Recent Excavations at the Cluniac Priory of St. Mary,Thetford, Norfolk

RUMNEY CASTLE, a small ringwork historically part of the marcher lordship of Gwynll?g, was situated above a steep natural scarp overlooking the R. Rhymney. First mentioned in A.D. 1184–85, the castle guarded the W. boundary of the lordship and the river crossing. The defences consisted of a ditch and clay rampart constructed around three sides of the site. Initially incorporated into the defences along the fourth side was a large timber building and possibly a palisade. The entrance was originally defended by a large timber gate tower, later superseded by a smaller timber structure. Following this, the defences were strengthened with the widening of the rampart and the construction of a small tower or keep alongside the entrance. Several phases of timber building, including two large halls, were arranged around a courtyard. During a later period the entrance was relocated and a stone gate tower constructed.

During the second half of the 13th century the site was converted for use as a manorial centre. The rampart was levelled, the interior of the site infilled, and a range of buildings constructed along the edges of the mound. A well-sealed coin hoard of c. A.D. 1288–89 discovered in a destruction deposit provides a terminus post quem for the abandonment of the site.     

Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute,to be Held at Edinburgh in July, 1856

The following paper is based on work carried out between 1974 and 1984 in connection with J. T. Smith's survey for the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England of the domestic buildings of Hertfordshire. It deals principally with painted decoration on plaster and timber walls and ceilings, but also takes into consideration other decorative features such as moulded plasterwork and wooden panelling.     

Recent Discoveries in the Classic Maya Palace Complex of Nim li Punit,Belize

Nim li Punit is a small Classic Maya (ca. a.d. 150–830) center of Toledo District, Belize. Here I describe excavations of two buildings within the royal palace group: Structures 7 and 8. Structure 8 was built in four stages all dating to the Early to Late/Terminal Classic period. It probably served as a council house. Structure 7 was the residential palace and was built in two stages. An Early Classic burial demonstrates indirect interaction with Teotihuacan. During the Terminal Classic period, the shape of Structure 7 was altered, numerous caches were placed there, and Tomb 5 was dedicated. It contained many important artifacts including a modeled effigy vase displaying the wind god, a chert eccentric, and the second largest piece of carved jade excavated legally in Belize. This, the Nim li Punit “wind jewel,” contains a long historical text and was worn by Late Classic kings. I argue that the pectoral tied Maya kings through ritual performance to breath, winds, rain, agriculture, and life.     

On the Progress and Prospects of Science in Scotland at the Close of the Sixteenth and Commencement of the Seventeenth Centuries,as Compared with the same at Cambridge a Century Later: With Illustrations of Several Remarkable Coincidences Between The Genius,The Studies,and The Discoveries of Napier of Merchiston,and Sir Isaac Newton

In a recent paper in this journal, the crossing tower built at Rochester Cathedral in the early nineteenth century by L. N. Cottingham was identified as constituting an essay in the Perpendicular style and, furthermore, one based on elements from the medieval tower which it replaced. This paper identifies the style of the tower as Decorated and suggests that Cottingham's design was a specific response to context, one more strongly motivated by structural considerations than aesthetic theory or antiquarian or historicist attitudes.     

Changing to suit the times: a post-Dissolution history of Monk Bretton Priory,South Yorkshire

Abstract

The Dissolution of the Monasteries is usually seen as the final event in the lifecycle of monastic sites, and consequently is often discussed in terms of the destruction wrought or the motivations of those who profited immediately from their demise. However, the majority of former monastic sites continued to be occupied, maintained and developed in new ways for decades after these events. This paper takes the case study of Monk Bretton Priory, a fairly unremarkable monastic institution, and attempts to demonstrate how an explicitly biographical and long-term examination of a site’s post-Dissolution history can provide a more nuanced and balanced narrative.     

Account of an Informed Bat Exclusion at the Temple of Deir el-Shelwit,Luxor, Egypt

Abstract

The conservation of the painted Roman-era reliefs in the temple of Deir el Shelwit in Luxor, Egypt, was recently initiated by the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE). As a critical step in a series of preliminary preventive conservation measures undertaken at the temple, a resident bat colony was excluded to control further deterioration of the painted reliefs and stone fabric (Figure 1). In consultation with a bat biologist, a comprehensive humane, low-tech emergency exclusion programme was designed and implemented, which included roost location, behavioural surveys, species identification, sealing of building openings, bat exclusion and the design of an alternate roost site. This programme may serve as a useful example for other conservation projects in Luxor, since it provides much-needed information on the behaviour of local bats, as well as relevant insights gained from the exclusion procedure.     

Memoir on some Ancient Arms and Implements Found at Lagore,near Dunshaughlin,County of Meath. With a Few Remarks on the Classification of Northern Antiquities

In 1957, gravel-digging exposed a previously unknown Roman fort and during the following five years this was destroyed. Observation during soil stripping, together with some manual excavation, recovered most of the plan and history which may be summarized as follows:

(a) Slight remains of occupation earlier than the first Roman fort; these were not fully worked out, and are not necessarily all of one period.

(b) A Roman auxiliary fort, founded c. A.D. 80 and destroyed after less than twenty years occupation. Most of the fort buildings were deliberately burnt, apparently after evacuation; it seems a little more likely that this was the work of the Romans themselves rather than of the natives, but there is no definite evidence.

(c) After an interval probably of a few years a ditch was dug along the line of the via principalis, as if intended for a fort of reduced area, as at Castell Collen or Tomen-y-Mur; this was unfinished, and after remaining open for a short time seems to have been deliberately refilled.

(d) A fortlet was built over the north quarter of the auxiliary fort. The meagre evidence available for dating would be consistent with a short occupation in the early or middle 2nd century.

(e) Finally, after a considerable interval, an irregular oval was enclosed by a light palisade. Full details of this occupation were not recovered. It seems to have begun about the end of the Roman period and may have continued into the 5 th century.     

河南新郑胡庄韩王陵考古发现概述

新郑胡庄基地是南水北调中线工程干渠抢救发掘项目之一.2006年10月至2009年4月,河南省文物考古研究所发掘12000平方米,清理春秋墓35座,战国墓276座,战国韩王陵1处2墓,填补了韩王陵多项发现空白,取得东周陵墓考古重大发现.     

河南荥阳关帝庙遗址考古发现与认识

为配合南水北调中线工程建设,河南省文物考古研究所于2006年7月至2008年8月对河南荥阳关帝庙遗址进行了大面积的发掘,发现仰韶至明清多个时期的文化遗存,尤以商代晚期文化遗存最为丰富,并发掘出完整的商代晚期聚落.该聚落功能齐全,并经过比较具体的规划.保存完整的商代晚期聚落的发现及丰富的商代晚期文化遗存的大规模揭露,对了解该遗址的布局、功能、研究该遗址的聚落形态、探讨该时期的聚落结构、社会形态等,具有重要的意义.     

A Father,a Daughter and a Procurator: Authority and Resistance in the Prison Memoir of Perpetua of Carthage

The prison narrative attributed to the early third‐century Christian martyr Perpetua of Carthage has long attracted attention because of its dramatic portrayal of a Roman father's failure to extract obedience from his adult daughter as he tries to dissuade her from allowing herself to be punished as an enemy of the Roman state. This study explores the alignment between paternal authority and the authority of the Roman procurator Hilarianus in Perpetua's narrative, considering how the civic spaces of forum and arena became theatres for both filial and civil disobedience.