Tag Archives: Sam Moorhead

Roman Villa Conference ‘Roman villas in Britain – A retrospective review'

Our department is helping to organise a conference on Roman Villas, that might be interesting for a variety of people. Details of the day are below. Booking form attached.

Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th June 2009

The BP Theatre
The British Museum

This conference is jointly hosted by the Association for Roman Archaeology, The Dept of Portable Antiquities and Treasure, and the Dept of Prehistory and Europe at the British Museum.

This event is being held to challenge the long expected overview made by Sir Ian Richmond in The Roman Villa in Britain (1969). He stated that a villa was a farm and primarily an economic term, indicating a place designed as an agricultural establishment. The intention of the conference is to suggest alternative interpretations about the functions of villas.

Speakers:

Mark Corney ‘Budbury, Bradford on Avon – transition to ecclesiastical status’
Roy Friendship-Taylor ‘Piddington – Romano-Celtic Farm or Imperial Retreat?’
Prof Tony King ‘Dinnington and Yarford – two villas on the south-western margins.’
Sam Moorhead
& Philippa Walton ‘Roman coin finds from villas and other rural sites: a reappraisal.’
Bryn Walters
& David Rider ‘Great Witcombe – ‘an architectural and functional reappraisal’
David Rudling ‘Bignor Villa revisited – excavations 1985-2000. A reappraisal of
earlier discoveries and interpretations
Dr Stephen Upex ‘Castor; The Roman Praeforium of Edmund Artis, Cotterstock and villas of the Lower Nene.’
John Shepherd ‘Gayton Thorpe – a reassessment.’
Graham Soffe
& Martin Henig ‘Lullingstone – some new thoughts; Governor’s Domus to Estate Church.’
Dr Roger White ‘Whitely Grange – a hunting lodge and its landscape.’

Roman Villa Conference outline

Hadrian exhibition starts soon

Marble bust of the Roman Emperor Hadrian wearing military dress. From Hadrian’s Villa, Tivoli, Lazio, Italy, c. AD 118–130

Marble bust of the Roman Emperor Hadrian wearing military dress. From Hadrian’s Villa, Tivoli, Lazio, Italy, c. AD 118–130

On the 24th July, the British Museum‘s eagerly awaited exhibition on the life of the Emperor Hadrian is due to open in the Round Reading Room. This follows on from the blockbusting ‘First Emperor’ exhibition that closes a few weeks ago and garnered much critical acclaim and helped the BM to beat Blackpool as the UK’s biggest tourist attraction. The Times quoted:

[..]attracting 6.04 million people, an increase of more than one million on the previous 12 months.[..]The museum’s blockbuster on China’s First Emperor, with its lifesize terracotta warriors among more than 120 objects lent from the tomb of Qin Shihuangdi, exceeded initial expectations twice over, with more than 850,000 visitors.

Today’s Times also carries a review of the exhibition giving it 5 stars and I’ve picked a few pieces out I liked:

The British Museum now assembles a spectacular show whose exhibits range from the heftiest stone pieces to the most fragile slips of papyrus with anything from portrait sculptures, through stone inscriptions and architectural models, to coins and mosaic pieces in between. [..]

This show has a spacious and unhurried feel. Each item is given the opportunity to speak. And the exhibition finds a particularly evocative setting in the specially adapted space of the museum’s round reading room, the dome of which is a direct reflection of the Pantheon, whose spectacular rotunda – the largest un-reinforced concrete dome in the world – Hadrian pioneered.

The BM’s website has a series of short videos, narrated by the Director Neil MacGregor, about Hadrian’s Empire the building of the eponymous wall, and soon there will be new additions on his love life (complicated), his visionary building plan – the amazing Pantheon in Rome for example and also the power of the image in Rome.

An As of Hadrian found on the Isle of Wight, record IOW-072A43

An As of Hadrian found on the Isle of Wight, record IOW-072A43

The Scheme has now recorded a large corpus of coins issued by Hadrian and one of these features in the exhibition. This is a relatively inauspicious copper alloy As found on the Isle of Wight and recorded with Frank Basford. The reverse of this coin (IOW-072A43) depicts Britannia, who earlier this year was removed from the Nation’s coinage. Sam Moorhead has added this to the record created by Frank:

This, the first representation of Britannia on the Roman coinage, commemorates victories in Britain over northern barbarians in Britain (possibly the northern Brigantes and Caledonians tribes) following their revolt during Trajan’s last years. It is also a type of coin that appears to have been issued for use in Britain only, hence it has been classified in David Walker’s report on the coins from Bath as a “Coin of British Association”.

The list of images and text below, relates to the coins that we have recorded and is a dynamic RSS feed which updates automatically when a new coin is recorded. We now have 727 examples recorded from around England and Wales.
———-
[feedsnap]http://www.finds.org.uk/rss/hadrian.php[/feedsnap]
———–

These finds can be represented on a google map as shown below (precise locations degraded to protect landowners’ privacy and the rights of the finders) where national grid references have been converted to Latitude or longitude. (Not many at the moment!)
View Larger Map

Scheme newsletters

South West Newsletter front coverI’ve been sitting on these newsletters for rather a while now because we can’t afford to print them due to our financial situation being so precarious. These two newsletters were written by our staff in the regions, and then my fabulous intern Virginia Sasser (University of North Carolina, Chapel-Hill) who worked for us from October – December 2007, helped me to design these.

The first newsletter, for the Northern region contains a large feature on Roman brooches found within their recording boundaries and also includes a pictoral timeline assembled by our finds adviser Sally Worrell.

Northern region newsletter

North newsletter front coverThe second newsletter, for the South West region contains features on finds days from around their areas, an article by Sam Moorhead on grotty Roman coins, an article on GPS recording and of course all their contact details.

South-West Regional Newsletter

Both of these are low res editions, and higher resolutions are available if you want one. If you have any suggestions or comments, please get in touch via our email address info@finds.org.uk or through the comments section of this post.Variationen von poker.

Hadrian exhibition at the British Museum

Hadrian profile from a bustThe British Museum announced a new exhibition for this Summer, which is particularly relevant for many of our audience who find Roman coins and artefacts daily. The full press release from the BM press office is below. The Scheme has recorded over 600 coins of Hadrian, and 42 of his wife Sabina. When I get a chance, I’ll put these through a Google map and make this more interesting as a post! Sam Moorhead has also produced this quick overview of Hadrianic coins in Powerpoint format and also in PDF format.

The exhibition is already getting comments in the press -
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=am3P.1zXjaxM&refer=muse
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/arts/article-23431757-details/Hadrian+returns+to+Britain/article.do
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7181168.stm
http://news.google.co.uk/news?hl=en&ned=uk&ncl=1126112997&scoring=d

Hadrian returns to Britain
British Museum announces major exhibition on Roman Emperor Hadrian and iconic bronze head of Hadrian to tour Britain
24th July – 26th October 2008

Following on from the unprecedented success of ‘The First Emperor’, the British Museum’s major exhibition for 2008 will focus on another great world leader, the Roman Emperor Hadrian. Hadrian: Empire and Conflict, supported by BP, will be the first major show dedicated solely to the life and legacy of Hadrian who ruled the Roman Empire at its height between AD117 – 138. Bringing together over 180 loans from 31 countries – from Italy to Georgia, Israel to Newcastle – the exhibition will display dramatic sculpture, exquisite bronzes and architectural fragments, many of which will be seen for the first time in the UK. The show also includes objects from the Museum’s own collection including the famous Vindolanda tablets from Hadrian’s Wall. Following First Emperor, the exhibition will be the second to be held in the Museum’s historic Round Reading Room, the dome of which has been compared to the Pantheon in Rome, one of Hadrian’s architectural masterpieces.

The exhibition will bring the contradictions in Hadrian’s personality and reign into sharp focus: a military man and homosexual, he combined ruthless suppression of dissent with cultural tolerance. When Hadrian came to power, the Roman Empire was larger than the present EU, with a unified language, currency and administration. His first act on becoming emperor on the death of his fellow Spaniard, Trajan, was to recognise the issue of imperial overreach – with telling present-day resonance, he took the decision to withdraw Roman troops from Mesopotamia, modern day Iraq, and he ordered the wall which now bears his name to be built to divide England and Scotland. On an individual level, Hadrian was famed for his interests in architecture and Greek culture. He took a young Greek lover, Antinous, who accompanied him on his travels around the empire. Hadrian travelled extensively throughout his reign and met more of his people than any other emperor before him. The exhibition will provide fresh perspective on Hadrian’s life and will reassess the extensive legacy of this famous emperor.

As a precursor to the exhibition, one of the British Museum’s most important Hadrianic objects, a stunning bronze head of the emperor from the 2nd century AD, will travel to both ends of Hadrian’s Wall. The head is one of the rare surviving bronzes from Roman times and has never left the British Museum since its discovery in the River Thames in 1834. It is an almost unique survival – large bronze statues were often melted down, but its submersion kept it from this fate. The underwater silts of the Thames also protected the patina on the head meaning it is particularly well preserved. The head comes from a statue, one and a quarter life size, that may have been erected in a public space in London in AD122 to commemorate Hadrian’s visit to Britain. ‘The Face of an Emperor: Hadrian inspects the wall’ will be seen in Tullie House, Carlisle (8 February – 13 April 08) and Segedunum Roman Fort and Museum at Wallsend (16 April – 8 June 08). The tour like the main exhibition is supported by BP and has been arranged through the British Museum’s Partnership UK scheme.

Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum said:

‘The exhibition and the tour will provide an opportunity to assess the important legacy of the emperor Hadrian, a classical figure whose reign has telling relevance to our lives today. The British Museum is uniquely placed in its ability to tell the story of the great leaders of the past and their impact on the present. I am delighted that BP has generously agreed to support the exhibition’.

For further information or images please contact Hannah Boulton on 020 7323 8522, hboulton@thebritishmuseum.ac.uk, Katrina Whenham on 020 7323 8583 kwhenham@thebritishmuseum.ac.uk or Benjamin Ward on 0207 936 1297, bward@brunswickgroup.com

About the exhibition

The exhibition will be divided into six sections, telling the story of Hadrian’s life in a broadly chronological context:

  1. Beginning with an examination of his family, it will explore his Spanish roots and the family fortune based on the production of olive oil. Hadrian was adopted by Trajan (his father’s cousin) who having no children of his own named Hadrian as his successor.
  2. An important theme throughout the show is war, examining Hadrian’s military legacy and his attempts to redraw borders, reorganise the army and establish diplomatic links with this enemies.
  3. His ruthless suppression of the Jewish revolt of 132AD coupled with his great love of Greek culture highlight the juxtapositions in his character; he was both a strong military man and a philhellene.
  4. His personal interest in architecture and the innovative buildings constructed throughout the empire form a major part of his legacy.
  5. The exhibition will also look at his personal relationship with his lover Antinous and his response on his sudden death in AD130.
  6. A final section focuses on Hadrian’s complex arrangements for his succession and the erection of his grand tomb complex. The exhibition will be designed by the British Museum’s in-house team.

Notes to Editors

• Tickets will be available to book from 6th February by calling 020 7323 8181 or online.
Buy tickets
• The exhibition will be accompanied by a full public programme. Details are available from the press office.

• Partnership UK is the strategic framework for the British Museum’s programme of engagement with audiences throughout the country.

• BP is the British Museum’s largest and most longstanding corporate sponsor, supporting the Museum on an annual basis since 1998. Most recently, BP supported ‘Forgotten Empire: the world of Ancient Persia’ and ‘Mummy: the inside story’.

Roman curse tablet in the news again

The Roman curse tablet outlined in Sam Moorhead’s article – “Cursing the Emperor” has featured in this morning’s Guardian in an article entitled “Rare find highlights antiquities fears” which has been followed up by a commentary piece by Lord Renfrew. This is an unique artefact on our database and provides a rare insight into the intrigues of a troubled Roman Empire under the Emperor Valens.

More blogs released

Wordpress iconLast week I installed and configured WordPress μ for the Scheme’s staff to have their own blogs.

I think that this could be quite an important feature for our Finds Liaison Officers and it will now allow them to publish their own news, events, discussions, reports and leverage the content that they create on our database. I would like these blogs to provide a regional focus for what is going on in each county, and maybe even allow finders to contribute articles if they desired…..

I have also asked our collaborative PhD students if they would like to use the blog to disseminate some of their findings to a wider audience.

So far, we have a few people signed up:

  1. Steve Ashby – Northamptonshire
  2. Dot Bruns – Lancashire and Cumbria
  3. Adam Daubney – Lincolnshire
  4. The Treasure team
  5. Naomi Payne – Somerset

We also have the following research areas signed up as well:

  1. Philippa Walton – Roman numismatics PhD (UCL’s IOA)
  2. Sam Moorhead – Roman Numismatic Research (Roman and Iron Age coins adviser at the British Museum)

The blogs are in their fledgling stage, and I’ll be adding their RSS feeds to our aggregator on our front page shortly as they develop into something more worthwhile. Hopefully you as a reader will find them useful and informative. To find the index of these pages visit www.finds.org.uk/counties

Sussex discovery reminds us about Rome’s Iraq War

A rare Roman coin of the emperor Trajan
A rare Roman coin of the emperor Trajan that celebrates Rome’s conquest of Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) in AD 115, has just been recorded with the Portable Antiquities Scheme. It was found by Frank Kurzeja at Shoreham-by-Sea and reported to Liz Andrews-Wilson, Finds Liaison Officer for Sussex.

Sam Moorhead at the British Museum writes that this coin shows Trajan standing triumphant in military attire above three figures representing Armenia and the rivers Euphrates and Tigris.

The inscriptions are worn away, but one states that Armenia and Mesopotamia have been brought back under Roman domination. Not content with his conquest of Dacia (modern Romania), Trajan determined to defeat his Middle Eastern enemies and this coin is his “mission accomplished” statement that circulated throughout the Roman Empire. Ironically, the Roman occupation of Iraq was short-lived; Trajan’s successor, Hadrian, pulled out of Mesopotamia only a couple of years later.

To see this coin and to learn more about Roman coins found in Britain, go to the Portable Antiquities Scheme website: www.finds.org.uk This coin’s record number is SUSS-977223.

Archaeology 2008 – A conference at the British Museum

Archaeology 2008 – A conference at the British Museum, 9th-10th February 2008:

A call for papersCurrent Archaeology logo

A major new conference sponsored by Current Archaeology and the British Museum’s Department of Portable Antiquities and Treasure (Portable Antiquities Scheme) is being held at the British Museum on the weekend of 9th to 10th February 2008 to demonstrate the best current work being undertaken in British Archaeology. The conference will be divided into 20 minute slots. Lecturers will be expected to deliver a lively, informative and entertaining exposition of their work. Members of the Dept of Portable Antiquities and Treasure will be giving some lectures, but the organisers would love to have contributions from other members of the British Museum, especially those working overseas.

Please send your bids to conference@archaeology.co.uk, giving the title of the proposed talk, the speaker, and a summary (not exceeding 100 words) of the proposed presentation. If there are any queries, do not hesitate to contact Sam Moorhead (smoorhead@thebritishmuseum.ac.uk).

Sam Moorhead
Finds Adviser: Iron Age and Roman Coins
Dept of Portable Antiquities and Treasure
British Museum
London, WC1B 3DG
020 7323 8432

Revamped section and new feature

Over the last couple of days, I have been revamping one of the resources I built with our old Roman Coins Finds Adviser Ian Leins. He has since moved on to become a Curator within Coins and Medals in the British Museum with responsibility for Iron Age coins and their study and interpretation. Since then, Sam Moorhead has come into his role and we’ve revamped the Scheme’s database numismatics substantially. I’ve used the basis of this work to complete some major additions to the facilities we have for the identification of Roman coins. So this week, I have added:

  1. Google map with KML layer for Roman Mints (shown below)
  2. Added a Reece periodisation guide
  3. Enhanced the mint information to demonstrate under which Emperor these issuing places were active
  4. Enhanced the emperor information pages so that you can now see what denominations they issued, which Reece period they fit into, mints active, most recently recorded coins by our staff, and a county breakdown
  5. Tidied up the high resolution pages that make use of the free zoomify viewer (I’d forgotten to add the Google code to these pages!!)
Center of map
Roman mints
Roman mints map

To come within this section:

  1. Enhanced biographical data
  2. Thumbnail images of most recently recorded coins
  3. Scrolling image carousel to aid identifications
  4. Later Roman emperors
  5. Check the code for validity

This section is far and away our most popular area of our site. Google Analytics, shows that the average weekly traffic to our website is 10-15% of our total and visitors look at over 30 pages and have an average visit length of 15 minutes. It’s now the top ranked tool for coin identification on Google.

In terms of new features, I’ve added Google’s Cooperative search to our site. It seems to work quite well and indexes the following sites (seems to be quite comprehensive):

  1. finds.org.uk
  2. pastexplorers.org.uk
  3. findsdatabase.org.uk