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This study addresses the provenance of two Roman river barges and a Roman punt excavated along the limes of Germania inferior near the Dutch city of Utrecht ( De Meern 1 , 4 and 6 ). To establish the geographical origin of these vessels, their tree-ring series are compared to 1452 dated oak ( Quercus robur/petraea ) growth patterns from Roman-period sites in the current Netherlands and Belgium. The strong resemblance to patterns of oak used in the civitas Menapiorum and the bordering region of civitas Nerviorum in Gallia Belgica indicates that the ships were built with oak from the lower-Scheldt region in present-day Flanders (north-western Belgium). Given the absence of Flemish oak in Roman land-based constructions along the Dutch limes , this provenance implies that the vessels were constructed in the lower-Scheldt region. The geographical location of the final wreck sites of De Meern 1 , 4 and 6 points at inland-navigation between this region and the Rhine-based limes of Germania inferior . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: To analyse fuelwood collection strategies in Roman funerary rituals in northern Gaul, a large number of charcoal fragments from Roman cremation graves has been identified. The wide variety of taxa found suggests that no particular taxa have been avoided. Also no significant differences have been found between the charcoal assemblages of different types of graves and between graves belonging to different types of settlements. On the other hand, comparison with the charcoal assemblages from Roman refuse deposits, reflecting domestic fuel use, shows an overrepresentation of Quercus sp., Alnus sp. and Fagus sylvatica, and a much lower taxonomic variety in the cremation graves. This is believed to be the consequence of functional rather than ritually or symbolically oriented fuelwood selection strategies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]