research carried out there by Sir Mortimer Wheeler in 1951 and 1952.
This substantial volume contains an abundance of information, including a complete account of the work undertaken at the site by Colin Haselgrove and his team since the 1980s and a broader overview of the significance of the results on various spatial scales. The immense erudition and intellectual rigour of the editor and lead author is evident throughout. Interestingly, the volume also documents the evolution of archaeological paradigms and methods. For example, in the 1950s, Wheeler focused on the earthworks that enclose the site. Heavily influenced by works of ancient authors and lacking any regional archaeological reference point, he proposed a restricted period of occupation during the AD 50s and 60s. He clearly discerned that the earthen banks had been built in several stages, with an early focus of activity at ‘The Tofts’ (enclosing 6.2ha), and the very large extension, known as ‘The Perimeter’ (with 6.8km of ‘ramparts’ enclosing 270ha) constructed in several stages. This complex was interpreted in relation to a framework built on the scraps of historical information provided by Tacitus about the kingdom of the Brigantes and its queen, Cartimandua.
The scope and ambition of the research presented in this book are much greater than those of Wheeler. Haselgrove considers the site as a whole and situates it within its wider environs, employing techniques such as geophysics, aerial photography and environmental analysis. It also addresses the regional context by incorporating the growing data available from rescue archaeology projects. The original fieldwork was conducted mainly between 1984 and 1989, but the delay in publication has made it possible to integrate data acquired through to 2010. It has also been possible to refine the chronology of the site using the Bayesian modelling of radiocarbon dates from stratified contexts.
The thorough analysis of this vast dataset is undertaken inductively, giving priority to the archaeological evidence. A key result has been to demonstrate that the site was occupied for a significantly longer duration than Wheeler believed, with a dense and unfortified phase of occupation from the beginning of the first century BC. The earthworks that delimit The Tofts are dated to 30/20 BC; these were accompanied by the construction of a monumental wooden building of circular plan. The earthworks enclosing the larger Perimeter are dated to the middle of the first century AD; the homogeneity of the individual components—a massive embankment with unusual stone facing, and fronted by a ditch—suggests simultaneous construction, although the structural details do not exclude Wheeler's hypothesis of a multi-stage sequence.
The precise course of the Perimeter earthwork raises questions about its intended function. It encloses an area of inhospitable wetland and, most significantly, it excludes the higher ground of Henah Hill, which overlooks the ‘fortified’ interior of the site. When viewed alongside the great size of the enclosed space, these considerations question the defensive value of the earthworks and point towards other hypotheses: delimiting a space for special gatherings, symbolism in relation to religious functions or a practical role linked to the management of animals, the latter perhaps supported by the presence of peripheral earthworks, such as the Scots Dike, which runs for over 10km to the River Swale.
The volume also correctly emphasises the unusual importance of goods imported from the Roman world during the decades before Britain was annexed as a province. For example, an assemblage of luxury tablewares of mid first-century AD date, including an exceptional vessel made of obsidian, is considered to have been a diplomatic gift and a sign that Stanwick was a place of an indigenous authority.
The overall site interpretation draws on comparisons with ‘royal’ sites in the south of Britain, such as Colchester, St Albans and Silchester. Comparable archaeological evidence, including complex and extensive earthworks and prestige goods, supports the textual accounts for the presence of an elite actively involved in the growing role of Rome in Britain, leading eventually to military occupation. These comparisons support the plausible hypothesis that Stanwick was ‘Cartimandua's capital’, latterly serving as a client and buffer for the area directly controlled by Rome to the south—a situation finally brought to an end by Roman military operations during the AD 70s.
The volume questions the reconstruction of social and political power amongst the Brigantes on the basis of the ancient textual sources. Instead, the archaeological data show that regional societies at this time experienced accelerated development including significant population growth, the diversification of settlement types and an increase in long-distance contacts, at least partly connected to Roman expansion. The emergence of extensive sites—sometimes designated by British archaeologists under the oxymoron of the ‘territorial oppidum’—their lack of evident defensive function, their strong association with royal dynasties and their late date, make these sites distant relatives of the continental oppida. At the very least, they express the same irreversible trends recognisable within other indigenous societies at the time of Roman expansion.
Following Wheeler's work, this volume represents the second sustained attempt to understand one of the major prehistoric sites of northern England. Yet one cannot fail to wonder what a third project would discover, as it is evident that the research of the 1980s, carried out with limited means, has not exhausted the subject. Such future work might include landscape regression analysis, for which LiDAR has great potential, as suggested by the single LiDAR image included in the current volume—rich in information but little exploited, probably because of its late availability (2012). Other techniques might include extensive geophysical survey; again, limited application has already yielded excellent results. One can also wonder about the palaeoenvironmental potential of the central wetland of Mary Wild Beck, and Bayesian modelling could certainly integrate a wider spectrum of chronological indicators such as Roman finewares. Finally, the remarkable conservation of the archaeological remains examined at The Tofts urges future archaeologists to expand the 1200m2 excavated during the 1980s in order to explore a larger sample of Cartimandua's capital.
