Ebook: Finds from the Frontier: Material Culture in the 4th-5th Centuries

'Finds from the Frontier' brings together the papers given at a conference held at Newcastle upon Tyne in 2008. The aim of the original conference was to elucidate the life of the 4th-century 'limitanei' of Britain through their material culture. The period had traditionally been seen as one of declining standards in the Roman military and materially poorer than during the Principate. The papers consider whether the artefacts that were left behind justify this stance and largely come to the conclusion that, on the contrary, the period was rich in artefacts that have much to tell us about the late frontier.

The geographic focus of the volume is the broader frontier and is not limited to the traditional line of Hadrian’s Wall itself. 'Frontier' can be taken as shorthand for 'frontier zone' in many cases throughout the volume, and includes the area between the Humber-Mersey line and the Forth-Clyde line. This region, corresponding to central Britain, includes a number of well-known civilian settlements as well as the traditional military installations more commonly associated with the frontier. The area also looks north of the Wall, to encompass sites such as Traprain Law as well as the 'outpost forts'.